Bacterial Pathogens and Their Virulence Factors

Detailed description of 32 major bacterial pathogens that affect human health and their associated virulence determinants

Provides in-depth descriptions of the individual virulence factors involved in pathogenecity
All information is derived from primary literature and review articles

Dr. Johnson received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Miami University in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Purdue University in 1983. His doctoral research with Dr. Ronald Somerville focused on the isolation of new mutants that affected transcriptional regulation of amino acid biosynthesis in E. coli. Post-doctoral work with Dr. John Pringle at the University of Michigan centered on control of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle, with the initial discovery of the Cdc42 GTPase and its role in regulating the actin cytoskeleton. Dr. Johnson’s research in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Vermont extended the analysis of Cdc42 in S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. In addition, anti-virulence studies with small molecule inhibitors of the budded-to-hyphal transition virulence determinant in C. albicans were undertaken. Dr. Johnson’s primary teaching responsibilities are introductory Microbiology and Infectious Disease and advanced Clinical Microbiology, which provided the impetus for writing this book.