Candida albicans is a commensal and a common constituent of the human microbiota; however, it can become pathogenic and cause infections in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised people. C. albicans exhibits remarkable metabolic versatility as it can colonize multiple body sites as a commensal or pathogen. Understanding how C. albicans adapts metabolically to each ecological niche is essential for...
Streptococcus pyogenes is a major human pathogen causing more than 700 million infections annually. As a successful pathogen, S. pyogenes produces many virulence factors that facilitate colonization, proliferation, dissemination, and tissue damage. Serum opacity factor (SOF), an extracellular protein, is one of the virulence factors made by S. pyogenes. The underlying mechanism of how SOF contributes to...
The impact of fungal pathogens on human health is devastating. One of the most pervasive fungal pathogens is Candida albicans, which kills ~40% of people suffering from bloodstream infections. Treatment of these infections is extremely difficult, as fungi are closely related to humans, and there are limited drugs that kill the fungus without host toxicity. The capacity of C. albicans to transition between yeast and...
Yersinia pestis is the bacterial agent that causes the highly fatal disease plague. The organism represents a significant concern because of its potential use as a bioterror agent, beyond the several thousand naturally occurring human infection cases occurring globally each year. While there has been development of effective antibiotics, the narrow therapeutic window and challenges posed by the existence of antibiotic-resistant...
As durations of manned space missions increase, it is imperative to understand the long-term consequence of microbial exposure on human health in a closed human habitat. To date, studies aimed at bacterial and fungal contamination of space vessels have highlighted species compositions biased toward hardy, persistent organisms capable of withstanding harsh conditions. In the current study, we assessed traits of two independent ...
Despite both clinical and laboratory data that show increased virulence in field isolates of MDV-1 over the last half century, we do not yet understand the genetic basis of its pathogenicity. Our knowledge of genome-wide variation between strains of this virus comes exclusively from isolates that have been cultured in the laboratory. MDV-1 isolates tend to lose virulence during repeated cycles of replication in the laboratory, raising...
A multitier regulation exists at the trans-Golgi network in all higher organisms. We report a palmitoylated protein kinase, Env7, that functions at the TGN interface by interacting with two more TGN-resident proteins, namely, Imh1 and Arl1. Palmitoylation seems to be important for the specific localization. This study focuses on the involvement of a ubiquitous protein kinase, whose substrates had not yet been reported from any...
The interactions between intracellular microbes and their host cells can lead to the discovery of novel drug targets. During Toxoplasma infections, host cells express an array of immunity-related GTPases (IRGs) and guanylate binding proteins (GBPs) that load onto the parasite-containing vacuole to clear the parasite. To counter this mechanism, the parasite secretes effector proteins that traffic to the vacuole to disarm the...
The spleen and its response to parasite infection are important in eliminating parasites in malaria. By comparing P. yoelii parasite lines with different disease outcomes in mice that had either intact spleens or had had their spleens removed, we showed that upon parasite infection, the spleen exhibits dramatic changes that can affect parasite clearance. The spleen itself directly impacts RBC deformability independently of...
