Oct 14, 2022
Vibrios are marine bacteria that live in aquatic environments
with a lot of other microbes, and occasionally a particular strain
will arise that can cause serious disease in humans and can spread
through the population in pandemics. V. cholerae
causes large pandemics of cholera, and V. vulnificus
causes sporadic cases of necrotizing fasciitis. Genomic
sequencing has allowed scientists to follow the evolution of
pathogens as they pass through the human population, and
highlighted specific genomic changes that are associated with
disease. Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno is an assistant professor in
the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of
Central Florida. Dr. Almagro-Moreno is studying how pathogens
emerge from a background of relatively harmless environmental
organisms.
Dr. Almagro-Moreno discusses how Vibrios can arise that cause
disease, how the environment can influence pathogenic traits that
are advantageous inside of a host, how oysters may be a training
ground for Vibrio vulnificus pathogenesis in humans, how
growing up on an island in Spain sparked his interest in marine
pathogens, how climate change has impacted Vibrio-related disease,
and how playing flamenco guitar keeps him sane.
The microCase for listeners to solve is about France Holiday, an
anti-vax social media influencer who gets more than she bargained
for while promoting an antibacterial drinking straw.
Participants:
- Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA)
- Salvador Almagro-Moreno, Ph.D. (University of Central Florida)
- Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)
- Cameron Lloyd (UTSA)