Invited Speaker Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2018

The Role of Glycan Interactions in the Cell and Host Tropism of Bacterial Pathogens (#28)

Michael Jennings 1
  1. Griffith University, GOLD COAST, QLD, Australia

Many important interactions between bacterial pathogens and their hosts are highly specific binding events that involve host or pathogen carbohydrate structures called glycans. Bacterial adhesins and toxins can exploit host glycans as targets. Host lectins may recognise bacterial glycans in innate immune processes. The molecular details of many bacterial - host interactions remain to be discovered. Understanding these processes is key for the development of novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of disease. In recent years new, high-throughput glycomic technologies have identified new bacterial-host glycointeractions. This presentation will highlight these recent technological advances and research findings on the glycoscience of bacterial pathogenesis.