Biology subjects

Sy, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Sy, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Development and Implementation of a Minority Health International Infectious Diseases Research Training Program

From 2014-2019, the University of Hawai`i (UH) at Manoa offered a National Institutes of Health funded Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) Program for undergraduate research experiences in infectious diseases. The goal of the program was to immerse undergraduate students in conducting global infectious diseases research to train a new generation of scientists to combat future global pandemics. The MHIRT program trained educationally underrepresented groups unique in Hawai`i: Native Hawai`ians and other Pacific Islanders, and underrepresented Asian Americans, e.g., Filipinos and Vietnamese. A 12-member Advisory Committee guided the program development, implementation, recruitment strategies, recruitment, retention, and program evaluation. The program provided an eight-month classroom and field based international research training. Students learned about "8 steps of research" and cultural competency, experienced a hands-on research project abroad, and presented their results to the research community in the host country and at UH. Students research topics focused on ongoing projects of UH faculty including those with international collaborations in infectious disease and tropical medicine. Students spent two months on an international research mentors project at an international site under the mentorship of a Hawai`i based research faculty. After eight months, students graduated from the program by presenting their research to family, friends, mentors, and UH faculty and administrators. Trainees in this program pursued academic graduate or professional health degrees. The majority of students pursued further studies related to infectious diseases contributing to workforce development in infectious disease health research. The UH-MHIRT program provides an example of student immersion in international infectious disease research to foster future interest in global health research providing potential benefits for the student and faculty and their research efforts.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2024

Asesino: a nucleus-forming phage that lacks PhuZ

As nucleus-forming phages become better characterized, understanding their unifying similarities and unique differences will help us understand how they occupy varied niches and infect diverse hosts. All identified nucleus-forming phages fall within the proposed Chimalliviridae family and share a core genome of 68 unique genes including chimallin, the major nuclear shell protein. A well-studied but non-essential protein encoded by many nucleus-forming phages is PhuZ, a tubulin homolog which aids in capsid migration, nucleus rotation, and nucleus positioning. One clade that represents 24% of all currently known chimalliviruses lacks a PhuZ homolog. Here we show that Erwinia phage Asesino, one member of this PhuZ-less clade, shares a common overall replication mechanism with other characterized nucleus-forming phages despite lacking PhuZ. We show that Asesino replicates via a phage nucleus that encloses phage DNA and partitions proteins in the nuclear compartment and cytoplasm in a manner similar to previously characterized nucleus-forming phages. Consistent with a lack of PhuZ, however, we did not observe active positioning or rotation of the phage nucleus within infected cells. These data show that some nucleus-forming phages have evolved to replicate efficiently without PhuZ, providing an example of a unique variation in the nucleus-based replication pathway.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Identifying the core genome of the nucleus-forming bacteriophage family and characterization of Erwinia phage RAY

We recently discovered that some bacteriophages establish a nucleus-like replication compartment (phage nucleus), but the core genes that define nucleus-based phage replication and their phylogenetic distribution were unknown. By studying phages that encode the major phage nucleus protein chimallin, including previously sequenced yet uncharacterized phages, we discovered that chimallin-encoding phages share a set of 72 highly conserved genes encoded within seven distinct gene blocks. Of these, 21 core genes are unique to this group, and all but one of these unique genes encode proteins of unknown function. We propose that phages with this core genome comprise a novel viral family we term Chimalliviridae. Fluorescence microscopy and cryo-electron tomography studies of Erwinia phage vB_EamM_RAY confirm that many of the key steps of nucleus-based replication encoded in the core genome are conserved among diverse chimalliviruses, and reveal that non-core components can confer intriguing variations on this replication mechanism. For instance, unlike previously studied nucleus-forming phages, RAY doesnt degrade the host genome, and its PhuZ homolog appears to form a five-stranded filament with a lumen. This work expands our understanding of phage nucleus and PhuZ spindle diversity and function, providing a roadmap for identifying key mechanisms underlying nucleus-based phage replication.

microbiology↗