Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Niche Of Rickettsia Montanensis (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) Infection Of The American Dog Tick (Acari: Ixodidae), Using Multiple Species Distribution Model Approaches, Catherine A. Lippi, Holly Gaff, Alexis L. White, Heidi K. St. John, Allen L. Richards, Sadie J. Ryan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (Acari: Ixodidae), is a vector for several human diseasecausing pathogens such as tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the understudied spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) infection caused by Rickettsia montanensis. It is important for public health planning and intervention to understand the distribution of this tick and pathogen encounter risk. Risk is often described in terms of vector distribution, but greatest risk may be concentrated where more vectors are positive for a given pathogen. When assessing species distributions, the choice of modeling framework and spatial layers used to make predictions are important. …

Fine-Scale Patterns Of Genetic Structure In The Host Plant Chamaecrista Fasciculata (Fabaceae) And Its Nodulating Rhizobia Symbionts, Mahboubeh Hosseinalizadeh Nobarinezhad, Lisa A. Wallace

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In natural plant populations, a fine-scale spatial genetic structure (SGS) can result from limited gene flow, selection pressures or spatial autocorrelation. However, limited gene flow is considered the predominant determinant in the establishment of SGS. With limited dispersal ability of bacterial cells in soil and host influence on their variety and abundance, spatial autocorrelation of bacterial communities associated with plants is expected. For this study, we collected genetic data from legume host plants, Chamaecrista fasciculata, their Bradyrhizobium symbionts and rhizosphere free-living bacteria at a small spatial scale to evaluate the extent to which symbiotic partners will have similar SGS …

Varroa Destructor Mites Vector And Transmit Pathogenic Honey Bee Viruses Acquired From An Artificial Diet, Francisco Posada-Florez, Eugene V. Ryabov, Matthew C. Heerman, Yanping Chen, Jay D. Evans, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Steven C. Cook

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructoris one of the most destructive pests of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the primary biotic cause of colony collapse in many regions of the world. These mites inflict physical injury on their honey bee hosts from feeding on host hemolymph and fat body cells/cellular components, and serve as the vector for deadly honey bee viruses, including Deformed wing virus (DWV) and the related Varroa destructor virus-1 (VDV-1) (i.e., DWV-like viruses). Studies focused on elucidating the dynamics of Varroa-mediated vectoring and transmission of DWV-like viruses may be confounded by viruses present in …

Adaptive Divergence, Neutral Panmixia, And Algal Symbiont Population Structure In The Temperate Coral Astrangia Poculata Along The Mid-Atlantic United States, Hannah E. Aichelman, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Astrangia poculata is a temperate scleractinian coral that exists in facultative symbiosis with the dinoflagellate alga Breviolum psygmophilum across a range spanning the Gulf of Mexico to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Our previous work on metabolic thermal performance of Virginia (VA) and Rhode Island (RI) populations of A. poculata revealed physiological signatures of cold (RI) and warm (VA) adaptation of these populations to their respective local thermal environments. Here, we used whole-transcriptome sequencing (mRNA-Seq) to evaluate genetic differences and identify potential loci involved in the adaptive signature of VA and RI populations. Sequencing data from 40 A. poculata individuals, including 10 …

Biomechanical And Biophysical Properties Of Breast Cancer Cells Under Varying Glycemic Regimens, Diganta Dutta, Xavier-Lewis Palmer, Jose Ortega-Rodas, Vasundhara Balraj, Indrani Ghosh Dastider, Surabhi Chandra

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Diabetes accelerates cancer cell proliferation and metastasis, particularly for cancers of the pancreas, liver, breast, colon, and skin. While pathways linking the 2 disease conditions have been explored extensively, there is a lack of information on whether there could be cytoarchitectural changes induced by glucose which predispose cancer cells to aggressive phenotypes. It was thus hypothesized that exposure to diabetes/high glucose alters the biomechanical and biophysical properties of cancer cells more than the normal cells, which aids in advancing the cancer. For this study, atomic force microscopy indentation was used through microscale probing of multiple human breast cancer cells (MCF-7, …

