A5036840675- Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Plant Pathogenic Bacteria Studies
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
- Bird parasitology and diseases
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Virus-based gene therapy research
- Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research
- Microbial infections and disease research
- Plant Virus Research Studies
- Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
Roslin Institute
2024-2025
University of Edinburgh
2025
University of Exeter
2018-2021
Abstract Understanding how hosts minimize the cost of emerging infections has fundamental implications for epidemiological dynamics and evolution pathogen virulence. Despite this, few experimental studies in natural populations have tested whether, response to disease emergence, evolve resistance, which reduces load through immune activation, or tolerance, limits somatic damages without decreasing load. Further, none done so accounting significant variation virulence, despite known effects...
Animal models that accurately reflect COVID-19 are vital for understanding mechanisms of disease and advancing development improved vaccines therapeutics. Pigs increasingly recognized as valuable human due to their genetic, anatomical, physiological, immunological similarities humans, they present a more ethically viable alternative non-human primates. However, pigs not susceptible SARS-CoV-2 infection which limits utility model. To address this, we have developed transgenic expressing ACE2...
The aim of the study was to evaluate efficiency molecular diagnostics tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and correlate viral RNA (vRNA) detection with clinical laboratory data. Clinical samples from 1,125 patients South Bohemia, Czech Republic, a highly endemic TBE region, were screened for virus (TBEV) by RT-qPCR. Samples included blood, serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), urine. TBEV detected in 14 clinically proven TBE. most frequently sera during early infection (11/37 tested, 29.7%) but...
Host-pathogen coevolution is assumed to play a key role in eco-evolutionary processes, including epidemiological dynamics and the evolution of sexual reproduction [1-4]. Despite this, direct evidence for host-pathogen exceptional [5-7], particularly vertebrate hosts. Indeed, although hosts have been shown evolve response pathogens or vice versa [8-12], there little necessary reciprocal changes success both antagonists over time [13]. Here, we generate time-shift experiment demonstrate...
Host resistance through immune clearance is predicted to favor pathogens that are able transmit faster and hence more virulent. Increasing pathogen virulence is, in turn, typically assumed be mediated by increasing replication rates. However, experiments designed test how rates evolve response host resistance, as well the relationship between two, rare lacking for naturally evolving host-pathogen interactions. We inoculated 55 isolates of Mycoplasma gallisepticum, collected over 20 y from...
Abstract The virulence-transmission trade-off hypothesis has provided a dominant theoretical basis for predicting pathogen virulence evolution, but empirical tests are rare, particularly at emergence. central prediction of this is that fitness maximized intermediate due to between infection duration and transmission rate. However, obtaining sufficient numbers isolates contrasting test the shape relationships key traits, doing so without confounds evolved host protective immunity (as expected...
Abstract Quantifying variation in the ability to fight infection among free-living hosts is challenging and often constrained one or a few measures of immune activity. While such are typically taken reflect host resistance, they can also be shaped by pathogen effects, for example, if more virulent strains trigger robust responses. Here, we test extent which pathogen-specific antibody levels, commonly used measure immunocompetence, resistance versus virulence, whether these antibodies...
AbstractAs a major physiological mechanism involved in cellular renewal and repair, immune function is vital to the body's capacity support tissue maintenance organismal survival. Because defenses can be energetically expensive, activities of metabolically active organs, such as liver, are predicted increase during infection by most pathogens. However, some pathogens immunosuppressive, which might reduce metabolic capacities select organs suppress response. Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG)...
<title>Abstract</title> COVID-19 continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality, with emerging strains rapidly spreading despite substantial immunity through vaccination previous exposure. Animal models that accurately reflect are vital for testing mechanisms of disease, enabling development improved vaccines therapeutics. We have developed human ACE2 transgenic pigs highly susceptible SARS-CoV-2 display clinical signs, disease progression, lung inflammation faithfully replicate...
Understanding how hosts minimise the cost of emerging infections has fundamental implications for epidemiological dynamics and evolution pathogen virulence. Despite this, few experimental studies conducted in natural populations have explicitly tested whether evolve resistance, which prevents or reduces load through immune activation, tolerance, limits somatic damages without decreasing load. In addition, none done so controlling virulence isolate used, despite critical effects on host...