Note: Registration and abstract submission is now open.

The “Prato Conference on the Pathogenesis of Bacterial Diseases of Animals” has been established by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics to bring together researchers working in areas relevant to the mechanisms by which bacteria cause disease in animals. There has been an explosion of information over the past few years as genomic and proteomic technologies have developed, as genetic methodology has progressed to the extent that most bacterial pathogens can be genetically manipulated, as structural biologists have focussed on the analysis of virulence factors and as we understand more about host-pathogen interactions. However, bacterial pathogenesis conferences generally focus on human pathogens. This conference will focus on veterinary pathogens and will involve an integrated examination of the latest exciting data on disease epidemiology, bacterial adhesion, intracellular pathogens, extracellular pathogens and toxins, host-pathogen interactions, innate and acquired immunity, and vaccines, all as they apply to bacterial pathogens of animals.

Julian Rood
Chair, Organising Committee