White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease that infects hibernating bats of multiple species across large portions of eastern North America. To date, WNS has been responsible for the deaths of over seven million bats. It is not yet known why certain species are able to resist infection. Since the fungus invades the skin and some resistant species show no signs of the characteristic cutaneous lesions, it seems likely that resistant species contain specific defense mechanisms within their skin, such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and other immunologically relevant proteins expressed by specific cell types or as secreted soluble components. Proteomics could be a useful tool for understanding differences in susceptibility, and could help identify AMPs that could be synthesized and used as control agents against the spread of the causative fungus. This study is the first to optimize proteomics methods for bat wing tissues in order to compare the skin proteomes of species variably impacted by WNS, including those of two endangered species. Further tests are planned to investigate methods of increasing protein yield without altering the size of the tissue sample collected, as well as the analysis of mass spectrometry data from processed skin tissues of five bat species differentially affected by WNS.

This study takes a broad look into the existing research on the relationship between two physiological topics, nutrition and immunity in vertebrates, specifically the mammalian and avian branches. This was achieved by critiquing available studies on different types of immune cells, and how variable energy availability, as well as specific pathogens, impact cell function. Notably, most studies examined individuals with compromised immune systems, which reveals an existing knowledge gap in the linkages between nutrition and immunity in healthy organisms. Links between immunity and nutrition were identified across the studies, with the three main energy molecules, carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins, implicated in functional roles as immune modulators. Stimulatory and inhibitory effects occur dependent on elevated and depleted nutrient levels, and multiple cell types are sensitive to changes in nutrient availability. Further studies should be conducted on healthy individuals of model species, as well as wildlife and other non-model species to identify and describe the effects of host nutritional status on the spread of pathogens and the implications at the population level for humans, domestic animals, and wildlife.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a cutaneous fungal infection caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) which was first observed in the United States in 2006. Pd infects bats during hibernation and leads to the development of cutaneous lesions and behavioral changes that can result in the animal's death. This study generated the first complete bat skin proteome for the WNS resistant gray bat (Myotis grisescens) to optimize sample preparation methods and identify immune proteins that may signal resistance. Wing tissue was collected from a female gray bat and processed in a Barocycler using 4M or 8M urea followed by an in-gel trypsin digestion of pooled samples and processing of separate samples without digestion specifically to capture and identify small antimicrobial peptides. Both undigested and digested samples were analyzed using a Thermo Fisher LTQ Orbitrap Velos mass spectrometer and interpreted using PEAKS software. A total of 29 immune proteins were identified including the antimicrobial peptide dermcidin. This method will be applied to a larger range of samples from five species variably impacted by WNS to compare skin proteomes with the aim of identifying immune proteins that are responsible for resistance at the barrier where Pd invades.

Sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and chlamydia, standardly treated with antibiotics, produce over 1.2 million cases annually in the emergency department (Jenkins et al., 2013). To determine a need for antibiotics, hospital labs utilize bacterial cultures to isolate and identify possible pathogens. Unfortunately, this technique can take up to 72 hours, leading to several physicians presumptively treating patients based solely on history and physical presentation. With vague standards for diagnosis and a high percentage of asymptomatic carriers, several patients undergo two scenarios; over- or under-treatment. These two scenarios can lead to consequences like unnecessary exposure to antibiotics and development of secondary conditions (for example: pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, etc.). This presents a need for a laboratory technique that can provide reliable results in an efficient matter. The viability of DNA-based chip targeted for C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, and other pathogens of interest were evaluated. The DNA-based chip presented several advantages as it can be easily integrated as a routine test given the process is already well-known, is customizable and able to target multiple pathogens within a single test and has the potential to return results within a few hours as opposed to days. As such, implementation of a DNA-based chip as a diagnostic tool is a timely and potentially impactful investigation.

Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) is a plant lectin commonly used to stimulate and test responses of the immune system and is known to induce T cell proliferation, agglutinate human leukocytes, and yield adjustments in lymphocyte populations. What is not well know is how responses to PHA correlate with a host's ability to resist or recover from pathogen invasion. This study uses information from previously published studies to determine whether or not PHA can be a good indicator of disease severity or disease resistance in a host. With PHA having the abilities that it does, immune responses to PHA may correlate with responses important for pathogen resistance and clearance. Such a relationship could only be uncovered if in vivo or in vitro responses to PHA are measured and, independent from the PHA challenge, symptoms and/or mortality rates of hosts are documented after pathogen exposure. An in vitro response can be detected by measuring cellular proliferation in response to PHA followed by separate cell cultures exposed to a pathogen. While an in vivo response can be detected by measuring variation in swelling in response to an injection of PHA. In reviewing a broad range of articles that meet my criteria, the majority of articles failed to show a strong relationship between PHA and disease severity or disease resistance. Therefore, immunologists must consider the usefulness of the PHA tests as a measure of immunocompetence, which is a host's ability to predict response to a pathogen. According to the literature, using PHA does not predict responses to pathogen invasion. However, it is possible that with carefully designed experiments, it could be determined that PHA does provide an indication of pathogen resistance in certain host species exposed to specific pathogen.

The decline of honeybee colonies around the world has been linked to the presence of the Varroa destructor, a mite acting as a virus vector for the Acute Bee Paralysis Virus. We developed a model of the infestation of the Apis melliifera honeybee colony by the Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, which is transmitted by the parasitic Varroa destructor. This is a four dimensional system of nonlinear ODE's for healthy and virus infected bees, total number of mites in the colony and number of mites that carry the virus. The Acute Bee Paralysis Virus can be transmitted between infected and uninfected bees, infected mite to adult bee, infected bee to phoretic mite, and reproductive mites to bee brood. This model is studied with analytical techniques deriving the conditions under which the bee colony can fight off an Acute Bee Paralysis Virus epidemic.