The Fang laboratory is interested in a broad range of questions relating to innate immunity and infections caused by Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and other pathogenic bacteria. In vitro studies are correlated with studies of bacterial survival in macrophages and virulence in normal or immune compromised mice. Specific projects include the antimicrobial actions of nitric oxide, the role of alternative sigma factors and counter-silencing in virulence gene regulation, and the importance of iron metabolism in bacterial pathogenesis.