Modulation Of Ros In Nanosecond-Pulsed Plasma-Activated Media For Dosage-Dependent Cancer Cell Inactivation In Vitro, Chunqi Jiang, Esin Bengisu Sozer, Shutong Song, Nicola Lai, P. Thomas Vernier, Sigi Guo

Bioelectrics Publications

Dosage control of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) is critical to low-temperature plasma applications in cancer therapy. Production of RONS by atmospheric pressure, nonequilibrium plasmas in contact with liquid may be modulated via plasma conditions including plasma treatment time and pulse voltage and repetition frequency. In this study, a terephthalic acid-based probe was used to measure hydroxyl radicals [OH_aq] in water exposed to plasma and to demonstrate that the OH_ag concentration increases linearly with treatment time. Fluorometric measurements of hydrogen peroxide concentration in plasma-activated water show a linear relationship between the H₂O₂ production …

Potential Virus-Mediated Nitrogen Cycling In Oxygen-Depleted Oceanic Waters, M. Consuelo Gazitúa, Dean R. Vik, Simon Roux, Ann C. Gregory, Benjamin Bolduc, Brittany Widner, Margaret R. Mulholland, Steven J. Hallam, Osvaldo Ulloa, Matthew B. Sullivan

OES Faculty Publications

Viruses play an important role in the ecology and biogeochemistry of marine ecosystems. Beyond mortality and gene transfer, viruses can reprogram microbial metabolism during infection by expressing auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) involved in photosynthesis, central carbon metabolism, and nutrient cycling. While previous studies have focused on AMG diversity in the sunlit and dark ocean, less is known about the role of viruses in shaping metabolic networks along redox gradients associated with marine oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). Here, we analyzed relatively quantitative viral metagenomic datasets that profiled the oxygen gradient across Eastern Tropical South Pacific (ETSP) OMZ waters, assessing whether OMZ …

Deepfrag-K: A Fragment-Based Deep Learning Approach For Protein Fold Recognition, Wessam Elhefnawy, Min Li, Jianxin Wang, Yaohang Li

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Background: One of the most essential problems in structural bioinformatics is protein fold recognition. In this paper, we design a novel deep learning architecture, so-called DeepFrag-k, which identifies fold discriminative features at fragment level to improve the accuracy of protein fold recognition. DeepFrag-k is composed of two stages: the first stage employs a multi-modal Deep Belief Network (DBN) to predict the potential structural fragments given a sequence, represented as a fragment vector, and then the second stage uses a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify the fragment vector into the corresponding fold.

Results: Our results show that DeepFrag-k yields …

An Accurate Vegetation And Non-Vegetation Differentiation Approach Based On Land Cover Classification, Chiman Kwan, David Gribben, Bulent Ayhan, Jiang Li, Sergio Bernabe, Antonio Plaza

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Accurate vegetation detection is important for many applications, such as crop yield estimation, landcover land use monitoring, urban growth monitoring, drought monitoring, etc. Popular conventional approaches to vegetation detection incorporate the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which uses the red and near infrared (NIR) bands, and enhanced vegetation index (EVI), which uses red, NIR, and the blue bands. Although NDVI and EVI are efficient, their accuracies still have room for further improvement. In this paper, we propose a new approach to vegetation detection based on land cover classification. That is, we first perform an accurate classification of 15 or more …

Repression Of Tick Microrna-133 Induces Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide Expression Critical For Anaplasma Phagocytophilumsurvival In The Vector And Transmission To The Vertebrate Host, Ellango Ramasamy, Vikas Taank, John F. Anderson, Hameeda Sultana, Girish Neelakanta

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression. In this study, we provide evidence for the first time to show that rickettsial pathogen Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection results in the down-regulation of tick microRNA-133 (miR-133), to induce Ixodes scapularis organic anion transporting polypeptide (isoatp4056) gene expression critical for this bacterial survival in the vector and for its transmission to the vertebrate host. Transfection studies with recombinant constructs containing transcriptional fusions confirmed binding of miR-133 to isoatp4056 mRNA. Treatment with miR-133 inhibitor resulted in increased bacterial burden and isoatp4056 expression in ticks and tick cells. In contrast, treatment with …

