Indranil Biswas, Ph.D.

Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology

Ph.D., University of Paris VII, Paris, France
Postdoctoral Fellow, NIDDK/NIH & Emory University

Publications: Click here

Office: 2032 Breidenthal | Lab: 2002/2004/2020 Breidenthal
913-588-7019 | email

Research Interests

Gram-positive pathogens like Streptococci are the leading causes of human infections. These bacteria can cause diverse array of diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, necrotizing faciitis to name a few. During the last two decades, gram-positive bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to the available drugs, a very serious concern. These bacteria express a wide range of virulence factors that enable them to establish infections. Most of these virulence factors are either secreted or cell-wall associated. Several proteases play an important role in the expression, processing and maturation of these virulence factors. One of the main focuses of our laboratory is to study how various surface proteases affect virulence factor expression in streptococci. We are also studying how these proteases affect biofilm formation by various streptococci such as S. mutans.

A second project of the laboratory is to study the regulation of virulence gene expression in streptococci such as S. pyogenes and S. mutans. Expression of virulence factors is under complex regulatory networks and is not fully understood in streptococci. Our laboratory is interested in the mechanisms by which these bacteria regulate its virulence repertoire in response to host signals encountered during infection. Specifically, we have focused our studies on the molecular mechanisms of two-component signal transduction pathways that regulate a wide range of virulence genes in various streptococci. Our long term goal is to increase overall knowledge of gram-positive bacterial pathogenesis and to develop new treatment strategies.

Selected Recent Publications

• Biswas, S., and Biswas I (2006). Regulation of glucosyltransferase (gtfBC) operon by CovR in Streptococcus mutans. Journal of Bacteriology 188: 988-998.
• Biswas, S., and Biswas I (2005). Role of HtrA on surface protein expression and biofilm formation in Streptococcus mutans. Infection and Immunology 73: 6923-6934.
• Biswas I and Scott JR (2003). Identification of rocA, a Positive Regulator of covR Expression in the Group A Streptococcus. Journal of Bacteriology 185:3081-3090.
• Biswas I, Germon P, McDade K, Scott JR (2001). Generation and surface localization of intact M protein in Streptococcus pyogenes are dependent on sagA. Infection and Immunity 69:7029-38.