Penicillin-interactive enzymes (PIEs) include penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) and beta-lactamases (BLAs). PBPs catalyze the synthesis and remodeling of peptidoglycan (PG). We focus on PG-remodeling enzymes, DD-carboxypeptidases (DD-CPases), encoded by dacA, dacC, dacD and ampH. The characteristic features of DD-CPases are maintaining cell shape and intrinsic beta-lactam resistance, though there are inter and intra species variations in their physiological activities. Therefore, we intend to categorize DD-CPases thoroughly based on their physiological and biochemical functions in Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Mycobaterium smegmatis and Mycobaterium tuberculosis. Moreover, we intend to find whether these DD-CPases have any other roles, namely, in evading immunological response, biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, etc.
As PBPs and BLA share common ancestry, through specific mutational analyses, we aim to know whether their activities are linked and identify the exact point of divergence of these two enzymes. Furthermore, we intend to probe the physiology of BLAs in bacterial cells apart from their roles in cleaving beta-lactams. Various types of BLAs, like TEM1, OXA, ESBL, Metallo-beta lactamases (MBL) and AmpC have a different spectrum of activity. Some of them are intrinsically expressed while the others need induction for proper expression. We are involved in studying the pathway of induction of these enzymes, which can be exploited to design future antimicrobial agents.
We are also involved in identifying the genes related to biofilm formation in E. coli, K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii and M. smegmatis using molecular genetics techniques. Furthermore, we are engaged in characterizing several putative efflux-pump proteins in search of efflux–pump inhibitors for designing combination therapy and intend to correlate biofilm formation with efflux-pump proteins, or BLAs or any other factors, which can lead to multi-drug resistance phenotypes. In addition, we design and validate effective antibiotic combinations and diagnostic tools for BLA detection.
-
Two DD-carboxypeptidases from Mycobacterium smegmatis affect cell surface properties through regulation of peptidoglycan cross-linking and glycopeptidolipids Ghosh A. S., Pandey S. , Pal S. , N G. K., Bansal A. , Mallick S. By Journal of Bacteriology 200 e00760--17 (2018)
-
Branching sites and morphological abnormalities behave as ectopic poles in shapedefective Escherichia coli Trine Nilsen *, Anindya S. Ghosh*, Marcia B. Goldberg and Kevin D. Young (* Co-First Author) By Molecular Microbiology 52 (4) 1045-1054 (2004)
-
Physiological functions of Dalanine carboxypeptidases in Escherichia coli Anindya S Ghosh ©, Chiranjit Chowdhury and David E. Nelson, [Communicating Author ©] By Trends in Microbiology 16(7) 309-317 (2008)
-
A single amino acid substitution in the OMEGA-like loop of E. coli PBP5 disrupts its ability to maintain cellshape and intrinsic beta-lactam resistance Mouparna Dutta, Debasish Kar, Ankita Bansal, Sandeep Chakraborty, Anindya S Ghosh © [Communicating Author ©] By MICROBIOLOGY (SGM-UK) 161 (4) 895-902 (2015)
-
Deletion of penicillin-binding protein 5 (PBP5) sensitises Escherichia coli cells to beta-lactam agents Sujoy K Sarkar, Chiranjit Chowdhury and Anindya S Ghosh © [Communicating Author ©] By International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 35 244-249 (2010)
-
A putative lowmolecular mass (LMM) penicillinbinding protein (PBP) of Mycobacterium smegmatis exhibits prominent physiological characteristics of DDCarboxypeptidase and beta-lactamase Ankita Bansal, Debasish Kar, Rajagopal A Murugan, Sathi Mallick, Mouparna Dutta, Satya Deo Pandey, Chiranjit Chowdhury and Anindya S. Ghosh © [Communicating Author ©] By MICROBIOLOGY (SGM-UK) 161 (6) 1081-1091 (2015)
-
Absence of the glycosyltransferase WcaJ in Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC13883 affects biofilm formation, increases polymyxin resistance and reduces murine macrophage activation. Pal S., Verma J. , Mallick S. , Rastogi S. K., Kumar A. , Ghosh A. S. By Microbiology 165 891-904 (2019)
-
Sub-inhibitory cefsulodin sensitization of E. coli to beta-lactams is mediated by PBP1b inhibition Sujoy Sarkar, Mouparna Dutta, Akash Kumar, Dhriti Mallik and Anindya S Ghosh © [Communicating Author ©] By PLoS One 7 (11) - (2012)
-
Helical disposition of protein and lipopolysaccharide in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli Anindya S. Ghosh and Kevin D. Young By Journal of Bacteriology 187 (6) 1913-1922 (2005)
Principal Investigator
- Exploring the possible mechanisms of Placentrex in the inhibition of bacterial growth by assessing its effect on antimicrobial susceptibility and biofilm formation
- Identification and Characterization of Putative Metallo-Beta-Lactamases from Mycobacterium Smegmatis
- Investigating the role of Eut microcompartment in competitive fitness of Salmonella enterica in intramacrophagic environment
- Potential Utilities of Bacterial Microcompartments at Harsh Reaction Conditions Employed in Biocatalytic Industries
Ph. D. Students
Adishree Ray
Area of Research: Molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance
Aditya Prasad Panda
Area of Research: Microbes and infection
Bayomi Biju
Area of Research: Bacterial biofilm and antimicrobial resistance
Debasmita Chatterjee
Area of Research: Molecular microbiology
Debleena Bhattacharyya
Area of Research: Antimicrobial chemotherapy
Diamond Jain
Area of Research: Antimicrobial chemotherapy
Paramita Biswas
Area of Research: Nutraceutical biotechnology
Seemanti Aditya
Area of Research:
Sucheta Ghosh
Area of Research: Antimicrobial resistance
Tejavath Ajith
Area of Research: Antimicrobial resistance
