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My research investigates the epidemiology and molecular biology of Ranaviruses. This genus of viruses infects cold-blooded vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, and fish. The ecological impact of these viruses is considerable. Dispersal of these pathogens has been implicated as a contributing factor in the recent declines we are seeing in amphibian populations around the world.

One principle direction of my research is to better understand the epidemiology of Ranaviruses. Where do Ranaviruses occur in the world? What species are they infecting and impacting? How are they being transported through the environment? There is still a great deal to be learned about these fundamental questions. This project involves students in field surveys for virus prevalence and molecular characterization of wild recovered Ranaviruses.

A second direction of my research is to better understand how these viruses work at the molecular level. How do they replicate in cells? What viral genes are critical to this process? What proteins do they encode for replication of their DNA? A very interesting aspect of these viruses is that they perform stages of DNA replication in the cytoplasm of infected cells. This is a feature in common with human pox viruses and other cytoplasmic DNA viruses. The cell does not normally replicate DNA in the cytoplasm and so the virus likely encodes genes that will re-engineer the cell to accomplish this.

Projects in both directions use molecular and cellular tools. Investigating the epidemiology of these viruses involves development of PCR-based methods for amplification and quantitation of Ranavirus DNA from host specimens or environmental samples. These experiments present the opportunity for field collection of specimens, as well as molecular diagnostic testing. Investigating the DNA replication of these viruses involves infection of cultured cells and detection of the DNA products. These experiments study different Ranavirus isolates/mutants in amphibian, reptile, and fish cell cultures. We hope to identify the genes and proteins responsible for cytoplasmic stages of DNA replication.