Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Hartland Laboratory

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Include: Research interests | Major research topics | Laboratory staff | Recent publications

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Associate Professor Elizabeth Hartland's Home Page

Research interests

Research in our laboratory is focused on the identification of new virulence determinants in the bacterial pathogens, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and Legionella. A major aim of this research is to investigate the interaction of novel virulence factors with host cell proteins and in particular to establish the biochemical and molecular basis of their role in pathogenesis. Our long term goal is to uncover new host processes and structures that are targeted by bacteria during infection leading to the design and development of novel anti-infective agents to treat a range of infectious diseases.

 

interaction between bacteria and mucosal surfaces

 

Legionella is an intracellular respiratory pathogen of lung macrophages that avoids phagolysosome fusion and recruits rough endoplasmic reticulum to the bacterial vacuole (A, arrow). EPEC is an extracellular gastrointestinal pathogen that adheres intimately to the enterocyte surface where it destroys microvilli and recruits cytoskeletal proteins the site of bacterial attachment (B, arrow). Our aim is to understand the molecular basis of intracellular replication by Legionella and mucosal colonization by EPEC through studying the effect of bacterial virulence determinants on host cell biology.

 

translocation of protein from EPEC into epithelial cells

EPEC translocates a virulence protein, EspI/NleA, into epithelial cells that traffics to the Golgi (arrow indicates bacterial microcolony, N = cell nucleus).

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Major Research Topics

  1. Microbial E-NTPDases and their contribution to infection
  2. Legionella vacuolar trafficking
  3. Virulence gene discovery in L. pneumophila and L. longbeachae
  4. Immune responses to bacterial infections
  5. Contribution of type III secreted effector proteins to the virulence of enteropathogenic E. coli, Salmonella and Shigella.
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Laboratory Staff

Laboratory Head

email: Associate Professor Liz Hartland

Research staff
Dr Margareta Aili, Wennergren Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Luminita Badea, ARC Postdoctoral Research Officer
Ms Sau fung Lee, NHMRC Research Assistant
Dr Hayley Newton, NHMRC Postdoctoral Research Officer
Ms Clare Oates, NHMRC Research Assistant
Dr Ralf Schuelein, NHMRC Postdoctoral Research Officer
Ms Joan Sloan, NHMRC Senior Research Assistant

Research students
Ms Michelle Kelly, PhD student
Ms Patrice Riedmaier, PhD student
Mr Adam Vogrin, PhD student
Ms Aishah Zainudin, PhD student
Ms Jaclyn Pearson, PhD student
Ms Bettina Wright, Honours student
Mr Simon Belluzzo, Honours student

