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Molecular Microbiology
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Microbial menagerie
Junk food binge alters community of microbes in the gut in less than a day
Nov. 11,
2009 -- Switching from a low-fat, plant-based diet to one high in fat and sugar alters the collection of microbes living in the gut in less than a day, with obesity-linked microbes suddenly thriving, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The study was based on transplants of human intestinal microbes into germ-free mice.
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Undressing a deadly parasite
Protein "tuning" system lets scientists uncloak dangerous parasite
May 7,
2009 -- Researchers at the School of Medicine have found a way to dress and undress Leishmania, a parasite that causes death and disfigurement in developing countries. Scientists showed that they could control the parasite's ability to put on its carbohydrate coat, causing it to put on the whole coat, a lighter version or to forego the coat entirely.
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Scientists seek genes of deadly parasite
Deadly parasite's rare sexual dalliances may help scientists neutralize it
April 9,
2009 -- For years, microbiologist Stephen Beverley has tried to get the disease-causing parasite Leishmania in the mood for love. In this week's Science, he and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health report that they may have finally found the answer: Cram enough Leishmania into the gut of an insect known as the sand fly, and the parasite will have sex.
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Showing Stories 1 through 3 of 56.
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| Faculty Experts: |
Showing 5 Experts.
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Ralph Quatrano
Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., is the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is internationally known for his plant science work on patterns of embryo formation, and how the patterns lead cells to acquire traits or ...
Expertise: Plants, plant biology, botany, moss, genome, algae, genes, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-6850
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rsq@wustl.edu
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Scott Hultgren
Helen L. Stoever Professor of Molecular Microbiology
Studies in the Hultgren lab are leading to new and better techniques for diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections. Scientists estimate half of all women will experience a UTI at some point in her life, and additional recurrent UTIs will affect 20 to 40 percent of these patients. Hultgren ...
Expertise: urinary tract infection, UTI, bacteria, bacteria-host interactions, biofilms, E. coli, recurrent infection
Media assistance: (314) 286-0122 / purdym@wustl.edu
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Frank Yin
Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering; The Stephen and Camilla Brauer Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Frank C. P. Yin, M.D., Ph.D., the Stephen and Camilla Brauer Professor of Biomedical Engineering and chair of the biomedical engineering department, is a world-renowned biomedical engineer. Yin heads a dynamic, young department, not yet five years old and already ranked among the top 20 in the nation. ...
Expertise: soft tissue mechanics, cell mechanics, hemodynamics
Direct contact: (314) 935-6164
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yin@wustl.edu
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Stephen Beverley
Marvin A. Brennecke Professor of Molecular Microbiology
Beverley is an international leader in the development of genetic and molecular tools for studying human parasites. He has put those innovations to use in extensive studies of Leismania major, a parasite that infects approximately 12 million people worldwide, causing significant death and disfigurement. ...
Expertise: Molecular genetics of protozoan parasites; genomics, virulence and drug resistance; leishmania, leishmaniasis
Media assistance: (314) 286-0122 / purdym@wustl.edu
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Michael Diamond
Assistant professor of molecular microbiology
Diamond is an expert in the effects of West Nile Virus (WNV) and other mosquito-borne viruses on the human immune and nervous systems. He uses mouse models to study the viruses' ability to infect the central nervous system and has identified genetic factors that can increase the chances a WNV infection ...
Expertise: Dengue, West Nile Virus, West Nile encephalitis, vaccine, vaccination, immunity, hemorrhagic fever, …
Media assistance: (314) 286-0122 / purdym@wustl.edu
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Showing 5 Experts.
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Bacteria Thrive in Inner Elbow; No Harm Done
The New York Times
and 2 others
May 23,
2008 -- WUSTL researchers Ruth E. Lay and Jeffrey I. Gordon, along with colleagues, comment on different kinds of bacteria that do not harm the human body, but in fact help it.
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Nurturing Our Microbes
Science News Online
March 3,
2008 -- Cover story on the impact gut bacteria have on our health includes the research of WUSTL microbiologist Jeffrey Gordon.
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Plant-like protein underpins common parasites' ability to infect
DailyIndia.com (FL)
and 7 others
Jan. 10,
2008 -- WUSTL researchers led by WUSTL molecular microbiology professor David Sibley have revealed that Toxoplasma gondii, a common human parasite, uses a plant-like protein for signalling when to increase its numbers and when to be dormant. T. gondii is found in one in every four humans causing serious disease in patients with weakened immune systems.
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Scientists find potential weakness in plague germ
Scientific American
and 3 others
Jan. 26,
2007 -- The germ that caused the plague epidemic that ravaged medieval Europe has a weakness that could help make a particularly dangerous form easier to treat, according to a study published on Thursday.
There are periodic natural outbreaks of pneumonic plague like one that started in 2005 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There also is acute concern terrorists could harness the bacterium as an airborne germ warfare agent to spread pneumonic plague.
Writing in the journal Science, WUSTL scientists led by molecular microbiology professor William Goldman said experiments with mice showed that the onslaught of the bacterium slows markedly when the germ cannot use a key protein.
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A common parasite's strongest asset: its stealth
The New York Times
June 20,
2006 -- On paper, Toxoplasma gondii looks as if it ought to be the most famous parasite on earth. This single-celled pathogen infects over half the world's population, including an estimated 50 million Americans. Each of Toxoplasma's victims carries thousands of the parasites, many residing in the brain. As Toxoplasma spreads through the body, it invades cells. Unlike other pathogens, Toxoplasma can enter almost every type of cell in the bodies of thousands of host species. David Sibley, an associate professor of molecular microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis, said, ''It just sits there, and the host doesn't recognize it as a foreign body it should destroy.''
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