Publications

ehrlichia chaffeensis infections in drosophila melanogaster.	ehrlichia chaffeensis is an obligate, intracellular bacterium, transmitted by the tick amblyomma americanum, and is the causative agent of human monocytic ehrlichiosis infections. we previously demonstrated that e. chaffeensis is capable of growing in drosophila s2 cells. therefore, we tested the hypothesis that e. chaffeensis can infect adult drosophila melanogaster. adult drosophila organisms were experimentally challenged with intra-abdominal injections of bacteria. ehrlichia-infected flies s ...	2009	19687202
identification of critical host mitochondrion-associated genes during ehrlichia chaffeensis infections.	ehrlichia chaffeensis is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes human monocytic ehrlichiosis (hme). to determine what host components are important for bacterial replication, we performed microarray analysis on drosophila melanogaster s2 cells by comparing host gene transcript levels between permissive and nonpermissive conditions for e. chaffeensis growth. five-hundred twenty-seven genes had increased transcript levels unique to permissive growth conditions 24 h postinfection. we scree ...	2012	22851751
ehrlichia chaffeensis replication sites in adult drosophila melanogaster.	ehrlichia chaffeensis is a gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterium which causes the tick-borne disease human monocytic ehrlichiosis. in vertebrates, e. chaffeensis replicates in monocytes and macrophages. however, no clear cell or tissue tropism has been defined in arthropods. our group identified two host genes that control e. chaffeensis replication and infection in vivo in drosophila, uridine cytidine kinase and separation anxiety. using the uas-gal4 rnai system, we generated f1 flies ...	2013	23306065