Novel plague virulence factor identified
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified a previously unknown family of virulence factors that make the bacterium responsible for the plague especially efficient at killing its host. In the process, the team not only demonstrated that the use of the common roundworm is a valid model for studying the virulence of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague. They a...Scientists determine structure of enzyme that disrupts bacterial virulence
First step toward developing enzymes to treat diseases such as cystic fibrosis, reduce bacterial biowarfare threatsA team of biomedical researchers from Brandeis University and the University of Texas at Austin has determined the first 3-dimensional structure of an enzyme that may be pivotal in preventing certain bacterial infections in plants, animals and humans, according to a study published i...HIV-1's high virulence might be an accident of evolution
The virulence characteristic of HIV-1--the virus predominantly responsible for human AIDS--might amount to an accident of evolution, new evidence reveals. A gene function lost during the course of viral evolution predisposed HIV-1 to spur the fatal immune system failures that are the hallmarks of AIDS, researchers report in the June 16, 2006 Cell. AIDS has killed more than 25 million peopl...Mouse study reveals new clues about virulence of 1918 influenza virus
The first comprehensive analysis of an animal's immune response to the 1918 influenza virus provides new insights into the killer flu, report federally supported scientists in an article appearing online today in the journal Nature. Key among these insights, they found that the 1918 virus triggers a hyperactive immune response that may contribute to the lethality of the virus. Furthermore, their...A wolf in sheep's clothing: Plague bacteria reveal one of their virulence tricks
The bacterium that causes the plague belongs to a virulent family of bacteria called Yersinia, a group that also includes a pathogen responsible for food poisoning. These bacteria insert into their host cells proteins and other virulence factors, which kill by -- among other things -- disrupting the cells' normal structure. One of these proteins, called YpkA, attacks a cell's internal skeleton. N...Virulence of H5N1 virus may not weaken even in hot climes!
Warmer climes in the northern hemisphere might not mean anything to the deadly H5N1 virus as was earlier thought, due to its deep penetration in the poultry// flocks in several parts of Asia, according to health experts. Scientists had suggested earlier that the activity of the bird-flu virus would indeed be pronounced during the months from October to March when temperatures are be...Mutant Parasites, Unable to Infect Hosts, Highlight Virulence Genes
MADISON - With a single approach, microbiologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have identified dozens of clues to how human parasites may infect their hosts . The researchers identified nearly 40 genes that, when mutated in the common parasite Toxoplasma gondii, prevented the parasite from forming an infection in the brains of mice. These potential "virulence factors" offe...