In collaboration with the Nair lab, a new review on virulence and immunomodulatory effectors from parasitic nematodes was published. Congratulations to Sarah Bobart and Meera Nair!
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Outstanding Investigator Award
Dr. Dillman has been awarded an Outstanding Investigator Award (R35) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This represents the first five-year award granted to the Dillman lab and will allow the lab increased flexibility in pursuing health-related research. The $1.8 million was awarded in support of the overall research program of the lab rather than a specific project. With the support the lab will move forward in studying host-parasite interactions and how nematode venom influences host biology.
Genes and Neurons Involved in C. elegans’ Response to Prenol
Dr. Tiffany Baiocchi, a former graduate student that is now an assistant professor at Lassen County Community College, just published the final chapter of her doctoral thesis in GENETICS. The new paper represents a Herculean effort by Tiffany and many of the undergraduates she trained. Six of her trainees share authorship on the paper. Paul Sternberg and members of his lab at Caltech were also instrumental in completing essential experiments for this project. This project was a follow-up on Tiffany’s previous work identifying prenol as an odor associated with EPN-infected insects. Her latest paper explores the neurons and genetic pathways involved in the detection and response to prenol by C. elegans. Congratulations Tiffany and all those involved!
EPN Behavior in Pluronic Gel
Efforts in studying EPN behavior over the last 60 years have primarily relied on assays done in sand, soil or agar. Pluronic gel (PF127) media, which has been used to study other nematodes, has only recently been employed to study EPN behavior. In collaboration with Chunjie Li from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, we explored the value of using pluronic gel as a means of studying EPN behavior.
Collaborative NIH Grant Awarded
Congratulations to Dr. Meera Nair and her lab on their recent NIH grant focused on how RELM-α-expressing macrophages mediate host disease tolerance in mucosal infection. The proposed work will be done in collaboration with the Nordgren and Dillman labs at UCR. We’re excited to be spending more time working with the rat parasite Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. We’re also pleased to be extending our collaborative work with Dr. Nair and her lab; this is the third NIH-funded study that we will be working on with Dr. Nair.
(https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2020/05/21/scientists-study-how-lungs-respond-worm-infections).
EPN host-seeking behavior affected by physical contact with hosts
A collaborative study performed by graduate student Tiffany Baiocchi and honors undergraduate student Lauren Braun was recently published in the Journal of Nematology. Previous research had shown that the proportion of Steinernema carpocapsae IJs participating in host-seeking behavior is significantly increased after stimulation by physical contact with host cues. In this follow-up work we found that such physical stimulation results in a three-fold increase in participation by IJs. This effect seems influence the response of nematodes to host-specific odors rather than being a general increase in chemotaxis. Congratulations to Tiffany & Lauren!
Differentiating between scavengers and entomopathogenic nematodes
Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are a special guild of insect-parasitic nematodes. What sets them apart from other insect-parasitic nematodes are their ability to rapidly kill their host, and their use of bacteria to facilitate their lifestyle. There are an increasing number of species descriptions that include new species of EPNs, even when the newly described species is not in fact an EPN. A recent study on how to differentiate between EPNs and scavengers was recently published. This work was done by Tiffany Baiocchi, Dennis Chang, and Dihong Lu, in collaboration with visiting scholar Keyun Zhang. Congratulations to the authors, this is a nice study that should prove useful to researchers describing new insect-associated nematodes.
Paper on EPN Response to Prenol Published
A study done by recent graduates Kassandra Kin and Dr. Tiffany Baiocchi was recently published in Biology. The study investigates the behavioral response of several entomopathogenic nematodes to the odor prenol, which is associated with nematode-infected insects. Since performing this work these scientists have moved on in their careers:
After graduating from UCR in June of 2019 Kassandra has accepted a position at NYU’s Stienhardt Teacher Residency program. Tiffany graduated with her Ph.D. in June of 2019 and is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at Cal State Northridge in the Hong Lab.
Tiffany Baiocchi Awarded Outstanding Student Award
Congratulations to Dr. Tiffany Baoicchi!! The Nathan A. Cobb Foundation and the Society of Nematologists awards Tiffany Baiocchi the John M. Webster Outstanding Student Award for 2019. This is the highest award given to a PhD student by the the Society of Nematologists.
Tiffany & Dennis Graduate!
Dennis Chang and Tiffany Baiocchi walked and were hooded at UCR’s graduation this summer. They are the first graduate students trained in the Dillman Lab to earn a Ph.D. Dennis will defend his thesis later this year. Tiffany will begin her postdoctoral research in the Hong lab at Cal State Northridge later this summer. Congratulations!
