The emergence of new pathogens and rise in drug resistance-related fatalities are clear indicators that infectious diseases are poised to become a major threat for public health throughout the world. In order to develop new counter-strategies, it is now more important than ever to further our understanding of the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms underlying resistance, infection, and pathogenicity. Crucial to this effort are new technologies ranging from computational methods, "omics" -related analysis, to advanced imaging techniques, which promise to provide unprecedented insights into the biology and evolution of emerging and established pathogens.
However, implementation of these new technologies into biological laboratories can be challenging. In many cases, improvements in throughput along with constantly lowering costs of research platforms such as genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have created vast data sets that need to be mined for crucial information on biological pathways that can lead to a better understanding of resistance and virulence mechanisms. However, the type of information to use and best practices to extract this information are still uncertain. In other cases, promising techniques have been developed as an analytical proof-of-concept but have not successfully translated into microbial pathogen research yet.
We envision this Research Topic as a guide to novel techniques, or novel applications of established methods, with expert opinions and perspectives on their contribution to the study of pathogens. We especially encourage in-depth technical reports which allow effective adaptation of the described methods, but also welcome other original research, commentaries and reviews on innovative methods and future directions for the research on pathogens.
Applications of interest include but are not limited to:
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Mechanisms of virulence in opportunistic pathogens
• Emergent pathogens
• Mechanisms, development and evolution of antimicrobial resistance
• Evolution of host immune evasion, colonization and infection mechanisms
The emergence of new pathogens and rise in drug resistance-related fatalities are clear indicators that infectious diseases are poised to become a major threat for public health throughout the world. In order to develop new counter-strategies, it is now more important than ever to further our understanding of the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms underlying resistance, infection, and pathogenicity. Crucial to this effort are new technologies ranging from computational methods, "omics" -related analysis, to advanced imaging techniques, which promise to provide unprecedented insights into the biology and evolution of emerging and established pathogens.
However, implementation of these new technologies into biological laboratories can be challenging. In many cases, improvements in throughput along with constantly lowering costs of research platforms such as genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have created vast data sets that need to be mined for crucial information on biological pathways that can lead to a better understanding of resistance and virulence mechanisms. However, the type of information to use and best practices to extract this information are still uncertain. In other cases, promising techniques have been developed as an analytical proof-of-concept but have not successfully translated into microbial pathogen research yet.
We envision this Research Topic as a guide to novel techniques, or novel applications of established methods, with expert opinions and perspectives on their contribution to the study of pathogens. We especially encourage in-depth technical reports which allow effective adaptation of the described methods, but also welcome other original research, commentaries and reviews on innovative methods and future directions for the research on pathogens.
Applications of interest include but are not limited to:
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Mechanisms of virulence in opportunistic pathogens
• Emergent pathogens
• Mechanisms, development and evolution of antimicrobial resistance
• Evolution of host immune evasion, colonization and infection mechanisms
