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10th International Symposium on Marek's Disease and Avian Herpesviruses was held in East Lansing Michigan in July 2014
USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-Avian Diseases and Oncology Laboratory (ADOL) and Michigan State University (MSU) hosted the 10th International Symposium on Marek's Disease and Avian Herpesviruses held July 20-23, 2014 at MSU Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing Michigan. Registration records indicated that 159 scientists from 21 countries attended this symposium. Participants considered the symposium a great success.
ADOL celebrated its 75thAnniversary in July 2014
A reception to celebrate ADOL's 75th Anniversary was held in the evening of Monday, July 21, 2014 at Michigan State University (MSU) Broad Art Museum. This event was held during the 10th International Symposium on Marek's disease and Avian Herpesviruses, allowing scientists from around the world to share in this important celebration. Special guests included alumni, the president of MSU, and representatives from USDA-ARS administration.
ADOL Retirements and Additions to Scientific Staff
? Dr. Henry Hunt and his technician, Dr. Noah Koller, both retired at the end of 2014. Dr. Hunt was a leading expert in the molecular and functional analysis of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), as well as many other aspects of the immune system.
? ADOL welcomes Yanfen Zhai (Dr. Zhang's laboratory) and Jennifer Pierluissi (Dr. Heidari's laboratory) as recent additions to our research staff.
? ADOL has been approved to hire a permanent virologist to fill Dr. Hunt's vacant position, which will be advertised in the near future.
Current Visitors, Students, and Postdoctoral Research Associates
? Dr. Sudeep Perumbakkam, Postdoctoral Research Associate (Dr. Cheng's laboratory)
? Cari Hearn, Alec Steep, and Supawadee Umthong, Graduate Students (Dr. Cheng's laboratory)
? Dan Wang, a graduate student from Shandong Agricultural University of China is a Visiting Scholar spending 1 year at ADOL (Dr. Heidari's laboratory)
? Dr. Artur Zbikowski, Visiting Scientist from Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland is spending a 10-month sabbatical leave at ADOL (Dr. Dunn's laboratory)
? Dr. Chong Wang, a Senior Visiting Scientist from South China Agricultural University is spending 6 months at ADOL (Dr. Zhang's laboratory)
New Funding
? In FY 2014, ADOL received a permanent increase of $500,000 to the Genomics Research Program for developing alternative methods to preserve genetic diversity of defined chicken lines while maintaining or enhancing fitness, and to elucidate the genetic determinants that modulate poultry gut microbiome interactions with the avian immune system.
? The new FY-2016 President's budget proposes two additional permanent program increases for the ADOL Genomics Research Program (pending Congressional approval).
1. Genetic Improvements and Translational Breeding ($500,000)
Strengthen U.S. agricultural productivity and resilience by developing new breeds, lines, and strains with better climate adaptation, drought tolerance, disease resistance, nutritional value, enhanced production efficiencies, and reduced environmental impact.
2. Better Management of Microbes and Combating Antimicrobial Resistance ($1,000,000)
Develop alternatives to antibiotics (including improved farm management and husbandry practices and vaccines), a database to provide a comprehensive source of accessible, microbial and resistant element sequence data for the food safety and research communities, and effective genetic strategies to reduce the need for antibiotics.
ADOL supercharges its cyber resources
ADOL recently bought into the Michigan State University High Performance Computing Center (HPCC), giving researchers access to a supercomputer with almost a thousand CPUs for performing large-scale bioinformatic analyses. Using the HPCC's high-speed network for transferring data, professional IT support for installing and maintaining hardware and software, and automated offsite backups, ADOL researchers are turning their Big Data into completed science.
Bits and Pieces of Recent Research:
Identification of key genes and polymorphisms associated with in vitro attenuation of pathogenic Marek's disease virus
Recently, Dr. Evin Hildebrandt who successfully completed the requirements of her Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. Cheng was lead author on a paper entitled " Characterizing the Molecular Basis of Attenuation of Marek's Disease Virus via In Vitro Serial Passage Identifies De Novo Mutations in the Helicase-Primase Subunit Gene UL5 and Other Candidates Associated with Reduced Virulence."As the majority of Marek's disease vaccines are produced through serial passage, this work provides critical insights into virus attenuation and the mutant strain is useful as a potential vaccine candidate. The paper was published in the June 2014 issue of Journal of Virology. Please contact Dr. Cheng at Hans.Cheng@USDA.GOV if you have any questions about these key genes and pathways involved in transformation by Marek's disease virus.
The use of Marek's disease virus BAC clones as standardized reagents
The cloning of the Marek's disease virus (MDV) genome as an infectious bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone has led to major advances by enabling researchers to study individual gene function by making precise insertions and deletions in the viral genome. MDV BAC clones are likely to replace wild type MDV field strains used in all aspects of MDV research due to advantages that include 1) precise manipulation of the viral genome, 2) viral genomes that are stable and can be maintained independent of propagation in eukaryotic cells, and 3) reduced-cost and simplified shipping of BAC-cloned viruses compared to shipping cell-associated viruses. ADOL scientists acquired virulent MDV BAC clones that have been generated by researchers around the world and produced a standardized virulence rank. Clones were pathotyped to compare virulence rank to prototype field strains using the standard pathotyping assay. The results indicated viruses derived from BAC clones encompassed all three virulent pathotypes (vMDV, vvMDV, and vv+MDV). By standardizing results through the use of BAC-cloned MDVs, future studies from various laboratories can be more easily compared. Please contact Dr. Dunn at John.Dunn@USDA.GOV if you have any questions about the use of BAC clones in Marek's disease virus research.
In ovo vaccination against Marek's disease using a BAC clone of a recombinant MDV
ADOL scientists tested the efficacy of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone of a recombinant MDV strain rMd5 containing reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) long terminal repeat (LTR) regions termed rMd5 REV LTR following in ovo vaccination on the 18th day of embryonation. In ovo vaccination with this vaccine protected chickens against MDV-induced bursal and thymic atrophy following challenge with vv+MDV strain 686, but the level of protection conferred by this vaccine against MD tumors was lower than that of the commercial vaccine, CVI988/Rispens. Please contact Dr. Fadly at Aly.Fadly@USDA.GOV if you have any questions about this recombinant virus strain.
For more information about these and other programs at ADOL, please visit our website at: https://www.ars.usda.gov/southeast-area/athens-ga/us-national-poultry-research-center/adol/
