Ross Fitzgerald

Gillian Jane Charlotte Wilson

Ivan Morrison

Staphylococcus aureus produces a family of at least 21 distinct superantigens (SAgs) which include staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs), staphylococcal enterotoxin-like toxins (SEls), and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and contribute to disease pathogenesis via modulation of the host immune response. Specific SAgs have been shown to cause toxinoses such as staphylococcal food poisoning and toxic shock syndrome, and have been implicated in immunological disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and Kawasaki syndrome. However the role of SAgs in disease pathogenesis, in general, is poorly understood. S. aureus is a common cause of bovine mastitis. Analysis of the genome sequence of the bovine strain RF122 revealed genes encoding bovine variants of characterized SAgs, TSST-1, SElL, SEC, SEG, SEI, SElU, SElO, SElN and a truncated form of SElM. In addition we identified 3 genes with sequence homology to characterized SAgs, which are predicted to encode novel SAgs, SElX, SElY and SElZ. Expression of all 11 predicted SAg genes was detected in vitro, including several with growth phase-dependent expression. Characterization of a novel SAg, SElX which is encoded in the core genome of 94% of phylogenetically diverse S. aureus strains from human and animal infections was carried out. In addition to its superantigenic properties, SElX has a unique predicted structure characterized by a truncated SAg B domain. At least 14 different alleles of the selx gene were identified among the common human and animal pathogenic clones, and evidence for assortive recombination of selx alleles between distinct clonal lineages was discovered. SElX was expressed by representative human, bovine and ovine strains in vitro, in a growth phase dependent manner, and during human, bovine and ovine infections, consistent with a broad role in the pathogenesis of different S. aureus diseases in multiple hosts. SElX produced by bovine- and ovine-specialized S. aureus strains had 10-fold greater mitogenic activity and a distinct V activation profile for bovine lymphocytes compared to SElX made by the human strain USA300 indicating functional diversification of selx alleles from different hosts. This is the first description of a core-genome encoded SAg of S. aureus. The discovery that the great majority of S. aureus clinical isolates have superantigenic capacity has important implications for our understanding of staphylococcal disease pathogenesis. To investigate the role of SAgs in disease pathogenesis, a SAg-deficient strain of S. aureus, RF122-8 was constructed by sequential allele replacement. RF122-encoded SAg genes were cloned into the pALC2073 plasmid, which has an inducible promoter allowing controlled expression in the SAg-deficient strain RF122-8. These constructs allowed us to determine that TSST-1bov, SElLbov, SECbov, SElNbov, SEIbov and novel SAgs, SElXbov and SElYbov were mitogenic for bovine Tcells, and stimulated T-cell receptor variable (TRBV) sub-family-specific activation. Preliminary experimental intra-mammary infections of dairy cows revealed that clinical symptoms were similar during infection with wild type RF122 and SAg-deficient strains, including high somatic cell counts (6 LogSCC), and elevated body temperature (106 °F). However a higher infectious dose was required to establish infection with the SAg-deficient strain RF122-8 in comparison to the wild type, RF122 indicating an attenuation of virulence. Overall, these data provide broad new insights into the importance of SAgs in staphylococcal disease pathogenesis.

Genome Scale Analysis of the Role of Superantigens in Staphylococcus Aureus Disease Pathogenesis

Ian McFadyen

The eighth book in the Grafton Everest series sees the hapless ex-President of the Republic of Australia, Dr Professor Grafton Everest, caught up in a web of international espionage and intrigue that he is hopelessly ill-equipped to handle. Abandoned to his own inadequate devices when his wife Janet departs on a world tour, with his home invaded by his now broke daughter and son-in-law, Grafton accepts an assignment with the United Nations to investigate electoral fraud in Russia. The reason is not only to get out of the house; an old letter from his mother, addressed to someone in the Soviet Union fifty years ago, suggests that Grafton may not be the only child that he always thought he was. Grafton’s mission to Moscow and his search for this mysterious sibling take him far from the Russian capital, deep into the icy wastes of Siberia and even deeper in a tangled conspiracy whose roots extend back to the Cold War and even as far back as the Russian Revolution.

