Back by popular demand. The DMIP newsletter will once again be coming out on a monthly schedule. Dan Champion will now be acting as Managing Editor, Copy Editor, News Editor, Opinion Editor, Feature Editor, Sports Editor, Photo/Graphics Editor, and Advertising Manager. Jeff Wilusz will remain in his position as Editor-in-Chief. You folks (the readers), will still be our eyes and ears on the DMIP streets. All newsworthy stories and pictures should be submitted to Dan Champion or Jeff Wilusz. We look forward to continuing this long standing DMIP tradition.

-The Editors

Microbiology Graduate is No. 2 ROTC cadet in the nation

Outstanding Graduate

Congratulations to Taylor Farley for being named the Outstanding Graduate of our Microbiology undergraduate program for Spring 2015 – amidst some very tough competition.  Taylor has a very impressive GPA and was selected by the College as the Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Junior in recognition of her academic achievements. This is an annual award given to only one junior in each college at the University. Taylor’s academic record is all the more impressive given that, in addition to being a full-time student in a rigorous major, she was also an active member of the CVMBS College Council, a student representative for the University Technology Fee Advisory Board, an undergraduate teaching assistant for the general microbiology lab and lecture, and an undergraduate researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Zabel. According to Mark, “Taylor is unequivocally the brightest, most creative, and capable undergraduate I have interacted with in my nine years at CSU.”  All of the faculty nominators noted that Taylor is a very smart, very good student, but they also went on to describe her as very personable, outgoing, confident, congenial, articulate, witty, poised, appreciative, unassuming, modest, and just a super-nice kid. Taylor is both extremely well-liked, and respected, by both the faculty and her peers.

Taylor is truly dedicated to pursuing a career in research and was awarded a highly competitive two year research fellowship at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland beginning this Fall. Congratulations, Taylor, and good luck in your future endeavors!

Kenneth Christofferson
Daina Nicole Cing
Joshua Daum
Kala Early
Tess Ehrhart
Lucas Elms
Taylor Farley
Andrew Faturos
Clarissa Freemyer
Cassidy Hagan
Dakota Hawthorne
Rachel Herndon
Tim Koh
Kaylin Koslosky
Caitlin Lozano
Madison Nason
Alexander Pierce
Jordan Powers
Kaitlyn Redding
Heidi Roche
Richard Ruder
McKenzie Smith
Kira Sniff
Sarah Stonedahl

Edit Szalai - was awarded the coveted overall ‘Living Our Values’ award at the CVMBS Spring Forum. Great job Edit!  (BTW - DMIP has brought home the award two years running!)

Brooke Plumley - a recent graduate of our Microbiology MS-B Program, was awarded 3rd place for her poster entitled “The regulatory role of cyclic diguanlyate in Burkholderia (aka “Brookeholderia”……) pseudomallei motility and biofilm formation” at the recent ASM-TriBranch meeting (a gathering of three separate ASM regional branches) held at Fort Lewis College in April 2015.

Juan Manuel Belardinelli - Worked countless hours through the holiday season to generate key preliminary results for a grant submission.

Tach Costello - Defied the odds to find replacement equipment for the FHC and get it in place quickly at the lowest cost possible.

Dan Champion - Creativity in his efforts to identify and implement a low cost electrical solution for B120 MS-B Program.

Collette DeWitt - Creativity in her efforts to identify and implement a low cost electrical solution for B120 MS-B Program.

Wei Li - Worked countless hours through the holiday season to generate key preliminary results for a grant submission.

Susan Rogers - Solved a seemingly intractable issue as air gas cylinder liaison and solved a persistent ‘disentanglement’ issue to get cylinders charged to correct accounts across DMIP.

William Wheat - Highlighted the research conducted in MRL laboratories in the New York Times (Feb. 17th, 2015 issue).

Corrine Lindstadt - Developed a clever approach to generate eThority reports and dashboards for DMIP & shared this with other colleges and departments.

Amy Nalls - Provided important continuity to the Hoover & Mathiason labs during the extensive remodeling of the 2nd floor of the Pathology Bldg.

Ida Teiman - Went above and beyond the call in helping the MIP-GSO arrange (and re-arrange) travel for an invited guest speaker.

MIP Takin’ It To The Streets:  K-12 Outreach Activities

Researchers from the lab of Angelo Izzo went to Lesher Middle School for World TB Day -  and a great time was had by all.  Check out some pictures from the day.

MIP students also took part in two outreach events; "The Little Shop of Physics" and Judging at the State Science Fair. Click Here for pictures of the events.

Oxidative stress influences positive strand RNA virus genome synthesis and capping

Becky Gullberg, Jordan Steel, Stephanie Moon, Elnaz Soltani and Brian Geiss

Virology 475 (2015) 219-229

Feeling stressed out a bit by the daunting challenge of submitting final grades? Don’t people who thrive on such stress instead of being put off by it get under your skin sometimes? Would it surprise you to find out that viruses appear to thrive on stress (and obviously they get under your skin as well)? Do you think that we are capable of writing a sentence in this article that doesn’t end in a question mark?

