Transmission electron microscopy laboratory (MET)

The transmission electron microscopy laboratory provides services for virus identification and visualization of pathogenic microorganisms primarily affecting animals as well as some that are zoonotic, that is, that can also affect humans. In addition, our laboratory specializes in the study of co-infections and interactions that may exist between pathogens themselves (pathogen-pathogen interactions, for example, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae) and the effects that pathogens may have on the infected animal. Depending on the pathogen-pathogen interactions we identify, some interactions significantly increase the virulence of a pathogen (synergistic effect), while other interactions significantly decrease the virulence of a given pathogen (antagonistic effect). The transmission electron microscopy lab is also used to identify the structures that make up the surface of pathogenic bacteria in animals such as Streptococcus suis and Clostridium perfringens and pathogenic viruses in animals such as PRRSV and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV).