Unveiling the molecular mechanism of bacterial ABC toxins (2017-2022)

This project will build on our pioneering studies of the recently characterised ABC family of bacterial protein toxins. ABC toxins are the main virulence factors in many species of naturally-occurring bacterial pathogens of insect pests. Here we aim to establish that ABC toxins are representative of a novel protein machinery that may be employed more widely throughout cells and other organisms to direct the intercellular delivery of bioactive proteins in a highly cell-specific manner. We expect these findings will enable the development of new biopesticides based on ABC toxins, as well as generic intercellular protein delivery devices for a variety of biotechnological applications.