Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases
University of Georgia
Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) are proteins used to monitor calcium ion (Ca2+) changes in living cells. They can be targeted to the cytosol or to organelles for continuous measurements in vivo. In this chapter, we present an overview of the methods that our lab used to detect Ca2+ changes in Trypanosoma cruzi elicited by stimulation …
Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, is acquired by drinking water containing small water fleas infected with D. medinensis larvae or eating inadequately cooked aquatic animals. Efforts to eradicate D. medinensis, including the Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP), began at CDC in 1980. In 1986, with an estimated 3.5 million cases …
Background: Aerobic eukaryotes utilize O2 to oxidize metabolites and generate ATP. The response to oxygen deprivation leads to migration to locations with more favorable concentrations (aerotaxis), differentiation, metabolic reprogramming, or more global stress responses. In mammals, changes in gene expression are particularly well studied, with the involvement of the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF-1), which regulates the transcription of …
Skp1 is an essential adaptor within the Skp1/Cul1/F-box (SCF) class of E3 polyubiquitin ligases that regulate protein degradation in all eukaryotes. Skp1 is also a target of a 5-enzyme glycosylation pathway in parasites and other unicellular eukaryotes. Glycosylation of Skp1 is contingent upon oxygen-dependent hydroxylation of a critical Pro residue by a homolog of the …
Polyploidy and small-scale duplication have repeatedly reshaped plant genomes, making synteny and colinearity indispensable for evolutionary inference. We present PGDD 2.0 (accessible at chibba.agtec.uga.edu and pgdd2.org), a major update to the Plant Genome Duplication Database (PGDD) that now aggregates >120 complete telomere-to-telomere (T2T) assemblies, including many chromosome-scale genomes spanning all major Viridiplantae lineages. Each genome …
Venturia canescens is a parasitoid wasp that harbors a domesticated endogenous virus (DEV) and parasitizes host insects like Ephestia kuehniella. The V. canescens DEV evolved from an alphanudivirus and produces virus-like particles (VLPs) in females that protect wasp eggs from a host immune defense called encapsulation. In contrast, very few DEV genes required for VLP formation and function …
The Diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (L.), the most significant worldwide pest of Brassica crops, is notorious for resistance to a diverse number of insecticides. Field populations bioassayed in Georgia and Florida, USA, in 2018 were resistant to chlorantraniliprole but susceptible to cyantraniliprole. Subsequently, populations assayed in 2021, 2022, and 2023 were cross-resistant to both diamides. We used NextSeq …
Ca2+ signaling in cells begins with the opening of Ca2+ channels in either the plasma membrane (PM) or endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to a sharp increase in the physiologically low (<100 nM) cytosolic Ca2+ level. The temporal and spatial regulation of Ca²+ is crucial for the precise activation of key biological processes. In the …
As a continuation of the project aimed at searching for new chemotherapeuticagents against Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis, new selenocyanate derivatives are designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated against the clinically more relevant dividing amastigote form of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of this illness. Furthermore, as all the title compounds are fluorine-containing molecules, it seemed …