Biology Commons^™

Assessing Whether Alpha-Tubulin Sequences Are Suitable For Phylogenetic Reconstruction Of Ciliophora With Insights Into Its Evolution In Euplotids, Zhenzhen Yi, Laura A. Katz, Weibo Song

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The current understanding of ciliate phylogeny is mainly based on analyses of a single gene, the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU-rDNA). However, phylogenetic trees based on single gene sequence are not reliable estimators of species trees, and SSU-rDNA genealogies are not useful for resolution of some branches within Ciliophora. Since congruence between multiple loci is the best tool to determine evolutionary history, we assessed the usefulness of alpha-tubulin gene, a protein-coding gene that is frequently sequenced, for ciliate phylogeny. Here, we generate alpha-tubulin gene sequences of 12 genera and 30 species within the order Euplotida, one of the most frequently …

Turning The Crown Upside Down: Gene Tree Parsimony Roots The Eukaryotic Tree Of Life, Laura A. Katz, Jessica R. Grant, Laura Wegener Parfrey, J. Gordon Burleigh

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The first analyses of gene sequence data indicated that the eukaryotic tree of life consisted of a long stem of microbial groups topped by a crown-containing plants, animals, and fungi and their microbial relatives. Although more recent multigene concatenated analyses have refined the relationships among the many branches of eukaryotes, the root of the eukaryotic tree of life has remained elusive. Inferring the root of extant eukaryotes is challenging because of the age of the group (∼1.7-2.1 billion years old), tremendous heterogeneity in rates of evolution among lineages, and lack of obvious outgroups for many genes. Here, we reconstruct a …

Macondo Crude Oil From The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disrupts Specific Developmental Processes During Zebrafish Embryogenesis, T. Yvanka De Soysa, Allison Ulrich, Timo Friedrich, Danielle Pite, Shannon L. Compton, Deborah Ok, Rebecca L. Bernardos, Gerald B. Downes, Shizuka Hsieh, Rachael Stein, M. Caterina Lagdameo, Katherine Halvorsen, Lydia Rose Kesich, Michael J.F. Barresi

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The Deepwater Horizon disaster was the largest marine oil spill in history, and total vertical exposure of oil to the water column suggests it could impact an enormous diversity of ecosystems. The most vulnerable organisms are those encountering these pollutants during their early life stages. Water-soluble components of crude oil and specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been shown to cause defects in cardiovascular and craniofacial development in a variety of teleost species, but the developmental origins of these defects have yet to be determined. We have adopted zebrafish, Danio rerio, as a model to test whether water accumulated fractions …

By Any Other Name: Heterologous Replacement Of The Escherichia Coli Rnase P Protein Subunit Has In Vivo Fitness Consequences, Paula C.G. Turrini, Jasmine L. Loveland, Robert L. Dorit

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Bacterial RNase P is an essential ribonucleoprotein composed of a catalytic RNA component (encoded by the rnpB gene) and an associated protein moiety (encoded by rnpA). We construct a system that allows for the deletion of the essential endogenous rnpA copy and for its simultaneous replacement by a heterologous version of the gene. Using growth rate as a proxy, we explore the effects on fitness of heterologous replacement by increasingly divergent versions of the RNase P protein. All of the heterologs tested complement the loss of the endogenous rnpA gene, suggesting that all existing bacterial versions of the rnpA …

Vincristine And Bortezomib Cause Axon Outgrowth And Behavioral Defects In Larval Zebrafish, Tahsin M. Khan, Nathan Benaich, Clare F. Malone, Rebecca L. Bernardos, Amy R. Russell, Gerald B. Downes, Michael J. Barresi, Lara D. Hutson

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Peripheral neuropathy is a common side effect of a number of pharmaceutical compounds, including several chemotherapy drugs. Among these are vincristine sulfate, a mitotic inhibitor used to treat a variety of leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers, and bortezomib, a 26S proteasome inhibitor used primarily to treat relapsed multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. To gain insight into the mechanisms by which these compounds act, we tested their effects in zebrafish. Vincristine or bortezomib given during late embryonic development caused significant defects at both behavioral and cellular levels. Intriguingly, the effects of the two drugs appear to be distinct. Vincristine causes …

