Southern California Eukaryotic Pathogen Symposium

2016 group photo

2016 SCEP Symposium Archive

Keynote Speaker

Richard E. Davis

Richard Davis

New York University

"Programmed DNA Elimination in Parasitic Nematodes"

 The Davis Lab studies the molecular biology of parasitic worms (primarily schistosomes and parasitic nematodes) with a focus on atypical molecular processes including spliced leader RNA trans-splicing and programmed DNA elimination. Our previous studies on trans-splicing used cell-free in vitro systems, biolistic RNA transfection, enzymatic, and structural biology approaches to examine the cellular and biochemical adaptations of mRNA translation and decay to trans-splicing.  Current studies are focused on programmed DNA elimination in parasitic nematodes, a phenomenon where chromosomes break and regions of chromosomes are reproducibly lost during early development.  We use a variety of approaches to study DNA elimination including genomics and transcriptomics, biochemistry, analysis of small RNAs and Argonautes, chromatin and chromosome analyses, and analysis of chromosome segregation.

Selected Publications

See a full list of Dr. Davis' publications.

  1. Streit A, Wang J, Kang Y, Davis RE. Gene silencing and sex determination by programmed DNA elimination in parasitic nematodes.Current opinion in microbiology. 2016; 32:120-7. NIHMSID: NIHMS793968  PMID: 27315434 PMCID: PMC4983467
  2. Zhu L, Zhao J, Wang J, Hu C, Peng J, Luo R, Zhou C, Liu J, Lin J, Jin Y, Davis RE, Cheng G.MicroRNAs Are Involved in the Regulation of Ovary Development in the Pathogenic Blood Fluke Schistosoma japonicum. PLoS pathogens. 2016; 12(2):e1005423. PMID: 26871705 PMCID: PMC4752461
  3. Nielsen MK, Wang J, Davis R, Bellaw JL, Lyons ET, Lear TL, Goday C. Parascaris univalens--a victim of large-scale misidentification? Parasitology research. 2014; 113(12):4485-90. PMID: 25231078
  4. Neff AT, Wang J, Davis RE. "Father knows best?". The EMBO journal. 2014; 33(16):1729-31. PMID: 25061225 PMCID: PMC4195754
  5. Wang J, Davis RE. Programmed DNA elimination in multicellular organisms.Current opinion in genetics & development. 2014; 27:26-34. NIHMSID: NIHMS581512 PMID: 24886889 PMCID: PMC4125452
  6. Wang J, Garrey J, Davis RE. Transcription in pronuclei and one- to four-cell embryos drives early development in a nematode. Current biology : CB. 2014; 24(2):124-33. NIHMSID: NIHMS545312 PMID: 24374308 PMCID: PMC3953457
  7. Wang J, Davis RE. Contribution of transcription to animal early development. Transcription. 2014; 5(4):e967602. PMID: 25483604 PMCID: PMC4581351.
  8. Avasarala S, Van Scoyk M, Wang J, Sechler M, Vandervest K, Brzezinski C, Weekes C, Edwards MG, Arcaroli J, Davis RE, Bikkavilli RK, Winn RA. hsa-miR29b, a critical downstream target of non-canonical Wnt signaling, plays an anti-proliferative role in non-small cell lung cancer cells via targeting MDM2 expression. Biology open. 2013; 2(7):675-85. PMID: 23862015 PMCID: PMC3711035
  9. Wang J, Mitreva M, Berriman M, Thorne A, Magrini V, Koutsovoulos G, Kumar S, Blaxter ML, Davis RE. Silencing of germline-expressed genes by DNA elimination in somatic cells. Developmental cell. 2012; 23(5):1072-80. NIHMSID: NIHMS410444 PMID: 23123092 PMCID: PMC3620533
  10. Wypijewska A, Bojarska E, Lukaszewicz M, Stepinski J, Jemielity J, Davis RE, Darzynkiewicz E. 7-methylguanosine diphosphate (m(7)GDP) is not hydrolyzed but strongly bound by decapping scavenger (DcpS) enzymes and potently inhibits their activity. Biochemistry. 2012; 51(40):8003-13. NIHMSID: NIHMS410532 PMID: 22985415, PMCID: PMC3495079