Life Sciences Commons^™

The Dna Methylation Landscape Of Five Pediatric-Tumor Types, Alyssa C. Parker, Badí I. Quinteros, Stephen Piccolo

Faculty Publications

Fewer DNA mutations have been identified in pediatric tumors than in adult tumors, suggesting that alternative tumorigenic mechanisms, including aberrant DNA methylation, may play a prominent role. In one epigenetic process of regulating gene expression, methyl groups are attached at the 5-carbon of the cytosine ring, leading to 5-methylcytosine (5mC). In somatic cells, 5mC occurs mostly in CpG islands, which are often within promoter regions. In Wilms tumors and acute myeloid leukemias, increased levels of epigenetic silencing have been associated with worse patient outcomes. However, to date, researchers have studied methylation primarily in adult tumors and for specific genes—but not …

Risk Of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis After Risk-Reducing Salpingo-Oophorectomy: A Systematic Review And Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis, Miranda P Steenbeek, Majke H D Van Bommel, Johan Bulten, Julia A Hulsmann, Joep Bogaerts, Han T Cun, Heleen J Van Beekhuizen, Lucas Minig, Katja N Gaarenstroom, Marielle Nobbenhuis, Mateja Krajc, Vilius Rudaitis, Barbara M Norquist, Elizabeth M Swisher, Marian J E Mourits, Leon F A G Massuger, Nicoline Hoogerbrugge, Rosella P M G Hermens, Joanna Inthout, Joanne A De Hullu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: After risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO), BRCA1/2 pathogenic variant (PV) carriers have a residual risk to develop peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). The etiology of PC is not yet clarified, but may be related to serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), the postulated origin for high-grade serous cancer. In this systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis, we investigate the risk of PC in women with and without STIC at RRSO.

Methods: Unpublished data from three centers were supplemented by studies identified in a systematic review of EMBASE, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane library describing women with a BRCA-PV with and without …

Atr-Mediated Cd47 And Pd-L1 Up-Regulation Restricts Radiotherapy-Induced Immune Prming And Abscopal Responses In Colorectal Cancer, Rodney Cheng-En Hsieh, Sunil Krishnan, Ren-Chin Wu, Akash R Boda, Arthur Liu, Wen-Hao Hsu, Mien-Chie Hung, Li-Chuan Chan, Krithikaa Rajkumar Bhanu, Anupallavi Srinivasamani, Ricardo Alexandre De Azevedo, Yung-Chih Chou, Ronald A Depinho, Matthew Gubin, Eduardo Vilar, Chao Hsien Chen, Ravaen Slay, Priyamvada Jayaprakash, Shweta Mahendra Hegde, Genevieve Hartley, Spencer T Lea, Rishika Prasad, Brittany Morrow, Coline Agnes Couillault, Madeline Steiner, Chun-Chieh Wang, Bhanu Prasad Venkatesulu, Cullen Taniguchi, Yon Son Betty Kim, Junjie Chen, Nils-Petter Rudqvist, Michael A Curran

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Radiotherapy (RT) of colorectal cancer (CRC) can prime adaptive immunity against tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-expressing CRC cells systemically. However, abscopal tumor remissions are extremely rare, and the postirradiation immune escape mechanisms in CRC remain elusive. Here, we found that irradiated CRC cells used ATR-mediated DNA repair signaling pathway to up-regulate both CD47 and PD-L1, which through engagement of SIRPα and PD-1, respectively, prevented phagocytosis by antigen-presenting cells and thereby limited TAA cross-presentation and innate immune activation. This postirradiation CD47 and PD-L1 up-regulation was observed across various human solid tumor cells. Concordantly, rectal cancer patients with poor responses to neoadjuvant RT exhibited …

