DrAlice Collins

My research focusses on understanding the ‘RNA-interactome’, whole-cell RNA-RNA interactions which occur in bacteria during infection by bacteriophage. Bacteriophage are viruses which hijack bacterial replication machinery in order to reproduce. To do this, they disrupt the bacteria’s gene regulation. We understand this process in great detail at the DNA level, however we have a lack of understanding of regulation at the RNA level. As regulation of RNA is a pivotal step in controlling gene-expression, in which the fate of RNA is determined, it is essential we ascertain the role phage-derived RNA plays in disrupting bacterial gene regulation during the infection cycle in order to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms at play which favour phage replication.

I gained my Bachelor of Science with first class Honors from the University of Reading in 2018. Following this I was awarded a Masters Excellence Scholarship and began my Master of Research degree at Cardiff University with a project focussed on Cystic Fibrosis microbiology. I graduated from my MRes with distinction in 2019 before commencing my PhD with Dr Luke Allsopp and Prof. Jane Davies OBE at Imperial. During my PhD I focussed on the characterisation of a subset of the Type V Secretion System in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, known as the Contact Dependent Inhibition (CDI) systems- determining their role in facilitating bacterial dominance in the Cystic Fibrosis lung environment. Secretion systems are protein-based nanomachines which enable bacteria to export proteins into the environment, or directly into either host or rival bacterial cells. Exported proteins from the CDI are involved in interbacterial competition. This competition is warfare between bacterial cells using toxic bacterial-derived proteins. This helps the bacteria encoding these systems to obtain nutrients and space by outcompeting other bacteria in a particular environment. In 2023 I joined the research group of Prof. Sivaramesh Wigneshweraraj at the Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology at Imperial, where I am now a Postdoctoral Research Associate.

In addition to my current research, I maintain a keen interest in biofilms and secretion systems, particularly in the P. aeruginosa and Cystic Fibrosis fields- which stems both from my PhD and a personal connection to the condition.