Abstract
Conjugative transfer is an important mechanism of plasmid dissemination and undoubtedly a major contributor to the spread of antibiotic resistance. A natural phenomenon exists that prevents the spread of conjugative plasmids called fertility inhibition where some plasmids inhibit the conjugal transfer of other unrelated plasmids. This project involves the study of one protein called FipA from incompatibility group N plasmids, which inhibit the transfer of the broad-host-range multi-resistant plasmids of the incompatibility group P type. This project aims to understand the function of FipA in a number of clinical isolates and to characterise the mechanism of IncP plasmid inhibition.
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