Dynein Achieves Processive Motion Using Both Stochastic And Coordinated Stepping, Weihong Qiu, Nathan D. Derr, Brian S. Goodman, Elizabeth Villa, David Wu, William Shih, Samara L. Reck-Peterson

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Processivity, the ability of single molecules to move continuously along a track, is a fundamental requirement of cargo-transporting molecular motors. Here, we investigate how cytoplasmic dynein, a homodimeric, microtubule-based motor, achieves processive motion. To do this, we developed a versatile method for assembling Saccharomyces cerevisiae dynein heterodimers, using complementary DNA oligonucleotides covalently linked to dynein monomers labeled with different organic fluorophores. Using two-color, single-molecule microscopy and high-precision, two-dimensional tracking, we find that dynein has a highly variable stepping pattern that is distinct from all other processive cytoskeletal motors, which use 'hand-over-hand' mechanisms. Uniquely, dynein stepping is stochastic when its two …

Desiccation Induces Viable But Non-Culturable Cells In Sinorhizobium Meliloti 1021, Jan A.C. Vriezen, Frans J. De Bruijn, Klaus R. Nüsslein

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sinorhizobium meliloti is a microorganism commercially used in the production of e.g. Medicago sativa seed inocula. Many inocula are powder-based and production includes a drying step. Although S. meliloti survives drying well, the quality of the inocula is reduced during this process. In this study we determined survival during desiccation of the commercial strains 102F84 and 102F85 as well as the model strain USDA1021.

The survival of S. meliloti 1021 was estimated during nine weeks at 22% relative humidity. We found that after an initial rapid decline of colony forming units, the decline slowed to a steady 10-fold reduction …

A Multicenter Evaluation Of Diagnostic Tools To Define Endpoints For Programs To Eliminate Bancroftian Filariasis, Katherine Gass, Madsen V.E. Beau De Rochars, Daniel Boakye, Mark Bradley, Peter U. Fischer, John Gyapong, Makoto Itoh, Nese Ituaso-Conway, Hayley Joseph, Dominique Kyelem, Sandra J. Laney, Anne-Marie Legrand, Tilaka S. Liyanage, Wayne Melrose, Khalfan Mohammed, Nils Pilotte, Eric A. Ottesen, Catherine Plichart, Kapa Ramaiah, Ramakrishna U. Rao, Jeffrey Talbot, Gary J. Weil, Steven A. Williams, Kimberly Y. Won, Patrick J. Lammie

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Successful mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns have brought several countries near the point of Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) elimination. A diagnostic tool is needed to determine when the prevalence levels have decreased to a point that MDA campaigns can be discontinued without the threat of recrudescence. A six-country study was conducted assessing the performance of seven diagnostic tests, including tests for microfilariae (blood smear, PCR), parasite antigen (ICT, Og4C3) and antifilarial antibody (Bm14, PanLF, Urine SXP). One community survey and one school survey were performed in each country. A total of 8,513 people from the six countries participated in the study, …

Heterogeneous Rates Of Molecular Evolution Among Cryptic Species Of The Ciliate Morphospecies Chilodonella Uncinata, Laura A. Katz, Jennifer Deberardinis, Meaghan S. Hall, Alexandra M. Kovner, Micah Dunthorn, Spencer V. Muse

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

While molecular analyses have provided insight into the phylogeny of ciliates, the few studies assessing intraspecific variation have largely relied on just a single locus [e.g., nuclear small subunit rDNA (nSSUrDNA) or mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I]. In this study, we characterize the diversity of several nuclear protein-coding genes plus both nSSU-rDNA and mitochondrial small subunit rDNA (mtSSU-rDNA) of five isolates of the ciliate morphospecies Chilodonella uncinata. Although these isolates have nearly identical nSSU-rDNA sequences, they differ by up to 8.0% in mtSSU-rDNA. Comparative analyses of all loci, including b-tubulin paralogs, indicate a lack of recombination between strains, demonstrating that the …

The Nih-Niaid Filariasis Research Reagent Resource Center, Michelle L. Michalski, Kathryn G. Griffiths, Steven A. Williams, Ray M. Kaplan, Andrew Moorhead

