how can you characterize a new metabolic ot signaling pathway recently postulated in an endocarditis bacterium

Question

this is on the biochemical level...we need to find if the protien is acting upstream or downstream

Answer 1

Give us more info, otherwise we cannot help you.

Do you know all/most components involved?
Is there homology with a respective system of another organism?
Is the genome of the bacterium you are refering to known (complete sequence)?
What data do you already have?etc
How much control do you have over the system (strains, regulating expression with inducers, manipulating genes, etc)

Answer 2

Okay...so you need an assay...some way of measureing the phenotype....

then you need some way of knocking out or knocking down proteins you think might be upstream or downstream....

since it's a bacteria there must be a simple screen you could do and then through complementation figure out what genes are involved