USF Genomics
John Adams
Functional Genomics of Malaria Parasites
John H. Adams, PhD joined the University of South Florida College of Public Health Infectious Diseases Research program in June 2007 and previously was at the University of Notre Dame for 16 years. He was trained in basic parasitology (BA 1978, Hendrix College; PhD 1985, University of Illinois; 1986-87, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Queensland) and in molecular approaches to malaria at National Institutes of Health, 1987-1991.
Research interests:
My research program focuses on two broad areas in malaria parasite biology, host-parasite interactions and understanding the critical metabolic processes important for infection and pathogenesis. The basic science research in my group seeks to better understand the complex biology that enables parasites to progress so successfully through its life with such devastating consequences on human health. Since malaria remains one of the leading causes of human morbidity and mortality, our goal is to use the knowledge of its vulnerable biological processes to support translational discovery projects to improve antimalarial drugs and vaccines targeting critical stages of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax. Our vaccine studies target invasion ligands used to recognize and enter host cells while drug studies seek to define genes essential for survival in humans and optimize antimalarial combination therapies. The drug studies use forward genetic/ phenotypic screens to delineate mechanisms of action and identify the genetic basis of metabolic changes associated with drug resistance. For these efforts my research group has led development and application of forward genetic screens of the major cause of malaria morbidity and mortality, P. falciparum, using random piggyBac mutagenesis. Consequently, our interdisciplinary team with considerable expertise to integrate different numerous ‘omics in analyses of parasite and infectious diseases biology.
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Select Recent Publications
- Pires CV, Oberstaller J, Wang CG, Casandra D, Zhang M, Chawla J, Adapa S, Otto TD, Ferdig MT, Rayner JC, Jiang RHY, Adams JH. (2023) Chemogenomic profiling of a Plasmodium falciparum transposon mutant library reveals shared effects of dihydroartemisinin and bortezomib on lipid metabolism and exported proteins. Microbiology Spectrum, in press. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.05014-22.
- Simmons CF, Gibbons J, Zhang M, Oberstaller J, Pires CV, Casandra D, Wang C, Seyfang A, Otto TD, Rayner JC, Adams JH. Protein KIC5 is a novel regulator of artemisinin stress response in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Sci Rep. 2023 Jan 9;13(1):399. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-27417-6. PubMed PMID: 36624300; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9829687.
- Oberstaller J, Zoungrana L, Bannerman CD, Jahangiri S, Dwivedi A, Silva JC, Adams JH, Takala-Harrison S. Integration of population and functional genomics to understand mechanisms of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist. 2021 Aug;16:119-128. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2021.05.006. Epub 2021 May 26. PubMed PMID: 34102588; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8187163.
- Zhang M, Wang C, Oberstaller J, Thomas P, Otto TD, Casandra D, Boyapalle S, Adapa SR, Xu S, Button-Simons K, Mayho M, Rayner JC, Ferdig MT, Jiang RHY, Adams JH. The apicoplast link to fever-survival and artemisinin-resistance in the malaria parasite. Nat Commun. 2021 Jul 27;12(1):4563. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24814-1. PubMed PMID: 34315897; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8316339.
- De SL, May S, Shah K, Slawinski M, Changrob S, Xu S, Barnes SJ, Chootong P, Ntumngia FB, Adams JH. Variable immunogenicity of a vivax malaria blood-stage vaccine candidate. Vaccine. 2021 May 6;39(19):2668-2675. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.03.072. Epub 2021 Apr 8. PubMed PMID: 33840564; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8323509.
- Oberstaller J, Otto TD, Rayner JC, Adams JH. Essential Genes of the Parasitic Apicomplexa. Trends Parasitol. 2021 Apr;37(4):304-316. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.11.007. Epub 2021 Jan 5. Review. PubMed PMID: 33419671; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7954859.
- Ntumngia FB, Thomson-Luque R, Galusic S, Frato G, Frischmann S, Peabody DS, Chackerian B, Ferreira MU, King CL, Adams JH. Identification and Immunological Characterization of the Ligand Domain of Plasmodium vivax Reticulocyte Binding Protein 1a. J Infect Dis. 2018 Aug 24;218(7):1110-1118. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiy273. PubMed PMID: 29741629; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6107737. Roth A, Adapa SR, Zhang M, Liao X, Saxena V, Goffe R, Li S, Ubalee R, Saggu GS, Pala ZR, Garg S, Davidson S, Jiang RHY, Adams JH. Unraveling the Plasmodium vivax sporozoite transcriptional journey from mosquito vector to human host. Sci Rep. 2018 Aug 15;8(1):12183. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-30713-1. PubMed PMID: 30111801; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6093925.
- Roth A, Maher SP, Conway AJ, Ubalee R, Chaumeau V, Andolina C, Kaba SA, Vantaux A, Bakowski MA, Thomson-Luque R, Adapa SR, Singh N, Barnes SJ, Cooper CA, Rouillier M, McNamara CW, Mikolajczak SA, Sather N, Witkowski B, Campo B, Kappe SHI, Lanar DE, Nosten F, Davidson S, Jiang RHY, Kyle DE, Adams JH. A comprehensive model for assessment of liver stage therapies targeting Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum. Nat Commun. 2018 May 9;9(1):1837. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04221-9. PubMed PMID: 29743474; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5943321.
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