Dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG and GUMed has been awarded in the competition of the National Centre of Science SONATA BIS 10. He received more than PLN 3 million for the implementation of his five-year research project entitled 'Friends or foes? The role of prophages in environmental adaptation and virulence of pectinolytic bacteria: Dickeya spp. and Pectobacterium spp. in vitro and in planta'.
Within the SONATA BIS 10 project, dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG plans to investigate the global, ecological role of prophages - viral sequences, present in the genomes of pectinolytic bacteria in environmental adaptation and virulence of their bacterial hosts in vitro and in planta.
- 'With the development of research on bacteriophages (bacterial viruses), it has become clear that there are bacteriophages that, after infecting the host, do not cause its death but build their genome into the bacterial chromosome and exist in this form unnoticed, without harming the host,' - explains dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG. - 'These viral sequences in bacterial genomes have been called prophages. Interestingly, these sequences occur in most, if not all bacterial genomes,' - he adds.
Studies of prophages in various species and genera of bacteria have shown that they influence the genome of the bacteria they inhabit and, through this, the phenotype of the host. Interestingly, prophages can encode and transfer foreign genes that give the host new traits, such as virulence factors, or factors that enable the host to adapt favourably to the environment it inhabits. - 'It is assumed that the presence of prophages in host genomes is one of the most important drivers of adaptation and evolution of bacteria in the environment,' - explains dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG.
The SONATA BIS 10 project by dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG assumes evaluation of benefits and costs associated with the presence of prophages in the genomes of pectinolytic bacteria for their environmental adaptation and virulence. The project will broaden the knowledge on mechanisms of bacterial adaptation in the environment.
Dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG, chose pectinolytic bacteria as a research model to analyse the role of prophages. - 'These are commonly present pathogens of plants, including those economically important in Europe and the World. These bacteria can live in soil, in water, on plants, be transmitted by insects and survive on plant fragments,' explains dr hab. Robert Czajkowski, prof. UG. - 'In all these very different environments, they may encounter different bacterial viruses and be frequently infected, which may very differently affect their adaptation to the environment and their ability to cause disease symptoms on plants. This is why these bacteria provide such a good research model to study their interactions with viruses in the environment,' he argues.
Sonata Bis are prestigious competitions for scientific research announced annually by the National Science Centre aimed at establishing a new research team conducting basic scientific research. A researcher who obtained a doctoral degree within 5 to 12 years before the year of application may become a project manager.