Understanding the mechanistic details of how virus replication is regulated in a cell may reveal significant insights into therapeutic avenues for controlling these pathogens. With this in mind, a gaggle of Geiss lab members set out to investigate whether there was a connection between oxidative stress – which is naturally induced during flavivirus and alphavirus infections – and the replication efficiency of the virus. Becky, Jordan et al made the interesting observation that treating cells with BHA (an antioxidant commonly used as a food preservative) reduces West Nile Virus or Sindbis virus replication up to an impressive 3 logs (that’s a 1000-fold for those of you that thought we were referring to the lumber industry). To garner a clue as to how this antioxidant might work, they found that there appears to be a reduction in capped, mRNA-like viral RNA molecules compared to the uncapped, negative-sense replicative intermediate RNAs when cells are treated with BHA. Digging deeper into this line of experimental investigation, they found that the enzymatic activity of the flavivirus NS5 guanyltransferase capping protein was dramatically reduced in the absence of an oxidizing environment. Interestingly, ‘the Gaggle” (a new nickname that we’d like to promote to refer to members of the Geiss lab….) also identified specific residues (Cys82, Cys140 and Met219) that appear to play a major role in this potential type of ‘redox switch’ in enzymatic activity. A similar story appears to occur with the alphavirus NSP1 capping enzyme from VEE. Collectively, these data suggest that these viruses may use alterations in the redox state of cellular compartments that naturally happen during infection to regulate capping activity and achieve an optimal balance between the production of capped mRNAs versus uncapped RNAs used in replication.

So why did we chose this study as our coveted MIPublication of the Month® to kick off 2015? First, the idea that redox changes can regulate viral RNA production/replication is an understudied area that may hold truly novel insights into virus biology. This study provides the most detailed mechanistic explanation to date as to how this might actually occur from the perspective of viral enzymes. Second, the paper contains an undergrad author along with three grad students – demonstrating the awesome power that our educational efforts bring to our research enterprise. Finally, this primary research manuscript was accepted for publication in an impressive 8 days! Clearly either editors at Virology know quality work when they see it (or Brian is now a made-man in the RNA virus Mafia……).

MIP Publications March 2015

Tonomura N, Elvers I, Thomas R, Megquier K, Turner-Maier J, Howald C, Sarver AL, Swofford R, Frantz AM, Ito D, Mauceli E, Arendt M, Noh HJ, Koltookian M, Biagi T, Fryc S, Williams C, Avery AC, Kim JH, Barber L, Burgess K, Lander ES, Karlsson EK, Azuma C, Modiano JF, Breen M, Lindblad-Toh K.  Genome-wide association study identifies shared risk loci common to two malignancies in golden retrievers.  PLoS Genet. 2015 Feb 2;11(2):e1004922. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004922

Zabel MD, Avery AC.  Prions--not your immunologist's pathogen.  PLoS Pathog. 2015 Feb 19;11(2):e1004624. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004624.

Smyser TJ, Johnson SR, Stallard MD, McGrew AK, Page LK, Crider N, Ballweber LR, Swihart RK, VerCauteren KC.  EVALUATION OF ANTHELMINTIC FISHMEAL POLYMER BAITS FOR THE CONTROL OF BAYLISASCARIS PROCYONIS IN FREE-RANGING RACCOONS (PROCYON LOTOR).  J Wildl Dis. 2015 May 14. [Epub ahead of print]

Bai X, Shang S, Henao-Tamayo M, Basaraba RJ, Ovrutsky AR, Matsuda JL, Takeda K, Chan MM, Dakhama A, Kinney WH, Trostel J, Bai A, Honda JR, Achcar R, Hartney J, Joosten LA, Kim SH, Orme I, Dinarello CA, Ordway DJ, Chan ED.  Human IL-32 expression protects mice against a hypervirulent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Apr 21;112(16):5111-6.

Kim HJ, Brennan PJ, Heaslip D, Udey MC, Modlin RL, Belisle JT.  Carbohydrate-dependent binding of langerin to SodC, a cell wall glycoprotein of Mycobacterium leprae.  J Bacteriol. 2015 Feb;197(3):615-25.

Chandler JC, Sutherland MD, Harton MR, Molins CR, Anderson RV, Heaslip DG, Bosio CM, Belisle JT.  Francisella tularensis LVS surface and membrane proteins as targets of effective post-exposure immunization for tularemia.  J Proteome Res. 2015 Feb 6;14(2):664-75.

Molins CR, Ashton LV, Wormser GP, Hess AM, Delorey MJ, Mahapatra S, Schriefer ME, Belisle JT.  Development of a Metabolic Biosignature for Detection of Early Lyme Disease.  Clin Infect Dis. 2015 Mar 11. pii: civ185. [Epub ahead of print]

Lucas MC, Wolfe LM, Hazenfield RM, Kurihara J, Kruh-Garcia NA, Belisle J, Dobos KM.  Fractionation and analysis of mycobacterial proteins.  Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1285:47-75. 

Crowell J, Wiley JA, Bessen RA.  Lesion of the olfactory epithelium accelerates prion neuroinvasion and disease onset when prion replication is restricted to neurons.  PLoS One. 2015 Mar 30;10(3):e0119863. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119863

Grubaugh ND, Smith DR, Brackney DE, Bosco-Lauth AM, Fauver JR, Campbell CL, Felix TA, Romo H, Duggal NK, Dietrich EA, Eike T, Beane JE, Bowen RA, Black WC, Brault AC, Ebel GD.  Experimental Evolution of an RNA Virus in Wild Birds: Evidence for Host-Dependent Impacts on Population Structure and Competitive Fitness.  PLoS Pathog. 2015 May 20;11(5):e1004874. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004874.

