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Effects of Light Pollution on West Nile Virus Dynamics

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Effects of Light Pollution on West Nile Virus Dynamics University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School March 2021 Mechanisms and Mitigation: Effects of Light Pollution on West Nile Virus Dynamics Meredith E. Kernbach University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Epidemiology Commons, and the Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons Scholar Commons Citation Kernbach, Meredith E., "Mechanisms and Mitigation: Effects of Light Pollution on West Nile Virus Dynamics" (2021). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/8806 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mechanisms and Mitigation: Effects of Light Pollution on West Nile Virus Dynamics by Meredith E. Kernbach A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health with a concentration in Global Communicable Diseases Department of Global Health College of Public Health University of South Florida Major Professor: Lynn B. Martin, Ph.D. Thomas R. Unnasch, Ph.D. Rays H.Y. Jiang, Ph.D. Richard J. Hall, Ph.D. Miguel Reina, Ph.D. Date of Approval: February 8, 2021 Keywords: ALAN, house sparrow, host competence, disease ecology, emerging infectious disease Copyright © 2021, Meredith E. Kernbach DEDICATION First, I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Michael Kernbach and Nancy Harmon, who encouraged me to pursue my dreams and go wherever they may take me. Without their support from the beginning, none of this would have been possible. They always listened to my morbid sparrow stories and consoled me when I got into fights with security guards over bird nets or despaired over computer troubles. I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to my siblings, Gretchen and August Kernbach, who may not have a clue what any of this says but were always there to keep things light and give me a laugh when I didn’t feel like smiling. I would not have been able to get through any of this work without the everlasting support and love from my labmate and best friend, Haley Hanson. Even though I often distracted Haley from the million things that she had to do, she managed to give me the brightest and most thoughtful advice and wisdom I could ever ask for (and still accomplish an insane amount of amazing research… animal!). My fondest memories at USF (and in life) will always include spinning you around the lab in chairs that are falling apart, getting pooped on by birds together, whipping the golf cart to places that we definitely could have walked to, slam dunking heads (don’t ask), spitting up carrots because you made me laugh too hard, and lighting the murder candle to ~calm the senses~. I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to my other labmates (and the real brains behind this whole document) Emily Ruhs, Cedric Zimmer, Jeanette Miller, and countless others I did not have room to thank here. This work was impossible without the help of an army, and I thank all of those who helped, even if it was taking down a net one day! Additionally, I want to dedicate this dissertation to my best friends who from day one were cheering me on and celebrated my accomplishments like they were their own. Even if I did not want to go out and celebrate a publication, they pushed me to bask in the temporary glory! Last, but certainly not least, I would like to dedicate this to my future husband, Ryan DeWitt, for his unconditional love and unparalleled compassion through all my successes and setbacks. I apologize for screaming at my computer in the other room constantly while we worked from home during quarantine, but I swear your patience was worth it! After all, our mail will immortalize this experience forever as Dr. -then Mr.- DeWitt… You were always the first person to celebrate with me during the good times and sit with me during the hard times. I could not have finished this dissertation without you and the joy you brought into my life. Your authenticity and optimism will always inspire me to trust in God, have faith in humanity, and have hope for the future. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my advisor, Dr. Lynn “Marty” Martin. His expertise, advice, and help on just about anything throughout my entire time at USF will propel me for success no matter what career I pursue. I will always cherish our whiteboard discussions, conference adventures, and schlumping around the BSL-3 together. I also want to thank my committee members for the countless hours they spent advising me on different aspects of my projects and always being willing to meet with me. Finally, I would like to acknowledge all my other mentors who were absolutely instrumental in helping me complete this research. You provided invaluable help that propelled my studies and manuscripts to succeed, and I look forward to seeing you all in the future at meetings, journal clubs, society happy hours, and perhaps as future co-PIs. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF BOXES .............................................................................................................................x ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ xi INTRODUCTION: DIM LIGHT AT NIGHT: PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE .......................................1 Note to Reader .....................................................................................................................1 Authors .................................................................................................................................1 Affiliations ...........................................................................................................................1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................2 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................2 Known effects of light pollution on vertebrate traits relevant for the spread of infections .......................................................................................................................4 dLAN effects on circadian clocks and melatonin ................................................................7 Effects of light pollution on multi-level disease dynamics ................................................10 dLAN effects on infectious disease dynamics in wildlife .................................................11 West Nile virus ..................................................................................................................12 Putative effects of dLAN on host competence for WNV ..................................................13 Consequences of light pollution exposure for population and community level disease dynamics ........................................................................................................15 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................18 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................19 Author Contributions .........................................................................................................19 CHAPTER I: LIGHT POLLUTION INCREASES WEST NILE VIRUS COMPETENCE OF A UBIQUITOUS PASSERINE RESERVOIR..................................................................25 Note to Reader ...................................................................................................................25 Authors ...............................................................................................................................25 Affiliations .........................................................................................................................25 Abstract ..............................................................................................................................26 Introduction ........................................................................................................................27 Methods..............................................................................................................................28 Capture and housing ..............................................................................................28 Dexamethasone suppression test ............................................................................29 WNV infection .......................................................................................................29 i Corticosterone assays .............................................................................................30 RNA extraction and RT-PCR for viremia .............................................................30
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