Dr. Stephen Atkinson, Bartholomew Lab, Associate Professor (Senior Research)
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Office | Nash Hall 522 |
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Phone | 541-737-1856 | Myxozoan spore types: myxospores (top) and actinospores (bottom) |
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Email |
atkinsos@oregonstate.edu |
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My research focuses on fish parasites, specifically myxozoans. These are microscopic animals related to corals and jellyfish, but which require two hosts to complete their life cycles. I investigate the structure, function, development and genetics of problematic myxozoans of salmon and trout, and discover and describe new parasite species and their hosts. Click on any image to enlarge.
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CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
(1) Klamath River fish health studies (Bureau of Reclamation grant to Dr. Bartholomew and Dr. Hallett)
Parasite detection and quantification in river water samples
Genomics and transcriptomics of Ceratonova shasta
Hunting for cryptic sources of parasites
Characterization and detection of the invertebrate host
(2) USDA Capacity Building Grant to Robert Durburow (KSU) and Stephen Atkinson (OSU)
We are developing computer learning games to promote awareness and education of fish diseases: Fish Detective and SimFish; with Dr. Sascha Hallett, u/g Paris Myers, Professor Yue Zhang and MS student Kevin Hung (OSU College of Electrical and Computer Engineering). We are also expanding fishpathogens.net, a database of fish diseases and pathogens, and a portal for connecting public inquiries with fish health experts; in collaboration with ODFW, undergraduate students and Dr. Sascha Hallett.
(3) “A novel approach for preventing Myxozoan infection in fish: Control of polar capsule activation”
Together with Jerri Bartholomew and Tamar Lotan (U. Haifa, Israel), and grad student Ben Americus, we are working to understand the fundamental structural and functional workings of myxozoan parasite spores: how they are built, if they can envenomate their hosts, and what types of chemical compounds can block their activation.
Other ongoing research collaborations include:
SCIENCE AND ART
I use my scientific research to inspire artistic interpretations and representations for my own enjoyment, and to promote outreach and engagement with the wider community. I use paint, paper collage, digital illustration and 3D printing. I am one of 3 faculty advisors (with Jerri Bartholomew and Andrew Myers), of the interdisciplinary student club Seminarium. The club engages students with cross-disciplinary approaches to create exhibitions on campus and for the general public. | ||
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GRADUATE STUDENTS
UNDERGRADUATES
TEACHING
I teach 2 courses in the OSU Honors College:
HC407: Life: The Biosphere through Space and Time.
HC407: Have Rocket Will Travel.
I co-teach the biannual summer salmon disease workshop.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Americus, B., Bartholomew, J.L., Lotan, T., Atkinson, S.D. 2020. A comparison of the structure and function of nematocysts in free-living and parasitic cnidarians (Myxozoa). Inter. J. for Parasitol., 50: 763-769. DOI:10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.04.012
Americus, B., Austin, B., Lotan, T., Bartholomew, J., and Atkinson, S. 2020. In vitro and in vivo assays reveal that cations affect nematocyst discharge in Myxobolus cerebralis (Cnidaria: Myxozoa). Parasitol., 147(12):1352-1358. DOI:10.1017/S0031182020001158
Kyger, R., Luzuriaga, A., Peri, S., Layman, T., Sandberg, T.O.M., Singh, D., Atkinson, S.D., Bartholomew, J.L., Huchon, D., Soojin, V., and Alvarez-Ponce, D. 2020. Myxosporea (Myxozoa, Cnidaria) lack DNA cytosine methylation. Molec. Biol. and Evol.. msaa214. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msaa214
Tilic, E., Atkinson, S.D., and Rouse, G. 2020. Mitochondrial genome of the freshwater annelid Manayunkia occidentalis Mitochondrial DNA Part B: Resources, 5(3): 3313-3315. DOI:10.1080/23802359.2020.1815604
Alama-Bermejo, G., Meyer, E., Atkinson, S.D., Holzer, A.S., Wiśniewska, M.W., Kolísko, M., and Bartholomew, J.L. 2020. Transcriptome-wide comparisons and virulence gene polymorphisms of host-associated genotypes of the cnidarian parasite Ceratonova shasta in salmonids. Genome Biol. and Evol., 12(8), 1258-1276. DOI:10.1093/gbe/evaa109
Borkhanuddin, M.H., Goswami, U., Cech, G., Molnár, K., Atkinson, S.D., and Székely, C. 2020. Description of myxosporeans (Cnidaria: Myxozoa) infecting the popular food fish Notopterus notopterus (Pisces: Notopteridae) in Malaysia and India. Food and Waterborne Parasitol. DOI:10.1016/j.fawpar.2020.e00092
Yahalomi, D., Atkinson, S.D., Neuhof, M., Chang, E.S., Philippe, H., Cartwright, P., Bartholomew, J.L., and Huchon, D. 2020. A cnidarian parasite of salmon (Myxozoa: Henneguya) lacks a mitochondrial genome. PNAS, 117(10):5358-5363.
