Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine

Bernhard Kaltenboeck, DVM, Dr. med. vet., Ph.D.

Dr. Bernhard Kaltenboeck earned the DVM degree in 1976 and the Dr. med. vet. degree in 1977 from the Veterinary Medical University in Vienna, Austria. Between 1977 and 1987, he gained experience in food animal practice with emphasis on dairy cattle. He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Louisiana State University under the guidance of Dr. Johannes Storz. In addition to several national honors for publications resulting from his doctoral research, he received the Distinguished Dissertation Award for 1991 from Louisiana State University for his dissertation, "PCR amplification of chlamydial MOMP genes : detection, sequence analysis and evolution". After a 2-year tenure at the Veterinary Medical University in Vienna, Austria, he joined the faculty at Auburn University in 1994.

334-844-2665
kaltebe@auburn.edu

Research Interests

Dr. Kaltenboeck’s research is directed towards creating vaccines against chlamydial infections and diseases caused by intracellular bacteria of the genus Chlamydia. The primary goal is to create such vaccines against ubiquitous herd infections with C. abortus and C. pecorum in livestock, and against human infection by C. pneumoniae. The approach towards this goal builds 1) on a sophisticated understanding created in epidemiological research on the transmission and impact of these infections in cattle. This research relies strongly on high-sensitivity real-time PCR and ELISA methodology developed in Dr. Kaltenboeck’s laboratory. Another key element in chlamydial vaccine development and future application is 2) an improved understanding of the pathogenesis of chlamydial infections as acquired in a mouse model of chlamydial lung disease. The application of 3) real-time PCR methodology for detection and quantification of chlamydial DNA as well as host mRNA and the murine chlamydial lung disease model have lead to the identification of chlamydial vaccine candidate genes in systematic screens of chlamydial genomes by expression library immunization. Dr. Kaltenboeck’s research has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, US Department of Agriculture, Diabetes Trust and Diabetes Action Research & Education Foundations, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Foundation, as well as several pharmaceutical and biotecholgy companies.

Selected Publications

Biesenkamp-Uhe, C., Y. Li, H.-R. Hehnen, K. Sachse, and B. Kaltenboeck. 2007. Therapeutic Chlamydophila vaccine against bovine mastitis. Infection and Immunity 75:870-877.

Li, D., A. Borovkov, A. Vaglenov, C. Wang, T. Kim, D. Gao, K. F Sykes, and B Kaltenboeck. 2006. A genomic screen of Chlamydia pneumoniae using expression library immunization and a murine respiratory disease model. Vaccine 24:2917-2927.

Kaltenboeck,B., H.-R. Hehnen, and A. Vaglenov. 2005. Bovine Chlamydophila spp. infection: do we underestimate the impact on fertility? Veterinary Research Communications 29 (Suppl. 1):1-15.

Stemke-Hale, K., B. Kaltenboeck, F. J. DeGraves, K. F. Sykes, J. Huang, and S. A. Johnston. 2005. Screening the whole genome of a pathogen in vivo for protective antigens. Vaccine 23:3016-3025.

Jee, J., F. J. DeGraves, T. Kim, and B. Kaltenboeck. 2004. High prevalence of natural Chlamydophila species infection in calves. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 42:5664-5672.

DeGraves, F. J., T. Kim, J. Jee, H.-R. Hehnen, T. Schlapp, and B. Kaltenboeck. 2004. Re-infection with Chlamydophila abortus by uterine and indirect cohort routes reduces fertility in cattle pre-exposed to Chlamydophila. Infection and Immunity 72:2538-2545.

Wang, C., D. Gao, A. Vaglenov, and B. Kaltenboeck. 2004. One-step duplex reverse transcriptase PCRs simultaneously quantify analyte and housekeeping gene mRNAs. BioTechniques36:508-519.

DeGraves, F. J., D. Gao, H.-R. Hehnen, T. Schlapp, and B. Kaltenboeck. 2003. High prevalence of Chlamydia psittaci and C. pecorum vaginal infection in cattle quantitatively detected by high-sensitivity real-time PCR. Journal of Clinical. Microbiology 41:1726-1729.

DeGraves, F. J., D. Gao, and B. Kaltenboeck. 2003. A high-sensitivity quantitative PCR platform. BioTechniques 34:106-115.

Huang, J., F. J. DeGraves, S. D. Lenz, D.Gao, P.Feng, D. Li, T. Schlapp, and B. Kaltenboeck. 2002. The quantity of nitric oxide released by macrophages regulates Chlamydia-induced disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 99:3914-3919.

Huang, J., M.-D. Wang, S. D. Lenz, D. Gao, and B. Kaltenböck. 1999. Interleukin-12 administered during Chlamydia psittaci lung infection in mice confers immediate and long-term protection and reduces MIP-2 level and neutrophil infiltration in lung tissue. Journal of Immunoogy. 162: 2217-2226.

Kaltenboeck, B., D. Heard, F. J. DeGraves, and N. Schmeer. 1997. Use of synthetic antigens improves detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of antibodies against abortigenic Chlamydia psittaci in ruminants. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 35: 2293-2298.

Kaltenboeck, B., N. Schmeer, and R. Schneider. 1997. Evidence for numerous omp1 alleles of porcine Chlamydia trachomatis and novel chlamydial species obtained by PCR. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 35: 1835-1841.

Kaltenboeck, B., K.G. Kousoulas, and J. Storz. 1993. Structures of and allelic diversity and relationships among the major outer membrane protein (ompA) genes of the four chlamydial species. Journal of Bacteriology 175: 487-502.