BV/ODV E26 Exhibits Bi-directional Trafficking
(Dr. Sharon Braunagel and Jared Burks)

Current Research Projects:
Jared Burks' research with the baculovirus Autographa californica Nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) encodes a 26-kDa protein, BV/ODV E26 (E26). E26 is an envelope protein found in both budded virus (BV) and occlusion derived virus (ODV) envelopes.  The different viral maturation processes allow for different sources of viral envelopes, BV acquires envelopes at the plasma membrane and ODV acquires envelopes in the nucleus.  This results in bi-directional trafficking of the E26 protein as BV matures early in infection and ODV matures late. Transcription of the E26 gene is initiated from two promoters at different time points during infection, an immediate early and late promoter.  My primary focus is to identify domains in E26 and proteins responsible for trafficking E26 to membranes located in the nucleus.  The molecular pathways of integral membrane protein trafficking are not well defined.  This protein allows for a unique study approach into these pathways due to its bi-directionality.