Jeff Hodgson
Postdoctoral Associate
My research is concerned with determining how insect viruses transit through polarized midgut epithelial cells. Viruses in the gut lumen enter midgut epithelial cells through their apical surface. Upon replication in these cells, progeny virions must then transit to and be released from the basal cell surface in order for the virus to gain access to the insect's open circulatory system (the hemocoel) and accomplish a systemic infection. If a virus mounts a systemic infection in biting insects (ticks or mosquitoes) it is then possible for these insects to transmit the virus to the vertebrates or plants it feeds on.
Although Drosophila is not a biting insect capable of vectoring viruses in this manner, the powerful genetic tools available for Drosophila will provide an excellent platform to develop an experimental system for studying trafficking of insect viruses in midgut epithelial cells. If the mechanism(s) required for polarized virus trafficking in insect gut epithelia can be discovered, it will foster development of methods to block this important step in transmission of insect-vectored viruses or other diseases.
Email: jjh364@cornell.edu
Although Drosophila is not a biting insect capable of vectoring viruses in this manner, the powerful genetic tools available for Drosophila will provide an excellent platform to develop an experimental system for studying trafficking of insect viruses in midgut epithelial cells. If the mechanism(s) required for polarized virus trafficking in insect gut epithelia can be discovered, it will foster development of methods to block this important step in transmission of insect-vectored viruses or other diseases.
Email: jjh364@cornell.edu