Bacterial Pathogens Sense and Respond to Host Environments

Karen Ottemann, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology

Karen Ottemann's laboratory investigates how pathogenic bacteria translate chemical and physical cues in their environment into adaptive responses. Mistakes in sensation and subsequent gene expression by bacteria may result in their elimination by the immune response or peristaltic flow. Elucidation of such processes will hopefully lead to identification of anti-bacterial drug targets. Ottemann is particularly interested in the role of chemoreceptors and chemotaxis associated with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. This pathogen infects some 3 billion humans and can lead to serious disease, including ulcers and cancer. Ottemann and her colleagues have discovered that chemotaxis aids multiple aspects of infection, and also can promote a host inflammatory response.