Olaf Schneewind
Olaf Schneewind | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 June 1961 |
| Died | 26 May 2019 (aged 57) |
| Known for | S. aureus pathogenesis |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Microbiology |
| Institutions | The University of Chicago |
| Doctoral students | |
Olaf Schneewind was an American Microbiologist who made important contributions to the study of bacterial cell wall composition and assembly as well as the pathogensis of the microbial species S. aureus.[1] He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018.[2] He died May 26, 2019 after a long battle with cancer.[1]
Research career
He joined the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles in 1992.[2] His first major discovery as an independent investigator was the finding that the surface proteins of gram-positive bacteria are cleaved between the T and G residue in the LPXTG sortase signal by the enzyme sortase (the enzyme was not discovered yet, but was later shown by him to be responsible for the cleavage) in order to be anchored to the cell wall.[3]
References
- ^ a b https://news.uchicago.edu/story/olaf-schneewind-world-renowned-authority-infectious-diseases-1961-2019
- ^ a b http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20041867.html
- ^ Navarre WW, Schneewind O (1994). "Proteolytic cleavage and cell wall anchoring at the LPXTG motif of surface proteins in gram-positive bacteria". Mol Microbiol. 14 (1): 115–21. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.1994.tb01271.x. PMID 7830549.