Genome-Wide Crispr Screens Using Isogenic Cells Reveal Vulnerabilities Conferred By Loss Of Tumor Suppressors, Rodney Cheng-En Hsieh, Sunil Krishnan, Ren-Chin Wu, Akash R Boda, Arthur Liu, Wen-Hao Hsu, Mien-Chie Hung, Li-Chuan Chan, Krithikaa Rajkumar Bhanu, Anupallavi Srinivasamani, Ricardo Alexandre De Azevedo, Yung-Chih Chou, Ronald A Depinho, Matthew Gubin, Eduardo Vilar, Chao Hsien Chen, Ravaen Slay, Priyamvada Jayaprakash, Shweta Mahendra Hegde, Genevieve Hartley, Spencer T Lea, Rishika Prasad, Brittany Morrow, Coline Agnes Couillault, Madeline Steiner, Chun-Chieh Wang, Bhanu Prasad Venkatesulu, Cullen Taniguchi, Yon Son Betty Kim, Junjie Chen, Nils-Petter Rudqvist, Michael A Curran

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Radiotherapy (RT) of colorectal cancer (CRC) can prime adaptive immunity against tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-expressing CRC cells systemically. However, abscopal tumor remissions are extremely rare, and the postirradiation immune escape mechanisms in CRC remain elusive. Here, we found that irradiated CRC cells used ATR-mediated DNA repair signaling pathway to up-regulate both CD47 and PD-L1, which through engagement of SIRPα and PD-1, respectively, prevented phagocytosis by antigen-presenting cells and thereby limited TAA cross-presentation and innate immune activation. This postirradiation CD47 and PD-L1 up-regulation was observed across various human solid tumor cells. Concordantly, rectal cancer patients with poor responses to neoadjuvant RT exhibited …

In Sickness And In Health: Parasites Of Stranded Pacific Harbor Seals (Phoca Vitulina Richardii) In Northern Oregon And Southern Washington, Cecily Douglas Bronson

Dissertations and Theses

Parasites have the capability to infect virtually every living organism on the planet and have adapted to infiltrate every trophic level. Many species have complex indirect life cycles and rely upon hosts at different levels of the food web for growth and reproduction. In the marine environment, having a high level of parasite diversity is thought to indicate a more stable ecosystem than an environment with low parasite diversity. As one of the top predators in their environment and because of their amphibious behaviors, pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) are exposed to a wide variety of parasites, making them ideal …

Pharmacometabolomics Profiling Of Preterm Infants Validates Patterns Of Metabolism Associated With Response To Dexamethasone Treatment For Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia., Bradley Stockard, Cheri Gauldin, William E. Truog, Tamorah Lewis

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is one of the most common health complications of premature birth. Corticosteroids are commonly used for treatment of BPD, but their use is challenging due to variability in treatment response. Previous pharmacometabolomics study has established patterns of metabolite levels with response to dexamethasone. We obtained additional patient samples for metabolomics analysis to find associations between the metabolome and dexamethasone response in a validation cohort. A total of 14 infants provided 15 plasma and 12 urine samples. The measure of treatment response was the calculated change in respiratory severity score (deltaRSS) from pre-to-post treatment. Each metabolite was assessed …

Genomic Tools Reveal Complex Social Organization Of An Invasive Large Mammal (Sus Scrofa), Chelsea L. Titus, Courtney F. Bowden, Timothy J. Smyser, Stephen L. Webb, James C. Beasley

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A comprehensive understanding of sociality in wildlife is vital to optimizing conservation and management efforts. However, sociality is complicated, especially for widely distributed species that exhibit substantive behavioral plasticity. Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa), often representing hybrids of European wild boar and domestic pigs, are among the most adaptable and widely distributed large mammals. The social structure of wild pigs is believed to be similar to European wild boar, consisting of matriarchal groups (sounders) and solitary males. However, wild pig social structure is understudied and largely limited to visual observations. Using a hierarchical approach, we incorporated genomic tools …

A Revision Of The Feather Star Genera Poecilometra And Strotometra (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Charitometridae), Alois Romanowski, Charles Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The chiefly tropical, deep-water (>100 m) feather star family Charitometridae (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida) currently consists of 34 species in eight genera and has not been revised since 1950. Recent molecular analyses and the discovery of both new specimens of known species and a new species prompted a morphological re-examination of those genera with abruptly expanded genital pinnules. As a result, Poecilometra is redescribed, and now includes four species, including two formerly placed in Strotometra, plus Poecilometra baumilleri n. sp Poecilometra scalaris is placed in synonymy under P. acoela. Strotometra is redescribed and S. hepburniana placed in synonymy under …

