title: Mechanisms of bacterial pathogenicity.
abstract: Pathogenic bacteria utilise a number of mechanisms to cause disease in human hosts. Bacterial pathogens express a wide range of molecules that bind host cell targets to facilitate a variety of different host responses. The molecular strategies used by bacteria to interact with the host can be unique to specific pathogens or conserved across several different species. A key to fighting bacterial disease is the identification and characterisation of all these different strategies. The availability of complete genome sequences for several bacterial pathogens coupled with bioinformatics will lead to significant advances toward this goal.
authors.affiliation: Program in Molecular Pathogenesis and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Schurr
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: LeBlanc
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramamurthy
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Buchanan
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nickerson
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D016667:Bacterial Capsules / Q000502:physiology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000209:etiology; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification; D002473:Cell Wall; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology; D012808:Sigma Factor / Q000502:physiology; D014774:Virulence / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D012808:Sigma Factor