Paul A Gulig

Paul A Gulig,

Professor

Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Business Phone: (352) 294-5544
Business Email: gulig@ufl.edu

About Paul A Gulig

Fun Fact: I love to sail, bike, run, and swim—and do triathlon sprints. I am retiring in 2025, so my lab is closed, and I am focused on teaching bacterial pathogenesis and administration. For more than 35 years, my career has been studying molecular pathogenesis, the use of genetic manipulation of microorganisms to understand the way that they cause disease. Over my tenure, I have studied immune responses to Haemophilus influenzae type b with the goal of aiding vaccine development; molecular pathogenesis of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, focusing on the virulence plasmid in mouse models; Vibrio vulnificus pathogenesis, working to determine how this “flesh eating” bacterium found in oysters and estuarine waters replicates so rapidly in human tissues causing life-threatening infection; Oxalobacter formigenes, a beneficial bacterium that helps prevent kidney stones by stimulating the excretion of oxalate into the intestines from the blood.

Additional Positions:
Chair, Institutional Biosafety Committee
2008 – Current · University of Florida
Related Links:

Teaching Profile

Courses Taught
2006-2007,2014-2024
GMS6121 Infectious Diseases
2015-2024
GMS7192 Journal Colloquy
2006-2013,2015-2024
GMS6038 Bacterial Genetics and Physiology
2016-2024
GMS6108 Bacterial Physiology, Antibiotics, and Genetics
2018-2024
GMS6153 Advanced Bacterial Genetics
2020-2023
BMS6634 GI and Hepatology
2020-2024
BMS6642 The Resp Sys Hlth
2013-2014,2016-2021,2020-2024
BMS6300 Fund Micro and Immuno
2019,2022-2024
GMS6169 Antimicrobial Strategies
2018
MCB7979 Advanced Research
2018
PLP7979 Advanced Research
2018
MCB7980 Research for Doctoral Dissertation
2018
VME7979 Advanced Research
2014-2016
GMS6140 Principles of Immunology
2016
GMS5905 Special Topics in Biomedical Sciences
2013-2014
GMS6003 Fundamentals of Graduate Research and Professional Development
2011-2014
GMS6090 Research in Medical Sciences
2012-2014
BMS4905 Medical Sciences Senior Research
2011-2014
GMS7979 Advanced Research
2011-2014
GMS7980 Research for Doctoral Dissertation
2011-2014
GMS6910 Supervised Research
2011-2014
GMS6905 Independent Studies in Medical Sciences
2011-2014
GMS6971 Research for Master’s Thesis
2011-2012
GMS6001 Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences I
2007-2008,2010-2012
BMS6300C Med Micrbio/Infec Dis
2022-2024
GMS6132 Introductory Gene and Immunotherapy
2023-2024
GMS6109 Advanced Bacteriology
2023-2024
BMS6635 Derm and Msk
2023-2024
BMS6020 Clinical Neuroscience
2024
BMS6631 Hematology
2024
GMS7133 Advanced Molecular Virology

Research Profile

For over 35 years, my career has been studying molecular pathogenesis, the use of genetic manipulation of microorganisms to understand the way that they cause disease. As a graduate student, I studied immune responses to Haemophilus influenzae type b with the goal of aiding vaccine development. As a postdoctoral fellow, I studied molecular pathogenesis of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, focusing on the virulence plasmid in mouse models. I brought this work with me to the University of Florida. I later transitioned into Vibrio vulnificus pathogenesis, working to determine how this “flesh eating” bacterium found in oysters and estuarine waters replicates so rapidly in human tissues causing life-threatening infection. I then moved to a beneficial bacterium, Oxalobacter formigenes, that helps prevent kidney stones by stimulating the excretion of oxalate into the intestines from the blood. I am now in drug discovery, attempting to develop new antibiotics that inhibit the beta-lactamase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa so as to enable beta-lactam antibiotics to be restored in their effectiveness. However, I have closed my lab, so this work is done collaboratively with colleagues across the UF campus.

