Herbert H. Winkler
My research is focused on the obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium, Rickettsia prowazekii. This organism is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus. Other members of this genus are the agents responsible for Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and scrub typhus. Because all of the rickettsiae are associated with arthropod vectors, such as the human body louse or ticks that transmit the rickettsiae to humans, the potential for spread remains and these diseases continue to pose a serious health threat worldwide. The rickettsiae are also of interest due to their unusual biology. These organisms grow in, and only in, the cytoplasm of host cells. Instead of being enclosed within a vacuole, these organisms rapidly escape into the cytoplasm where they grow until the number of rickettsiae becomes so great that the cell bursts releasing hundreds of infectious bacteria. How R. prowazekii exploits the intracellular environment is a primary focus of our work.
Our current research efforts are directed toward establishing a genetic system for R. prowazekii and using this system to examine rickettsial gene function. The ability to manipulate rickettsial genes and create defined mutants would identify those genes that are important in the invasion and destruction of human cells. Such studies will permit us to address important questions about these unique human pathogens and provide basic knowledge about intracellular parasitism.
| Phone: | (251) 460-6324 | |
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| FAX: | (251) 460-7269 | |
| E-mail: | wood@sungcg.usouthal.edu |