Raymond St. Leger
British entomologist
Raymond J. St. Leger (born 1957, in London, England) is an American mycologist , entomologist , molecular biologist and biotechnologist who currently holds the rank of Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Entomology (https://entomology.umd.edu/ ) at the University of Maryland, College Park .
Research and career
St. Leger went to the United States to begin his career at the Boyce Thompson Institute at the invitation of Donald W. Roberts .[ 1] According to Google Scholar , he has since then published more than 150 scientific papers and book chapters on fungal pathogens of plants , animals and insects , and on the reactions of hosts to infection . St. Leger has principally used entomopathogenic fungus (fungi that act as parasites of insects ),[ 2] as models for understanding how pathogens in general respond to stress,[ 3] changing environments ,[ 4] initiate host invasion,[ 5] [ 6] colonize tissues,[ 7] and counter host immune responses.[ 8] These investigations have also addressed the mechanisms by which new pathogens emerge with different host ranges [ 9] [ 10] [ 11] and genetic variation between individuals in host defenses.[ 12] Other interests include fungal and insect behavior and evolution ,[ 13] molecular biology and genomics of fungi,[ 14] and mutualistic associations between microbes and plants that can be exploited to benefit agriculture .[ 15] [ 16]
St. Leger is also known for developing transgenic technologies, including altering insect pathogens so that they carry genes encoding spider and scorpion toxins.[ 17] [ 18] [ 19] [ 20] A field trial in Burkina Faso has shown that these engineered pathogens have the potential to control insect borne diseases such as malaria .[ 21] St. Leger has tested an array of "alternative engineering strategies to be consistent with the highly exploratory approach required for optimizing a pathogens biocontrol potential".[ 22] For example, engineering a mosquito pathogenic fungus to carry a gene for a human anti-malarial antibody so that the fungus targets the malarial parasite in the mosquito reduces the possibility of mosquitoes evolving resistance to the fungus.[ 23]
St. Leger has been a consultant on biotechnology to many private and public concerns, including the NIH , the USDA , the NSF , the US State Department and the Organization of American States . St. Leger has also served on many national and international policy-making committees including the Bill Gates funded National Academies Committee to study technologies to benefit Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia (2009).[ 24]
St. Leger is an advocate of online open education and since 2013 has co-taught with Dr. Tammatha O’Brien (https://tammatha.weebly.com/ ) a MOOC on the Coursera platform called Genes and the Human Condition [ 25] that has had more than 200,000 active learners.
Education
St. Leger received his Bachelor of Science in biology from Exeter University , England in 1978, a Master of Science in entomology in 1980 from Birkbeck College , London University , and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1985 from the University of Bath , England .
Awards and honors
St. Leger has received several awards for his research, he was elected a fellow of the AAAS (2012), the American Academy of Microbiology (2013), the Royal Entomological Society of London (FRES) (2011), the Entomological Society of America [ 26] (2019) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB). He received the American Society for Microbiology Promega Biotechnology Research Award (2017) and was the inaugural recipient of the Tai Fung-Lan Award for International Cooperation from The Mycological Society of China (2016). St. Leger received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater of Exeter University in 2018 [ 27] and the Newcomb Cleveland Prize for the most impactful paper published in the journal Science in 2019.[ 28] St. Leger gave the Founders lecture at the 2009 Society of Invertebrate Pathology Meeting honoring his friend and frequent collaborator Donald W. Roberts .[ 29] [ 1]
Selected bibliography
References
^ a b c "SIP Newsletter". 42 (2). Society for Invertebrate Pathology . June 2009.
^ Lovett, B; St. Leger, R.J (2017). Heitman, Joseph; Howlett, Barbara J; Crous, Pedro W; Stukenbrock, Eva H; James, Timothy Y; Gow, Neil A. R (eds.). "The Insect Pathogens". The Fungal Kingdom . 5 (2017). doi :10.1128/9781555819583 . ISBN 9781683670827 . PMID 28256192 .
^ Fang, W; St. Leger, R.J (2010). "RNA binding proteins mediate the ability of a fungus to adapt to the cold". Environmental Microbiology . 12 (2010): 810–820. doi :10.1111/j.1462-2920.2009.02127.x . PMID 20050869 .