Soil Labile Organic Carbon Fractions And Soil Enzyme Activities After 10 Years Of Continuous Fertilization And Wheat Residue Incorporation, Ligan Zhang, Xi Chen, Yujun Xu, Mengcan Jin, Xinxin Ye, Hongjian Gao, Wenying Chu, Jingdong Mao, Michael L. Thompson

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Labile organic carbon (LOC) fractions and related enzyme activities in soils are considered to be early and sensitive indicators of soil quality changes. We investigated the influences of fertilization and residue incorporation on LOC fractions, enzyme activities, and the carbon pool management index (CPMI) in a 10-year field experiment. The experiment was composed of three treatments: (1) no fertilization (control), (2) chemical fertilizer application alone (F), and (3) chemical fertilizer application combined with incorporation of wheat straw residues (F + R). Generally, the F + R treatment led to the highest concentrations of the LOC fractions. Compared to the control …

Secretion Of Proteins And Antibody Fragments From Transiently Transfected Endothelial Progenitor Cells, Loree Heller, Reynald Thinard, Melanie Chevalier, Sezgi Arpag, Yu Jing, Ruth Greferath, Richard Heller, Claude Nicolau

Bioelectrics Publications

In neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neuroinflammation can lead to blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown. After intravenous or intra-arterial injection into mice, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) home to the damaged BBB to promote neurovascular repair. Autologous EPCs transfected to express specific therapeutic proteins offer an innovative therapeutic option. Here, we demonstrate that EPC transfection by electroporation with plasmids encoding the reporter protein GFP or an anti-beta-amyloid antibody fragment (Fab) leads to secretion of each protein. We also demonstrate the secreted anti-beta-amyloid Fab protein functions in beta-amyloid aggregate solubilization.

Workshop #2: Health And Infection Control Measures During The 2020 Hurricane Season: After-Action Report (Aar), Converge Nsf Working Group, Joshua G, Behr, Wie Yusuf, Jennifer Marshall, Elizabeth Dunn

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

Participants in the CONVERGE NSF Working Group Workshop 2 (Health) breakout sessions identified that along with populations traditionally considered vulnerable during hurricane season (e.g., special-needs evacuees and the elderly), there will be new vulnerable populations based on their heightened risks from exposure to COVID-19. There is also overlap between these groups of vulnerable evacuees, including individuals with physical, intellectual or developmental disabilities; those with immunodeficiency, chronic, acute, or infectious illnesses; pregnant women and infants; and immigrants, non-English speakers, and other socially vulnerable groups.

This indicates a potentially greater number of special-needs evacuees at shelters. Simultaneously, fear of contracting COVID-19, particularly …

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Infiltration In Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Tumor And Mage-A4 And Ny-Eso-1 Expression, Zhenbo Hou, Xiao Liang, Xinmei Wang, Ziqiang Zhou, Guilan Shi

Bioelectrics Publications

Cancer/testis antigens melanoma‑associated antigen 4 (MAGE‑A4) and New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma‑1 (NY‑ESO‑1) are of clinical interest as biomarkers and present valuable targets for immunotherapy; however, they are poor prognostic markers in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In addition, myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are recognized as a key element in tumor escape and progression. The aim of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of MAGE‑A4 and NY‑ESO‑1, and their association with MDSCs in NSCLC samples. The expression levels of MAGE‑A4 and NY‑ESO‑1, and the infiltration of MDSCs (CD33+), were analyzed by immunohistochemistry of …

Quercetin And Vitamin C: An Experimental, Synergistic Therapy For The Prevention And Treatment Of Sars-Cov-2 Related Disease (Covid-19), Ruben Manuel Luciano Colunga Biancatelli, Max Berrill, John D. Catravas, Paul Ellis Marik

Bioelectrics Publications

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents an emergent global threat which is straining worldwide healthcare capacity. As of May 27th, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has resulted in more than 340,000 deaths worldwide, with 100,000 deaths in the US alone. It is imperative to study and develop pharmacological treatments suitable for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Ascorbic acid is a crucial vitamin necessary for the correct functioning of the immune system. It plays a role in stress response and has shown promising results when administered to the critically ill. Quercetin is a well-known flavonoid whose antiviral properties …

