The purpose of this application is to request partial support for a two-day scientific meeting dealing with microbial surfaces. During the last decade, with the widespread application of monoclonal, recombinant and high resolution chromatogrphic techniques to the study of microbial surface structures, there has been a proliferation of information about the nature of these structures and the role they play in the pathogenesis of human infection. The complexity of the techniques involved in this expansion of knowledge places demands on the investigator which could not have been imagined ten years ago. The need for collaborative efforts to maintain the efficient use of scientific manpower and funds has never been greater than at the present time. Thus a meeting wich will provide a discussion of state of the art information about surface structure of a wide range of microbes by leading investigators in these areas is important to insure the momentum of the current progress. This meeting will focus A) only on microbes which are human pathogens, B) on the physiologic, metabolic and immunologic interactions of structures which are important in human pathogenesis and C) the role of these structures in the diagnosis of human infection. Emphasis will be placed on bacterial and fungal pathogens with sessions devoted to the gram negative outer membrane, antigens of the gram positive cell wall, and the interaction of fungal antigens with the human host. Discussion of an organized approach to the application of the knowledge about these structures to improved methods of microbial diagnosis will be a major goal of the individual sessions. One of the most important aspects of the meeting is that it will enable scientists to exchange unpublished informationi with other scientists working on related projects on different microbes.
