Tom Wright

Streptomyces spp. are soil-dwelling bacteria, renowned for their complex life cycle and for producing an array of secondary metabolites, including 50%+ of clinically used antibiotics.

Tom’s work aims to elucidate the global regulatory role of the essential WhiB-like transcription factor, WblE, in the model organism Streptomyces venezuelae, and to understand how it influences development and secondary metabolism. Specifically, he seeks to determine how WblE affects gene expression and to uncover how and why it interacts with other transcription factors and the transcription machinery.

By defining the regulatory role of WblE, this work will contribute to a deeper understanding of how developmental progression is controlled in S. venezuelae. Moreover, insight into this regulatory network may provide new strategies for activating cryptic BGCs, potentially enabling the discovery of novel antimicrobial compounds.