Professor Kazimierz Bassalik Award for researchers of the Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Wrocław
The prize is awarded annually by the Molecular Cell Biology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, for the best microbiology research project created in a Polish laboratory. The project of the Biotechnology team has been published in a prestige Nucleic Acids Research journal (IF 14,9; 200 MEiN points). What is the topic of the awarded project?
Streptomyces are soil bacteria valued for their involvement in producing antibiotics and other compounds with various biological activities. These bacteria grow in a manner similar to that of simple fungi, in the form of multicellular hyphae. It is worth noting that their genome is formed in an uncommon way for bacteria — copies of linear chromosomes are disposed lengthwise of hyphae.
In their project, our researchers focused on the organization of chromosomal DNA in cells of Streptomyces. They indicated that proteins similar to eukaryotic histones cooperate with topoisomerase enzymes in order to maintain the proper DNA structure, which is crucial for the correct growth of bacteria. Analysis of the organization of bacterial chromosomes is a basic research which allows one to gain knowledge of the biology of bacteria. Additionally, it facilitates the comprehension of mechanisms controlling the gene expression, thereby helping with understanding of the production of compounds essential in medicine.
The prize has been awarded to the team of: Agnieszka Strzałka, Agnieszka Kois-Ostrowska, Magda Kędra, Tomasz Łebkowski, Grażyna Bieniarz, Marcin J. Szafran, and Dagmara Jakimowicz.
Congratulations!
Translated by Mateusz Czerwiński (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