Denham S, Eisen L, Beaty M, Beaty BJ, Black WC 4th, Saavedra-Rodriguez K.  Two Novel Bioassays to Assess the Effects of Pyrethroid-Treated Netting on Knockdown-Susceptible Versus Resistant Strains of Aedes aegypti.  J Am Mosq Control Assoc. 2015 Mar;31(1):52-62

Saavedra-Rodriguez K, Beaty M, Lozano-Fuentes S, Denham S, Garcia-Rejon J, Reyes-Solis G, Machain-Williams C, Loroño-Pino MA, Flores-Suarez A, Ponce-Garcia G, Beaty B, Eisen L, Black WC 4th.  Local evolution of pyrethroid resistance offsets gene flow among Aedes aegypti collections in Yucatan State, Mexico.  Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Jan;92(1):201-9. 

Vap L, Bohn AA.  Hematology of camelids.  Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2015 Jan;18(1):41-9

Chatterjee D, Pramanik AK.  Tuberculosis in the African continent: A comprehensive review.  Pathophysiology. 2015 Mar;22(1):73-83.

Kuznetsov I, Filevich J, Dong F, Woolston M, Chao W, Anderson EH, Bernstein ER, Crick DC, Rocca JJ, Menoni CS.  Three-dimensional nanoscale molecular imaging by extreme ultraviolet laser ablation mass spectrometry.  Nat Commun. 2015 Apr 23;6:6944.

Honda JR, Hess T, Malcolm KC, Ovrutsky AR, Bai X, Irani VR, Dobos KM, Chan ED, Flores SC.  Pathogenic Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Resist and Inactivate Cathelicidin: Implication of a Novel Role for Polar Mycobacterial Lipids.  PLoS One. 2015 May 18;10(5):e0126994. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126994.

Hoxmeier JC, Thompson BD, Broeckling CD, Small P, Foy BD, Prenni J, Dobos KM.  Analysis of the metabolome of Anopheles gambiae mosquito after exposure to Mycobacterium ulcerans.  Sci Rep. 2015 Mar 18;5:9242. doi: 10.1038/srep09242.

Kruh-Garcia NA, Wolfe LM, Dobos KM.  Deciphering the role of exosomes in tuberculosis.  Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2015 Jan;95(1):26-30. 

Quimby JM, Dow SW.  Novel treatment strategies for feline chronic kidney disease: A critical look at the potential of mesenchymal stem cell therapy.  Vet J. 2015 Apr 9. pii: S1090-0233(15)00149-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2015.04.007. 

Quimby JM, Webb TL, Randall E, Marolf A, Valdes-Martinez A, Dow SW.  Assessment of intravenous adipose-derived allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of feline chronic kidney disease: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial in eight cats.  J Feline Med Surg. 2015 Mar 17. pii: 1098612X15576980. [Epub ahead of print]

Austin CR, Goodyear AW, Bartek IL, Stewart A, Sutherland MD, Silva EB, Zweifel A, Vitko NP, Tuanyok A, Highnam G, Mittelman D, Keim P, Schweizer HP, Vázquez-Torres A, Dow SW, Voskuil MI.  A Burkholderia pseudomallei colony variant necessary for gastric colonization.  MBio. 2015 Feb 3;6(1). pii: e02462-14. doi: 10.1128/mBio.02462-14.

McLeland SM, Cianciolo RE, Duncan CG, Quimby JM.  A comparison of biochemical and histopathologic staging in cats with chronic kidney disease.  Vet Pathol. 2015 May;52(3):524-34. doi: 10.1177/0300985814561095.

Miller CA, Durham AC, Schaffer PA, Ehrhart EJ, Powers BE, Duncan CG.  Classification and clinical features in 88 cases of equine cutaneous lymphoma.  J Vet Diagn Invest. 2015 Jan;27(1):86-91.

Grubaugh ND, Sharma S, Krajacich BJ, Fakoli Iii LS, Bolay FK, Diclaro Ii JW, Johnson WE, Ebel GD, Foy BD, Brackney DE.  Xenosurveillance: a novel mosquito-based approach for examining the human-pathogen landscape.  PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Mar 16;9(3):e0003628. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003628. 

Brackney DE, Schirtzinger EE, Harrison TD, Ebel GD, Hanley KA.  Modulation of flavivirus population diversity by RNA interference.  J Virol. 2015 Apr;89(7):4035-9.

