Dr. Christopher L Colbert's lab at North Dakota State University focuses on understanding how certain bacteria, particularly Gram-negative bacteria, manage to import essential metals like iron from their environment. By studying specific transport proteins and their regulation, the lab aims to unravel complex signaling mechanisms that could lead to new treatments for bacterial infections, especially those caused by antibiotic-resistant strains. The research combines structural biology and biochemistry techniques to analyze how these bacteria respond to their surroundings and how they can be targeted by new antibiotics.