Biology Talk: Alfredo Torres, University of Texas Medical Branch

Alfredo Torres, University of Texas Medical Branch

"From #Resistance to #Persistence with the Intracellular Pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei"

Dr. Torres' lab has made significant progress in understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of Burkholderia mallei and B. pseudomallei, with a special emphasis in defining the immune responses to infection, allowing us to test multiple virulence factors as vaccine candidates and other therapeutic approaches to protect against Burkholderia aerosol infections.

Talk Abstract: Burkholderia pseudomallei is a bacterial pathogen that causes Melioidosis, a disease with up to 40% mortality and an infection relapse of 15-23% despite antibiotic treatment. Ineffective clearance of Bpm by antibiotics is believed to be due to persistence, a survival mechanism modulated, in part, by toxin-antitoxin systems (TAS). We have identified more than 10 proteins in B. pseudomallei that share features found in toxins of the TAS and repurposed transcriptional data to identify which ones play a role in surviving intracellular host defenses.

Open to the public (contact gonyerk@reed.edu for the Zoom link & password)