David D. Dunigan, Ph. D.

Research Associate Professor University of Nebraska-Lincoln Plant Pathology 203 Morrison Center Lincoln, NE 68583-0900 Phone - 402.472.5776 Fax - 402.472.3323 ddunigan2@unl.edu

Research Interests:

Our research is focused on host-virus interactions, especially as it relates to pathogenesis. I have investigated several eukaryotic viral systems, including both plant and animal viruses. In considering virus infections generally, I have searched for common functions and events that tend to unite themes in virology. These have included i) the ability of most viruses to capture components of the cellular metabolic functions, and ii) the consequences of infection.

The present work is in collaboration with Dr. James Van Etten, a “foundingfather” of the family Phycodnaviridae - the algal viruses. The type member of the genus Chlorovirus is Paramecium bursariachlorella virus-1 (PBCV-1). PBCV-1 is well characterized with respect to its large dsDNA genome (330 kb) and ~375 open reading frames. The virion is equally impressive with respect to size (190 nm diameter icosahedral particle, T = 169) and complexity (greater than 100 virus-encoded proteins). Evolutionarily, these viruses are related to other large DNA viruses, such as poxviruses, African swine fever virus, iridoviruses, and Mimivirus; collectively known as nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDV). Through functional genomics, we are investigating the virion structure, including the proteome, metabolic changes associated with infection, and the role of algal viruses in aquatic ecosystems.

Selected Recent Publications:

Thiel, G., Moroni, A., Dunigan, D., Van Etten, J. (2009) Initial events associated with virus PBCV-1 infection of Chlorella NC64A. Progress in Botany (U. Luttge, W., Beyschlag, Budel, D., eds.) vol. 70. Springer-Verlag, Berlin (in press)

Van Etten, J. L., Gurnon, J., Yanai-Balser, G., Dunigan, D., Graves, M. V. (2009). Chlorella viruses encode most, if not all, of the machinery to glycosylate their glycoproteins independent of the endoplasmic reticulum. Biochemica et Biophysica Acta(in press)

Yanai-Balser, G. M., Duncan, G. A., Eudy, J. D., Wang, D., Agarkova, I. V., Dungian, D. D., Van Etten, J. L., (2009) Microarray analysis of chlorella virus PBCV-1 transcription. Journal of Virology(in press) [Selected as a Journal Spotlight]

Agarkova, I., Dunigan, D., Gurnon, J., Greiner, T., Barres, J., Thiel, G., Van Etten, J L. (2008) Chlorovirus-mediated membrane depolarization of chlorella alters secondary active transport of solutes. Journal of Virology 82: 12181-12190

Zhang, Y., Maley, F., Maley, G. F., Duncan, G., Dunigan, D. D., Van Etten, J. L. A bifunctional dCMP-dCTP deaminase encoded by chlorella virus PBCV-1. Journal of Virology 81: 7662-7671, 2007.

Agarkova, I., Dunigan, D. D., Van Etten, J. L. Virion-associated restriction endonucleases of chloroviruses. Journal of Virology 80: 8114-8123, 2006

Chan, S., Zhu, Z., Dunigan, D. D., Van Etten, J. L., Xu, S. Cloning of Nt.CviQII nicking endonuclease and its cognate methyltransferase: MtCviQII methylates AG sequences. Protein Expression and Purification 49: 138-150, 2006.

Dunigan, D. D., Fitzgerald, L. A., Van Etten, J. L. Phycodnaviridae: A peek at genetic diversity. Virus Research 117 (1): 119-132, 2006.

Kang, M., Dunigan, D. D., Van Etten, J. L. Chlorovirus: a genus of Phycodnaviridae that infects certain chlorella-like green algae. Molecular Plant Pathology 6 (3): 213-224, 2005.

Awada, T., Dunigan, D. D., Dickman, M. B. Animal anti-apoptotic genes enhance recovery from drought stress in tobacco. International Journal of Agriculture & Biology 6: 943-949, 2004.

Awada, T., Dunigan, D.D. and Dickman, M.B. Animal anti-apoptotic genes ameliorate the loss of turgor in water-stressed transgenic tobacco. Canadian Journal of Plant Sci. 83: 499-506, 2003.

Chen, S., Dunigan, D. D., Dickman, M. B. Bcl-2 family members inhibit oxidative stress-induced programmed cell death in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine 34(10): 1315-1325, 2003.

Redman, R. S., Dunigan, D. D., and Rodriguez, R. J. Fungal symbiosis from mutualism to parasitism: who controls the outcome, host or invader?  New Phytologist 151(3): 705-716, 2001.

Recent Selected Abstracts:

3rd Annual Meeting of the SCOR Working Group on the Role of Viruses in Marine Ecosystems, held in Newark, DE, May 2009. Title: “The black holes of virus taxonomy”

D. D. Dunigan, I. V. Agarkova, J. R. Gurnon, G. A. Duncan, M. V. Graves, J. L. Van Etten. Annual Meeting of The American Society for Virology, held at Ithaca, New York; July 2008. Title: "Bridges and bypasses on the road to Chlorovirus replication"

D. D. Dunigan, I. V. Agarkova, J. R. Gurnon, G. A. Duncan, M. V. Graves, J. L. Van Etten. Aquatic Virus Workshop 5, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, July 2008. Title: "The road to Chlorovirus replication with bridges and bypasses"

I Agarkova, D. Dunigan, J. Van Etten. 30th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, May 2008. Title: "Chlorella algae and their viruses are a source of xyloglucan hydrolyzing enzymes"

D. Dunigan, Garry A. Duncan, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, Michael V. Graves, James R. Gurnon, James L. Van Etten Second Annual Department of Energy-Joint Genome Institute User Meeting, held in Walnut Creek, CA, April 2007. Title: "Comparative genomics of chloroviruses"

D. Dunigan, G. Duncan, Y. Zhang, and J. Van Etten. Annual Meeting of The American Society for Virology, held at Corvallis, Oregon; July 2007.  Title: “Chloroviruses augment nucleotide metabolism”

D. Dunigan, R. Cerny, L. Lane, L. Fitzgerald, I. Agarkova, B. Kronschnabel, and J. Van Etten. Annual Meeting of The American Society for Virology, held at Madison, Wisconsin; July 2006.  Title: “Comparative proteomic analysis of chloroviruses”

Recent Invited Lectures:

“Giant algal viruses: Why so many genes?”, University of Maryland-College Park, May, 2009

“The potential of algal biofuels”, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, Lincoln, Nebraska, June, 2009

2007
“The life and times of giant viruses”, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, Nebraska

“Early events in chlorovirus infections”, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2006
“In search of the unknowns: Gene discovery using evolutionary genomics”, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2005
“Immediate-early events in chlorella virus infections”, John Innes Centre, Norwich, United Kingdom

“Host-virus interactions and the consequences of infection”, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom