Life Sciences Commons^™

Cell Volume As A Determinant Of Virus-Mediated Population Growth In Ciliates, Jace Miller, John Paul Delong Phd

Honors Theses

Many protists and other small aquatic organisms consume virus particles, a behavior known as virovory. Some species of protists, such as the ciliate Halteria grandinella, can grow and divide using viruses as their sole food source. Other ciliate species have previously been shown to consume large quantities of viral particles, but it is unclear if they are able to support population growth with viruses alone. Because large ciliates have a higher energy demand, we hypothesize that they will be unable to support population growth on a virus-only diet. We fed nine ciliate species a diet of chloroviruses and found …

Outbreak Of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease In Captive Reindeer (Rangifer Tarandus), Emma H. Torii, Arno Wünschmann, Mia Kim Torchetti, Leo Koster, Albert Van Geelen, Randy Atchison, Anne Rivas

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In September 2020, an outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease occurred in captive reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and was associated with neurological signs and mortality. Four reindeer died or were euthanized after acute illness over a 12-day period. Affected reindeer displayed abnormal behavior, neurologic signs, lethargy, and/or lameness. The most consistent gross finding was dark red streaks throughout the adrenal gland cortices (4/4). One animal had acute hemorrhage involving the subcutis and skeletal muscles over the ventrolateral body wall and back, and abomasal serosa. Histologically, the most common lesions were adrenal gland cortical hemorrhage (4/4) with necrosis (3/4) and lymphoplasmacytic meningoencephalitis with …

Grapevine Vein Clearing Virus: Epidemiological Patterns And Construction Of A Clone, Cory Von Keith

MSU Graduate Theses

Grapevine vein clearing virus (GVCV) is a recently discovered virus belonging to the Badnavirus genus. Characteristic to its name, the virus is associated with a disease where symptoms manifest as pronounced vein-clearing, resulting in severe berry deformation and vine decline in susceptible grape varieties. Sustainable production of wine is dependent on healthy plants. The associated disease is mainly found in Midwest vineyards. Attempts were made in this thesis to provide evidence of causality of the virus to the associated disease and to infer the historical path and migration pattern of GVCV. Conclusions and discussions will provide grape producers with the …

Rna Virus Ecology In Bumble Bees (Bombus Spp.) And Evidence For Disease Spillover, Samantha Ann Alger

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The inadvertent spread of exotic pests and pathogens has resulted in devastating losses for bees. The vast majority of bee disease research has focused on a single species of managed bee, the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). More recently, pathogen spillover from managed bees is implicated in the decline of several bumble bee species (Bombus spp.) demonstrating a need to better understand the mechanisms driving disease prevalence in bees, transmission routes, and spillover events.

RNA viruses, once considered specific to honey bees, are suspected of spilling over from managed honey bees into wild bumble bee populations. To test this, I …

Detection And Characterization Of A Distinct Bornavirus Lineage From Healthy Canada Geese (Branta Canadensis), John A. Baroch

John A Baroch

Avian bornaviruses (ABV), identified in 2008, infect captive parrots and macaws worldwide. The natural reservoirs of these viruses are unknown. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was used to screen oropha- ryngeal/cloacal swab and brain samples from wild Canada geese (Branta canadensis) for ABV. Approximately 2.9% of swab samples were positive for bornavirus sequences. Fifty-two percent of brain samples from 2 urban flocks also tested positive, and brain isolates were cultured in duck embryo fibroblasts. Phylogenetic analyses placed goose isolates in an independent cluster, and more notably, important regulatory sequences present in Borna disease virus but lacking in psittacine ABVs were present in …

Bacteriophage Migration Via Nematode Vectors: Host-Parasite-Consumer Interactions In Laboratory Microcosms, John J. Dennehy, Nicholas A. Friedenberg, Yul W. Yang, Paul E. Turner

Dartmouth Scholarship

Pathogens vectored by nematodes pose serious agricultural, economic, and health threats; however, little is known of the ecological and evolutionary aspects of pathogen transmission by nematodes. Here we describe a novel model system with two trophic levels, bacteriophages and nematodes, each of which competes for bacteria. We demonstrate for the first time that nematodes are capable of transmitting phages between spatially distinct patches of bacteria. This model system has considerable advantages, including the ease of maintenance and manipulation at the laboratory bench, the ability to observe many generations in short periods, and the capacity to freeze evolved strains for later …

Testing A West Nile Virus Vaccine In Sandhill Cranes (Grus Canadensis), Glenn H. Olsen, Kimberli Miller, Douglas Docherty, Louis Sileo

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Eight sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) were vaccinated with a commercial equine West Nile virus vaccine (Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, Iowa, USA) at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, USA. Three doses of the vaccine were given, the first dose (day 0) was followed by a second 21 days later and the third dose 7 days after the second day 28 after the first dose). All doses were 0.50 ml. In addition, 5 sandhill cranes were given injections of similar amounts of sterile water on the same schedule. Blood for complete blood counts, serum chemistries, …

Whooping Crane Titers To Eastern Equine Encephalitis Vaccinations, Glenn H. Olsen, Erin Kolski, Jeff S. Hatfield, Douglas E. Docherty

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

In 1984 an epizootic of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus killed 7 of 39 (18%) whooping cranes in captivity at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland, USA. Since that time whooping cranes have been vaccinated with a human EEE vaccine. This vaccine was unavailable for several years, necessitating use of an equine vaccine in the cranes. This study compared the antibody titers measured for three years using the human vaccine with those measured for two years using the equine form. Whooping cranes developed similarly elevated titers in one year using the human vaccine and both years using the …

Microbial Ecology Of Ballast Water During A Transoceanic Voyage And The Effects Of Open-Ocean Exchange, Lisa A. Drake, Gregory M. Ruiz, Bella S. Galil, Timothy L. Mullady, Daniela O. Friedmann, Fred C. Dobbs

OES Faculty Publications

The only procedure used frequently to reduce the risk of invasion by ballast-mediated biota is open-ocean exchange of ballast water, a procedure in which vessels release coastal water and replace it with oceanic water. Limited information exists concerning the effects of transport upon the aquatic microbial community throughout transit and following open-ocean exchange, A transoceanic voyage aboard a commercial bulk carrier afforded us the opportunity to sample the microbial community in exchanged and unexchanged ballast-water holds during the journey from Hadera, Israel to Baltimore, USA. Five days following the exchange process, all microbial metrics tested (i.e. bacteria concentration, virus-like particle …