Bioinformatics Analysis of Cutibacterium Acnes KPA171202

The purpose of this research is to analyze genes of unknown function in Cutibacterium acnes, the bacterium responsible for acne formation. C. acnes is naturally found on the skin but can become pathogenic to humans as it begins to build up in pores of the skin and the body begins to attack itself, forming acne as a result. Gene sequences were analyzed using the GENI-ACT platform to determine potential roles and to find potential association with other genes responsible for acne. First, we used bioinformatics analyses to study genes located near those genes that are already known to have a role in causing acne; we speculated that they too might also be linked to acne formation. Second, we studied an assortment of genes with an unknown function that were “arbitrarily” chosen from the genome. This is important to study as many people struggle with acne and various other problems caused by C. acnes accumulation. Learning more about the genes expressed by this bacterium could help with finding new ways to fight against acne (i.e., to develop new acne medication)