The Welch Group
Our group is primarily a microbiology research laboratory and our main focus is Pseudomonas aeruginosa although we also work with other species such as Erwinia carotovora. We have close links with other laboratories within the university such that we employ state-of-the-art proteomic and metabolomic techniques and also work with novel chemical compounds.
P. aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen responsible for ~10% of all nosocomial infections, a significant proportion of infections in AIDS patients and ~80% of Cystic Fibrosis patients are chronically infected. P. aeruginosa is a highly versatile bacterium allowing it to inhabit a wide range of conditions, to exist planktonically or as a biofilm and giving rise to antibiotic resistant variants.
Our particular research interests include investigating the biofilm and colony phenotype, investigating the production and function of rhamnolipids, investigating the response and resistance of P. aeruginosa antibiotic treatment, investigating how antibiotics affect quorum sensing regulation and the contribution of each quorum sensing system. Additionally we research the stress response in E. Carotovora and are involved in the testing of DOS synthesised chemical compounds for antibiotic efficacy.
