Mostly Microbes and Infection

Researchers identify a protein (HDP1) that plays a critical role in activating genes required for the development of Plasmodium falciparum. The finding provides important new insights into how the malaria parasite controls conversion into gametocytes.

Chemists discover how the structure of the EmrE transporter changes as a substrate moves through it. Proteins similar to this one, which is found in E. coli, are believed to help bacteria become resistant to multiple antibiotics.

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David Ojcius is Professor at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, USA. He gained his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and did research at Rockefeller and Harvard before moving to the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, where he worked for thirteen years. His research interests include viruses and intracellular bacteria, interactions with the innate immune system, microbiota, biochemistry and cell biology of infected cells, inflammation and aging. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-research-in-microbial-sciences/editorial-board/david-m-ojcius-phd

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Engineered ammonia-producing bacteria could replace crop fertilizers. Scientists modified the soil -inhabiting bacteria Azotobacter vinelandii. The bacteria were known to convert nitrogen into ammonia but new strain excretes ammonia at much higher levels.

Article analyzed 26 studies from around the world encompassing >5,600 hospitalized COVID19 patients. Zinc, vitamin C & vitamin D don't prevent COVID deaths. But vitamin D shortened patients' hospital stay if they started taking it after getting COVID.

California announced it would become the first in the US to treat COVID19 as a manageable, endemic risk. The decision could be a bellwether as officials elsewhere in the country look to resume a level of normalcy

The industry we're in is actually two in one: teaching and research. We learn as we teach students. Being in research you are a student for life. You constantly have to learn new skills. It requires you to be a lifelong learner.

Many factors such as enteric infection, antibiotics, low-fiber diets, circadian rhythm disruption, and psychological stress can affect gut barrier integrity and lead to systemic, low-grade inflammation due to translocation of bacteria and their components.

The association between oral health and systemic disease has been established for some time. Medical research has pointed to a link between health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease and periodontal disease. What’s still debatable though is how oral bacteria can have such an impact on the oral cavity that it could lead to health conditions in other parts of the body.

Welcome to Mostly Microbes and Infectious Diseases. David Ojcius posts newspaper and journal articles in the broad field of microbiology.

It’s no secret that we rely on our immune systems to fight off common infections. But what you might not know is that the immune system is highly evolved and can even sense danger, explains David Ojcius, the Assistant Dean of Research at University of the Pacific in San Francisco, California.

  An NIAID/ NIH   Pandemic Preparedness Plan has 2 goals. 1. Identify “prototype pathogens”: viruses with the potential to cause significant human disease. 2. Focus on priority pathogens: viruses already known to cause human illness or death, such as Zika .

Over 1.2 million people died in 2019 of infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a study of 204 countries. In comparison, malaria caused 640,000 deaths & AIDS caused 860,000 deaths.

David Ojcius is a professor and researcher at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, California. He earned a B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley and then continued at Berkeley to get his Ph.D. in Biophysics. After postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and Rockefeller University, David Ojcius took his skills to France, where he had his first permanent job at the Pasteur Institute. There, Ojcius studied interactions between human pathogens and host immune systems.