^ Wang, S; O’Brien, T; Pava-Ripoll, M; St. Leger, R.J (2011). "Local adaptation of an introduced transgenic insect fungal pathogen due to new beneficial mutations" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 108 (2011): 20449–20454. Bibcode :2011PNAS..10820449W . doi :10.1073/pnas.1113824108 . PMC 3251136 . PMID 22143757 .
^ Wang, C; St. Leger, R.J (2007). "Metarhizium anisopliae perilipin homolog MPL1 regulates lipid metabolism, appressorial turgor pressure and virulence" . Journal of Biological Chemistry . 282 (2007): 21110–21115. doi :10.1074/jbc.M609592200 . PMID 17526497 .
^ Guo, N; Zhang, Q; Chen, X; Zhang, X; Xu, C; St. Leger, R.J; Fang, W (2017). "Alternative transcription start site selection in Mr-OPY2 controls lifestyle transitions in the fungus Metarhizium robertsii " . Nature Communications . 8 (1): 1565. Bibcode :2017NatCo...8.1565G . doi :10.1038/s41467-017-01756-1 . PMC 5691130 . PMID 29146899 .
^ Wang, C; Hu, G.; St. Leger, R.J (2005). "Differential gene expression by Metarhizium anisopliae growing in root exudate and host (Manduca sexta ) cuticle or hemolymph reveals mechanisms of physiological adaptation". Fungal Genetics and Biology . 42 (2005): 704–718. doi :10.1016/j.fgb.2005.04.006 . PMID 15914043 .
^ Wang, C; St. Leger, R.J (2006). "A collagenous protective coat enables Metarhizium anisopliae to evade insect immune responses" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 103 (2006): 2647–6652. Bibcode :2006PNAS..103.6647W . doi :10.1073/pnas.0601951103 . PMC 1458935 . PMID 16614065 .
^ Wang, S; Fang, W; Wang, C; St. Leger, R.J (2011). "Insertion of an esterase gene into a specific locust pathogen (Metarhizium acridum ) enables it to infect caterpillars" . PLOS Pathogens . 7 (2011): e1002097. doi :10.1371/journal.ppat.1002097 . PMC 3121873 . PMID 21731492 .
^ Hu, X; Zheng, P; Shang, Y; Su, Y; Zhang, X; Zhan, X; St. Leger, R.J.; Wang, C (2014). "Trajectory and genomic determinants of fungal-pathogen speciation and host adaptation" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 111 (2014): 16796–16801. Bibcode :2014PNAS..11116796H . doi :10.1073/pnas.1412662111 . PMC 4250126 . PMID 25368161 .
^ Zhang, Q; Chen, X; Quo, N; Meng, Y; St. Leger, R.J; Fang, Weiguo (2019). "Horizontal gene transfer allowed the emergence of broad host range entomopathogens" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 116 (2019): 7982–7989. doi :10.1073/pnas.1816430116 . PMC 6475382 . PMID 30948646 .
^ Wang, J.B.; Lu, H.L.; St. Leger, R.J (2017). "The genetic basis for variation in resistance to infection in the Drosophila melanogaster genetic reference panel" . PLOS Pathogens . 13 (2017): e1006260. doi :10.1371/journal.ppat.1006260 . PMC 5352145 . PMID 28257468 .
^ Hu, G.; St. Leger, R.J (2004). "A phylogenomic approach to reconstructing the diversification of serine proteases in fungi" . Journal of Evolutionary Biology . 17 (2004): 1204–1214. doi :10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00786.x . PMID 15525405 .
^ Gao, Q; Ying, S.H; Zhang, Y; Xiao, G; Shang, Y; Duan, Z; Hu, X; Xue-Qin, X; Zhou, G; Peng, G; Luo, Z; Huang, W; Wang, B; Fang, W; Wang, S; Zhong, Y; Ma, L; St. Leger, R.J.; Zhao, G.; Pei, Y; Feng, M.G.; Xia, Y; Wang, C (2011). "Genome Sequencing and Comparative Transcriptomics of the Model Entomopathogenic Fungi Metarhizium anisopliae and M. acridum " . PLOS Genetics . 7 (2011): e1001264. doi :10.1371/journal.pgen.1001264 . PMC 3017113 . PMID 21253567 .
