Checa, Susana

Susana Checa has a Master in Science degree from the Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCByF) of the National University of Rosario, Argentina; she completed her PhD at the PROMUBIE (Multidisciplinary Experimental Biology Program) of the same Faculty, under the direction of Dr. Alejandro Viale. She carried out three post-doctoral research stays in the different dependencies of the IBR (CONICET-UNR) and the Department of Microbiology of the FCByF. She is currently an Independent Researcher at CONICET, and a member of the Laboratory of Signal Transduction in Pathogenic Bacteria. She is also Professor of the Microbiology Department of the FCByF. She is director of the project: Design of bacterial biosensors of heavy metals and strategies for their bioremediation. Within the framework of this project, she studies at the molecular level metal stress signaling/response systems and their manipulation to generate efficient biotechnological tools to detect, quantify and/or bioremediate metals using bacteria. She also actively collaborates in the other projects carried out in her laboratory, particularly in the molecular and functional analysis of resistance to transition metals in Salmonella enterica and its role in pathogenesis.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susana-checa-353205116/

https://scholar.google.com.ar/citations?user=ivZ3makAAAAJ&hl=es&oi=ao

https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0003-1629-2848

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6603353057

Twitter: @SusanaCheca1

IG: susana.checa.3

FB: Susana Checa

 


Directed Project:

DESIGN OF BACTERIAL BIOSENSORS FOR HEAVY METALS AND BIOTECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS FOR THEIR REMOVAL

Toxic metals such as mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are disseminated in the environment as a result of human activities and improper waste disposal. These highly persistent pollutants cause severe pathologies and damage the ecosystem. Existing monitoring and removal methods are complex, expensive and/or unfriendly to the environment. Bacteria have mechanisms to detect and respond to these contaminants. My group studies these mechanisms and uses or modifies them on demand in order to develop simple and economical biotechnological detection/removal tools. Through genetic engineering and synthetic biology strategies we have obtained efficient and sensitive bacterial biosensors to detect and quantify the main metal contaminants. We are currently working on improving some of these tools and adding new capabilities such as removal or the detection of organometallic compounds.

Directed Human Resources:

PhD Students

Undergraduate Students

Publicaciones:

  • Andrea A E Méndez, Julián I Mendoza, María Laura Echarren, Ignacio Terán , Susana K Checa, Fernando C Soncini Evolution of Copper Homeostasis and Virulence in Salmonella. 2022 Frontiers in Microbiology | Ver Publicación

  • Andrea A. E. Méndez , José M. Argüello, Fernando C. Soncini & Susana K. Checa Scs system links copper and redox homeostasis in bacterial pathogens. 2024 Journal of Biological Chemistry | Ver Publicación

  • Gonzalo Tulin, Nicolás R. Figueroa, Susana K. Checa, Fernando C. Soncini The multifarious MerR family of transcriptional regulators. 2023 Molecular Microbiology | Ver Publicación

  • Julián I. Mendoza,Julián Lescano,Fernando C. Soncini,Susana K. Checa The protein scaffold calibrates metal specificity and activation in MerR sensors. 2022 Microbial Biotechnology | Ver Publicación