Post-Translation Reguluation of Listeria Monocytogenes Virulence Factors

Listeria monocytogenes represents an increasingly significant health threat as it has been associated with several multi-state food-borne outbreaks that have resulted in thousands of illnesses and several hundred deaths within the past few years. The largest and most expensive (> $140 million) recalls of food products in history continue to occur as a result of L. monocytogenes contamination, and the bacterium generally ranks as the third or fourth most common cause of bacterial meningitis in North America.<P> This proposal will elucidate how L. monocytogenes regulates the activity of secreted factors critical for bacterial virulence; this Information may result in the identification of new bacterial drug targets as well as enhance the development of L. monocytogenes-based vaccines for delivery of foreign antigens.