 |
Dr. Tom Inzana Professor of Microbiology; |
 |
 |
Coordinator, Center for Molecular
Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology 1410 Prices Fork Rd., Room 212 Phone: 540-231-4692 FAX: 540-231-3426 EMAIL: tinzana@vt.edu |
|
Research Diagnosis and vaccine deveopent of bacterial infectious diseases, particularly gram-negative bacteria. Current research focuses on the use of molecular and immunologic methods to assess the role of bacterial capsules and lipopolysaccharide in virulence. The genes responsible for capsule production in the swine pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae have been deleted to generate attenuated vaccine strains. Capsule genes from other serotypes have been inserted into nonencapsulated mutants to evaluate the role of the type and amont of capsule produced in bacterial virulence. Genes responsible for lipopolysaccharide phase variation in the bovine pathogen Haemophilus somnus are being sequenced and mutated to evaluate the role of phase variation and individual glycoses in virulence and resistance to host defenses. Recent Publications McQuiston, J.H., J.R. McQuiston, A.D. Cox,
Y, Wu, S. M. Boyle, and T.J. Inzana. 1999. Characterization of a DNA region containing
5’-(CAAT)n-3’ DNA sequences involved in lipooligosaccharide biosynthesis in
Haemophilus somnus. Microb. Pathogen. 28:301-312. Howard, M.D., A.D. Cox, J.N. Weiser, G.G.
Schurig, and T.J. Inzana. 2000. Antigenic diversity in Haemophilus somnus
lipooligosaccharide and investigation of the phosphorylcholine epitope. J. Clin.
Microbiol. 38:4412-4419. Inzana, T.J. and B. Fenwick. 2001.
Serologic diagnosis of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae in swine by capsular
polysaccharide-biotin/streptavidin-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. J. Clin. Microbiol.
39:1279-1282. Veterinary microbiology (Pasteurellaceae, Bordetella,
and Francisella) Other Interests Faculty Advisor for Virginia Tech Isshinryu Karate Club |
||