Protonic Capacitor: Elucidating The Biological Significance Of Mitochondrial Cristae Formation, James Weifu Lee

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

For decades, it was not entirely clear why mitochondria develop cristae? The work employing the transmembrane-electrostatic proton localization theory reported here has now provided a clear answer to this fundamental question. Surprisingly, the transmembrane-electrostatically localized proton concentration at a curved mitochondrial crista tip can be significantly higher than that at the relatively flat membrane plane regions where the proton-pumping respiratory supercomplexes are situated. The biological significance for mitochondrial cristae has now, for the first time, been elucidated at a protonic bioenergetics level: 1) The formation of cristae creates more mitochondrial inner membrane surface area and thus more protonic capacitance for …

Probing Nanoelectroporation And Resealing Of The Cell Membrane By The Entry Of Ca2+ And Ba2+ Ions, Wenfei Bo, Mantas Silkunas, Uma Mangalanathan, Vitalij Novickij, Maura Casciola, Iurii Semenov, Shu Xiao, Olga N. Pakhomova, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

The principal bioeffect of the nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) is a lasting cell membrane permeabilization, which is often attributed to the formation of nanometer-sized pores. Such pores may be too small for detection by the uptake of fluorescent dyes. We tested if Ca²⁺, Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Ba²⁺ ions can be used as nanoporation markers. Time-lapse imaging was performed in CHO, BPAE, and HEK cells loaded with Fluo-4, Calbryte, or Fluo-8 dyes. Ca²⁺ and Ba²⁺ did not change fluorescence in intact cells, whereas their entry after nsPEF increased fluorescence within <1 ms. The threshold for one 300-ns pulse was at 1.5–2 kV/cm, much lower than >7 …

Baclofen-Induced Changes In The Resting Brain Modulate Smoking Cue Reactivity: A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study In Cigarette Smokers, Ariel Ketcherside, Kanchana Jagannathan, Sudipto Dolui, Nathan Hager, Nathaniel Spilka, Chaela Nutor, Hengyi Rao, Teresa Franklin, Reagan Wetherill

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Smoking cue-(SC) elicited craving can lead to relapse in SC-vulnerable individuals. Thus, identifying treatments that target SC-elicited craving is a top research priority. Reduced drug cue neural activity is associated with recovery and is marked by a profile of greater tonic (resting) activation in executive control regions, and increased connectivity between executive and salience regions. Evidence suggests the GABA-B agonist baclofen can reduce drug cue-elicited neural activity, potentially through its actions on the resting brain. Based on the literature, we hypothesize that baclofen’s effects in the resting brain can predict its effects during SC exposure.

Methods: In this longitudinal, …

Size-Dependent Inhibitory Effects Of Antibiotic Nanocarriers On Filamentation Of E. Coli, Preeyaporn Songkiatisak, Feng Ding, Pavan Kumar Cherukuri, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Multidrug membrane transporters exist in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and cause multidrug resistance (MDR), which results in an urgent need for new and more effective therapeutic agents. In this study, we used three different sized antibiotic nanocarriers to study their mode of action and their size-dependent inhibitory effects against Escherichia coli (E. coli). Antibiotic nanocarriers (AgMUNH–Oflx NPs) with 8.6 × 10², 9.4 × 10³ and 6.5 × 10⁵ Oflx molecules per nanoparticle (NP) were prepared by functionalizing Ag NPs (2.4 ± 0.7, 13.0 ± 3.1 and 92.6 ± 4.4 nm) with a monolayer …

Performance Evaluation Of Cetacean Species Distribution Models Developed Using Generalized Additive Models And Boosted Regression Trees, Elizabeth A. Becker, James V. Carretta, Karin A. Forney, Jay Barlow, Stephanie Brodie, Ryan Hoopes, Michael G. Jacox, Sara M. Maxwell, Jessica V. Redfern, Nicholas B. Sisson, Heather Welch, Elliott L. Hazen

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Species distribution models (SDMs) are important management tools for highly mobile marine species because they provide spatially and temporally explicit information on animal distribution. Two prevalent modeling frameworks used to develop SDMs for marine species are generalized additive models (GAMs) and boosted regression trees (BRTs), but comparative studies have rarely been conducted; most rely on presence-only data; and few have explored how features such as species distribution characteristics affect model performance. Since the majority of marine species BRTs have been used to predict habitat suitability, we first compared BRTs to GAMs that used presence/absence as the response variable. We then …