The Lowest Depths

Stephen Holt

Bold and thorough, this biography traces the life of one of Australia’s most controversial and legendary journalists, Alan "The Red Fox” Reid, who covered the nation’s politics from the 1930s to the 1980s. Demonstrating how Reid not only reported the news but shaped it due to his connections with Labor Prime Ministers Ben Chifley and John Curtin, this volume covers a number of momentous events in Reid’s career--including his early associations with the Labor Party, his split with the party in the 1950s, and his breaking of the "36 faceless men” story in 1963, exposing the 36 delegates to the Australian Labor Party who dictated policies to the exclusion of the party’s elected leadership team. This narrative is sure to captivate those interested in the history of journalism and politics in Australia.

Pressman Par Excellence

Alan the Red Fox Reid

Adam James Carr

William J. Dealy

"The Pope's Battalions considers Santamaria's role and influence from the late 1930s - when he was a young Catholic Actionist in Melbourne - to his death in 1998. This prominent Cold War warrior founded the secretive National Civic Council and was the bra

Santamaria, Catholicism and the Labor Split

The Pope's Battalions

Lyndon Megarrity

David Symons

In 1859, Queensland formally separated from New South Wales and became an independent colony. Since then, it has grown into a dynamic state with extraordinary, diverse landscapes, a wealth of intellectual and physical resources and a population who are renowned for appreciating their unique lifestyle. Made in Queensland examines the evolution of this great state by considering all aspects of its recent history, from its people and its politics, to its events and its achievements. It charts the social, cultural, political and economic developments that have marked our past and defined our present. From Queensland's early colonial ambitions to the impact in a new century of two World Wars and the arrival of international events such as Expo '88 and the Commonwealth Games to the emergence of a multicultural society and technology-driven economy in the new millennium. Extensively researched and generously illustrated, Made in Queensland captures the defining moments of the state's history and the everyday life of its people.

A New History

Made in Queensland

Antony Funnell

Professor Dr Grafton Everest's latest outrageous entertainment takes us to London and New York after a series of hilarious meanderings in the land of Oz. So Far, So Good centres on our hapless professor's obsession with food and fame; his relationship with his increasingly independent wife Janet; their wayward (and soon to be married) daughter Lee-Anne; and his much-loved terrier Maddie. This cleverly plotted satire exposes the sad state of universities and of what now passes for politics in the West. Our obsession with technology, our fear of outsiders and our distrust of elites also come in for a pasting. Caught in a series of concentric conspiracies, Grafton manages to save the day, save the world and even launch Australia on the road to a republic. Well-known author and commentator, Professor Ross Fitzgerald, and Antony Funnell, of ABC Radio National's "Future Tense" fame, have produced the funniest Grafton Everest novel yet. The previous Grafton adventure, Going Out Backwards, was shortlisted for the 2017 Russell Prize for Humour Writing.

An Entertainment

So Far, So Good

"The reality is that if I hadn't stopped drinking and drugging at twenty-five years of age, I wouldn't have made twenty-six." This is Ross Fitzgerald's 42nd book, an updated edition of his 2010 book My Name is Ross. Although he has now succeeded in not drinking alcohol or using drugs for 50 years, in this revised edition the author still calls himself an alcoholic, and pays extended tribute to the role of Alcoholics Anonymous in keeping him on the wagon. His involvement in AA has become a way of life; he still attends two or three meetings a week. A key aspect of AA's therapeutic process involves what can be termed the mechanism of surrender. Instead of telling alcoholics to use their willpower, control their drinking or pull up their socks, AA suggests that a much more efficacious strategy is to admit that, at least in relation to alcohol, they are beaten. With his insight into the scourge of numerous kinds of addiction, Fitzgerald traces the journey of many alcoholics and drug addicts. In this brutally honest and intimate portrayal of his fascinating life - his struggles as well as his successes - Fitzgerald doesn't shy away from his difficult times and regrets, but ultimately has written an uplifting and inspiring book. With the prevalence of alcohol in our daily lives for every celebration or sad occasion, a book like this is needed more than ever.

An Alcoholic's Journey

Fifty Years Sober

E. G. Theodore, one of Australia's most enterprising and unusual political figures, was Treasurer and Premier of Queensland and later Federal Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia in the Scullin Labor government.

Ross Fitzgerald

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