Role of Type IV Secretion Systems in Bacterial Pathogenesis: The Bartonella Paradigm

Type IV secretion systems (T4SS) are versatile transport machineries that translocate DNA and protein substrates across bacterial cell envelopes by a mechanism requiring direct contact with a target cell. Studies of the T4SS of the emerging pathogen Bartonella have supplied important insights into the evolution and functional role of these wide-spread transporters in bacterial pathogenesis, identifying common mechanistic themes as well as novel adaptations for specialized purposes relating to the modulation of the donor-target cell interaction.

Christoph Dehio (*1965 in Gelnhausen) studied Biology at the University of Cologne, where he also received his Ph.D. in 1992. From 1993 to 1995, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Institut Pasteur. From 1995 to 2000, he was a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen. Since 2000, he is professor of Infection Biology at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. He received several several honors and awards, including the Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society in 1994, the Pfizer Research Prize in Infectiology in 2006 and the Main Award of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology in 2006. Since 2009 he is member of the research council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and an elected member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Moderation: Professor Dr. Uwe Völker