A Halogen Bonding Perspective On Iodothyronine Deiodinase Activity, Eric S. Marsan, Craig A. Bayse

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Iodothyronine deiodinases (Dios) are involved in the regioselective removal of iodine from thyroid hormones (THs). Deiodination is essential to maintain TH homeostasis, and disruption can have detrimental effects. Halogen bonding (XB) to the selenium of the selenocysteine (Sec) residue in the Dio active site has been proposed to contribute to the mechanism for iodine removal. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are known disruptors of various pathways of the endocrine system. Experimental evidence shows PBDEs and their hydroxylated metabolites (OH-BDEs) can inhibit Dio, while data regarding PCB inhibition are limited. These xenobiotics could inhibit Dio activity by competitively …

Essential Role Of The Crk Family-Dosage In Digeorge-Like Anomaly And Metabolic Homeostasis, Akira Imamoto, Sewon Ki, Leiming Li, Kazunari Iwamoto, Venkat Maruthamuthu, John Devany, Ocean Lu, Suxiang Zhang, Takuji Yamada, Akiyoshi Hirayama, Shinji Fukuda, Yutaka Suzuki, Mariko Okada

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

CRK and CRKL (CRK-like) encode adapter proteins with similar biochemical properties. Here, we show that a 50% reduction of the family-combined dosage generates developmental defects, including aspects of DiGeorge/del22q11 syndrome in mice. Like the mouse homologs of two 22q11.21 genes CRKL and TBX1, Crk and Tbx1 also genetically interact, thus suggesting that pathways shared by the three genes participate in organogenesis affected in the syndrome. We also show that Crk and Crkl are required during mesoderm development, and Crk/Crkl deficiency results in small cell size and abnormal mesenchyme behavior in primary embryonic fibroblasts. Our systems-wide analyses reveal impaired …

Using Genetics To Inform Restoration And Predict Resilience In Declining Populations Of A Keystone Marine Sponge, Sarah M. Griffiths, Evelyn D. Taylor-Cox, Donald C. Behringer, Mark J. Butler Iv, Richard F. Preziosi

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Genetic tools can have a key role in informing conservation management of declining populations. Genetic diversity is an important determinant of population fitness and resilience, and can require careful management to ensure sufficient variation is present. In addition, population genetics data reveal patterns of connectivity and gene flow between locations, enabling mangers to predict recovery and resilience, identify areas of local adaptation, and generate restoration plans. Here, we demonstrate a conservation genetics approach to inform restoration and management of the loggerhead sponge (Spheciospongia vesparium) in the Florida Keys, USA. This species is a dominant, habitat-forming component of marine ecosystems in …

The “Challenge" Of Depletion: Why The Oyster Fishery Is Not Self-Regulating, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Leanne M. Poussard

CCPO Publications

The possibility that the economics of the oyster fishery impose a self-limitation on overharvesting has been proffered on occasion. The inefficiency of harvesting by the fishery has been evaluated and estimates of the exploitation rate permissible under conditions of maximum sustainable yield have been obtained in previous studies. The question becomes to what extent does the inefficiency of harvest interact with the economics of the fishery to compromise ready detection of overfishing? This study explores the possibility that the constraint of economics on the fishery occurs at oyster exploitation rates that are higher than maximum sustainable yield, leading ineluctably to …

Spillover Of Sea Scallops From Rotational Closures In The Mid-Atlantic Bight (United States), Deborah R. Hart, Daphne M. Monroe, Joseph C. Caracappa, Dale Haidvogel, Burton V. Shank, David B. Rudders, John M. Klinck, Eileen E. Hofmann, Eric N. Powell

CCPO Publications

We examined evidence for larval spillover (increased recruitment outside the closures) of Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) due to rotational closures in the Mid-Atlantic Bight using a 40-year fisheries survey time series and a larval transport model. Since the first closure of the Hudson Canyon South (HCS) area in 1998, mean recruitment in the two areas directly down-current from this closure, Elephant Trunk (ET) and Delmarva (DMV), increased significantly by factors of about 7 and 2, respectively. Stock–recruit plots indicate that low biomasses in HCS were associated with reduced mean recruitment in ET and DMV. Simulations indicate that larvae spawned …

