Ecological and Evolutionary Science

The recent emergence of the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus gattii in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) resulted in numerous investigations into the epidemiological and enzootic impacts, as well as multiple genomic explorations of the three primary molecular subtypes of the fungus that were discovered. These studies lead to the general conclusion that the subtypes identified...

Our work focuses on improving the classification of the Alphacoronavirus genus. The Alphacoronavirus 1 species groups viruses of veterinary importance that infect distinct mammalian hosts and includes canine and feline coronaviruses and transmissible gastroenteritis virus. It is the prototype species of the Alphacoronavirus genus; however, it encompasses biologically distinct viruses. To better characterize...

Viruses mutate rapidly, and recent studies of RNA viruses have shown that related viral variants can sometimes cooperate to improve each other’s growth. We previously described two variants of H3N2 influenza virus that cooperate in cell culture. The mutation responsible for cooperation is often observed when human samples of influenza virus are grown in the lab before sequencing, but it is unclear whether the mutation also exists in...

The oomycetes are a class of microscopic, filamentous eukaryotes and include ecologically significant animal and plant pathogens. Oomycetes secrete large arsenals of effector proteins that degrade host cell components, manipulate host immune responses, and induce necrosis, enabling parasitic colonization. In this study, we catalogued the number and evolution of effectors in 37 oomycete species whose genomes have been completely...