Karol Fijalkowski

Designation:
Department:
University:
West Pomerania University of Technology
Country:
Poland
Email:
karol.fijalkowski@zut.edu.pl
Journal Associated: Journal of Vaccines and Immunology Biography:

Research Interest: Bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus, in particular the species S. aureus and virulence factors produced by this species. In the so far carried out research, the results of which were published in several peer-reviewed journals I analyzed:

1.The influence of leucocytotoxic and superantygenic virulence factors produced by S. aureus strains isolated from milk of cows with mastitis on the cytokine production and gene expression in bovine leukocyte cultures in vitro;
2. the impact of staphylococcal exotoxins on the process of phagocytosis in vitro;
3. the efficacy of treatment of mastitis by staphylococcal autovaccine;
4. the profile of resistance to methicillin of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from animals;
5. the profile of the genes encoding superantigens in S. aureus and S. xylosus isolates collected from cows;
6. the possibility of transfer of genes encoding superantigens between staphylococci occurring in the same mammary gland;
7. genetic relatedness of staphylococci isolated within a herd of animals;
8. the biological activity of staphylococcal exosecretions against leukocytes in vitro;
9. the impact of staphylococcal virulence factors on the morphology of leukocytes in vitro.
I also analyzed and published in the GenBank several new 16S rRNA gene sequences of bacteria representing different species of staphylococci, identified by PCR-RFLP analysis of gap gene. Furthermore, as a contributor I published in the GenBank the 16S rRNA gene sequences of bacterial isolates, which were unidentified based on the polymorphism of gap gene, of which at least two isolates represent new species or subspecies of the staphylococci.
The second direction of my research concerns the use of magnetic fields, in particular the rotating magnetic field to modify the functional parameters and pathogenicity potential of different species of microorganisms. At the present, I’m analyzing the influence of magnetic field on metabolic processes in microorganisms, both at the cellular and molecular level. As a continuation of my first research mainstream microorganism used in these studies is primarily S. aureus.

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