Kenneth W. Bayles, PhD

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Kenneth W. Bayles, PhD

Description

Kenneth W. Bayles, PhD, has focused on research of the characterization of a novel regulatory system that controls the peptidoglycan hydrolase activity produced by bacteria. Using Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis as model systems, he and his laboratory have identified two sets of genes that impact these processes. The first set (the cid and lrg genes) encode membrane-associated proteins that are proposed to function by controlling the access of the peptidoglycan hydrolases to their substrate (peptidoglycan) within the bacterial cell wall. The second set (lytSR and cidR) encodes regulatory proteins that modulate cid and lrg expression in response to physiological signals. Recent studies indicate that these signals include changes in proton motive force and the energy status of the cell. Research on this system has led to the proposal that it comprises the molecular components of bacterial programmed cell death (PCD) and that the cid and lrg gene products may be functionally homologous to the Bax/Bcl family of proteins that control apoptosis in eukaryotic cells.

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Courtesy of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Office of Strategic Communications

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