The Emerging Pathogens Institute Seminar Series
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Date and time
Description
Title Beneath the Carcass: Activity of Bacillus Anthracis in Soil
Presented by Holly H. Ganz, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Project Scientist Department of Population Health & Reproduciton University of California, Davis
Refreshments will be provided.
After the death of its vertebrate host, viable cells of the causative agent of anthrax, Bacillus anthracis is released along with blood into soil. Nutrients released from carcasses may promote the growth of grasses, attracting new potential hosts to infectious site. Although B. anthracis produces hardy spores that can persist for decades, observations from carcass sites show that spore concentrations typically decline buy may also fluctuate.
An environmental life cycle may explain how spores persist at some sites despite weathering, competition with other microbes, and predation by lytic bacteriophages. Although once held to be contentious, the idea that replication can also occur outside of a host is strongly supported by studies investigating activity in the rhizosphere and effects of lysogenic bacteriophages.
In this seminar, I will discuss the role of vultures and bacteriophages on survival and transmission of spores and discuss current evidence of an environmental life cycle in B. anthracis.