Biology subjects

Enright, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Enright, J..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Modelling resource-driven movements of livestock herds to predict the impact of climate change on network dynamics

In East Africa, climate change is likely to profoundly impact livestock management and the potential spread of infectious diseases. Here, we developed a network model to describe livestock movements to grazing and watering sites, fitted it to data from the Serengeti district of Tanzania, and used it to explore how projected changes in resource availability due to climate change could impact future network structures and therefore infectious disease risks, using 2050 and 2080 as exemplar scenarios. Our modelled networks show increased connections between villages in grazing and watering networks, with connectivity increasing further in the future in correspondence with changes in vegetation and water availability. Our analyses show that targeted interventions to efficiently control regional disease spread may become more difficult, as village connectivity increases and disease vulnerability becomes more evenly distributed. This analysis also provides proof of principle for a novel approach applicable to agropastoral settings across many developing countries, where livestock trade plays a crucial role in maintaining local livelihoods but also in spreading disease.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Modelling the effectiveness of targeting Rift Valley fever virus vaccination using imperfect network information

Livestock movements contribute to the spread of several infectious diseases. Data on livestock movements can therefore be harnessed to guide policy on targeted interventions for controlling infectious livestock diseases, including Rift Valley fever (RVF) -- a vaccine-preventable arboviral fever. While detailed livestock movement data are available in many countries, such data are generally lacking in others, including many in East Africa, where multiple RVF outbreaks have been reported in recent years. Available movement data are imperfect, and the impact of imperfect movement data on targeted vaccination is not fully understood. Here, we used a network simulation model to describe the spread of RVF within and between 398 wards in northern Tanzania connected by cattle movements, on which we evaluated the impact of targeting vaccination using imperfect movement data. We show that pre-emptive vaccination guided by only market movement permit data could prevent large outbreaks. Targeted control (either by the risk of RVF introduction or onward transmission) at any level of imperfect movement information is preferred over random vaccination, and any improvement in information reliability is advantageous to their effectiveness. Our modelling approach demonstrates how targeted interventions can be carefully applied to inform animal and public health policies on disease control planning in settings where detailed data on livestock movements are unavailable or imperfect due to a lack of data-gathering resources.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2021

Coilin oligomerization and remodeling by Nopp140 reveals a hybrid assembly mechanism for Cajal bodies

Cajal bodies (CBs) are ubiquitous nuclear membraneless organelles (MLOs) that promote efficient biogenesis of RNA-protein complexes. Depletion of the CB scaffolding protein coilin is lethal for vertebrate embryogenesis, making CBs a strong model for understanding the structure and function of MLOs. Although it is assumed that CBs form through biomolecular condensation, the biochemical and biophysical principles that govern CB dynamics have eluded study. Here, we identify features of the coilin protein that drive CB assembly and shape. Focusing on coilins N-terminal domain (NTD), we discovered its unexpected capacity for oligomerization in vivo. Single amino acid mutational analysis of coilin revealed distinct molecular interactions required for oligomerization and binding to the Nopp140 ligand, which facilitates CB assembly. We demonstrate that the intrinsically disordered regions of Nopp140 have substantial condensation properties and suggest that Nopp140 binding thereby remodels stable coilin oligomers to form a particle that recruits other functional components.

cell biology↗