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Recent Publications

List of Publications prior to 2007

  1. Tennant S, Atanaskovic M, Azzopardi K, Bigham A, Bennett-Wood V, Hartland E, Qi W, Whittam T, Robins-Browne R. Characterisation of atypical enteropathogenic E. coli strains of clinical origin. BMC Microbiology 2009; 3: 117-127.
  2. Cheng C, Tennant S, Azzopardi K, Bennett-Wood V, Hartland E, Robins-Browne R, Atanaskovic M. Contribution of the pst-phoU operon to cell adherence by atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and the virulence of Citrobacter rodentium. Infection and Immunity 2009; 77: 1936-1944.
  3. Gobin I, Susa M, Begic G, Hartland E, Doric M. Experimental Legionella longbeachae infection in intratracheally inoculated mice. Journal of Medical Microbiology 2009; 58: 723-730.
  4. Hart E, Tauschek M, Bennett-Wood V, Hartland E, Robins-Browne R. Rabbit-specific fimbriae, Ral, alter the patterns of in vitro adherence and intestinal colonisation of rabbits by human-specific enteropathogenic E. coli. Microbes and Infection 2009; 11: 803-810.
  5. Badea L, Beatson S, Kaparakis M, Ferrero R, Hartland E. Secretion of flagellin by the LEE-encoded type III secretion system of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. BMC Microbiology 2009; 9: 30-39.
  6. Newton H, Sloan J, Bulach D, Seemann T, Allison C, Atanaskovic M, Robins-Browne R, Paton J, Whittam T, Hartland E, Paton A. ShigaToxin-producing Escherichia coli strains negative for locus of enterocyte effacement. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2009; 15: 372-380.
  7. Hartland E, Lithgow T. Bacterial protein secretion and trafficking down under. Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian Society for Microbiology, 6-10 July 2008, Melbourne Convention Center, Victoria, Australia. Future Microbiology 2008; 3: 489-491.
  8. Lee S, Kelly M, McAlister A, Luck S, Garcia E, Hall R, Robins-Browne R, Frankel G, Hartland E. A C-terminal class I PDZ binding motif of EspI/NleA modulates the virulence of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli and Citrobacter rodentium. Cellular Microbiology 2008; 10: 499-513.
  9. Yang J, Hart E, Atanaskovic M, Price G, Hartland E, Strugnell R, Robins-Browne R. Bicarbonate-mediated transcriptional activation of divergent operons by the virulence regulatory protein, RegA, from Citrobacter rodentium. Molecular Microbiology 2008; 68: 314-27.
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  10. Sansom F, Riedmaier P, Newton H, Dunstone MA, Muller CE, Stephan H, Byres E, Beddoe T, Rossjohn J, Cowan P, D'Apice A, Robson SC, Hartland E. Enzymatic properties of an ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase from Legionella pneumophila. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2008; 283: 12909-18.
  11. Tennant S, Hartland E, Phumoonna T, Lyras D, Rood JI, Robins-Browne R, van Driel IR. Influence of Gastric Acid on Susceptibility to Infection with Ingested Bacterial Pathogens. Infection and Immunity 2008; 76: 639-645.
  12. Sansom F, Robson SC, Hartland E. Possible effects of microbial ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases on host-pathogen interactions. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 2008; 72: 765-781.
  13. Hart E, Yang J, Atanaskovic M, Kelly M, Wakefield MJ, Frankel G, Hartland E, Robins-Browne R. RegA, an AraC-like protein, Is a global transciptional regulator that controls virulence gene expression in Citrobacter rodentium. Infection and Immunity 2008; 76: 5247-5256.
  14. Newton H, Sansom F, Dao J, Cazalet C, Bruggemann H, Albert-Weissenberger C, Buchrieser C, Cianciotto N, Hartland E. Significant role for ladC in initiation of Legionella pneumophila infection. Infection and Immunity 2008; 76: 3075-3085.
  15. Clements A, Gaboriaud F, Duval JFL, Gabbe J, Jenney A, Lithgow T, Wijburg O, Hartland E, Strugnell R. The major surface-associated saccharides of Klebsiella pneumoniae contribute to host cell association. PLoS One 2008; 3: 1-10.
  16. Zurawski D, Mumy K, Badea L, Prentice J, Hartland E, McCormick B, Maurelli A. The NleE/OspZ family of effector proteins is required for polymorphonuclear transepithelial migration, a characteristic shared by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri infections. Infection and Immunity 2008; 76: 369-379.
  17. Newton H, Sansom F, Dao J, McAlister A, Sloan J, Cianciotto N, Hartland E. Sel1 Repeat Protein LpnE Is a Legionella pnuemophila Virulence Determinant That Influences Vacuolar Trafficking. Infection and Immunity 2007; 75: 5575-5585.
  18. Kim J, Thanabalasuriar A, Chaworth-Musters T, Fromme JC, Frey EA, Lario PI, Metalnikov P, Rizg K, Thomas NA, Lee SF, Hartland EL, Hardwidge PR, Pawson T, Strynadka NC, Finlay BB, Schekman R, Gruenheid S. The bacterial virulence factor NleA inhibits cellular protein secretion by disrupting mammalian COPII function. Cell Host and Microbe 2007; 2: 160-71.

 

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