Lakshmi Rajagopal, PhD

Lakshmi Rajagopal, PhD
  • Academic Title: Professor
"Hearing from families that lost their babies to group B streptococcus infection motivates me to search for better ways to fight these bacteria."

  • Biography

    Lakshmi Rajagopal, PhD: Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. Our research interest is to understand signaling events that occur during bacterial disease pathogenesis. The human pathogens that we study are Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and Staphylococcus aureus.

    Although both GBS and S. aureus are commensal organisms, these bacteria can also become disease-causing pathogens. GBS are commonly found in the recto-vaginal tract of healthy women but can cause severe invasive disease in human newborns and adults that include elderly, immunocompromised and diabetic individuals. Our studies on GBS are focused on understanding how these bacteria adapt to the environmental niches encountered during their life cycle. Studies from our research have shown that GBS encodes signaling factors such as a serine/threonine kinase; these proteins were previously thought only to exist in higher forms such as eukaryotic organisms. Our research showed that the kinase regulates the expression of the GBS toxin known as hemolysin/cytolysin and also enables the bacteria to adapt to nutrient starvation.

    In recent studies, we demonstrated that the kinase affects toxin expression based upon its interaction with a DNA-binding response regulator known as CovR. The interaction between the kinase and CovR represents novel findings in bacterial environmental adaptation. Current research is focused toward identifying the environmental cues/signals that are sensed by these bacteria for regulation of toxin expression and virulence. Like GBS, S. aureus are also Gram-positive bacteria that can cause severe invasive disease in humans. We have recently identified a number of novel genes/signaling factors that regulate toxin expression in S. aureus. Current studies are focused on elucidating how these signaling factors regulate toxin expression and S. aureus virulence. The ultimate goal is to use the information gathered from our research to identify novel compounds that can be used to treat these bacterial infections.

    For more information, please visit Rajagopal Lab.

    Research Description

    Our research interest is to understand signaling events that occur during bacterial disease pathogenesis. The human pathogens that we study are Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and Staphylococcus aureus.

    GBS is a Gram-positive bacteria that causes invasive infections in human newborns and certain adult populations. Our studies on GBS focus on elucidating the role of a serine/threonine kinase in regulation of adaptive responses and virulence of the organism. We have shown that a serine/threonine kinase called Stk1 regulates de novo purine biosynthesis and toxin expression and is important for virulence of GBS.

    In recent studies, we have shown that phosphorylation of the two-component regulator CovR by Stk1 eliminates CovR regulation of the GBS toxins. Current studies are focused toward identifying extracellular signals that dictate toxin expression of GBS (Lin, et al., Mol Microbiol 2009;71:1477-1495.

    Like GBS, S. aureus is also Gram-positive cocci that can cause severe invasive disease in humans. We have recently begun to explore the role of a serine/threonine kinase homolog in virulence of S. aureus.

    Research Focus Area

    Infectious Disease

  • Related Resources

    • Rajagopal Lab

      Rajagopal Lab

      The Rajagopal Lab utilizes genetic, molecular, biochemical and proteomic approaches to study infectious diseases caused by bacteria. The lab focuses on the human pathogens group B Streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus. Research areas of focus include bacteriology, specifically bacterial pathogenesis, bacterial virule

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