A5088259836- Rabies epidemiology and control
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Bat Biology and Ecology Studies
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
- Animal Virus Infections Studies
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Hepatitis B Virus Studies
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology
- Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Hepatitis C virus research
- Plant Virus Research Studies
- Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Plant and animal studies
- Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Influenza Virus Research Studies
- Scarabaeidae Beetle Taxonomy and Biogeography
- Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
- Insect behavior and control techniques
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Bird parasitology and diseases
University of Glasgow
2016-2025
MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
2018-2025
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
2015-2020
National Zoological Park
2015-2020
Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
2020
Louisiana State University
2020
Smithsonian Institution
2018
University of Otago
2013-2016
Allan Wilson Centre
2016
University of Virginia
2013
Viruses infect all forms of life and play critical roles as agents disease, drivers biochemical cycles sources genetic diversity for their hosts. Our understanding viral derives primarily from comparisons among host species, precluding insight into how intraspecific variation in ecology affects communities or predictable are across populations. Here we test spatial, demographic environmental hypotheses explaining richness community composition populations common vampire bats, which occur...
Abstract Microbial communities play an important role in organismal and ecosystem health. While high‐throughput metabarcoding has revolutionized the study of bacterial communities, generating comparable viral proven elusive, particularly wildlife samples where diversity viruses limited quantities nucleic acid present distinctive challenges. Metagenomic sequencing is a promising solution for studying but lack standardized methods currently precludes comparisons across host taxa or localities....
Significance Satellites are virus-like agents which require both a host and virus to complete their life cycle. The only human-infecting satellite is hepatitis delta (HDV), exacerbates liver disease in patients co-infected with B (HBV). How HDV originated long-standing evolutionary puzzle. Using terabase-scale data mining, coevolutionary analyses, field studies bats, we show that deltaviruses can jump between highly divergent species. Our results further suggest the contemporary association...
The contemporary surge in metagenomic sequencing has transformed knowledge of viral diversity wildlife. However, evaluating which newly discovered viruses pose sufficient risk infecting humans to merit detailed laboratory characterization and surveillance remains largely speculative. Machine learning algorithms have been developed address this imbalance by ranking the relative likelihood human infection based on genome sequences, but are not yet routinely applied at time their discovery....
SUMMARY Bats (Order: Chiroptera) have been widely studied as reservoir hosts for viruses of concern human and animal health. However, whether bats are equally competent non-viral pathogens such bacteria remains an important open question. Here, we surveyed blood saliva samples vampire from Peru Belize hemotropic Mycoplasma spp. (hemoplasmas), that can cause inapparent infection or anemia in hosts. 16S rRNA gene amplification showed 67% (150/223) common ( Desmodus rotundus ) were infected by...
Intrinsically safe designs and a staged transparent development process will be essential.
Kolmioviridae is a family for negative-sense RNA viruses with circular, viroid-like genomes of about 1.5–1.7 kb that are maintained in mammals, amphibians, birds, fish, insects and reptiles. Deltaviruses, instance, can cause severe hepatitis humans. Kolmiovirids encode delta antigen (DAg) replicate using host-cell DNA-directed polymerase II ribozymes encoded their genome antigenome. They require evolutionary unrelated helper to provide envelopes incorporate virus proteins infectious particle...
Bartonella spp. are globally distributed bacteria that cause endocarditis in humans and domestic animals. Recent work has suggested bats as zoonotic reservoirs of some human infections; however, the ecological spatiotemporal patterns infection remain largely unknown. Here we studied genetic diversity, prevalence across seasons years, individual risk factors, possible transmission routes populations common vampire (Desmodus rotundus) Peru Belize, for which high previously been reported....
Abstract The Grallaria rufula complex is currently considered to consist of 2 species, G. (Rufous Antpitta) and blakei (Chestnut Antpitta). However, it has been suggested that the complex, populations which occur in humid montane forests from Venezuela Bolivia, comprises a suite vocally distinct yet morphologically cryptic species. We sequenced nuclear mitochondrial DNA for 80 individuals across distribution determine extent genetic variation between within described taxa. Our results...
Interrupting pathogen transmission between species is a priority strategy to mitigate zoonotic threats. However, avoiding counterproductive interventions requires knowing animal reservoirs of infection and the dynamics within them, neither which are easily ascertained from cross-sectional surveys that now dominate investigations into newly discovered viruses. We used biobanked sera metagenomic data reconstruct recently bat-associated influenza virus (BIV; H18N11) over 12 years in three zones...
