Advances in Immunology and Microbiology Seminar Series: Brittany Genera & Sadie Izaguirre
About the event
Featuring research in the areas of:
Epidemiology | Infectious Disease | Disease Ecology | Drug Discovery | Virology |
Global Health | Vector-Borne Disease | Pathology
The Advances in Immunology & Microbiology seminar series is a weekly forum that brings together scientists from diverse fields and disciplines across the College of Veterinary Medicine to discuss research advances in the broad areas of immunology, microbiology, infectious diseases, and global health. Seminars feature student speakers from the Immunology & Infectious Disease (IID) doctoral program, IID-affiliated postdoctoral researchers and faculty, intramural speakers from across the university, and extramural speakers.
PRESENTER: Brittany Genera, 5th year graduate student in Kelly Brayton and Jason Park’s lab
TITLE: The A. phagocytophilum T4SS tick effector, AteA, contains EPIYA motifs and directs tyrosine phosphorylation
Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a tick-borne pathogen causing human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), employs a Type IV Secretion System (T4SS) to deliver effector proteins into host cells. This study focuses on AteA, a novel T4SS effector essential for the survival of A. phagocytophilum within tick cells.
AteA interacts with the host cell’s actin cytoskeleton, influencing its structure. Notably, AteA contains EPLYA motifs, similar to EPIYA motifs found in other bacterial effectors, which are known to be tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Using fluorescence imaging, we have demonstrated that AteA is tyrosine phosphorylated, and this phosphorylation is dependent on the EPLYA-containing region.
AteA is the first tick-specific effector identified in A. phagocytophilum with EPIYA motifs, highlighting its unique role in the tick-mammalian host transition. Understanding the mechanisms of AteA function, particularly its phosphorylation and interaction with the actin cytoskeleton, may provide crucial insights into A. phagocytophilum pathogenesis and potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
PRESENTER: Sadie Izaguirre, PhD candidate; Advisor, Dr. Massro Ueti, USDA, WSU; Co-advisor, Dr. Kelly Brayton, Vetererinary Microbioloty & Pathology
TITLE: Investigating the role of a novel tick midgut protein during Babesia bovis infection
Rhipicephalus microplus serves as a vector for Babesia bovis, the causative agent of bovine babesiosis, for which there are very limited control strategies available. The infection of the tick’s midgut is crucial for the transmission cycle of B. bovis, yet these interactions remain understudied. We have demonstrated that B. bovis infection affects the midgut proteome of R. microplus, and during exposure to B. bovis, an uncharacterized protein increases twofold. We hypothesize that this protein is essential for B. bovis infection in the tick midgut. In this study, we explore the effects of silencing this gene on both tick fitness and B. bovis infection through RNA interference. Overall, silencing does not significantly affect tick fitness, except during recovery, which showed a decrease in viable ticks. We also found that suppressing this R. microplus protein resulted in a notable reduction in the number of ticks that established B. bovis infection, consequently leading to decreased vertical transmission to progeny larvae. Our findings suggest that this protein could be a promising target for transmission-blocking therapies.