Gary Blissard

Professor
Gary Blissard
gwb1@cornell.edu
Office/Lab: 201/202
Phone: 607-2541369
Office/Lab: 201/202
Email: gwb1@cornell.edu
Office Phone: 607-254-1366
Lab Phone: 607-2541369
Affiliations: Department of Microbiology & Immunology / Department of Entomology / Cornell University
Graduate Fields: Entomology; Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Research Areas:    Virology / Genomics and Systems / Cell Biology
Research Overview

Studies in the Blissard lab are focused on understanding the biology and pathology of viral infections and interactions in insect cells. In general, our studies can be subdivided into studies of a) baculovirus biology and pathology, b) viral envelope protein structure and function, and c) gene expression in virus infected cells.

The baculoviruses are large DNA viruses that have been used for biological control of insect pest species. In addition, baculoviruses have been developed as powerful gene expression systems for producing eukaryotic proteins in both research and industrial applications. More recently, baculoviruses have been examined as potential vectors for human gene therapy. One important thrust of our work is basic studies of the glycoproteins found in the virus envelope, and the roles of viral envelope proteins in viral attachment, entry, and exit. Another major research focus in our lab is the study of viral and host gene expression over the course of the infection. We are using next-generation sequencing technologies to examine the details of viral and host cell gene expression as infection progresses in baculovirus-infected insect cells, using both cultured cell lines and midgut tissue of host insects

Previously, we have used the baculovirus, AcMNPV, and the baculovirus GP64 envelope glycoprotein as models for our studies. We have developed AcMNPV-permissive cell lines to examine both viral envelope protein requirements, as well as cellular factors involved in entry and egress. Our recent studies suggest a model in which the promiscuous nature of baculovirus entry (which has been exploited in mammalian cell transduction systems) appears to result from recognition of, and interactions with negatively charged host membrane phospholipids. We found that this interaction appears to be mediated by specific regions of the so-called fusion loops of the major envelope glycoprotein, GP64. Our studies of GP64 have identified domains and specific amino acid positions important for virus-cell attachment, and we have also examined domains and amino acids required for the pH-triggered conformational change associated with membrane fusion during viral entry. Our studies of viral egress demonstrated that components of the cellular vacuolar protein sorting system (the cellular ESCRT pathway) are essential for baculovirus egress from infected cells. Thus, baculoviruses appear to hijack the cellular ESCRT pathway for egress from the cell.

In addition to the above studies, we are currently directing our efforts to the study of virus-insect interactions in the insect midgut. The polarized trafficking of viruses across this epithelial cell layer represents a critical virus-insect interaction that is essential for most insect-vectored viruses, but one that is not well understood in any system. Our studies focus on both identifying cellular interacting proteins and pathways that mediate polarized trafficking in the midgut, and understanding viral and cellular transcriptional responses in insect midgut cells from permissive and non-permissive hosts. We expect that our studies will have impacts on the understanding of pathogenic viruses of insects, as well as plant and animal viruses that are vectored by insects. In these studies, our goals are to generate new tools and methods for the study of the many viruses that traffic across the insect midgut epithelium.

