Dr Ariel Blocker

Senior Lecturer in Microbiology

School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine,
University of Bristol, Medical Sciences Building,
Bristol, BS8 1TD

phone: +44 (0)117 33 12063 (internal 12063); lab: +44 (0)117 33 12402; lab office: +44 (0)117 33 12059
email: ariel.blocker@bristol.ac.uk

Structural and functional analysis of the type III secreton of Shigella flexneri
Mechanisms of protein targetting and secretion in prokaryotes
Mechanisms of cell surface appendage assembly in Gram-negative bacteria
Bacterial Pathogenesis
Cellular Microbiology
Macromolecular structures
Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics and Electron Microscopy

Prof. Paula Booth (Biochemistry, UoB)
Dr. Ian Collinson (Biochemistry, UoB)
Dr. Mark Jepson (Biochemistry, UoB)
Dr. Paul Verkade (Biochemistry, UoB)
Dr. Susan Lea (Oxford)
Prof. Keiichi Namba and Dr. Tohru Minamino, Protonic NanoMachine Group, Osaka University (Osaka, Japan)
Prof. Kelly Hughes and Dr. Fabienne Chevrance (University of Freiburg, Switzerland)
Dr. Frank Sobott (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Creative Antibiotics and Prof Mikael Eloffson (Umea, Sweden)
Prof. Cécil Czerkinsky, International Vaccine Institute, South Korea
Dr. Matt Walker, MLW Electron Microscopy Consulting

Martinez-Argudo, I. and Blocker, A.J. (2010) The Shigella T3SS needle transmits a signal for MxiC release, which controls secretion of effectors. Mol. Microbiol. 78, 1365–1378. N.B.: This article was the subject of a ‘Research Highlight’ piece by Dr. Sheilagh Molloy, Senior Editor at Nature Reviews Microbiology (2010) 8, 840.
Shen D.-K., Saurya, S., Wagner, C., Nishioka, H. and Blocker, A.J. (2010) Domains of the Shigella flexneri T3SS IpaB protein involved in secretion regulation. Infec. Immun. 78, 4999-5010.
Roehrich, A.D., Martinez-Argudo, I., Johnson, S., Blocker, A.J.* and Veenendaal, A.K.J. (2010) The extreme C-terminus of Shigella IpaB is required for regulation of T3SS secretion, needle-tip composition and binding. Infect. Immun. 78, 1682-1691. *Corresponding author.
Hodgkinson, J.L., Horsley, A., Stabat, D., Simon, M., Johnson, S., da Fonseca, P.C.A, Morris, E.P., Wall, J.S., Lea, S.M. and Blocker, A.J. (2009) 3D reconstruction of the Shigella flexneri T3SS transmembrane regions reveals 12-fold symmetry and novel features throughout. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 16, 477-485.
Veenendaal, A.K.J., Sundin, C. and Blocker, A.J. (2009) Small-molecule type III secretion system inhibitors block assembly of the Shigella type III secreton. J. Bacteriol. 191, 563-570.