Everman JL, Eckstein TM, Roussey J, Coussens P, Bannantine JP, Bermudez LE.  Characterization of the inflammatory phenotype of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis using a novel cell culture passage model.  Microbiology. 2015 May 8. pii: mic.0.000106. doi: 10.1099/mic.0.000106. [Epub ahead of print]

Kuenstner JT, Chamberlin W, Naser SA, Collins MT, Dow CT, Aitken JM, Weg S, Telega G, John K, Haas D, Eckstein TM, Kali M, Welch C, Petrie T.  Resolution of Crohn's disease and complex regional pain syndrome following treatment of paratuberculosis.  World J Gastroenterol. 2015 Apr 7;21(13):4048-62

Hatzel JN, Bouma GJ, Cleys ER, Bemis LT, Ehrhart EJ, McCue PM.  Identification of heat shock protein 10 within the equine embryo, endometrium, and maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cells.  Theriogenology. 2015 Mar 15;83(5):832-9.

Nolan MW, Marolf AJ, Ehrhart EJ, Rao S, Kraft SL, Engel S, Yoshikawa H, Golden AE, Wasserman TH, LaRue SM.  Pudendal nerve and internal pudendal artery damage may contribute to radiation-induced erectile dysfunction.  Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2015 Mar 15;91(4):796-806.

Nelson BB, Kawcak CE, Ehrhart EJ, Goodrich LR.  Radiofrequency Probe and Sharp Transection for Tenoscopic-Guided Desmotomy of the Accessory Ligament of the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon.  Vet Surg. 2015 Apr 1. doi: 10.1111/vsu.12328.

Dailey DD, Ehrhart EJ, Duval DL, Bass T, Powers BE.  DOG1 is a sensitive and specific immunohistochemical marker for diagnosis of canine gastrointestinal stromal tumors.  J Vet Diagn Invest. 2015 Apr 10. pii: 1040638715578878. [Epub ahead of print]

Krajacich BJ, Slade JR, Mulligan RF, LaBrecque B, Alout H, Grubaugh ND, Meyers JI, Fakoli LS 3rd, Bolay FK, Brackney DE, Burton TA, Seaman JA, Diclaro JW 2nd, Dabiré RK, Foy BD.  Sampling host-seeking anthropophilic mosquito vectors in west Africa: comparisons of an active human-baited tent-trap against gold standard methods.  Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Feb;92(2):415-21

Gullberg RC, Jordan Steel J, Moon SL, Soltani E, Geiss BJ.  Oxidative stress influences positive strand RNA virus genome synthesis and capping.  Virology. 2015 Jan 15;475:219-29. 

Chamberlain LM, Holt-Casper D, Gonzalez-Juarrero M, Grainger DW.  Extended culture of macrophages from different sources and maturation results in a common M2 phenotype.  J Biomed Mater Res A. 2015 Feb 13. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.35415. [Epub ahead of print]

Bai X, Kinney WH, Su WL, Bai A, Ovrutsky AR, Honda JR, Netea MG, Henao-Tamayo M, Ordway DJ, Dinarello CA, Chan ED.  Caspase-3-independent apoptotic pathways contribute to interleukin-32γ-mediated control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in THP-1 cells.  BMC Microbiol. 2015 Feb 21;15(1):39. 

Pritzkow S, Morales R, Moda F, Khan U, Telling GC, Hoover E, Soto C.  Grass Plants Bind, Retain, Uptake, and Transport Infectious Prions.  Cell Rep. 2015 May 12. pii: S2211-1247(15)00437-4. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.04.036. [Epub ahead of print]

Elder AM, Henderson DM, Nalls AV, Hoover EA, Kincaid AE, Bartz JC, Mathiason CK.  Immediate and ongoing detection of prions in the blood of hamsters and deer following oral, nasal, or blood inoculations.  J Virol. 2015 Apr 29. pii: JVI.00760-15. [Epub ahead of print]

Goñi F, Mathiason CK, Yim L, Wong K, Hayes-Klug J, Nalls A, Peyser D, Estevez V, Denkers N, Xu J, Osborn DA, Miller KV, Warren RJ, Brown DR, Chabalgoity JA, Hoover EA, Wisniewski T.  Mucosal immunization with an attenuated Salmonella vaccine partially protects white-tailed deer from chronic wasting disease.  Vaccine. 2015 Jan 29;33(5):726-33.

Haley NJ, Hoover EA.  Chronic wasting disease of cervids: current knowledge and future perspectives.  Annu Rev Anim Biosci. 2015;3:305-25. 

Carlson JC, Hyatt DR, Ellis JW, Pipkin DR, Mangan AM, Russell M, Bolte DS, Engeman RM, DeLiberto TJ, Linz GM.  Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella enterica transmission associated with starling-livestock interactions.

Proietti PC, Stefanetti V, Hyatt DR, Marenzoni ML, Capomaccio S, Coletti M, Bietta A, Franciosini MP, Passamonti F.  Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of canine pyoderma isolates of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius for biofilm formation.  J Vet Med Sci. 2015 Apr 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Carlson JC, Hyatt DR, Bentler K, Mangan AM, Russell M, Piaggio AJ, Linz GM.  Molecular characterization of Salmonella enterica isolates associated with starling-livestock interactions.  Vet Microbiol. 2015 Mar 23. pii: S0378-1135(15)00119-4. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.03.015. [Epub ahead of print]

Wang Q, Zhu L, Jones V, Wang C, Hua Y, Shi X, Feng X, Jackson M, Niu C, Gao Q.  CpsA, a LytR-CpsA-Psr Family Protein in Mycobacterium marinum, is Required for Cell Wall Integrity and Virulence.  Infect Immun. 2015 May 4. pii: IAI.03081-14. [Epub ahead of print]

Grzegorzewicz AE, Eynard N, Quémard A, North EJ, Margolis A, Lindenberger JJ, Jones V, Korduláková J, Brennan PJ, Lee RE, Ronning DR, McNeil MR, Jackson M.  Covalent modification of the <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> FAS-II dehydratase by Isoxyl and Thiacetazone.  ACS Infect Dis. 2015 Feb 13;1(2):91-97.