Climate Projections Over The Great Lakes Region: Using Two-Way Coupling Of A Regional Climate Model With A 3-D Lake Model, Pengfei Xue, Xinyu Ye, Jeremy S. Pal, Philip Y. Chu, Miraj Kayastha, Chenfu Huang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Warming trends in the Laurentian Great Lakes and surrounding areas have been observed in recent decades, and concerns continue to rise about the pace and pattern of future climate change over the world's largest freshwater system. To date, most regional climate models used for Great Lakes projections either neglected the lake-atmosphere interactions or are only coupled with a 1-D column lake model to represent the lake hydrodynamics. This study presents a Great Lakes climate change projection that has employed the two-way coupling of a regional climate model with a 3-D lake model (GLARM) to resolve 3-D hydrodynamics essential for large …

Isothermal Inactivation Studies Of Listeria Monocytogenes, Salmonella, And Enterococcus Faecium Nrrl B-2354 In Almond, Peanut, And Sunflower Butters, Ruo Fen Liao

Theses and Dissertations

Vegetative, non-sporeforming foodborne pathogens show notable survival and uncanny thermotolerance in low water activity (aw) foods. Controlled studies on Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 (a Salmonella surrogate) in a variety of food matrices support thermal process validation studies required to achieve global food safety objectives. In this study, we determined and compared thermal inactivation rates using independent six-strain cocktails of pathogens in three plant-based butters. Direct determinations of decimal reduction times (D-values) for L. monocytogenes, Salmonella, and E. faecium, in corresponding butters were inoculated using peanut oil, almond oil, or sunflower oil. Thermal Death Time (TDT) …

Tomatoes, Lycopene, And Prostate Cancer: What Have We Learned From Experimental Models?, Nancy E Moran, Jennifer M Thomas-Ahner, Lei Wan, Krystle E Zuniga, John W Erdman, Steven K Clinton

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Human epidemiology suggests a protective effect of tomatoes or tomato phytochemicals, such as lycopene, on prostate cancer risk. However, human epidemiology alone cannot reveal causal relations. Laboratory animal models of prostate cancer provide opportunities to investigate hypotheses regarding dietary components in precisely controlled, experimental systems, contributing to our understanding of diet and cancer risk relations. We review the published studies evaluating the impact of tomatoes and/or lycopene in preclinical models of prostate carcinogenesis and tumorigenesis. The feeding of tomatoes or tomato components demonstrates anti-prostate cancer activity in both transplantable xenograft models of tumorigenesis and models of chemically- and genetically-driven carcinogenesis. …

Context Matters: Preliminary Evidence That The Association Between Positive Affect And Adiposity In Infancy Varies In Social Vs Non-Social Situations, Alexis C Wood, Shabnam R Momin, Mackenzie K Senn, David J Bridgett

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Previous studies have suggested that infants high in negative affect have higher levels of adiposity, arising in part via changes in nutrition (e.g., “feeding to soothe”). Few studies have examined whether positive affect shows similar or inverse associations with adiposity. The current study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between adiposity and observations of positive affect in both a social and a non-social context, using data from infants at four (n = 125) and 12 (n = 80) months of age. Our analyses did not find any cross-sectional associations between positive affect and adiposity (all p > 0.05). However, in the longitudinal …

Smokejumper Obituary: Culbertson, F. Steven “Steve” (North Cascades 1963), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Smokejumper Obituary: Daniels, Douglas Ellis “Digger” (Missoula 1961), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Resistance To Targeted Therapies: Delving Into Flt3 And Idh, Sai Prasad Desikan, Naval Daver, Courtney Dinardo, Tapan Kadia, Marina Konopleva

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recent advances in FLT3 and IDH targeted inhibition have improved response rates and overall survival in patients with mutations affecting these respective proteins. Despite this success, resistance mechanisms have arisen including mutations that disrupt inhibitor-target interaction, mutations impacting alternate pathways, and changes in the microenvironment. Here we review the role of these proteins in leukemogenesis, their respective inhibitors, mechanisms of resistance, and briefly ongoing studies aimed at overcoming resistance.