ABSTRACT Metagenomics is a powerful tool for characterising viruses, with broad applications across diverse disciplines, from understanding the ecology and evolutionary history of viruses to identifying causative agents emerging outbreaks unknown aetiology. Additionally, metagenomic data contains valuable information about amount virus present within samples. However, we have yet leverage metagenomics assess viral load, which key epidemiological parameter. To effectively use sequencing...
Abstract Island endemic species are often vulnerable to decline and extinction following human settlement, the genetic study of historical museum specimens can be useful in understanding these processes. The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus) is a critically endangered New Zealand parrot that was formerly widespread abundant. It well established both Polynesian European colonization impacted native avifauna, but timeframe severity impacts have differed depending on species. Here, we investigated...
Vaccination is a powerful tool in combating infectious diseases of humans and companion animals. In most wildlife, including reservoirs emerging human diseases, achieving sufficient vaccine coverage to mitigate disease burdens remains logistically unattainable. Virally vectored “transmissible” vaccines that deliberately spread among hosts are potentially transformative, but still theoretical, solution the challenge immunising inaccessible wildlife. Progress towards real-world application...
Abstract Rabies is a viral zoonosis transmitted by vampire bats across Latin America. Substantial public health and agricultural burdens remain, despite decades of culls livestock vaccinations. Virally vectored vaccines that spread autonomously through bat populations are theoretically appealing solution to managing rabies in its reservoir host. We investigate the biological epidemiological suitability betaherpesvirus (DrBHV) act as vaccine vector. In 25 sites Peru with serological and/or...
Trypanosoma cruzi is widely reported in bats, yet transmission routes remain unclear. We present evidence from metagenomic sequence data that T. occurs the saliva of diverse Neotropical bats. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated bat-associated sequences described here formed part a bat-specific clade, suggesting an independent cycle. Our results highlight value repurposing generated for viral discovery to reveal insights into biology other parasites. Evaluating whether presence two...
Abstract Despite global investment in One Health disease surveillance, it remains difficult—and often very costly—to identify and monitor the wildlife reservoirs of novel zoonotic viruses. Statistical models can be used to guide sampling prioritization, but predictions from any given model may highly uncertain; moreover, systematic validation is rare, drivers performance are consequently under-documented. Here, we use bat hosts betacoronaviruses as a case study for data-driven process...
Bats host diverse coronaviruses, including taxa capable of pandemic spread in humans. We report the genome an alphacoronavirus from a neotropical bat species (Desmodus rotundus) Peru, which contributes to our understanding coronaviruses nature.
In the Neotropics, vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) are main reservoir host for rabies, a highly fatal encephalitis caused by viruses in genus Lyssavirus. Although patterns of rabies virus exposure and infection have been well studied South America Mexico, exploring ecology bat other regions is crucial predicting risks to livestock humans. Belize, outbreaks increased recent years, underscoring need systematic data on viral dynamics bats. this study, we examine first three years longitudinal...
We compared House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) nests in nest boxes with either small (28 mm) or large (38 entrance holes. Spring clutch size did not differ between wrens using and Nests holes had a significantly taller 'berm' of sticks the box cup than This was true even when same wren pairs were given different-size for spring summer nests. difficulty touching eggs we removed frontplate as an alternative measure vulnerability to predators brood parasites. There significant association hole...
Abstract Movement of animals and plants from mainland populations contributes to the genetic diversity viability geographically isolated island biota, but also carries risks pathogen introductions. The bat fauna Trinidad reflects species on neighbouring South American includes common vampire ( Desmodus rotundus) . We determined relationships between extent mainland-island movement by comparing structure (nuclear mitochondrial) morphology Trinidadian D. rotundus population in regions...
Temporal coordination of meiosis with spermatid morphogenesis is crucial for successful generation mature sperm cells. We identified a recessive male sterile Drosophila melanogaster mutant, mitoshell, in which events are initiated too early, before meiotic onset. Premature mitochondrial aggregation and fusion lead to an aberrant shell around premeiotic nuclei. Despite karyokinesis, improper localization mitoshell testes associated defective astral central spindles lack contractile rings,...