Department of Population Medicine & Diagnostic Sciences at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

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Craig Altier

Associate Professor

Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853

607-253-3926, ca223@cornell.edu

Education

Research and Professional Experience

Honors and Awards

Memberships and Affiliations

Selected Publications

Research Interests

Research in our lab seeks to understand the environmental cues of the intestinal tract that induce virulence gene expression in Salmonella. Our work shows that the environment of the intestinal tract affects Salmonella virulence in a complex way: Conditions of the ileum, where Salmonella normally invades, promote the expression of genes required for virulence, while colonic conditions have the opposite effect. Our work therefore examines how changes in the environment of the intestine affect the virulence of Salmonella. We are also attempting to define the genetic pathways by which environmental signals are communicated in Salmonella to cause changes in virulence gene expression. We have demonstrated that a two-component regulator, BarA/SirA, controls a post-transcriptional regulatory system consisting of a small regulator protein, CsrA, and two untranslated RNA molecules, CsrB and CsrC, which in turn controls invasion and other functions. We have further shown that specific short chain fatty acids, natural products of the intestinal microbiota, can alter invasion through this pathway. We are presently using genetic and genomic approaches to characterize this regulon.

Education

Ph.D.	- 1996	Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (thesis advisor: Russ Maurer)
DVM	- 1985	College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
B.A.	- 1981	Biology, Hiram College, Hiram, OH

Research and Professional Experience

		2006-Present			Associate Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University
		2001-2006			Associate Professor and Clinical Microbiologist, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University
		1995-2001			Assistant Professor and Clinical Microbiologist, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University
		1989-1995			Graduate Research Assistant, Case Western Reserve University
		1987-1989			Practicing Veterinarian, Conneaut Lake Veterinary Clinic, Conneaut Lake, PA
		1985-1987			Practicing Veterinarian, Veterinary Medical Center, Mansfield, PA

Honors and Awards

		2004			Pfizer Award for Research Excellence, North Carolina State University
		1990-1993			NIH Graduate traineeship, Case Western Reserve University
		1985			D.V.M. awarded summa cum laude, Ohio State University
		1984			Phi Zeta, National Veterinary Honorary Society, Ohio State University
		1980			B.A. awarded summa cum laude, Hiram College
		1981			Phi Beta Kappa, Hiram College

Professional Society Memberships

		North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association
		American Society for Microbiology

Selected Publications

		1.			Altier, C. , M. Suyemoto, A.I. Ruiz, K.D. Burnham, and R. Maurer. (2000) Characterization of two novel regulatory genes affecting Salmonella invasion gene expression. Mol Microbiol 35: 635-646.
		2.			Riddle, C., C.L. Lemons, M.G. Papich, and C. Altier. (2000) Evaluation of ciprofloxacin as a representative for veterinary fluoroquinolones in susceptibility testing. J Clin Micro 38: 1636-1637.
		3.			Altier, C. , M. Suyemoto, and S.D. Lawhon. (2000) Regulation of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium invasion genes by csrA. Infect Immun 68: 6790-6797.
		4.			Gebreyes, W.A., P. R. Davies, W.E. Morrow, J. A. Funk , and C. Altier. (2000) Antimicrobial Resistance of Salmonella Isolated from Swine. J Clin Microbiol 38: 4633-4636.
		5.			Feng, W., S.M. Laster, M. Tompkins, T. Brown, J.-S. Xu, C. Altier, W. Gomez, D. Benfield, and M.B. McCaw. (2001) In utero Infection by Porcine Reproductive Respiratory Syndrome Virus is Sufficient to Increase Susceptibility of Piglets to Challenge by Streptococcus suis type II. J Virology 75: 4889-4895.
		6.			Allen, C.A., P.J. Fedorka-Cray, A. Vazquez-Torres, M. Suyemoto , C. Altier, L.R. Ryder, F.C. Fang, and S.J. Libby. (2001) An in vitro and in vivo assessment of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium DT104 virulence. Infection and Immunity 69: 4673-4677.
		7.			Gebreyes, W.A., and C. Altier. (2002) Molecular characterization of multi-drug resistance determinants among Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolates collected from swine. J Clin Micro 40: 2813-2822.
		8.			Lawhon , S.D. , R. Maurer, M. Suyemoto, and C. Altier. (2002) Intestinal short chain fatty acids alter Salmonella typhimurium invasion gene expression and virulence through BarA/SirA. Mol Microbiol 46(5): 1451-64 .
		9.			Lawhon , S.D. , J.G. Frye, M. Suyemoto, S. Porwollik, M. McClelland, and C. Altier. (2003) Global regulation by CsrA in Salmonella Typhimurium. Mol Micro 48: 1633-1645.
		10.			Sequin, M., S. Vaden, C. Altier, E. Stone, and J. Levine. (2003) Persistent urinary tract infections and reinfections in dogs (1989-1999). J Vet Intern Med 17: 622-631.
		11.			Gebreyes, W.A., Thakur, S., Davies, P.R., Funk, J.A., and C. Altier. (2004) Trends in antimicrobial resistance, phage types and integrons among Salmonella serotypes from pigs, 1997-2000. J Antimicrob Chemother. 53:997-1003.
		12.			Gebreyes, W.A., P.R. Davies, P.-K. Turkson, W.E.M. Morrow, J.A. Funk, and C. Altier. (2004) Salmonella enterica serovars from pigs on-farm and after slaughter and validity of using bacteriologic data to define herd Salmonella status. J Food Protect 67:691-7.
		13.			Gebreyes, W.A., P.R. Davies, P.-K. Turkson, W.E.M. Morrow, J.A. Funk, C. Altier, and S. Thakur. (2004) Characterization of antimicrobial resistance phenotypes and genotypes among Salmonella enterica recovered from pigs on-farm, trucks and after slaughter. J Food Protect 67:698-705.
		14.			Altier, C. (2005) Genetic and environmental control of Salmonella invasion. J Microbiol 43:85-92.
		15.			Gebreyes, W.A., Altier, C., and Thakur, S. (2006) Molecular epidemiology and diversity of Salmonella serovar Typhimurium in pigs using phenotypic and genotypic approaches. Epidemiol Infect. 134:187-198.
		16.			Fortune, D.R., Suyemoto, M., and Altier, C. (2006) Identification of CsrC and characterization of its role in epithelial cell invasion in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Infect Immun 74:331-339.
		17.			Bush, D.J., M.H. Poore, G.M. Rogers, and C. Altier. (2007) Effects of stacking method on Salmonella elimination from recycled poultry bedding. Bioresour Technol 98:571-578.