8:46 a.m., Dec. 18, 2008----Lisa Waidner, a post-doctoral researcher at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, has received a postdoctoral fellowship through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's functional genomics program to compare microRNAs among avian herpesviruses in order to identify microRNAs involved in specific cell functions.

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MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs found in plant, animal and viral genomes and are now recognized as important contributors to regulation of many cellular processes including development, oncogenesis and stress.

Herpesviruses in poultry can cause respiratory infections, tumors and death. These diseases can have tremendous implications for the poultry industry worldwide and here in Delaware, where poultry production alone is a three-quarter billion dollar a year industry that accounts for about 76 percent of the total economic value of agriculture to the state.

“Identifying the microRNAs of related avian herpesviruses will enhance our understanding of how viruses use microRNAs to modulate host-pathogen interactions,” says Waidner.

Specifically, Waidner's research will study four herpesviruses: two types of Marek's disease virus (MDV-1, which causes tumors, and MDV-2); herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT), which is harmless to chickens but is used as a vaccine against the tumor-causing Marek's disease; and infectious laryngotracheitis (ILTV), which does not cause tumors but makes chickens sick and spreads very rapidly in poultry flocks.

Waidner works under the direction of Robin Morgan, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and professor of microbiology, and Joan Burnside, professor of avian genomics.

The research interests of Morgan and Burnside research center on the molecular biology of Marek's disease virus, a herpesvirus that can cause infections T-cell lymphomas in chickens.

“What's 'hot' about this research is that we can examine the presence and expression of all (or most) of the microRNAs in four related viruses for fundamental differences, and to see if certain microRNAs are responsible for tumor formation or increased pathogenicity,” says Waidner.

Waidner partially attributes her success in the grant process due to her collaboration with fellow DBI researchers Pamela Green and Blake Meyers, who have paved the way for research on small RNAs and the role they play in “turning off” certain genes, acting as biochemical switches.

For example, there is one set of microRNAs in ILTV that Waidner thinks may be responsible for making the virus come out of latency. Waidner compares ILTV to the common childhood virus, chickenpox, which happens to also be a herpesvirus.

“As a child, an individual is likely to get the chicken pox. As an adult, the same individual may get a case of the shingles. This is an example of how a virus can be dormant in one's body for many years, and then all of a sudden, because of stress or other factors, comes out of latency,” she says. “We think that a few microRNAs cause the virus to come out of latency.”

Burnside and Morgan have close working relationships with industry with respect to vaccine trials. Waidner believes that her research could be used in vaccine development, using something other than the existing classic vaccines to keep the virus from coming out of latency.

Waidner received her master's degree in molecular biology from the University of Maryland. After completing her degree she spent several years in academia as a technician and the biotech industry in technical support.

In 2007, Waidner completed her Ph.D. in marine microbial ecology at the University of Delaware's College of Marine and Earth Studies.

“Molecular biology and microbial ecology research share many of the same techniques. Next generation sequencing is somewhat new to me, but the data analyses of DNA and RNA are similar, whether you are working with aquatic microbes or poultry viruses,” Waidner says.

Article by Katy O'Connell
Photo by Danielle Quigley