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Filarial worms cause a variety of tropical diseases in humans; however, they are difficult to study because they have complex life cycles that require arthropod intermediate hosts and mammalian definitive hosts. Research efforts in industrialized countries are further complicated by the fact that some filarial nematodes that cause disease in humans are restricted in host specificity to humans alone. This potentially makes the commitment to research difficult, expensive, and restrictive. Over 40 years ago, the United States National Institutes of Health–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH-NIAID) established a resource from which investigators could obtain various filarial parasite species …

Auditory Selectivity For Acoustic Features That Confer Species Recognition In The Túngara Frog, Lisa A. Mangiamele, Sabrina S. Burmeister

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

In anurans, recognition of species-specific acoustic signals is essential to finding a mate. In many species, behavioral tests have elucidated which acoustic features contribute to species recognition, but the mechanisms by which the brain encodes these species-specific signal components are less well understood. The túngara frog produces a 'whine' mating call that is characterized by a descending frequency sweep. However, much of the signal is unnecessary for recognition, as recognition behavior can be triggered by a descending two-tone step that mimics the frequency change in a portion of the whine. To identify the brain regions that contribute to species recognition …

Estimating The Timing Of Early Eukaryotic Diversification With Multigene Molecular Clocks, Laura Wegener Parfrey, Daniel J.G. Lahr, Andrew H. Knoll, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Although macroscopic plants, animals, and fungi are the most familiar eukaryotes, the bulk of eukaryotic diversity is microbial. Elucidating the timing of diversification among the more than 70 lineages is key to understanding the evolution of eukaryotes. Here, we use taxon-rich multigene data combined with diverse fossils and a relaxed molecular clock framework to estimate the timing of the last common ancestor of extant eukaryotes and the divergence of major clades. Overall, these analyses suggest that the last common ancestor lived between 1866 and 1679 Ma, consistent with the earliest microfossils interpreted with confidence as eukaryotic. During this interval, the …

Comprehensive Phylogenetic Reconstruction Of Amoebozoa Based On Concatenated Analyses Of Ssu-Rdna And Actin Genes, Daniel J.G. Lahr, Jessica Grant, Truc Nguyen, Jian Hua Lin, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Evolutionary relationships within Amoebozoa have been the subject of controversy for two reasons: 1) paucity of morphological characters in traditional surveys and 2) haphazard taxonomic sampling in modern molecular reconstructions. These along with other factors have prevented the erection of a definitive system that resolves confidently both higher and lower-level relationships. Additionally, the recent recognition that many protosteloid amoebae are in fact scattered throughout the Amoebozoa suggests that phylogenetic reconstructions have been excluding an extensive and integral group of organisms. Here we provide a comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction based on 139 taxa using molecular information from both SSU-rDNA and actin genes. …

Evolution Of The Actin Gene Family In Testate Lobose Amoebae (Arcellinida) Is Characterized By Two Distinct Clades Of Paralogs And Recent Independent Expansions, Daniel J.G. Lahr, Truc B. Nguyen, Erika Barbero, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The evolution of actin gene families is characterized by independent expansions and contractions across the eukaryotic tree of life. Here, we assess diversity of actin gene sequences within three lineages of the genus Arcella, a free-living testate (shelled) amoeba in the Arcellinida. We established four clonal lines of two morphospecies, Arcella hemisphaerica and A. vulgaris, and assessed their phylogenetic relationship within the "Amoebozoa" using small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU-rDNA) genealogy. We determined that the two lines of A. hemisphaerica are identical in SSU-rDNA, while the two A. vulgaris are independent genetic lineages. Furthermore, we characterized multiple actin gene copies from …

Skeletal Muscle Gender Dimorphism From Proteomics, Kalina Dimova, Lauren Ann Metskas, Mohini Kulp, Stylianos P. Scordilis

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Gross contraction in skeletal muscle is primarily determined by a relatively small number of contractile proteins, however this tissue is also remarkably adaptable to environmental factors such as hypertrophy by resistance exercise and atrophy by disuse. It thereby exhibits remodeling and adaptations to stressors (heat, ischemia, heavy metals, etc.). Damage can occur to muscle by a muscle exerting force while lengthening, the so-called eccentric contraction. The contractile proteins can be damaged in such exertions and need to be repaired, degraded and/or resynthesized; these functions are not part of the contractile proteins, but of other much less abundant proteins in the …

