CLOSTNET (External organisation)

Description

The genus Clostridium are a large and important group of bacteria, from both a medical and industrial perspective. Thus: - C. difficile is now one of Europe’s most important causes of hospital infection. - C. perfringens is causing devastation in the European poultry industry- C. botulinum continues to fuel public concerns over its misuse by bioterrorists- C. acetobutylicum offers hope in potential sustainable biofuel production - C. sporogenes & C. novyi offer novel cures for treating cancer
As a consequence, there is an urgent need to better understand the basic biology of these important bacteria to counter the diseases they cause and exploit their potential benefits.

Using cutting edge technology and pulling together the expertise from Centres of Excellence across Europe, “CLOSTNET” aims to meet this need. This four year, 5 million project is funded by the EU Marie Curie FP7 People Programme and involves academic and industrial partners from 7 European Member States. At the heart of the study is the revolutionary “ClosTron” technology developed by the University of Nottingham which allows systematic inactivation of genes to evaluate their function. The programme will include 5 workshops and two open Clostridia conferences.