Jessica Sowa
West Chester University of Pennsylvania, PA·Microbiology & Immunology
The tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a powerful model for studying how microbes infect cells and how a host's immune system fights back.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Biology
Genetics
- Topics
Caenorhabditis elegans
C. elegans
nematodes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Screen wild free-living nematodes, collected by students in the Nematode Hunters program, for infections that spread to C. elegans strains carrying fluorescent infection reporters.
- Determine whether infections are caused by viruses by filtering homogenized infected cultures to remove anything larger than a virus, then testing whether the filtrate still transmits infection.
- Identify the genomes of new viruses by sequencing RNA and DNA from infectious filtrates and infected worms and finding the reads that correspond to viruses.
- Map which tissues each new virus infects and how infection progresses over time in C. elegans, using virus-specific primers and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes.
More about the research
The worms are small, grow quickly in large numbers, are easy to modify genetically, and are transparent, so infections can be watched over time in living animals. Its use for studying viruses, however, is limited because only one virus that naturally infects C. elegans has been found. This project aims to find new viruses that can infect C. elegans, so that this model can be used to study a wider range of virus–host interactions.
Why it matters
This work is basic science. A collection of new viruses that naturally infect C. elegans would let researchers use the worm's genetics and transparency to study how viruses enter and use host cells and how hosts respond. Comparing several viruses could eventually inform broader understanding of viral infection and innate immunity at the level of cells.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Rebecca Butcher
University of Florida, FL·Biochemistry
Measure what carboxylesterase (CEST) enzymes, which add chemical modifications to ascaroside pheromones, act on, by producing and purifying the enzymes and testing them against candidate molecules.
Adriana San Miguel
North Carolina State University, NC·Biomedical Engineering
Develop BOWiD components, including inducible promoters that drive Cre recombinase, robust cellular landmarks and labeling approaches, and machine learning pipelines that read random fluorescent cell-labeling barcodes in individual C. elegans.
Tristan Jordan
University of Washington, WA·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Characterize the immune-stimulating double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) that build up when DR1, DRAP1 or BTAF1, proteins that limit pervasive transcription, are lost and trigger an interferon response in cells.
The school
West Chester University of Pennsylvania: 1 labs on PI Pages, $7M a year on research, 42 research doctorates a year.
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