On The Nature Of Species: Insights From Paramecium And Other Ciliates, Meaghan S. Hall, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The multiple species concepts currently in use by the scientific community (e. g. Morphological, Biological, Phylogenetic) are united in that they all aim to capture the process of divergence between populations. For example, the Biological Species Concept defines a species as a natural group of organisms that is reproductively isolated from other such groups. Here we synthesize nearly a century of research on the ciliate genus Paramecium that highlights the shortcomings of our prevailing notions on the nature of species. In this lineage, there is discordance between morphology, mating behavior, and genetics, features assumed to be correlated, at least after …

Expanding Character Sampling For Ciliate Phylogenetic Inference Using Mitochondrial Ssu-Rdna As A Molecular Marker, Micah Dunthorn, Wilhelm Foissner, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Molecular systematics of ciliates, particularly at deep nodes, has largely focused on increasing taxon sampling using the nuclear small subunit rDNA (nSSU-rDNA) locus. These previous analyses have generally been congruent with morphologically-based classifications, although there is extensive non-monophyly at many levels. However, caution is needed in interpreting these results as nSSU-rDNA is just a single molecular marker. Here the mitochondrial small subunit rDNA (mtSSU-rDNA) is evaluated for deep ciliate nodes using the Colpodea as an example. Overall, well-supported nodes in the mtSSU-rDNA and concatenated topologies are well supported in the nSSU-rDNA topology; e.g., the non-monophyly of the Cyrtolophosidida. The two …

Genome Dynamics Are Influenced By Food Source In Allogromia Laticollaris Strain Csh (Foraminifera), Laura Wegener Parfrey, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Across the eukaryotic tree of life, genomes vary within populations and within individuals during their life cycle. Understanding intraspecific genome variation in diverse eukaryotes is key to elucidating the factors that underlie this variation. Here, we characterize genome dynamics during the life cycle of Allogromia laticollaris strain CSH, a member of the Foraminifera, using fluorescence microscopy and reveal extensive variation in nuclear size and DNA content. Both nuclear size and DNA content are tightly correlated across a 700-fold range in cell volume. In contrast to models in yeast where nuclear size is determined solely by cell size, the relationship in …

Neural Activity Patterns In Response To Interspecific And Intraspecific Variation In Mating Calls In The Túngara Frog, Mukta Chakraborty, Lisa A. Mangiamele, Sabrina S. Burmeister

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: During mate choice, individuals must classify potential mates according to species identity and relative attractiveness. In many species, females do so by evaluating variation in the signals produced by males. Male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus) can produce single note calls (whines) and multi-note calls (whine-chucks). While the whine alone is sufficient for species recognition, females greatly prefer the whine-chuck when given a choice. Methodology/Principal Findings: To better understand how the brain responds to variation in male mating signals, we mapped neural activity patterns evoked by interspecific and intraspecific variation in mating calls in túngara frogs by measuring expression of …

Broadly Sampled Multigene Analyses Yield A Well-Resolved Eukaryotic Tree Of Life, Laura Wegener Parfrey, Jessica Grant, Yonas I. Tekle, Erica Lasek-Nesselquist, Hilary G. Morrison, Mitchell L. Sogin, David J. Patterson, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

An accurate reconstruction of the eukaryotic tree of life is essential to identify the innovations underlying the diversity of microbial and macroscopic (e.g., plants and animals) eukaryotes. Previous work has divided eukaryotic diversity into a small number of high-level "supergroups," many of which receive strong support in phylogenomic analyses. However, the abundance of data in phylogenomic analyses can lead to highly supported but incorrect relationships due to systematic phylogenetic error. Furthermore, the paucity of major eukaryotic lineages (19 or fewer) included in these genomic studies may exaggerate systematic error and reduce power to evaluate hypotheses. Here, we use a taxon-rich …

Essential Genes For Astroglial Development And Axon Pathfinding During Zebrafish Embryogenesis, Michael J.F. Barresi, Sean Burton, Kristina Dipietrantonio, Adam Amsterdam, Nancy Hopkins, Rolf O. Karlstrom

