Cameron Lab awarded NSERC grant

Posted: June 12, 2013 3:30 p.m.

DNA contains the genes that are the blueprints for all living things. Less well known is that DNA does more than store information. It also plays an active role in deciding when to express the information it carries. This control of gene expression occurs through the 3-dimensional shaping and bending of DNA.

The Cameron Lab, led by Professor Andrew Cameron at the University of Regina, studies how bacteria use the dynamic shaping of DNA to respond to changes in their environment. In other words, the lab studies the molecular mechanisms that allow bacteria to perceive, interpret, and then respond to their surroundings. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for determining why some "good" bacteria suddenly turn "bad" and cause infection, how genes for antibiotic resistance and infection function in different species, and how gene networks can be engineered in bacteria for bioremediation and industrial applications.

The Cameron Lab will use the a newly awarded Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery grant to study how proteins recognize and bind their DNA targets, how DNA shape influences these interactions, and conversely, how protein binding modifies DNA shape. The lab's research focuses on the important human pathogens Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli, and Haemophilus influenzae.

Members of the lab will employ cutting-edge genomics techniques to visualize protein and DNA function on a very large scale; these techniques can map the thousands of protein-DNA interactions that happen simultaneously in a living cell.  The Cameron Lab's research has far-reaching implications because the genetic mechanisms being studied are essential for all life, including the functioning of cells in the human body.