Curli are extracellular organelles produced by Escherichia coli and certain Salmonella species. These fibers are structurally and biochemically identical to eukaryotic amyloid fibers, which underlie diverse mammalian ailments including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), systemic amyloidosis, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, among others.
The Chapman lab uses the curli system to study the fundamental principles of amyloid formation. We continue to dissect the biogenesis of curli fibers, as well as the consequences of curli amyloid formation on the biology of microbial communities.
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