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The formation of the central nervous system depends on the coordinated development of neural and glial cell types that arise from a common precursor. Using an existing group of zebrafish mutants generated by viral insertion, we performed a "shelf-screen" to identify genes necessary for astroglial development and axon scaffold formation. We screened 274 of 315 viral insertion lines using antibodies that label axons (anti-Acetylated Tubulin) and astroglia (anti-Gfap) and identified 25 mutants with defects in gliogenesis, glial patterning, neurogenesis, and axon guidance. We also identified a novel class of mutants affecting radial glial cell numbers. Defects in astroglial patterning were …

Gender Dimorphism In The Exercise-Naïve Murine Skeletal Muscle Proteome, Lauren Ann Metskas, Mohini Kulp, Stylianos P. Scordilis

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Skeletal muscle is a plastic tissue with known gender dimorphism, especially at the metabolic level. A proteomic comparison of male and female murine biceps brachii was undertaken, resolving an average of 600 protein spots of MW 15–150 kDa and pI 5–8. Twenty-six unique full-length proteins spanning 11 KOG groups demonstrated statistically significant (p<0.05) abundance differences between genders; the majority of these proteins have metabolic functions. Identified glycolytic enzymes demonstrated decreased abundance in females, while abundance differences in identified oxidative phosphorylation enzymes were specific to the proteins rather than to the functional group as a whole. Certain cytoskeletal and stress proteins showed specific expression differences, and all three phosphorylation states of creatine kinase showed significant decreased abundance in females. Expression differences were significant but many were subtle (≤ 2-fold), and known hormonally-regulated proteins were not identified. We conclude that while gender dimorphism is present in non-exercised murine skeletal muscle, the proteome comparison of male and female biceps brachii in exercise-naive mice indicates subtle differences rather than a large or obviously hormonal dimorphism.

Alternative Processing Of Scrambled Genes Generates Protein Diversity In The Ciliate Chilodonella Uncinata, Laura A. Katz, Alexandra M. Kovner

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

In ciliates, chromosomal rearrangements occur during the development of the somatic macronuclear genome from the germline micronuclear genome. These rearrangements are extensive in three ciliate classes-Armophorea, Spirotrichea, and Phyllopharyngea-generating a macronucleus with up to 20,000,000 gene-sized chromosomes. Earlier, we have shown that these three classes also share elevated rates of protein evolution relative to other ciliates. To assess the evolution of germline-limited sequences in the class Phyllopharyngea, we used a combination of traditional and walking PCR to analyze micronuclear copies of multiple genes from two lines of the morphospecies Chilodonella uncinata for which we had previously characterized macronuclear sequences. Analyses …

Diversity Of Oligotrichia And Choreotrichia Ciliates In Coastal Marine Sediments And In Overlying Plankton, Mary Doherty, Maiko Tamura, Jan A.C. Vriezen, George B. Mcmanus, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Elucidating the relationship between ciliate communities in the benthos and the plankton is critical to understanding ciliate diversity in marine systems. Although data for many lineages are sparse, at least some members of the dominant marine ciliate clades Oligotrichia and Choreotrichia can be found in both plankton and benthos, in the latter either as cysts or active forms. In this study, we developed a molecular approach to address the relationship between the diversity of ciliates in the plankton and those of the underlying benthos in the same locations. Samples from plankton and sediments were compared across three sites along the …

A Community-Based Study Of Factors Associated With Continuing Transmission Of Lymphatic Filariasis In Leogane, Haiti, Alexis Boyd, Kimberly Y. Won, Shannon K. Mcclintock, Catherine V. Donovan, Sandra J. Laney, Steven A. Williams, Nils Pilotte, Thomas G. Streit, Madsen V.E. Beau De Rochars, Patrick J. Lammie

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Seven rounds of mass drug administration (MDA) have been administered in Leogane, Haiti, an area hyperendemic for lymphatic filariasis (LF). Sentinel site surveys showed that the prevalence of microfilaremia was reduced to ,1% from levels as high as 15.5%, suggesting that transmission had been reduced. A separate 30-cluster survey of 2- to 4-year-old children was conducted to determine if MDA interrupted transmission. Antigen and antifilarial antibody prevalence were 14.3% and 19.7%, respectively. Follow-up surveys were done in 6 villages, including those selected for the cluster survey, to assess risk factors related to continued LF transmission and to pinpoint hotspots of …

