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Zisis Kozakidis
Study systems include
Feline lentiviruses
Endogenous double-stranded RNA viruses
Selected publications
Covelli L, Kozlakidis Z, Di Serio F, Citir A, Açikgöz S, Hernández C, Ragozzino A, Coutts RHA & Flores R (2008) Characterization of the smallest double-stranded RNAs associated with cherry chlorotic rusty spot and Amasya cherry diseases reveals a putative chrysovirus satellite RNA. Arch. Virol. 153: 159-762.
Açikgöz S, Döken MT, Degirmenci NF, Coutts RHA & Kozlakidis Z (2007) A modified procedure for isolating double-stranded RNA: application to diagnosis of Amasya cherry disease. J. Phytopathol. 115: 743-745.
Kozlakidis Z, Citir A, Açikgöz S & Coutts RHA (2007) Development of a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for the detection of Amasya cherry disease. Plant Pathol. 56: 1032-1035.
Kozlakidis Z, Covelli L, Di Serio F, Citir A, Açikgöz S,Hernández C, Ragozzino A, Flores R & Coutts RHA (2006) Molecular characterization of four totiviral-like double-stranded RNAs associated with Amasya cherry disease. J. Gen. Virol. 87: 3113-3117.
Research interests
The evolution of RNA viruses within and in relation to their hosts
Certain viral infections can be persistent, and eventually become obligatory endogenous infections. In these cases, viral and host evolution can be correlated both in terms of evolutionary time and geographic distribution.
My particular focus is on modeling the viral evolutionary history and/or geographic distribution within a given host species. These aspects provide a better understanding of the virus and its spread within the population, allowing for viral distribution models to be developed and tested.
Multiple viral infections
I am also interested in RNA viruses and in particular the study of multiple viral infections. Multiple viral infections probably are a common natural occurrence in a variety of hosts and biological systems, as well as within clinical environments.
My studies on:
- viral mechanism(s) that allow a host upon a primary viral infection to be more permissive for an infection by a second often unrelated virus
- the mechanism(s) that enable recombination to occur between closely related viruses present in the same host (giving rise to novel, recombinant viral strains).