Publications

2021
Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources.
Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology. 11 [DOI] 10.3389/fcimb.2021.637019. [PMID] 33718284.
2019
Corrigendum: Phylogeny of Vibrio vulnificus From the Analysis of the Core-Genome: Implications for Intra-Species Taxonomy.
Frontiers in microbiology. 10 [DOI] 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01904. [PMID] 31481942.
2019
Detection of Virulence Plasmid-Encoded Genes in Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Kentucky Isolates Recovered from Commercially Processed Chicken Carcasses.
Journal of food protection. 82(8):1364-1368 [DOI] 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-18-552. [PMID] 31322922.
2018
Relative Contributions of Halobacteriovorax and Bacteriophage to Bacterial Cell Death under Various Environmental Conditions.
mBio. 9(4) [DOI] 10.1128/mBio.01202-18. [PMID] 30087166.
2017
Phylogeny of Vibrio vulnificus from the Analysis of the Core-Genome: Implications for Intra-Species Taxonomy.
Frontiers in microbiology. 8 [DOI] 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02613. [PMID] 29358930.
2017
The Opportunistic Pathogen Vibrio vulnificus Produces Outer Membrane Vesicles in a Spatially Distinct Manner Related to Capsular Polysaccharide.
Frontiers in microbiology. 8 [DOI] 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02177. [PMID] 29163452.
2015
Hepcidin-induced hypoferremia is a critical host defense mechanism against the siderophilic bacterium Vibrio vulnificus.
Cell host & microbe. 17(1):47-57 [DOI] 10.1016/j.chom.2014.12.001. [PMID] 25590758.
2013
Bacterial Impermeability of a Fireproof Fabric
Anesthesia and Analgesia. 116(1)
2011
Genotype is correlated with but does not predict virulence of Vibrio vulnificus biotype 1 in subcutaneously inoculated, iron dextran-treated mice.
Infection and immunity. 79(3):1194-207 [DOI] 10.1128/IAI.01031-10. [PMID] 21199909.
2011
Visual analytics of surveillance data on foodborne vibriosis, United States, 1973-2010.
Environmental health insights. 5:71-85 [DOI] 10.4137/EHI.S7806. [PMID] 22174586.
2010
Genetic characterization of Vibrio vulnificus strains from tilapia aquaculture in Bangladesh.
Applied and environmental microbiology. 76(14):4890-5 [DOI] 10.1128/AEM.00636-10. [PMID] 20495047.
2010
Role of GacA in virulence of Vibrio vulnificus.
Microbiology (Reading, England). 156(Pt 12):3722-3733 [DOI] 10.1099/mic.0.043422-0. [PMID] 20817642.
2010
SOLiD sequencing of four Vibrio vulnificus genomes enables comparative genomic analysis and identification of candidate clade-specific virulence genes.
BMC genomics. 11 [DOI] 10.1186/1471-2164-11-512. [PMID] 20863407.
2009
Phase variation, capsular polysaccharide, pilus and flagella contribute to uptake of Vibrio vulnificus by the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica).
Environmental microbiology. 11(8):1934-44 [DOI] 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2009.01916.x. [PMID] 19689704.
2009
Roles of RseB, sigmaE, and DegP in virulence and phase variation of colony morphotype of Vibrio vulnificus.
Infection and immunity. 77(9):3768-81 [DOI] 10.1128/IAI.00205-09. [PMID] 19564391.
2009
USER friendly cloning coupled with chitin-based natural transformation enables rapid mutagenesis of Vibrio vulnificus.
Applied and environmental microbiology. 75(15):4936-49 [DOI] 10.1128/AEM.02564-08. [PMID] 19502446.
2008
Regulation of fatty acid metabolism by FadR is essential for Vibrio vulnificus to cause infection of mice.
Journal of bacteriology. 190(23):7633-44 [DOI] 10.1128/JB.01016-08. [PMID] 18835990.
2006
Use of a marker plasmid to examine differential rates of growth and death between clinical and environmental strains of Vibrio vulnificus in experimentally infected mice.
Molecular microbiology. 61(2):310-23 [PMID] 16856938.
2005
Molecular Pathogenesis of Vibrio vulnificus.
