Jeremy Bruenn.

Professor Emeritus
PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Postdoctoral Research, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

109 Cooke Hall 
716-645-2363

Specialties

Molecular virology

Research Summary

This lab has worked on the molecular virology of small dsRNA viruses for over 25 years. Currently we are exploring the nature of the RNA-protein interaction that results in packaging of the viral plus strand. We have explored the RNA recognition site via PCR amplification techniques and defined the site as a small (20 base) region with a specific secondary structure. Similarly, the region of the large protein (over 1500 amino acids) that recognizes this sequence has been delimited to about 150 amino acids. We are now in the process of mutating each of these residues one at a time to map the contact residues.

Selected Publications

  • Bruenn JA, Warner BE, Yerramsetty P. (2015) Widespread mitovirus sequences in plant genomes. PeerJ 3:e876 https://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.876.  DOI 10.7717/peerj.876
  • Taylor DJ, Ballinger MJ, Zhan JJ, Hanzly LE and Bruenn JA. (2014) Evidence that ebolaviruses and cuevaviruses have been diverging from marburgviruses since the Miocene.  Peerj.556. https://peerj.com/articles/556/
  • Ballinger MJ, Bruenn JA, Hay J, Czechowski D, Taylor DJ. (2014). Discovery and evolution of bunyavirids in arctic phantom midges and ancient bunyavirid-like sequences in insect genomes. Journal of Virology 88:8783-8794.  http://jvi.asm.org/content/88/16/8783.full
  • Bauman SM, Patel M, Yerramsetty P, Mure CM, Zielinski AM, Bruenn JA, and Berry JO  (2013).  A Novel RNA Binding Protein Affects rbcL Gene Expression and is Specific to Bundle Sheath Chloroplasts in C4 Plants. BMC Plant Biology, 13:138. doi:10.1186/1471-2229-13-138.  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/13/138/abstract
  • Ballinger MJ, Bruenn JA, Kotov AA, and Taylor DJ (2013). Selectively maintained paleoviruses in Holarctic water fleas reveal an ancient origin for phleboviruses, Virology 446, 276-282. DOI:10.1016/j.virol.2013.07.032 http://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0042682213004522
  • Taylor DJ, Ballinger MJ, Bowman SM, and Bruenn JA. (2013). Virus-host co-evolution under a modified nuclear genetic code. PeerJ 1:e50. https://peerj.com/articles/50/
  • Ballinger MJ, Bruenn JA, and Taylor DJ. (2012). Phylogeny, integration and expression of sigma virus-like genes in Drosophila. Mol Phylogenet Evol 65:251-258.
  • Taylor DJ, Dittmar K, Ballinger MJ, and Bruenn JA. (2011). Evolutionary maintenance of filovirus-like genes in bat genomes. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11:336. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229293/
  • Taylor DJ., Leach RW, and Bruenn JA. (2010). Filoviruses are ancient and integrated into mammalian genomes.  BMC Evolutionary Biology 10:193. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906475/