Analysis Of Iron Sources In Antarctic Continental Shelf Waters, Michael S. Dinniman, Pierre St-Laurent, Kevin R. Arrigo, Eileen E. Hofmann, Gert L. Van Dijken

CCPO Publications

Previous studies showed that satellite‐derived estimates of chlorophyll a in coastal polynyas over the Antarctic continental shelf are correlated with the basal melt rate of adjacent ice shelves. A 5‐km resolution ocean/sea ice/ice shelf model of the Southern Ocean is used to examine mechanisms that supply the limiting micronutrient iron to Antarctic continental shelf surface waters. Four sources of dissolved iron are simulated with independent tracers, assumptions about the source iron concentration for each tracer, and an idealized summer biological uptake. Iron from ice shelf melt provides about 6% of the total dissolved iron in surface waters. The contribution from …

Conserving Spawning Stocks Through Harvest Slot Limits And No-Take Protected Areas, Gaya Gnanalingam, Holly Gaff, Mark J. Butler Iv

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The key to the conservation of harvested species is the maintenance of reproductive success. Yet for many marine species large, old individuals are targeted despite their disproportionate contribution to reproduction. We hypothesized that a combination of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) and harvest slot limits (maximum and minimum size limits) would result in the conservation of large spawning individuals under heavy harvest. We tested this approach under different harvest intensities with a 2-sex, stage-structured metapopulation model for the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus). P. argus is intensively harvested in the Caribbean, and in many localities large, mature individuals no longer …

Factors Affecting The Microbiome Of Ixodes Scapularis And Amblyomma Americanum, R. Jory Brinkerhoff, Chris Clark, Kelly Ocasio, David T. Gauthier, Wayne L. Hynes

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The microbial community composition of disease vectors can impact pathogen establishment and transmission as well as on vector behavior and fitness. While data on vector microbiota are accumulating quickly, determinants of the variation in disease vector microbial communities are incompletely understood. We explored the microbiome of two human-biting tick species abundant in eastern North America (Amblyomma americanum and Ixodes scapularis) to identify the relative contribution of tick species, tick life stage, tick sex, environmental context and vertical transmission to the richness, diversity, and species composition of the tick microbiome. We sampled 89 adult and nymphal Ixodes scapularis (N …

Small-Scale Population Connectivity And Genetic Structure In Canada Thistle (Cirsium Arvense), Mahboubeh Hosseinalizadeh Nobarinezhad, Lavanya Challagundla, Lisa E. Wallace

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Premise of research. Population connectivity, the exchange of genes among geographically separated subpopulations, is thought to be a key process for the maintenance of genetic diversity and the survival of invasive species in newly colonized areas. Plant populations' degree of genetic connectivity, which occurs via pollen and seed dispersal, leads to different degrees of genetic admixture and genetic structure. Environmental barriers and differential selection pressures that are variable across time and space tend to alter genetic structure within and among populations via restriction or facilitation of gene flow. Canada thistle, an invasive species of the United States and Canada, is …

Tick-Borne Flavivirus Inhibits Sphingomyelinase (Issmase), A Venomous Spider Ortholog To Increase Sphingomyelin Lipid Levels For Its Survival In Ixodes Scapularis Ticks, Pravesh Regmi, Supreet Khanal, Girish Neelakanta, Hameda Sultana

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Our previous study showed that cells from medically important arthropods, such as ticks, secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes that mediate transmission of flavivirus RNA and proteins to the human cells. Understanding the molecular determinants and mechanism(s) of arthropod-borne flavivirus transmission via exosome biogenesis is very important. In this current study, we showed that in the presence of tick-borne Langat Virus (LGTV; a member of tick-borne encephalitis virus complex), the expression of arthropod IsSMase, a sphingomyelinase D (SMase D) that catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of substrates like sphingomyelin (SM) lipids, was significantly reduced in both Ixodes scapularis ticks (in vivo) …