Education

• 1998-2002  Post doctoral training  
                         University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.
  1998  Ph.D.      Univeristy of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
  1990  M.V.Sc.   Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo Univeristy, Egypt.
  1986  B.V.Sc.    Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo Univeristy, Egypt.

Research

Microbial Pathogenesis
Functional Genomics
Evolution of Bacterial Genomes

The research in my laboratory involves the use of innovative approaches to understand the basics of bacterial pathogenesis and evolution on a genome-wide scale.  Definitely, we advocate the idea of “useful genomics” where genome-wide protocols are used to better understand the disease process or to discover novel vaccine and drug targets.

Currently, we are exploiting the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of human tuberculosis, to better understand the critical stages of persistent tuberculosis.  In particular, we employ the array differential gene expression (ADGE) profiling to unravel the transcriptional machinery that underlies mycobacterial virulence and the nature of host-pathogen interactions.  We also use gene-targeted mutational analysis alongside cellular, biochemical and molecular techniques to determine the role of a novel genomic island expressed only during infection (iVEGI) in mycobacterial survival.  

Other members of the laboratory investigate the pathogenesis and evolution of M. avium ss. paratuberculosis (M. ap), the causative agent of Johne’s disease in cattle.  In particular, we address questions related to the very early stages (few hours) of intestinal invasion by M. ap bacilli as well as virulence factors associated with chronic infection.  With the availability of the genome sequences of members of M. avium complex, we are currently using comparative genomic hybridization, optical mapping and statistical modeling to reconstruct the evolutionary history of M. avium complex.  We are also evaluating the impact of the genome synteny on gene expression and bacterial pathogenesis.

Lab Information

Lab Data

Recent Publications

•  Talaat,A.M., Wu, C-W, Ward, S.K., Rondon, E., Tavano, C., Lyons, C. R., and Johnston, S. A. Mycobacterial bacilli are metabolically active during chronic tuberculosis in murine lungs: Insights from genome-wide transcriptional profiling.  J. Bacteriol. 2007. 189: 4265-4274.
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• Cho,D.; Shin,S.J.; Talaat,A.M.; Collins,M.T.  Cloning, expression, purification and serodiagnostic evaluation of fourteen Mycobacterium paratuberculosis proteins.  Prot. Expr. Purif.  2007.  53: 411-420.
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• Wu, C-W, Livesey, M., Schmoller, S.K., Manning, E.J.B., Steinberg, H., Davis, W.C., Hamilton, M.J. and Talaat,A.M. Invasion and Persistence of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis During
  Early Stages of Johne's Disease in Calves. Infect.Immun. 2007. 7: 2110-2119.
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•  Hines, M.E.; Stabel, J.R.; Sweeney,R.W.; Griffin,F.; Talaat,A.M.; Bakker,D.;  Benedictus, G.; Davis,W.C.; de Lisle, G.W.; Gardner,I.A.; Juste,R.A.;  Kapur,V.; Koets,A.; McNair, J.; Pruitt, G.; Whitlock, R.H. Experimental Challenge Models for Johne's Disease: A Review and Proposed International Guidelines.  Vet. Microbiol. 2007. 21:197-222.
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• Liu,T., Ramesh,A., Ma,Z.,, Ward,S.K., Zhang,L., George,G.N., Talaat,A.M., Sacchettini,J.C., Giedroc,D.P. Mycobacterium tuberculosis CsoR is representative of a novel family of copper sensing transcriptional regulators.  Nat.Chem.Biol.  2007.
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• Shin, S. J., Wu, C-W, Steinberg, H., and Talaat, A. M. Identification of Novel Virulence Determinants in Mycobacterium paratuberculosis by Screening a Library of Insertional Mutants. Infec.Immun.2006. 74:3825-3833.
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• Wu, C-W, Glasner, J., Collins, M. T., Naser, S., and Talaat, A. M. Whole Genome Plasticity among Mycobacterium avium subspecies:  Insights from Comparative Genomic Hybridizations. J.Bacteriol.2006. 188: 711. 723.
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• Talaat, A. M. and Stemke-Hale, K. Expression Library Immunization: a Road Map for Discovery of Vaccines against Infectious Diseases. Infec.Immun.2005. 73: 7089. 7098.
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• Talaat, A. M., Lyons, R., Howard, S. T., and Johnston, S. A. The temporal expression profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci U.S.A. 2004. 101: 4602. 4607.
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• Ruley, K. M., Ansede, J. H., Pritchett, C. L., Talaat, A. M., Reimschuessel, R., and Trucksis, M. Identification of Mycobacterium marinum virulence genes using signature-tagged mutagenesis and the goldfish model of mycobacterial pathogenesis. FEMS Microbiol.Lett.2004. 232: 75. 81.
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• Rombel, I. T., Talaat, A. M., and Johnston, S. A. Shotgun library construction in a day. Biotechniques. 2003. 34: 244. 250.
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• Talaat, A. M., Howard, S. T., Hale, IV W., Lyons, R., Garner, H., and Johnston, S. A. Genomic DNA standards for gene expression profiling in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nucelic Acids Res.2002. 30: E104.
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• Stephen, J. A., Talaat, A. M., and McGuire, M. J. Genetic immunization: what's in a name? Arch.Med.Res.2002. 33: 325. 329.
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• Revel, A. T., Talaat, A. M., and Norgard, M. V. DNA microarray analysis of differential gene expression in Borrelial burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA. 2002. 99: 1562. 1567.
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• Lakey, D. L., Zhang, Y., Talaat, A. M. et. al. Priming reverse transcription with oligo(dT) does not yield representative samples of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cDNA. Microbiol.2002. 148: 2567. 2572.
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• Talaat, A. M., Lyons, R., and Johnston, S. A. A combination vaccine confers full protection against co-infections with influenza, herpes simplex and respiratory syncytial viruses. Vaccine.2001. 20: 538. 544.
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• Talaat, A. M., Hunter, P., and Johnston, S. A. Genome-directed primers for selective labeling of bacterial transcripts for DNA microarray analysis. Nat.Biotechnol.2000. 18: 679. 682.
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• Talaat, A. M. and Trucksis, M. Transformation and transposition of the genome of Mycobacterium marinum
  12. Am.J Vet.Res.2000. 61: 125. 128.
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