Un-ravelling the network of regulation of multidrug resistance in Salmonella enterica

Every year, non-typhoidal salmonella bacteria from contaminated food sicken thousands of people, and for the very young and old, antibiotics are the only defence—but the bacteria are increasingly resistant to those drugs. This project tackles a specific mechanism behind that resistance. Salmonella uses a protein pump called AcrAB-TolC to eject antibiotics from its cells, allowing the bacteria to survive treatment and continue causing infection. The researchers will identify the genes and proteins that control production of this pump. If they can map this regulatory network, they may find targets for new drugs that shut the pump down. If successful, the work could lead to compounds that make salmonella vulnerable to antibiotics again, and harder for the bacteria to colonise hosts like poultry. That would directly affect food safety and clinical treatment for vulnerable patients. This is fundamental science—the researchers are not developing a drug yet. They are uncovering the basic biology of how resistance is controlled. Similar foundational work on bacterial efflux pumps has previously guided the design of antibiotic adjuvants now in clinical use. A clearer picture of this regulatory network could open the same path for salmonella.