Heavy metal resistance in carbapenem-resistant bacteria
Study antimicrobial resistance in human and veterinary pathogens.
We have recently isolated a carbapenem-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolate from a shelter cat with diarrhoea and systemic illness. The isolate was resistant to nine classes of antimicrobial in addition to arsenic.
A large multidrug resistance-associated plasmid contained other presumably non-functional heavy metal resistance associated genes.
Similar plasmids have been isolated from humans, the environment and seagulls in Australia as well as from humans and the environment in Asia.
This project will explore the in-depth mechanisms of heavy metal resistance in this isolate and explore the hypothesis that heavy metals in the environment are co-selecting for resistance to critically important drugs.
This project will be located at the School of Biological Sciences in the Molecular Life Science building, North Terrace campus.
Supervisors
Co-supervisor: Dr Sam Abraham - Murdoch University
Research area: Pathobiology, infectious disease and public health; antimicrobial resistance in human and veterinary pathogens; Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology (ACARE).
Recommended honours enrolment: Honours in Animal Science