Differences Between Pullover And Pulldown Exercises On Maximal Isometric Force And Myoelectric Activity In Recreationally-Trained Men, Luis Felipe M. Teixeira, Willy A. Gomes, Josinaldo J. Da Silva, Roberto A. Magalhaes, Paulo Henrique Marchetti

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(4): 797-807, 2022. The aim of the present study was to compare the myoelectric activation and peak force (PF) between pullover (PO) and pulldown (PW) exercises in different shoulder joint positions during maximal isometric contractions (0º, 45º, 90º, 135º, and 180°). Fifteen young, healthy, resistance-trained men were recruited. The participants performed three maximal voluntary isometric contractions for each exercise at five shoulder joint positions. The myoelectric activation (iEMG) from pectoralis major (PM); latissimus dorsi (LD); posterior deltoid (PD), and PF were measured. For PF, there were significant main effects for exercise and joint positions ( …

Unilateral Handgrip Holds To Failure Result In Sex-Dependent Contralateral Facilitation, Caleb C. Voskuil, Taylor K. Dinyer-Mcneely, Pasquale J. Succi, Marilyn S. Campbell, Mark G. Abel, Haley C. Bergstrom

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(4): 782-796, 2022. This study examined changes in maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) force following dominant (Dm) and nondominant (NDm) unilateral, handgrip isometric holds to failure (HTF) for the exercised ipsilateral (IPS) and non-exercised contralateral (CON) limbs and determined if there are sex- and hand- (Dm vs NDm) dependent responses in the HTF time, performance fatigability (PF) for the exercised IPS limb, and changes in MVIC force for the CON limb after unilateral fatigue. Ten men and 10 women (Age = 22.2 years) completed an isometric HTF at 50% MVIC for the Dm and NDm …

High And Low-Speed Resistance Training Induce Similar Physical And Functional Responses In Older Women, Ádria S. N. Noronha, Eduardo M. Penna, Rayra K. N. Dias, Antenor B. C. De Azevedo, Victor S. Coswig

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(4): 771-782, 2022. This study aimed to compare the effects of high-speed resistance training (HSRT) and low-speed resistance training (LSRT) in physical fitness, and functional performance in untrained older women. Twenty-four women (62.2 ± 2.7 years old) were allocated to the HSRT or LSRT groups. The HSRT and LSRT groups underwent a similar training program [3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions at 90% of 10 maximum repetitions] for 14 weeks, twice a week. The LSRT group performed the exercises with 3 seconds in the concentric and eccentric phases, while the HSRT group performed with …

Prenatal Transportation Stress Did Not Impact Ovarian Follicle Count For Three Generations Of Female Brahman Offspring, Lacey K. Quail, Ronald D. Randel, Thomas H. Welsh Jr., Robert A. Cushman, Hannah K. Yake, Rui A. D'Orey Branco, Donald A. Neuendorff, Charles R. Long, George A. Perry

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

As prenatal transportation stress altered behavior and adrenal glucocorticoid secretion of calves, we hypothesized that prenatal transportation stress would decrease ovarian reserve size and negatively impact female offspring fertility. The impact of prenatal transportation stress on ovarian follicle numbers in female offspring for three generations was studied. Brahman cows were transported for 2 h on day 60 ± 5, 80 ± 5, 100 ± 5, 120 ± 5, and 140 ± 5 of gestation. Ovaries were collected from offspring of transported or non-transported dams at multiple ages. Primordial, primary, secondary, and antral follicles were histologically analyzed. Antral follicle numbers were …

Deep Learning Features Encode Interpretable Morphologies Within Histological Images., Ali Foroughi Pour, Brian S White, Jonghanne Park, Todd B Sheridan, Jeffrey H Chuang