Journal of microbiology (Seoul, Korea). 43 Spec No:118-31 [PMID] 15765065.
2004
Ultrasensitive detection of biomolecules with fluorescent dye-doped nanoparticles.
Analytical biochemistry. 334(1):135-44 [PMID] 15464962.
2003
Analysis of Vibrio vulnificus from market oysters and septicemia cases for virulence markers.
Applied and environmental microbiology. 69(7):4006-11 [PMID] 12839775.
2003
CapG(-/-) mice have specific host defense defects that render them more susceptible than CapG(+/+) mice to Listeria monocytogenes infection but not to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection.
Infection and immunity. 71(11):6582-90 [PMID] 14573680.
2002
Bacteriophages: potential treatment for bacterial infections.
BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy. 16(1):57-62 [PMID] 11909002.
2002
Phage therapy of local and systemic disease caused by Vibrio vulnificus in iron-dextran-treated mice.
Infection and immunity. 70(11):6251-62 [PMID] 12379704.
2001
Virulence plasmid-borne spvB and spvC genes can replace the 90-kilobase plasmid in conferring virulence to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in subcutaneously inoculated mice.
Journal of bacteriology. 183(15):4652-8 [PMID] 11443102.
2000
Constitutively expressed phoP inhibits mouse-virulence of Salmonella typhimurium in an Spv-dependent manner.
Microbiology and immunology. 44(6):447-54 [PMID] 10941927.
2000
Construction and phenotypic evaluation of a Vibrio vulnificus vvpE mutant for elastolytic protease.
Infection and immunity. 68(9):5096-106 [PMID] 10948131.
2000
Pathogenesis of infection by clinical and environmental strains of Vibrio vulnificus in iron-dextran-treated mice.
Infection and immunity. 68(10):5785-93 [PMID] 10992486.
2000
Role of the Salmonella abortusovis virulence plasmid in the infection of BALB/c mice.
FEMS microbiology letters. 188(1):15-8 [PMID] 10867227.
1999
Growth of Staphylococcus aureus in Diprivan and Intralipid: implications on the pathogenesis of infections.
Anesthesiology. 91(5):1394-400 [PMID] 10551591.
1998
Analysis of host cells associated with the Spv-mediated increased intracellular growth rate of Salmonella typhimurium in mice.
Infection and immunity. 66(6):2471-85 [PMID] 9596705.
1998
Regulation of the spvR gene of the Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid during exponential-phase growth in intracellular salts medium and at stationary phase in L broth.
Microbiology (Reading, England). 144 ( Pt 7):1823-1833 [DOI] 10.1099/00221287-144-7-1823. [PMID] 9695915.
1997
Exponential-phase expression of spvA of the Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid: induction in intracellular salts medium and intracellularly in mice and cultured mammalian cells.
Microbiology (Reading, England). 143 ( Pt 12):3827-3839 [DOI] 10.1099/00221287-143-12-3827. [PMID] 9421907.
1997
Systemic infection of mice by wild-type but not Spv- Salmonella typhimurium is enhanced by neutralization of gamma interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha.
Infection and immunity. 65(12):5191-7 [PMID] 9393815.
1996
Epidural catheter reconnection. Safe and unsafe practice.
Anesthesiology. 85(4):883-8 [PMID] 8873560.
1993
Molecular analysis of spv virulence genes of the Salmonella virulence plasmids.
Molecular microbiology. 7(6):825-30 [PMID] 8483415.
1993
The Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid increases the growth rate of salmonellae in mice.
Infection and immunity. 61(2):504-11 [PMID] 8423080.
1993
Use of incompatible plasmids to control expression of antigen by Salmonella typhimurium and analysis of immunogenicity in mice.
Microbial pathogenesis. 15(2):93-101 [PMID] 8255210.
1992
Identification, genetic analysis and DNA sequence of a 7.8-kb virulence region of the Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid.
Molecular microbiology. 6(10):1395-411 [PMID] 1322485.
1991
The Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid encodes a positive regulator of a plasmid-encoded virulence gene.
Journal of bacteriology. 173(22):7176-85 [PMID] 1657882.
1990
Genetic and DNA sequence analysis of the Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid gene encoding the 28,000-molecular-weight protein.
Infection and immunity. 58(8):2651-8 [PMID] 2164511.
1990
Virulence plasmids of Salmonella typhimurium and other salmonellae.
Microbial pathogenesis. 8(1):3-11 [PMID] 2185396.
1989
Antigenic evidence for simultaneous expression of two different lipooligosaccharides by some strains of Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Infection and immunity. 57(7):1971-8 [PMID] 2786504.
1989
Hybridization studies with a DNA probe derived from the virulence region of the 60 Mdal plasmid of Salmonella typhimurium.
Canadian journal of veterinary research = Revue canadienne de recherche veterinaire. 53(4):378-84 [PMID] 2686827.
1989
Selective delivery of antigens by recombinant bacteria.
Current topics in microbiology and immunology. 146:35-49 [PMID] 2659274.
1989
Stable recombinant avirulent Salmonella vaccine strains.
Advances in experimental medicine and biology. 251:33-47 [PMID] 2692430.
1988
Cloning and transposon insertion mutagenesis of virulence genes of the 100-kilobase plasmid of Salmonella typhimurium.
Infection and immunity. 56(12):3262-71 [PMID] 2846443.
1987
Conservation of epitopes in the oligosaccharide portion of the lipooligosaccharide of Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Infection and immunity. 55(3):513-20 [PMID] 2434425.
1987
Plasmid-associated virulence of Salmonella typhimurium.
Infection and immunity. 55(12):2891-901 [PMID] 3316027.
1985
A minor high-molecular-weight outer membrane protein of Haemophilus influenzae type b is a protective antigen.
Infection and immunity. 47(1):253-9 [PMID] 2578121.
1985
Coprecipitation of lipopolysaccharide and the 39,000-molecular-weight major outer membrane protein of Haemophilus influenzae type b by lipopolysaccharide-directed monoclonal antibody.
Infection and immunity. 49(3):819-27 [PMID] 3875563.
1984
Immunogenic proteins in cell-free culture supernatants of Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Infection and immunity. 44(1):41-8 [PMID] 6368394.
1983
A set of two monoclonal antibodies specific for the cell surface-exposed 39K major outer membrane protein of Haemophilus influenzae type b defines all strains of this pathogen.
Infection and immunity. 42(2):516-24 [PMID] 6605924.
1983
Haemophilus influenzae type b disease after rifampin prophylaxis in a day care center: possible reasons for its failure.
Pediatric infectious disease. 2(3):193-8 [PMID] 6602974.
1982
Antibody response of infants to cell surface-exposed outer membrane proteins of Haemophilus influenzae type b after systemic Haemophilus disease.
Infection and immunity. 37(1):82-8 [PMID] 6980838.
1982
Immunoprotection of rats against Haemophilus influenzae type B disease mediated by monoclonal antibody against a haemophilus outer-membrane protein.
Lancet (London, England). 1(8268):366-8 [PMID] 6120351.
1982
Monoclonal antibodies directed against a cell surface-exposed outer membrane protein of Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Infection and immunity. 36(1):80-8 [PMID] 6176548.

Grants

Jul 2017 – Jun 2021
Countering beta-lactam resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIAID
Jun 2017 – Oct 2021
Identification of Fecal Bacteria with Anti-Clostridium difficile Activities
Role: Project Manager
Funding: UF DSR OPPORTUNITY FUND
Aug 2014 – Aug 2020
Microbiology Research
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: UF FOUNDATION

Contact Details

Phones:
Business:
(352) 294-5544
Emails:
Business:
gulig@ufl.edu
Addresses:
Business Mailing:
PO Box 100266
GAINESVILLE FL 32610
Business Street:
R2-208 ARB
GAINESVILLE FL 326100001