School of Infection & Immunity

Emily Tonge

Title: Investigating the evolutionary plasticity of RNA-based regulatory pathways in E.coliInvestigating the evolutionary plasticity of RNA-based regulatory pathways in E.coli

Synopsis:

RNA-based regulatory pathways play central roles in bacterial gene regulation; however, the mechanisms by which these systems enable bacteria to rapidly adapt to changing environmental conditions across diverse biological contexts remain an open question. In this talk, I will discuss two projects that examine such RNA-based regulatory mechanisms. In the first project, I developed a translational reporter system based on the negative feedback regulation of ribosomal protein S15. Using this platform, I explored the feasibility of isolating novel, synthetic RNA-binding proteins from random DNA sequences, as well as the challenges inherent in probing synthetic RNA–protein regulatory interactions in vivo. In the second project, I examine how E. coli naturally compensates for defects in an essential RNA-processing enzyme required for protein production. This work focuses on how essential RNA-processing pathways adapt under selective pressure. Together, these studies provide insight into the flexibility of bacterial RNA-based regulatory mechanisms in both synthetic and naturally evolving systems.

Bio:

Emily completed her BSc in Biomedical Science at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2022, followed by an MSc in Infection Biology at the University of Manchester in 2024. Her MSc research focused on the evolutionary dynamics of mutation rates in Pseudomonas species. She is currently a 2nd-year PhD student in Dr. Arianne Babina’s lab, where her PhD work broadly focuses on the evolution of RNA-based gene regulatory networks in bacteria.

First published: 19 August 2025

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