Immunity to bacterial infection and microbiota

Bacteria can play established roles both as pathogens during infection but also as part of the host microbiota. The immune response to bacterial infection is a critical defence strategy protecting the host, yet the immunological interplay with colonising bacteria as part of the host microbiome is critical in both health and disease. Interruption of these anti-infective defences or disruption of the immune-microbiome cross-talk can result in immunopathology and disease. 

This cross-journal collection covers the biological, translational and clinical work focusing on the bacterial-immune interface in the context of the microbiome and the host immune response during infection. It aims to deepen our understanding of the interaction of the immune system with invading pathogens and also in response to the microbiota at steady state and during immunopathology. It covers the translational development and clinical application of therapeutic interventions to combat infection and the modulation of the microbiome, and additionally the establishment of clinically informative biomarkers for infection, the microbiome, dysbiosis and its links to immunopathology.