Bruckbauer ST, Kvitko BH, Karkhoff-Schweizer RR, Schweizer HP.  Tn5/7-lux: a versatile tool for the identification and capture of promoters in Gram-negative bacteria.  BMC Microbiol. 2015 Feb 4;15(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s12866-015-0354-3.

Li SY, Irwin SM, Converse PJ, Mdluli KE, Lenaerts AJ, Nuermberger EL.  Evaluation of moxifloxacin-containing regimens in pathologically distinct murine tuberculosis models.  Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015 Apr 27. pii: AAC.00105-15. [Epub ahead of print]

Lenaerts A, Barry CE 3rd, Dartois V. Heterogeneity in tuberculosis pathology, microenvironments and therapeutic responses.  Immunol Rev. 2015 Mar;264(1):288-307. doi: 10.1111/imr.12252.

Schnelle AN, Barger AM, MacNeill AL, Mitchell MM, Solter P.  Characterization of feline serum-cobalt binding.  Vet Clin Pathol. 2015 Apr 13. doi: 10.1111/vcp.12253. [Epub ahead of print]

MacNeill AL, Barger AM, Skowronski MC, Lanka S, Maddox CW.  Identification of Cytauxzoon felis infection in domestic cats from southern Illinois.  J Feline Med Surg. 2015 Jan 19. pii: 1098612X14567158. [Epub ahead of print]

Moore AR, Allender MC, Mitchell MA, MacNeill AL.  Evaluation of plasma fibrinogen concentration as a diagnostic indicator of inflammation in red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans).  J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2015 Jan 15;246(2):245-53.

Henderson DM, Davenport KA, Haley NJ, Denkers ND, Mathiason CK, Hoover EA.  Quantitative assessment of prion infectivity in tissues and body fluids by real-time quaking-induced conversion.  J Gen Virol. 2015 Jan;96(Pt 1):210-9.

Blair CD, Olson KE.  The role of RNA interference (RNAi) in arbovirus-vector interactions.  Viruses. 2015 Feb 17;7(2):820-43.

Robinson RT, Orme IM, Cooper AM. The onset of adaptive immunity in the mouse model of tuberculosis and the factors that compromise its expression.  Immunol Rev. 2015 Mar;264(1):46-59.

Iscla I, Wray R, Blount P, Larkins-Ford J, Conery AL, Ausubel FM, Ramu S, Kavanagh A, Huang JX, Blaskovich MA, Cooper MA, Obregon-Henao A, Orme I, Tjandra ES, Stroeher UH, Brown MH, Macardle C, van Holst N, Ling Tong C, Slattery AD, Gibson CT, Raston CL, Boulos RA.  A new antibiotic with potent activity targets MscL.  J Antibiot (Tokyo). 2015 Feb 4. doi: 10.1038/ja.2015.4. [Epub ahead of print]

Bishwakarma R, Kinney WH, Honda JR, Mya J, Strand MJ, Gangavelli A, Bai X, Ordway DJ, Iseman MD, Chan ED.  Epidemiologic link between tuberculosis and cigarette/biomass smoke exposure: Limitations despite the vast literature.  Respirology. 2015 May;20(4):556-68. 

Duncan C, Gill VA, Worman K, Burek-Huntington K, Pabilonia KL, Johnson S, Fitzpatrick KA, Weller C, Kersh GJ.  Coxiella burnetii exposure in northern sea otters Enhydra lutris kenyoni.  Dis Aquat Organ. 2015 May 11;114(1):83-7.

Runfola JK, House J, Miller L, Colton L, Hite D, Hawley A, Mead P, Schriefer M, Petersen J, Casaceli C, Erlandson KM, Foster C, Pabilonia KL, Mason G, Douglas JM.  Outbreak of Human Pneumonic Plague with Dog-to-Human and Possible Human-to-Human Transmission - Colorado, June-July 2014.  MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 May 1;64(16):429-34.

Duffy D, Selmic LE, Kendall AR, Powers BE.  Outcome following treatment of soft tissue and visceral extraskeletal osteosarcoma in 33 dogs: 2008-2013.  Vet Comp Oncol. 2015 Feb 3. doi: 10.1111/vco.12141. [Epub ahead of print]

Birkenheuer CH, Brewster CD, Quackenbush SL, Rovnak J.  Retroviral cyclin controls cyclin-dependent kinase 8-mediated transcription elongation and reinitiation.  J Virol. 2015 May 15;89(10):5450-61.