Atkinson, S.D., Bartholomew, J.L., and Rouse, G.W. 2020. The invertebrate host of salmonid fish parasites Ceratonova shasta and Parvicapsula minibicornis (Cnidaria) is a novel fabriciid annelid. Manayunkia occidentalis sp. nov. (Sabellida: Fabriciidae). Zootaxa, 4751(2):310-320.
Breyta, R., Atkinson, S.D., and Bartholomew, J.L. 2019. Evolutionary dynamics of Ceratonova species in the Klamath River basin reveals different host adaptation strategies. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 78:104081
Alama-Bermejo, G., Meyer, E., Atkinson, S.D., Holzer, A. S., and Bartholomew, J.L. 20XX. RNA-seq data reveal genetic variation in virulence genes between host-associated genotypes of the parasitic cnidarian Ceratonova shasta in salmonids. Frontiers in Genetics. Submitted.
Milanin, T., Bartholomew, J.L., and Atkinson, S.D. 2020. An introduced host with novel and introduced parasites: Myxobolus spp. (Cnidaria:Myxozoa) in yellow perch Perca flavescens. Parasitol. Res. DOI:10.007/S00436-019-06585-3.
Richey, C.A., Kenelty, K.V., Van Stone Hopkins, K., Stevens, B.N., Martínez-López, B., Barnum, S.M., Stevens, B.N., Hallett, S.L., Atkinson, S.D., Bartholomew, J.L., and Soto, E. 2020. Validation of environmental DNA sampling for determination of Ceratonova shasta (Cnidaria: Myxozoa) distribution in Plumas National Forest, CA. Parasitol. Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06509-1.
Alama-Bermejo, G., Viozzi, G.P., Waicheim, M.A., Flores, V.R., and Atkinson, S.D. 2019. Host-parasite relationship of Ortholinea lauquen n. sp. (Cnidaria:Myxozoa) and the fish Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns, 1842) in Northwest Patagonia, Argentina. Dis. Aquat. Organisms 136(2):163-174.
Borkhanuddin, M.H., Cech, G., Molnár, K., Shaharom-Harrison, F., Duy Khoa, T.N., Samshuri, M.A. Mazeland, S., Atkinson, S.D., and Székely, C. 2019. Henneguya (Cnidaria:Myxosporea:myxobolidae) infections of cultured barramundi, Lates calcarifer (Perciformes:Latidae) in an estuarine wetlands system of Malaysia: Description of Henneguya setiuensis n. sp., Henneguya voronini n. sp. and Henneguya calcarifer n. sp. Parasitol. Res. 119(1):85-96.
Atkinson, S.D., Hallett, S.L., Díaz Morales D., Bartholomew, J.L., and de Buron, I. 2019. First myxozoan infection (Cnidaria: Myxosporea) in a marine polychaete from North America, and erection of actinospore collective group Saccimyxon. J. Parasitol. 105(2):252-262. DOI:10.1645/18-183
Fromm, A., Atkinson, S.D., Alama-Bermejo, G., Cartwright, P., Bartholomew, J., and Huchon, D. 2019. A new mitochondrial gene order in the banded cusk-eel Raneya brasiliensis (Actinopterygii, Ophidiiformes). Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 4:1, 1-4
Howell, C.K., Atkinson, S.D., Bartholomew, J.L., and Hallett, S.L. 2019. Development and application of a qPCR assay targeting Ichthyophthirius multifiliis in environmental water samples. Dis. Aquatic Org. 134; 43-55.
Atkinson, S.D., Bartholomew, J.L., and Lotan, T. 2018. Myxozoans: ancient metazoan parasites find a home in phylum Cnidaria. Zoology 129: 66-68. DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2018.06.005
Atkinson, S.D., Hallett, S.L., and Bartholomew, J.L. 2018. Genotyping of individual Ceratonova shasta (Cnidaria: Myxosporea) myxospores reveals intra-spore ITS-1 variation and invalidates the distinction of genotypes II and III. Parasitology 145, 1588–1593. DOI: 10.1017/S0031182018000422
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