Dr Catriona Thompson

Large conjugative plasmids are one of the ways bacteria are able to pass genetic material between themselves, often giving the host an advantage such as antibiotic resistance or the ability to better colonise plant.

However, these plasmids are also able to manipulate the behaviour of their host cell.

Catriona’s work is looking at untangling how plasmid-chromosome cross-talk works at a molecular level so we can better understand how plasmids interact with and manipulate their hosts.