Identification of Cellular Genes Involved in Baculovirus GP64 Trafficking to the Plasma Membrane
2022.
Hodgson, J.J., Buchon, N., Blissard, Gary W.
J Virol..
96
:
e0021522
Efficient entry of budded virions of autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus into Spodoptera frugiperda cells is dependent on dynamin, Rab5, and Rab11.
2020.
Yue, Q., Li, J., Guo, Y., Yan, F., Liu, X., Blissard, Gary W., Li, Z.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol..
:
A high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of a generalist herbivore, Trichoplusia ni
2019.
Chen, W., Yang, X., Tetreau, G., Song, X., Coutu, C., Hegedus, D., Blissard, Gary W., Fei, Zhangjun, Wang, P.
Molecular Ecology Resources.
19
:
485–496
Transcriptional responses of the Trichoplusia ni midgut to oral infection by the baculovirus Autographa californica Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus
2019.
Shrestha, A., Bao, K., Chen, W., Wang, P., Fei, Zhangjun, Blissard, Gary W.
Journal of Virology.
93
:
Distinct Roles of Cellular ESCRT-I and ESCRT-III Proteins in Efficient Entry and Egress of Budded Virions of Autographa californica Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus
2018.
Yue, Q., Yu, Q., Yang, Q., Xu, Y., Guo, Y., Blissard, Gary, Li, Z.
Journal of Virology.
:
Production of GP64-free virus-like particles from baculovirus-infected insect cells
2018.
Chaves, LC., Ribeiro, BM., Blissard, Gary
Journal of General Virology.
99
:
265–274
Baculovirus Entry and Egress from Insect Cells
2018.
Blissard, Gary, Theilmann, DA.
Annual Review of Virology.
5
:
113–139
Identification of insect genes involved in baculovirus AcMNPV entry into insect cells
2018.
Hodgson, JJ., Buchon, N., Blissard, Gary
Virology.
527
:
1–11
A high‐quality chromosome‐level genome assembly of a generalist herbivore, Trichoplusia ni
2018.
Chen, W., Yang, X., Tetreau, G., Song, X., Coutu, C., Hegedus, D., Blissard, Gary, Fei, Zhangjun, Wang P.
Molecular Ecology Resources.
19
:
485–496
Global Analysis of Baculovirus Autographa californica Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus Gene Expression in the Midgut of the Lepidopteran Host Trichoplusia ni
2018.
Shrestha, A., Bao, K., Chen, Y., Chen, W., Wang, P., Fei, Zhangjun and Blissard, Gary
Journal of Virology.
92
:
e01277-18
Production of GP64-free virus-like particles from baculovirus-infected insect cells
2018.
Chaves, L. CS, Ribeiro, B. M., Blissard, Gary
The Journal of general virology.
99
:
265–274
Roles of Cellular NSF Protein in Entry and Nuclear Egress of Budded Virions of Autographa californica Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus
2017.
Guo, Y., Yue, Q., Gao, J., Wang, Z., Chen, Y. R., Blissard, Gary, Liu, T. X., Li, Z.
Journal of Virology.
91
:
e01111-17–e01111-17
Distinct Roles of Cellular ESCRT-I and ESCRT-III Proteins in Efficient Entry and Egress of Budded Virions of Autographa californica Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus
2017.
Yue, Q., Yu, Q., Yang, Q., Xu, Y., Guo, Y., Blissard, Gary, Li, Z.
Journal of Virology.
92
:
Multifaceted biological insights from a draft genome sequence of the tobacco hornworm moth, Manduca sexta
2016.
Kanost, M. R., Arrese, E. L., Cao, X., Chen, Y. R., Chellapilla, S., Goldsmith, M. R., Grosse-Wilde, E., Heckel, D. G., Herndon, N., Jiang, H., Papanicolaou, A., Qu, J., Soulages, J. L., Vogel, H., Walters, J., Waterhouse, R. M., Ahn, S. J., Almeida, F. C., An, C., Aqrawi, P., Bretschneider, A., Bryant, W. B., Bucks, S., Chao, H., Chevignon, G., Christen, J. M., Clarke, D. F., Dittmer, N. T., Ferguson, L. CF, Garavelou, S., Gordon, K. HJ, Gunaratna, R. T., Han, Y., Hauser, F., He, Y., Heidel-Fischer, H., Hirsh, A., Hu, Y., Jiang, H., Kalra, D., Klinner, C., Konig, C., Kovar, C., Kroll, A. R., Kuwar, S. S., Lee, S. L., Lehman, R., Li, K., Li, Z., Liang, H., Lovelace, S., Lu, Z., Mansfield, J. H., McCulloch, K. J., Mathew, T., Morton, B., Muzny, D. M., McCulloch, K. J., Mathew, T., Morton, B., Muzny, D. M., Neunemann, D., Ongeri, F., Pauchet, Y., Pu, L. L., Pyrousis, I., Rao, X. J., Redding, A., Roesel, C., Sanchez-Gracia, A., Schaack, S., Shukla, A., Tetreau, G., Wang, Y., Xiong, G. H., Traut, W., Walsh, T. K., Worley, K. C., Wu, D., Wu, W., Wu, Y. Q., Zhang, X., Zou, Z., Zucker, H., Briscoe, A. D., Burmester, T., Clem, R. J., Feyereisen, R., Grimmelikhuijzen, C. JP, Hamodrakas, S. J., Hansson, B. S., Huguet, E., Jermiin, L. S., Lan, Q., Lehman, H. K., Lorenzen, M., Merzendorfer, H., Michalopoulos, I., Morton, D. B., Muthukrishnan, S., Oakeshott, J. G., Palmer, W., Park, Y., Passarelli, A. L., Rozas, J., Schwartz, L. M., Smith, W., Southgate, A., Vilcinskas, A., Vogt, R., Wang, P., Werren, J., Yu, X. Q., Zhou, J. J., Brown, S. J., Scherer, S. E., Richards, S., Blissard, Gary
Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
76
:
118–147
Trichoplusia ni Kinesin-1 Associates with Autographa californica Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus Nucleocapsid Proteins and Is Required for Production of Budded Virus
2016.
Biswas, S., Blissard, Gary, Theilmann, D. A.
Journal of Virology.
90
:
3480–3495
Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus GP64 protein: Analysis of domain I and V amino acid interactions and membrane fusion activity
2016.
Yu, Q., Blissard, Gary, Liu, T. X., Li, Z.
Virology.
488
:
259–270
Phylogenetic analysis and expression profiling of the pattern recognition receptors: Insights into molecular recognition of invading pathogens in Manduca sexta
2015.
Zhang, X., He, Y., Cao. X., Gunaratna, RT., Chen, YR., Blissard, Gary, Kanost, MR., Jiang, H.
Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
62
:
38–50
Structural features, evolutionary relationships, and transcriptional regulation of C-type lectin-domain proteins in Manduca sexta
2015.
Rao, X. J., Cao, X., He, Y., Hu, Y., Zhang, X., Chen, Y. R., Blissard, Gary, Kanost, M. R., Yu, X. Q., Jiang, H.
Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
62
:
75–85
Special Issue: Biological Insights from the Manduca sexta genome Preface
2015.
Kanost, M. R., Blissard, Gary
Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
62
:
1–1
Overview of chitin metabolism enzymes in Manduca sexta : Identification, domain organization, phylogenetic analysis and gene expression
2015.
Tetreau, G., Cao, X., Chen, Y. R., Muthukrishnan, S., Jiang, H., Blissard, Gary, Kanost, M. R., Wang, Ping
Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
62
:
114–126
Baculoviruses With Enhanced Virion Production and a Method for the Production of Baculoviruses (for Retrovirus)
Gary Blissard
US Patent: 8,703,469
US Patent: 8,961,951
US Patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8961951B2/en?oq=US8%2c961%2c951
Stable Cell Resistant to Apoptosis and Nutrient Stress and Methods of Making Same (p35-Sf9 cell line)
Gary Blissard
US Patent: 7,405,038
A GP64 Null Baculovirus Pseudotyped with Heterologous envelope proteins
Gary Blissard
US Patent: 6,607,912
US Patent: 6,858,205
Baculovirus Cloning System
Gary Blissard
US Patent: 5,750,383

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