Population dynamics of the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, during rapid range expansion in New York State.

Recent changes in climate and human land-use have resulted in alterations of the geographic range of many species, including human pathogens. Geographic range expansion and population growth of human pathogens increase human disease risk. Relatively little empirical work has investigated the impact of range changes on within-population variability, a contributor to both colonization success and adaptive potential, during the precise time in which populations are colonized.

Disease decreases variation in host community structure in an old-field grassland.

Disease may drive variation in host community structure by modifying the interplay of deterministic and stochastic processes that shape communities. For instance, deterministic processes like ecological selection can benefit species less impacted by disease. When communities have higher levels of disease and disease consistently selects for certain host species, this can reduce variation in host community composition.

Phylogeographic dynamics of the arthropod vector, the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis).

Background: The emergence of vector-borne pathogens in novel geographic areas is regulated by the migration of their arthropod vectors. Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) and the pathogens they vector, including the causative agents of Lyme disease, babesiosis and anaplasmosis, continue to grow in their population sizes and to expand in geographic range. Migration of this vector over the previous decades has been implicated as the cause of the re-emergence of the most prevalent infectious diseases in North America.

A Microbial Mutualist Within Host Individuals Increases Parasite Transmission Between Host Individuals: Evidence From a Field Mesocosm Experiment.

The interactions among host-associated microbes and parasites can have clear consequences for disease susceptibility and progression within host individuals. Yet, empirical evidence for how these interactions impact parasite transmission between host individuals remains scarce. We address this scarcity by using a field mesocosm experiment to investigate the interaction between a systemic fungal endophyte, , and a fungal parasite, , in leaves of a grass host, tall fescue ().

Indirect interactions among co-infecting parasites and a microbial mutualist impact disease progression.

Interactions among parasites and other microbes within hosts can impact disease progression, yet study of such interactions has been mostly limited to pairwise combinations of microbes. Given the diversity of microbes within hosts, indirect interactions among more than two microbial species may also impact disease. To test this hypothesis, we performed inoculation experiments that investigated interactions among two fungal parasites, and and a systemic fungal endophyte, within the grass, tall fescue ().

Parasites, niche modification and the host microbiome: A field survey of multiple parasites.

Parasites can affect and be affected by the host's microbiome, with consequences for host susceptibility, parasite transmission, and host and parasite fitness. Yet, two aspects of the relationship between parasite infection and host microbiota remain little understood: the nature of the relationship under field conditions, and how the relationship varies among parasites. To overcome these limitations, we performed a field survey of the within-leaf fungal community in a tall fescue population.

Evolutionary Genetics of .

The genus consists of evolutionarily and genetically diverse bacterial species that cause a variety of diseases in humans and domestic animals. These vector-borne spirochetes can be classified into two major evolutionary groups, the Lyme borreliosis clade and the relapsing fever clade, both of which have complex transmission cycles during which they interact with multiple host species and arthropod vectors. Molecular, ecological, and evolutionary studies have each provided significant contributions towards our understanding of the natural history, biology and evolutionary genetics of species; however, integration of these studies is required to identify the evolutionary causes and consequences of the genetic variation within and among species.

Evolutionary ecology of Lyme Borrelia.

The bacterial genus, Borrelia, is comprised of vector-borne spirochete species that infect and are transmitted from multiple host species. Some Borrelia species cause highly-prevalent diseases in humans and domestic animals. Evolutionary, ecological, and molecular research on many Borrelia species have resulted in tremendous progress toward understanding the biology and natural history of these species.

Plastic potential: how the phenotypes and adaptations of pathogens are influenced by microbial interactions within plants.

Predicting the effects of plant-associated microbes on emergence, spread, and evolution of plant pathogens demands an understanding of how pathogens respond to these microbes at two levels of biological organization: that of an individual pathogen and that of a pathogen population across multiple individual plants. We first examine the plastic responses of individual plant pathogens to microbes within a shared host, as seen through changes in pathogen growth and multiplication. We then explore the limited understanding of how within-plant microbial interactions affect pathogen populations and discuss the need to incorporate population-level observations with population genomic techniques.

Acyl CoA synthetase 5 (ACSL5) ablation in mice increases energy expenditure and insulin sensitivity and delays fat absorption.

Objective: The family of acyl-CoA synthetase enzymes (ACSL) activates fatty acids within cells to generate long chain fatty acyl CoA (FACoA). The differing metabolic fates of FACoAs such as incorporation into neutral lipids, phospholipids, and oxidation pathways are differentially regulated by the ACSL isoforms. In vitro studies have suggested a role for ACSL5 in triglyceride synthesis; however, we have limited understanding of the in vivo actions of this ACSL isoform.