Detection Of Wuchereria Bancrofti L3 Larvae In Mosquitoes: A Reverse Transcriptase Pcr Assay Evaluating Infection And Infectivity, Sandra J. Laney, Reda M.R. Ramzy, Hanan H. Helmy, Hoda A. Farid, Ameen A. Ashour, Gary J. Weil, Steven A. Williams

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Lymphatic filariasis is a disabling and disfiguring disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted by a mosquito. The life cycle of the parasite requires two hosts: the mosquito vector and the human host. Part of the developmental life cycle of the parasite occurs in the mosquito and the other part in the human host. The parasite develops through four stages in the mosquito, only the last of which is infectious to humans. The third larval stage (L3) is the infective stage that initiates human infections when infective mosquitoes bite humans. There is currently a global program attempting to eliminate …

Dynamic Genomes Of Eukaryotes And The Maintenance Of Genomic Integrity, Laura Wegener Parfrey, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Many biologists assume that eukaryotic genomes are transmitted stably between generations with only minor variations. Yet, this presumed constancy is at odds with data indicating that eukaryotic genomes are dynamic, varying extensively in content among many different lineages. Thus, rather than being constant, genomes vary considerably within individuals during their lifetimes.

Gender Dimorphism In The Exercise-Naïve Murine Skeletal Muscle Proteome, Lauren Ann Metskas, Mohini Kulp, Stylianos P. Scordilis

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Skeletal muscle is a plastic tissue with known gender dimorphism, especially at the metabolic level. A proteomic comparison of male and female murine biceps brachii was undertaken, resolving an average of 600 protein spots of MW 15-150 kDa and pI 5-8. Twenty-six unique full-length proteins spanning 11 KOG groups demonstrated statistically significant (p< 0.05) abundance differences between genders; the majority of these proteins have metabolic functions. Identified glycolytic enzymes demonstrated decreased abundance in females, while abundance differences in identified oxidative phosphorylation enzymes were specific to the proteins rather than to the functional group as a whole. Certain cytoskeletal and stress proteins showed specific expression differences, and all three phosphorylation states of creatine kinase showed significant decreased abundance in females. Expression differences were significant but many were subtle (≤ 2-fold), and known hormonally-regulated proteins were not identified. We conclude that while gender dimorphism is present in non-exercised murine skeletal muscle, the proteome comparison of male and female biceps brachii in exercise-naive mice indicates subtle differences rather than a large or obviously hormonal dimorphism.

Immunisation With A Multivalent, Subunit Vaccine Reduces Patent Infection In A Natural Bovine Model Of Onchocerciasis During Intense Field Exposure, Benjamin L. Makepeace, Siv Aina Jensen, Sandra J. Laney, Charles K. Nfon, Leo M. Njongmeta, Vincent N. Tanya, Steven A. Williams, Albert E. Bianco, Alexander J. Trees

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Human onchocerciasis, caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus, is controlled almost exclusively by the drug ivermectin, which prevents pathology by targeting the microfilariae. However, this reliance on a single control tool has led to interest in vaccination as a potentially complementary strategy. Here, we describe the results of a trial in West Africa to evaluate a multivalent, subunit vaccine for onchocerciasis in the naturally evolved host-parasite relationship of Onchocerca ochengi in cattle. Na ̈ıve calves, reared in fly-proof accommodation, were immunised with eight recombinant antigens of O. ochengi, administered separately with either Freund’s adjuvant or alum. The selected antigens …

Heritable Factors Play A Major Role In Determining Host Responses To Wuchereria Bancrofti Infection In An Isolated South Pacific Island Population, Karen T. Cuenco, Eric A. Ottesen, Steven A. Williams, Thomas B. Nutman, Cathy Steel

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background. It is increasingly recognized that host genetic factors may play an important role in determining the outcome of filarial infections. To test this hypothesis in bancroftian lymphatic filariasis, pedigree data were collected twice during an 18-year period from an isolated Polynesian population living on a Pacific island where lymphatic filariasis is endemic. Methods. Using variance-component analysis, we examined the contribution of shared genetic and environmental effects on host clinical and immune responses to filarial infection, along with potential confounding determinants. Results. Sex was found to have a negligible influence on heritability estimates, but shared-household effects accounted for up to …