User:Elyons

Eric Lyons, Ph.D

Professionsal Bio

• Undergrad:
  • 1997 UC Berkeley, Molecular and Cell Biology, Immunology
  • Three years of research with Loy Volkman, Jan Washburn, and Eric Haas-Stapleton studying host-pathogen relationships between a virus (baculovirus AcMNPV (Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus)) and its lepidopteran (caterpillar) hosts helicoverpa zea (corn earworm), trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper), heliothis virescens (tobacco budworm). AcMNPV is double stranded DNA virus, and as such, has a relatively large genome (133kb) and contains ~150 genes. Its pathogenesis in susceptible hosts is very interesting as it will infect nearly all of the host tissues, convert ~30% of the host's biomass to viral progeny, and cause the host to liquify into a puddle of virus laden goo. Interesting, hosts in late stages of infection will exert a virus controlled climbing behavior, and start climbing up as high as they can before succumbing to the final stage of infection: liquefaction and release of viral progeny. This may serve the virus and help in its dispersion, or it may help other caterpillars by making infected caterpillars more likely to be eaten by larger predators, birds. In either case, this highlights the incredible biological interactions between hosts and pathogens.
  • My research in the lab focused on a peculiar aspect of baculoviruses. To spread from host to host, the virus has a specific form called occlusion derived virions (ODV) where the virions are packaged in a protective protein complex in order to survive in the environment (which for a virus is a harsh, cold, dry, high UV light exposure world). Some baculoviruses' ODV contain a single copy of their genome, and some contain multiple copies of their genome. This trait is part of the biology of baculoviruses and is what the "M" (multiple) strands for in AcMNPV.
  • The question I was after was why would a virus spend the resource to package multiple copies of its genome in a single infectious particle? An infected cell is an infected cell, regardless if 1 or 10 viral genomes were released during the initial phase of infection.