近80年来，人类新发现的感染性疾病近六成都是由细菌感染（Bacterial Infection）所致，而抗生素的出现使人们免受感染性疾病的困扰，挽救了无数生命，为全人类的健康保驾护航。然而抗生素的不合理使用，导致了致病菌抗（耐）药性（Drug Resistance/Tolerance）的形成、并在世界范围内迅速蔓延，从而使许多感染性疾病濒临无药可治的困境。因此，控制细菌感染是战胜感染性疾病的关键。本课题组主要围绕抗感染药物抗菌、杀菌以及病原菌的致病机制展开研究，目前在细菌细胞死亡的共享分子通路、抗生素耐受及广谱杀菌增效剂、细菌感染致病机制研究等方面已取得一定的进展。

课题组现有教授1名，副教授2名，工程师1名，博士后3名，研究生30名。2022年，课题组负责人赵西林教授入选国家级创新人才项目，已在Nature Microbiology 、Cell Reports、PNAS 等国际知名杂志上发表100余篇论文。团队获得了国家自然科学基金、福建省基金、厦门市科技计划项目、企业横向项目等多方面的支持，累计经费超过1000万元。课题组培养了一批博士生和硕士生，就职于各地高校、疾控、医院、研究机构、企业等优质单位，欢迎各位同学的加入!

近期代表性论文：

1. Chen M, Cui R, Hong S, Zhu W, Yang Q, Li J, Nie Z, Zhang X, Ye Y, Xue Y, Wang D, Hong Y, Drlica K, Niu J, Zhao X. Broad-spectrum tolerance to disinfectant-mediated bacterial killing due to mutation of the PheS aminoacyl tRNA synthetase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 122(6):e2412871122.

2. Y Hong, L Li, G Luan, K Drlica, X Zhao* (2017). Contribution of reactive oxygen species to thymineless death in Escherichia coli. Nature microbiology. 2 (12), 1667

3. Dai Wang, Sean P. McAteer, Agata B. Wawszczyk, Clark D. Russell1,Amin Tahoun, Alex Elmi, Scott L. Cockroft, David Tollervey, Sander Granneman, Jai J. Tree1 ,* and David L. Gally* (2018). An RNA-dependent mechanism for transient expression of bacterial translocation filaments. Nucleic Acids Research, 46 (7): 3366–3381.

4. Y. Hong, J. Zeng, X. Wang, K. Drlica and X. Zhao* (2019). Post-stress bacterial cell death mediated by reactive oxygen species. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116 (20): 10064-10071.

5. Liao Y, Li Q * (2019). Profile of MeltPro® HPV test for human papillomavirus genotyping and cervical precancer screening, Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics 19: 857-862.

6. Hong, Y., Q Li, Q. Gao, J. Xie, H. Huang, K. Drlica, X. Zhao* (2020) Reactive oxygen species play a dominant role in all pathways of rapid quinolone-mediated killing. J Antimicrob Chemother 75 (3): 576-585. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkz485.

7. Jie Zeng, Liwen Wu, Zhou Liu, Yihua Lv, Jinzhi Feng, Weijie Wang, Yunxin Xue, Dai Wang, Jiabin Li, and Xilin Zhao*. (2021). Gain-of-function mutations in acid stress response (evgS) protect Escherichia coli from killing by gallium nitrate, an antimicrobial candidate. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 65 (3): e01595-20 (https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.01595-20)

8. Zhang, Z, D. Xu, J. Fang, D. Wang, J. Zeng, X. Liu, S. Hong, Y Xue, X Zhang*, X Zhao* (2021). In situ live imaging of gut microbiota. mSphere 6 (5): e00545-21. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00545-21

9. Zeng J, Hong Y, Zhao N, Liu Q, Zhu W, Xiao L, Wang W, Chen M, Hong S, WuL, Xue Y, Wang D, Niu J, Drlica K, Zhao X*. (2022). A broadly applicable, stress-mediated bacterial death pathway regulated by the phosphotransferase system (PTS) and the cAMP-Crp cascade. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.119(23): e2118566119.

10. Huang Q, Chen D, Du C, Liu Q, Lin S, Liang L, Xu Y, Liao Y*, Li Q* (2022). Highly multiplex PCR assays by coupling the 5'-flap endonuclease activity of Taq DNA polymerase and molecular beacon reporters, PNAS. 119: e119.

11. Wang W, Zhu X, Luo H, Wang Z, Hong A, Zeng J, Li L, Wang D, Deng X*, Zhao X* (2023). Bicyclomycin activity against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. Microbiol. Spectr. 11 (1): e0379022.

12. Shouqiang Hong, Shaopeng Su, Qiong Gao, Miaomiao Chen, Lisheng Xiao, Runbo Cui, Yinli Guo, Yunxin Xue, Dai Wang, Jianjun Niu*, Haihui Huang*, Xilin Zhao*. Enhancement of β-Lactam-Mediated Killing of Gram-Negative Bacteria by Lysine Hydrochloride. Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Jun 13; e0119823. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01198-23.

13. Fang F, Xue Y, Xu X, Fang D, Liu W, Zhong Y, Han J, Li Y, Tao Q, Lu R, Ma C, Kumar A, Wang D*. L-glutamine protects against enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection by inhibiting bacterial virulence and enhancing host defense concurrently. Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Oct 10:e0097523. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.00975-23. Online ahead of print.PMID: 37815335