27th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference (MMPC)

"The 28th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference (MMPC), held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union from 30 September to 1 October 2022, convened over 400 attendees from 19 states and showcased a broad spectrum of contemporary research in infectious diseases and host microbe interactions. The meeting emphasized emerging investigators and trainee participation, featuring presentations from 15 invited pre-tenure faculty and five trainee-selected talks, and setting a record with 252 poster presentations. The conference structure combined keynote and invited talks, trainee-led organization of career development activities, and inclusion efforts such as caregiving grants to facilitate attendance. The 2021 MMPC organizers, Drs. Chris Waters and Neal Hammer from Michigan State University, opened the meeting, establishing continuity with prior regional leadership and highlighting the role of established investigators in mentoring and shaping the conference agenda. The program culminated with a keynote from Dr. Victor Torres (NYU), whose presentation underscored the innovative directions in microbial pathogenesis.

The special collection of nine articles derived from the conference captures both mechanistic bacteriology and microbiome pathogen interface themes. Several studies focused on Staphylococcus aureus virulence regulation and physiology: work from Victor Torres' laboratory (Anderson et al.) identified SarS as a transcriptional repressor of bicomponent leukocidins, acting both directly on toxin promoters and indirectly via activation of Rot, the repressor of toxins protein. Complementing regulatory insights, Bobrovskyy et al. examined the type VII secretion system in a mouse-adapted S. aureus strain, WU1, demonstrating that while this secretion apparatus is dispensable for nasopharyngeal colonization, it is required for full virulence in bacteremia models. Burtchett et al. reported an unexpected role for lipoteichoic acid in regulating membrane potential during fermentative growth, linking cell envelope assembly to metabolic adaptability and antibiotic resistance.

Collectively, the work presented at the 28th MMPC and captured in this special collection underscores the depth and diversity of microbial pathogenesis research in the Midwest, spanning molecular mechanisms of virulence and secretion, host microbiome interactions, phage biology and potential therapeutic strategies. Trainee engagement and inclusive programming further position the MMPC as a vital venue for nurturing the next generation of investigators in infectious disease research.