Welcome to the Brassinga Lab

Our research interests lie primarily in teasing apart the components of the regulatory network that control bacterial cyst formation.  In some cases, these may overlap with the expression control of virulence factors in Legionella. Our expertise includes microbial genetics and molecular biology techniques, bioinformatics, and infection modelling in diverse hosts (Acathamoeba castellanii, mammalian cell-lines, and Caenorhabditis elegans soil nematode).

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Our research interests also include investigations into:

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1) plumbing pathogen non-tuberculosis Mycobacterium avium complex in collaboration with colleagues Dr. David Alexander (Dept. of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases), Dr. Beata Gorczyca (Dept. of Civil Engineering) and Dr. Hafid Soualhine (National Microbiology Laboratory);

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2) structural modeling of L. pneumophila effector proteins and its binding partners in collaboration with Dr. Gerd Prehna (Dept. of Microbiology) and Dr. Alexei Savchenko (U. of Calgary); and

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3) enhanced virulence of microbial contaminants (S. marcescens and Staphylococcus epidermidis) in platelet concentrates intended for blood transfusion in collaboration with Dr. Sandra Ramírez-Arcos (Canadian Blood Services).

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