Symbiotic relationships involve a life-long interaction between host and bacteria, and there is much we do not understand about how these interactions are developed and maintained. During the horizontal recruitment of beneficial bacteria by hosts, a complex set of molecular signals and communication ensures specificity. On the bacterial side, these...
Cytokines made by macrophages play a critical role in determining the course of Legionella pneumophila infection. Prior, murine-based modeling indicated that the cytokine response initiated upon recognition of L. pneumophila involves a subset of Toll-like receptors, namely TLR2, TLR5, and TLR9. Using shRNA/siRNA knockdowns and subsequently CRISPR/Cas9 knockouts (KO), I...
Bacteria often coordinate virulence factors to fine-tune the host response during infection. These coordinated events can include toxins counteracting or amplifying effects of another toxin or though regulating the stability of virulence factors to remove their function once it is no longer needed. Multifunctional autoprocessing repeats-in toxin (MARTX) toxins are...