National projects

The wide-spread use of antibiotics is resulting in increasing number of antibiotic and multiple antibiotic resistant strains. Among them are the MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and VRSA (vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Treatment of such infections is difficult and it urgently calls for new approaches in drug discovery that in turn req...

The cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria is composed of proteins and peptidoglycan with the protruding secondary polysaccharides, which differ in the chemical composition and structure among various species. The cell wall secondary polysaccharides are covalently attached to the peptidoglycan and can account for more than a half of the total cell wall mass. They form ...

It is well known that the microbial biofilms pose a significant risk for human health and economy. The increased resistance of microbes in biofilms against antimicrobial agents presents a major challenge for microbial biotechnology. The current research identifies the extracellular matrix that can vary in its exopolymeric (EPS) composition significantly even in the ...

Losses in crop production due to plant diseases average 20 % worldwide and severely limit production, quality, and safety of food. The main culprits, besides viruses, are fungi, bacteria and oomycetes. Practice of crop protection has been progressively reoriented towards reduction of a number of active ingredients in pesticides to those that are more selective and l...

Iodine is the heaviest essential trace element required by the higher living organisms. It is incorporated in T3/T4 hormones responsible for regulation of basal metabolism of almost any cell. T3 and T4 hormones are produced in the thyroid gland. The thyroid hormone metabolism involves selenium containing deiodinases and additional selenoperoxidases and thioredoxin p...