Faculty Research 2022

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are revolutionizing digital pathology by enabling machine learning-based classification of a variety of phenotypes from hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) whole slide images (WSIs), but the interpretation of CNNs remains difficult. Most studies have considered interpretability in a post hoc fashion, e.g. by presenting example regions with strongly predicted class labels. However, such an approach does not explain the biological features that contribute to correct predictions. To address this problem, here we investigate the interpretability of H&E-derived CNN features (the feature weights in the final layer of a transfer-learning-based architecture). While many studies have incorporated CNN features …

Identification Of Arhgef12 And Prkci As Genetic Modifiers Of Retinal Dysplasia In The Crb1rd8 Mouse Model., Sonia M Weatherly, Gayle B. Collin, Jeremy R. Charette, Lisa Stone, Nattaya Damkham, Lillian F Hyde, James G Peterson, Wanda L. Hicks, Gregory W. Carter, Juergen K. Naggert, Mark P. Krebs, Patsy M. Nishina

Faculty Research 2022

Mutations in the apicobasal polarity gene CRB1 lead to diverse retinal diseases, such as Leber congenital amaurosis, cone-rod dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa (with and without Coats-like vasculopathy), foveal retinoschisis, macular dystrophy, and pigmented paravenous chorioretinal atrophy. Limited correlation between disease phenotypes and CRB1 alleles, and evidence that patients sharing the same alleles often present with different disease features, suggest that genetic modifiers contribute to clinical variation. Similarly, the retinal phenotype of mice bearing the Crb1 retinal degeneration 8 (rd8) allele varies with genetic background. Here, we initiated a sensitized chemical mutagenesis screen in B6.Cg-Crb1rd8/Pjn, a strain with a mild clinical presentation, …

The Coming Global Food Crisis, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

Inflation driven by rising prices for food, energy, and other consumer goods has become a major concern in the United States and other high-income countries. A far more serious issue is the effect of rising food prices on low-income households in many developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Global food prices had been rising in 2020 and 2021 as a result of supply shortages caused by adverse weather conditions exacerbated by climate change, war and civil strife in various countries, and economic shocks in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent disruption of global supply chains …

Impacts Of Motor Developmental Delay On The Inter-Joint Coordination Using Kinematic Synergies Of Joint Angles During Infant Crawling, Li Zhang, Chun F. Deng, Yuan Liu, Lin Chen, Naong Xiao, Sheng J. Zhai, Wen S. Hou, Yu X. Chen, Xiao Y. Wu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Motor developmental delay (MDD) usually affects the inter-joint coordination for limb movement. However, the mechanism between the abnormal inter-joint coordination and MDD is still unclear, which poses a challenge for clinical diagnosis and motor rehabilitation of MDD in infant’s early life. This study aimed to explore whether the joint activities of limbs during infant crawling are represented with kinematic synergies of joint angles, and evaluate the impacts of MDD on the inter-joint coordination using those synergies. 20 typically developing infants, 16 infants at risk of developmental delay, 11 infants at high risk of developmental delay and 13 infants with confirmed …

Maternal Responses In The Face Of Infection Risk, Patricia C. Lopes, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Chathuni Liyanage, Ursula K. Beattie, L. Michael Romero

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

When animals are sick, their physiology and behavior change in ways that can impact their offspring. Research is emerging showing that infection risk alone can also modify the physiology and behavior of healthy animals. If physiological responses to environments with high infection risk take place during reproduction, it is possible that they lead to maternal effects. Understanding whether and how high infection risk triggers maternal effects is important to elucidate how the impacts of infectious agents extend beyond infected individuals and how, in this way, they are even stronger evolutionary forces than already considered. Here, to evaluate the effects of …

Signal Detection Of Adverse Events Associated With Trastuzumab In A Cohort Of Elderly Patients With Breast Cancer, Efstathia Polychronopoulou, Sharon H Giordano, Lin-Na Chou, Xiaoying Yu, Yong-Fang Kuo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

AIM: Utilization of signal detection methods in longitudinal claims data can improve post-marketing drug surveillance, but to date there has been limited application. The aim of this study is to use 3 approaches, the proportional reporting ratio, Gamma Poisson Shrinker, and tree-based scan statistic in detecting adverse drug events (ADEs) attributed to trastuzumab using an administrative claims dataset.