Fox KA, Rouse NM, Huyvaert KP, Griffin KA, Killion HJ, Jennings-Gaines J, Edwards WH, Quackenbush SL, Miller MW.  Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) sinus tumors are associated with coinfections by potentially pathogenic bacteria in the upper respiratory tract.  J Wildl Dis. 2015 Jan;51(1):19-27

Kennedy PG, Rovnak J, Badani H, Cohrs RJ.  A Comparison of HSV-1 and VZV Latency and Reactivation.  J Gen Virol. 2015 Mar 20. pii: vir.0.000128. doi: 10.1099/vir.0.000128. [Epub ahead of print]

Campbell CL, Torres-Perez F, Acuna-Retamar M, Schountz T.  Transcriptome markers of viral persistence in naturally-infected andes virus (bunyaviridae) seropositive long-tailed pygmy rice rats.  PLoS One. 2015 Apr 9;10(4):e0122935. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0122935.

Crew R, Ramirez MV, England K, Slayden RA.  MadR1, a Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell cycle stress response protein that is a member of a widely conserved protein class of prokaryotic, eukaryotic and archeal origin.  Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2015 May;95(3):251-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2015.03.005

Kurt TD, Jiang L, Fernández-Borges N, Bett C, Liu J, Yang T, Spraker TR, Castilla J, Eisenberg D, Kong Q, Sigurdson CJ.  Human prion protein sequence elements impede cross-species chronic wasting disease transmission.  J Clin Invest. 2015 May 11. pii: 82647. doi: 10.1172/JCI82647.

Berentsen AR, Vogt S, Guzman AN, Vice DS, Pitt WC, Shiels AB, Spraker TR.  Capillaria hepatica infection in black rats (Rattus rattus) on Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory.  J Vet Diagn Invest. 2015 Mar;27(2):241-4.

Wyckoff AC, Galloway N, Meyerett-Reid C, Powers J, Spraker T, Monello RJ, Pulford B, Wild M, Antolin M, VerCauteren K, Zabel M.  Prion amplification and hierarchical Bayesian modeling refine detection of prion infection.  Sci Rep. 2015 Feb 10;5:8358. doi: 10.1038/srep08358.

Stenglein MD, Jacobson ER, Chang LW, Sanders C, Hawkins MG, Guzman DS, Drazenovich T, Dunker F, Kamaka EK, Fisher D, Reavill DR, Meola LF, Levens G, DeRisi JL.  Widespread Recombination, Reassortment, and Transmission of Unbalanced Compound Viral Genotypes in Natural Arenavirus Infections.  PLoS Pathog. 2015 May 20;11(5):e1004900. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004900.

Radoshitzky SR, Bào Y, Buchmeier MJ, Charrel RN, Clawson AN, Clegg CS, DeRisi JL, Emonet S, Gonzalez JP, Kuhn JH, Lukashevich IS, Peters CJ, Romanowski V, Salvato MS, Stenglein MD, de la Torre JC.  Past, present, and future of arenavirus taxonomy.  Arch Virol. 2015 May 3. [Epub ahead of print]

Kuhn JH, Dürrwald R, Bào Y, Briese T, Carbone K, Clawson AN, deRisi JL, Garten W, Jahrling PB, Kolodziejek J, Rubbenstroth D, Schwemmle M, Stenglein M, Tomonaga K, Weissenböck H, Nowotny N.  Taxonomic reorganization of the family Bornaviridae.  Arch Virol. 2015 Feb;160(2):621-32.

Yuan Q, Eckland T, Telling G, Bartz J, Bartelt-Hunt S.  Mitigation of prion infectivity and conversion capacity by a simulated natural process--repeated cycles of drying and wetting.  PLoS Pathog. 2015 Feb 9;11(2):e1004638. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004638.

Wilusz J.  An RNAmazing 20 years.  RNA. 2015 Apr;21(4):762-3.

Moon SL, Blackinton JG, Anderson JR, Dozier MK, Dodd BJ, Keene JD, Wilusz CJ, Bradrick SS,Wilusz J.  XRN1 stalling in the 5' UTR of Hepatitis C virus and Bovine Viral Diarrhea virus is associated with dysregulated host mRNA stability.  PLoS Pathog. 2015 Mar 6;11(3):e1004708. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004708.

Hyde JL, Chen R, Trobaugh DW, Diamond MS, Weaver SC, Klimstra WB, Wilusz J.  The 5' and 3' ends of alphavirus RNAs - Non-coding is not non-functional.  Virus Res. 2015 Jan 25. pii: S0168-1702(15)00026-X. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2015.01.016.

Our own Prion Research Center is hosting the Prion 2015 meeting - the preeminent international prion research conference on the CSU Campus on May 26-29, 2015.  This will be held for the first time ever that this key meeting is held in the United States.  The Symposium features several keynote and plenary speakers as well as over fifty invited and selected talks from leading prion researchers from around the world.  On a lighter note, the organizers have also worked with Pateros Creek Brewery to create some designer beverages for the conference named after famous personalities in the prion field.

Are you one of those that never meet a nucleic acid with a 2’ OH that you didn’t like?  Jeff Wilusz will be hosting a meeting of >100 RNA biologists from around the world at the historic (and haunted) Stanley Hotel in Estes Park this June.  For more information, check out the meeting website (www.RNAStability2015.com)

Where did it come from????