^ Liao, X; O'Brien, T; Fang, W; St. Leger, R.J (2014). "The plant beneficial effects of Metarhizium species correlate with their association with roots" . Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology . 98 (2014): 7089–7096. doi :10.1007/s00253-014-5788-2 . PMC 4153607 . PMID 21350178 .
^ Liao, X; Lovett, B; Fang, W; St. Leger, R.J. (2017). "Metarhizium robertsii produces indole-3-acetic acid, which promotes root growth in Arabidopsis and enhances virulence to insects" . Microbiology . 163 (2017): 980–991. doi :10.1099/mic.0.000494 . PMID 28708056 .
^ Fang, W; Lu, H; King, G.F; St. Leger, R.J (2015). "Construction of a hypervirulent and specific mycoinsecticide for locust control" . Scientific Reports . 4 (2014): 7345. doi :10.1038/srep07345 . PMC 4256560 . PMID 25475694 .
^ Gallagher, James (31 May 2019). "GM fungus rapidly kills 99% of malaria mosquitoes, study suggests" . BBC News . Retrieved 31 May 2019 .
^ Saey, Tina. "A fungus weaponized with a spider toxin can kill malaria mosquitoes" . Retrieved 31 May 2019 .
^ Bonner, Walt (2019-06-10). "Genetically-altered fungus murders mosquitoes with spider venom" . foxnews.com . Fox News. Retrieved 13 June 2019 .
^ Lovett, B; Bilgo, E; Millogo, S.A; Ouattarra, A.K; Sare, I; Gnambani, E.J; Dabire, R.K; Diabate, A; St.Leger, R.J. (2019). "Transgenic Metarhizium rapidly kills mosquitoes in a malaria-endemic region of Burkina Faso" . Science . 364 (2019): 894–897. Bibcode :2019Sci...364..894L . doi :10.1126/science.aaw8737 . PMC 4153607 . PMID 21350178 .
^ Lovett, B; Bilgo, E; Diabate, A; St. Leger, R.J. (2019). "A review of progress toward field application of transgenic mosquitocidal entomopathogenic fungi". Pest Management Science . 75 (9): 2316–2324. doi :10.1002/ps.5385 . PMID 20050869 . S2CID 73507848 .
^ Fang, W; Vega-Rodriguez, J; Ghosh, A.K; Jacobs-Lorena, M; Khang, A; St. Leger, R.J. (2011). "Development of transgenic fungi that kill human malaria parasites in mosquitoes" . Science . 331 (2011): 1074–1077. Bibcode :2011Sci...331.1074F . doi :10.1126/science.1199115 . PMC 4153607 . PMID 21350178 .
^ National Research Council (2009). "Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia". The National Academies Press . doi :10.17226/12455 . ISBN 978-0-309-12494-2 .
^ St. Leger, R.J; O'Brien, T. "Genes and the Human Condition (from behavior to Biotechnology)" . Coursera. Retrieved 7 February 2020 .
^ ESA. "Dr. Raymond J. St. Leger, ESA fellow" . Retrieved 7 February 2020 .
^ Exeter University. "Professor Raymond J. St. Leger (DSc)" . Exeter.ac.uk . Retrieved 7 February 2020 .
^ Cutlip, Kimbra (2020-01-24). "UMD-led Study Named Most Impactful Paper Published in the Journal Science in 2019" . umdrightnow.umd.edu . Retrieved 7 February 2020 .
^ St. Leger, Raymond J. (2010). "Society for Invertebrate Pathology 2009 Founders' Lecture". Journal of Invertebrate Pathology . 105 (3). Society for Invertebrate Pathology (Academic Press ): 211–219. doi :10.1016/j.jip.2010.09.021 . ISSN 0022-2011 . PMID 20970532 . S2CID 29215470 . S2CID 116030568
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