When:
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT
Where: Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center, SQ AUDITORIUM, 303 E. Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60611 map it
Audience: Faculty/Staff - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students
Contact:
Cynthia Naugles
(312) 503-0489
Group: Department of Microbiology-Immunology Seminars/Events
Category: Lectures & Meetings
Title:
Role of Legionella pneumophila Type IV Pili in Environmental Persistence and Pathogenesis
Speaker:
Armando Barajas, Graduate Student, Driskill Graduate Program, Lab of Nicholas Cianciotto, PhD
Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila (Lp), an intracellular parasite of amoebae, a constituent of biofilms, and a pathogen that infects macrophages when inhaled into the lungs. Lp possesses type IV pili (T4P), surface appendages often linked to DNA uptake, attachment to biotic and abiotic surfaces, and virulence. We have gained evidence that Lp expresses distinct forms of T4P with different functions, with one set of pili playing an important role in infection. Our work has the potential to not only overturn dogma in the Lp field but add a novel perspective to the broader field’s recently evolving view of T4P.
Host: Nicholas Cianciotto, PhD, Professor