25 th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference.

The 25th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference (MMPC) was held at the University of Iowa from September 28-30, 2018. The conference has a long-standing tradition of providing scientists from the Midwest with a forum to present and discuss cutting edge advances in microbial pathogenesis with particular focus on bacterial interactions with the environment, host, and other microbes. This commentary summarizes the genesis of the MMPC, topics presented at the conference, and manuscripts found in the special MMPC section of this Journal of Bacteriology issue.