A roving MIPnews reporter stumbled across this sign posted in a window of a Fort Collins establishment near campus:

Hints:

a) Despite the dead mosquitoes in the sheet protector, it’s not AIDL.
b)The place is clearly VERY concerned about the weather since they have a Blizzard inside

Several Micro majors participated in  Denver Museum of  Nature and Science’s  ‘Girls In Science’ event, which was estimated to have hosted over 10,000 visitors this past February. Visitors joined the ‘CVMBS Animal Disease Detective’ team and helped decide if Farmer Joylynn’s horse was suffering from Strangles, Pigeon Fever or Tetanus. The event was an action packed day for these microbiologists!

Below - Miranda Wildt, Krystal Rainwater, Joylynn Gallegos (aka Farmer Joylynn), and Laura Jaques were among the participants from the MIP400 class.

CSU tuberculosis articles "Structure, function, and biogenesis of the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis" by Patick Brennan, "A new unifying theory of hte pathogenesis of tuberculosis" by Ian Orme, and "Deciphering the role of exosomes in tuberculosis" by Karen Dobos, Nicole Kruh-Garcia, and Lisa Wolfe all ranked highly on Tuberculosis's list of most downloaded articles.

Several MIP Professors and Graduate Students (Hannah Romo and Danielle Adney) have been participating in a joint effort with Pateros Creek Brewery to make science less scary and learning about it more enjoyable. The result is Science on Tap, a once a month event where local scientists share information and knowledge about "in the news science" with the general public. Pateros Creek provides happy hour priced beer to all attendees. The April event "Perspectives on the Majesty and Tragedy of Wild Elephants" featured Dr. George Wittemyer.

Visit the the Science on Tap Facebook page for future events!

Congrats Lisa McCann!

Lisa McCann received the coveted Jack Cermak Advising Award this Spring! The Jack E. Cermak Advising Award has been presented annually to outstanding advisers across campus since 1984-5. Jack E. Cermak was a Professor in Civil Engineering who endowed this award because of his strong belief in the value of academic advising. This award serves to highlight and reward, in a small way, the extraordinary efforts of truly outstanding advisers, who go above and beyond the basic good advising role.

MIP180 students recently presented their research posters. Amy Iverson provided streak cookies for the event as well. Click on the picture to view photos from the event.

Hello Fellow Rams! My name is Medora Huseby, and I recently joined the MIP teaching faculty. I am excited to be among the ranks of such excellent educators! I hail originally from Moorhead, MN. I earned my bachelor degrees (Chemistry and Biochemistry with another major in Cell/Developmental Biology & Genetics) at the University of Minnesota. I also performed my graduate research at the U of M, earning my PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics. During my gradate studies I used crystallography to understand the structure and function of a toxin from S. aureus. I became fascinated with host-pathogen interactions-so I decided to perform my postdoctoral research in microbiology at UC San Francisco. During my postdoc, I studied virulence factors of P. aeruginosa. I realized that I loved microbiology, but was ready to move away from bench work. I began instructing at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University, where I taught medical microbiology, general biology and cell biology. I am thrilled that my scientific journey has brought me to the MIP department. My family moved to Fort Collins this past August, when my husband, Mark Stenglein, started his lab. We have two active daughters, Dahlia (3) and Jeannie (14 months). I have enjoyed exploring Fort Collins, the Rockies, and the local breweries. I look forward to meeting everyone!

"Winning is not a sometime thing: it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do the right thing once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."
~ Vince Lombardi

A group from Pathology recently did their best remake of the hit movie "Dodgeball". First turned down by Vince Vaughn and then by Gary Mason, Dr. EJ Ehrhart took on the lead role of team captain of the "Dirty Margins". Click Here or the photo above to view some of the images of this exciting remake in contrast to the original scenes of Dodgeball.

With this year's spring picnic indoors you had to be cleared by Bouncer Becky to gain access. Take a peek at what went on behind these heavily guarded doors.

Choose your Caption

1. Gregg: "I'm pushing it. I'm pushing it real good..."
2. Many picnic goers were envious of the size of Ian's mug
3. Two-beer-culosis Testing
4. Submit your own

DMIP Doppelgangers

Doppelganger:  a look-alike or double of a living person

May's DMIP doppelganger features our very own Dr. Glenn Telling and Actor Alan Rickman. Even Alan agrees that there is a 'pinch' of resemblance.

CSU - DMIP Milestones

Beneath the shadow of the Rocky Mountains John “Doc” Cheney peacefully passed on February 5, 2015. Born to Howard and Johanna Cheney August 22, 1930, Dr. Cheney, lived in Estes Park as a child and graduated from Estes Park High School. He worked for Steads Ranch and was a horse wrangler for tourists. He spent 4 years in the US Air Force, received his Bachelors of Science degree in 1958 from Colorado State University (CSU), and went on to complete his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and Masters of Science degrees at CSU. He was on the veterinary staff at CSU from 1960 to 1964 before pursing private practice in Benkelman, NE for two years and spending a year as a research veterinarian for the Monsanto Chemical Company. Research was his passion and the focus of his career. In 1967 he was recruited by CSU to be on a veterinary team in Nairobi, Kenya as Colorado Chief of Party. Dr. Cheney took his wife and two daughters on a 5 year journey to Kenya where he, along with staff members from 4 other countries taught at the veterinary college in Kabete, Kenya and was instrumental in the development of a DVM degree program and numerous improvements in the livestock sector in Senegal. Besides the many friends he made through his experience in Kenya, Dr. Cheney and his family had the opportunity to enjoy numerous safaris on the African plains and visited many countries in Europe and Asia. Upon returning to the United States, he took a teaching position at CSU in the School of Veterinary Medicine as head of the Parasitology Section in the Diagnostic Laboratory and became known to faculty, colleagues and students as “Doc.” He gave more than 42 years of service to CSU, retiring in August of 2005.

Throughout his life, he enjoyed woodworking and gardening and was an active member of the Republican Party.

Dr. Cheney was the President of the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association from 1986 to 1987, and was a member and held the office of President with the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, and the Larimer County Stockgrowers Association. Doc was an active member of the Larimer County Fair and Rodeo, assisting with the testing of 4H animals, serving on the Fair Board, and being an avid supporter of the Larimer County FFA and 4H Junior Livestock Sale. In 2004 Doc received an award from the Larimer County Fair Association for 14 years of dedicated service and in 2005 was the Grand Marshall of the parade. Other notable awards include Colorado Veterinarian of the Year in 1988, Outstanding Veterinarian Award in 2002 from the Larimer County Veterinarian Medical Association, the Carl Norden Pfizer Distinguished Teachers Award in 2005 from Pfizer Animal Health, and the Lifetime Membership Award from the Larimer County Stockgrowers Association in 2009.

Dr. Cheney leaves behind his brother Robert Cheney (Lois), daughters Karen Hancock (Sam), and Dianne Cheney, granddaughter Aspen Hancock and grandson Dillon Hancock, nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, along with some four legged grandchildren and hopefully many herds of healthy cattle that benefited from his research.

Dr. Carol Wilusz played a key role as part of an interdisciplinary team at CSU that was one of only 8 universities nationwide to be awarded one of the new $3 million National Science Foundation Research ‘GAUSSI’ Traineeship Programs.  GAUSSI is an acronym for Generating, Analyzing and Understanding Sensory and Sequencing Information.  The program is designed to train a new generation of scientists and engineers to tackle complex problems related to large datasets.  For more information on the GAUSSI program, check out http://gaussi.colostate.edu/

Congratulations to Ashley Cotter a Microbiology major invited to become a member of the prestigious and senior academic honor society of Phi Beta Kappa. For well over 100 years, these organizations have been inducting elite members who will, through association and community promotion, pursue the concepts behind a well-educated society (service, achievement, and advancement). Congradulations Ashley!

• New NIH Biosketch Format Effective May 25, 2015

  A new format will be implemented that increases the page limit from four to five pages in order to allow researchers to describe up to five of their most significant contributions to science, along with the historical background that framed their research. According to NIH, investigators can outline the central findings of prior work and the influence of those findings. For more info, check out the Guide Notice at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-15-032.html

• New NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy

  NIH has updated its ‘big data’ genomics policy to ensure that these key datasets are effectively shared. The new policy goes into effect Jan. 25, 2015. For more information, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-14-124.html

• NIAID wants to fund more immunology R01 grants

  Really! Check out the guide notice at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAS-15-055.html

New Grant Awards

John Belisle, "Biology and Biosignatures of Anti-Tuberculosis Treatment Response ", NIH-NIAID

Susan VandeWoude, "Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure and Immune System Function", USDA-APHIS-Animal Plant Health Insp Srvc.

Susan VandeWoude, "Impacts of Landscape Structure, Host Demography, and Management Interventions on Disease Dynamics", NSF - National Science Foundation.

Susan VandeWoude, "Molecular Analysis of FIV", The Scripps Research Institute.

Jeffrey Wilusz, "RNA Stability 2015: RNA Stability with an Altitude: Biological and Physiological Implications ", March of Dimes Foundation

Gregory Robertson, "In vitro Activity of TNP-2198 Against a Panel of H. pylori and C. difficile isogenic Strains with Defined Drug Resistance Determinants", TenNor Therapeutics, Ltd.

Mary Jackson, "MmpL3 Inhibitors Testing", Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.

Glenn Telling, "The Role of Cellular Chaperones and the Unfolded Protein Response in Gerstmann-Straussler Scheinker Syndrome", Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation.

Ramesh Akkina, "In Vivo Model Core", The Scripps Research Institute.

Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero, "Study of an mmpL3 Knock-Down Mutant in a C57BL/6 Mouse Model of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection", Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.

Glenn Telling, "Identifying Susceptibility Factors for Prion Diseases", HHS-NIH-National Institutes of Health.

Jeffrey Wilusz, "Post-Transcriptional RNA Regulons in Stem Cells", HHS-NIH-NIAID-Allergy & Infect Diseases.

Candace Mathiason, "Sterilization and Disposal of Agricultural Quarantine Waste", USDA-APHIS-Animal Plant Health Insp Srvc.

Bradley Borlee, "Identification of Therapeutic Treatments That Inhibit and Disperse Biofilms", Boettcher Foundation.

John Spencer, Fulbright Award, Fulbright.

Do you have NEWS or PICTURES you would like to share?

Send In your ideas or newsworthy items. Contributions make the Newsletter better!