METHODS: Using data from the Texas Cancer Registry and SEER linked to Medicare from 2010 to 2013, we conducted 1:2 propensity score matching. Breast cancer HER2+ patients treated with trastuzumab in addition to standard chemotherapy were matched to HER2- patients treated with …

Targeting Il-1Β As An Immunopreventive And Therapeutic Modality For K-Ras-Mutant Lung Cancer, Bo Yuan, Michael J Clowers, Walter V Velasco, Stephen Peng, Qian Peng, Marco Ramos-Castaneda, Shuanying Yang, Rachel L Babcock, Seon Hee Chang, John V Heymach, Jianjun Zhang, Edwin J Ostrin, Stephanie S Watowich, Humam Kadara, Seyed Javad Moghaddam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

K-ras-mutant lung adenocarcinoma (KM-LUAD) is associated with abysmal prognosis and is tightly linked to tumor-promoting inflammation. A human mAb, canakinumab, targeting the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β, significantly decreased the risk of lung cancer in the Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study. Interestingly, we found high levels of IL-1β in the lungs of mice with K-rasG12D-mutant tumors (CC-LR mice). Here, we blocked IL-1β using an anti-IL-1β mAb in cohorts of 6- or 14-week-old CC-LR mice to explore its preventive and therapeutic effect, respectively. IL-1β blockade significantly reduced lung tumor burden, which was associated with reprogramming of the lung microenvironment toward an antitumor phenotype …

A New Species Of Isometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) From Southeastern Plains Of Tamil Nadu, India, Shubhankar Deshpande, Gaurang Gowande, Deshabhushan Bastawade, Shauri Sulakhe

Euscorpius

We here describe a new species of Isometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 from the southeastern plains of Tamil Nadu, India, which is known only from its type locality, Chengalpattu. The new species was recovered as sister to Isometrus nakshatra based on a molecular phylogeny inferred from COI and 16S mitochondrial genes. Sequence divergence between the new species and all the Indian congeners was 12.6–15.7 % for COI and 12.2–14.4 % for 16S. The new species can also be differentiated from all the Indian congeners based on the following set of characters: surface of carapace with mixed (coarse and fine) and dense granulation; …

Bbt Side Mold Assy, Bill Hemphill

STEM Guitar Project’s BBT Acoustic Kit

This electronic document file set covers the design and fabrication information of the ETSU Guitar Building Project’s BBT (OM-sized) Side Mold Assy for use with the STEM Guitar Project’s standard acoustic guitar kit. The extended 'as built' data set contains an overview file and companion video, the 'parent' CADD drawing, CADD data for laser etching and cutting a drill &/or layout template, CADD drawings in AutoCAD .DWG and .DXF R12 formats of the centerline tool paths for creating the mold assembly pieces on an AXYZ CNC router, and support documentation for CAM applications including router bit specifications, feeds, speed, multi-pass …

Respiratory Morbidity And Neurodevelopmental Outcomes In Infants Born Preterm: A Complex Web, Anna Maria Hibbs

Faculty Scholarship

This commentary is on the original article by Yu et al. on pages 1246–1253 of this issue.

Transcriptome Analysis Of The Entomopathogenic Fungus Culicinomyces Clavisporus, Dana E. Foresman

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Culicinomyces clavisporus is an entomopathogenic fungus that can infect mosquito larvae, such as Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti, and Anopheles stephensi. Whereas most fungal entomopathogens infect hosts through the cuticle, C. clavisporus initiates infection through ingestion. This suggests that the C. clavisporus genome may be mined for novel pathogenicity factors with the potential for vector control. To this end, a transcriptome analysis was initiated. The strain C. clavisporus ARSEF 582 was grown in modified PYG liquid cultures that was supplemented with whole, insect larvae (Galleria mellonella) to elicit the expression of genes involved in host-pathogen relationships. Total RNA …