The Swei Lab
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Ring, K., Couper, L., Sapiro, A.L., Yarza, F. Yang, X.F., Clay, K., Mateusiak, C., Chou, S., Swei, A. 2021. Lizard feeding enhancing Ixodes pacificus vector competency. bioRxiv preprint. Posted 4/29/2021. doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.28.441694
Swei, A. and Kwan, J. 2021. Response to Holmes: Practical considerations for vector microbiome studies. Molecular Ecology. 30 (10): 2214-2219. Online ahead
Narasimhan, S., Swei, A., Abouneameh, S. Pal, U., Pedra, J.H.F., Fikrig, E. 2021. Grappling with the tick microbiome. Trends in Parasitology. 37 (8): P722-733. online access ​
Salomon, J., Crews, A., Lawrence, A., Swei, A. 2021 Host infection and community composition predict vector burden. Oecologia, I92 (2): 305-316. PDF
Salomon, J., Hamer, S.A., Swei, A. 2020. A beginner's guide to collecting questing hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae): A standardized tick dragging protocol. Journal of Insect Science, 20 (6); 1-8. PDF
Greer, J., Swei, A., Vredenburg, V., Zink, A. 2020. Parental care alters the egg microbiome of the maritime earwig. Microbial Ecology. Microbial Ecology 80: 920-934. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01558-x
Sambado, S., Salomon, J., Crews, A., Swei, A. 2020. Mixed transmission modes promote persistence of an emerging tick-borne pathogen. Ecosphere 11(6): e03171. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3171 Open Access PDF
MacDonald, A.J., Weinstein, S.B., O'Connor, K.E., Swei, A. 2020. Circulation of tick-borne spirochetes in tick and small mammal communities in Santa Barbara County, California, USA. Journal of Medical Entomology, tjz253. Open Access PDF doi: 10.1093/jme/tjz253
Couper, L.I., Yang, Y., Yang, X.F, Swei, A. 2020. Comparative vector competence of North American disease vectors. Parasites and Vectors, 13 (29). Open Access link: https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-3893-x
Swei, A., Couper, L.I., Coffey, L.L., Kapan, D., Bennett, S. 2020. Patterns, drivers, and challenges of vector-borne zoonotic disease emergence. Vector Borne Zoonotic Diseases. 20 (3): 159-170. Open Access: DOI 10.1089/vbz.2018.2432 PDF
Swei, A. 2020. Vector Briefs: Of tick research and COVID-19 Pandemic. SOVE Newsletter 52(2): September 2020. PDF
Chicana, B.* †, Couper, L.I. †, Kwan, J.Y. †, Tahiraj, E.°, Swei, A. 2019. Microbiome profiles of sympatric tick species in the western United States. Insects-Special Issue on Vectors and Vector-borne Pathogens, 10(10):353; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10100353
Harrison, C. et al. 2019. Investigating instructor talk in novel contexts: Widespread use, unexpected categories, and an emergent sampling strategy. CBE Life, 18(3):ar47,1-23. PDF
Couper, L.I., Kwan, J.Y., Ma, J., Swei, A. 2019. Drivers and patterns of microbial community assembly in a Lyme disease vector. Ecology and Evolution, 9(2): 7768-7779. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5361 PDF
Emery, N., Hund, A., Burks, R., Duffy, M., Scoffoni, C., Swei, A. 2019. Students as ecologists: Strategies for successful mentorship of undergraduate researchers. Ecology and Evolution. Ecology and Evolution; 00;1-11.
Virji, A.Z., Thekkiniath, J., Ma, W., Lawres, L., Knight, J., Swei, A., Le Roche, K., Ben Mamoun, C. 2019. Insights into evolution and drug susceptibility of Babesia duncani from the sequence of its mitochondrial apicoplast genomes, International Journal for Parasitology, 49 (2): 105-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2018.05.008 PDF
Swei, A., O'Connor, K.E.†, Couper, L. †, Conrad, P., Padgett, K., Burns, J., Yoshimizu, M.H., Ben Mamoun, C., Lane, R., Kjemtrup, A. 2019. Evidence for transmission of the zoonotic apicomplexan parasite Babesia duncani, International Journal for Parasitology., 49 (9): 95-103. Online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020751918302431 PDF
Ellison, S., Sparagon, W., Knapp, R.A., Swei, A., Vredenburg, V.T. 2019. Reduced skin bacterial diversity correlates with increased pathogen infection intensity in an endangered amphibian host. Molecular Ecology. 28 (1): 127-140. DOI: 10.1111/mec.14964 PDF
Couper, L.I. and Swei, A. 2018. Tick microbiome characterization by next-generation 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 138: e58239. DOI: 10.3791/58239. PDF
​MacDonald, A.J., Hyon, D.W., McDaniels, A., O'Connor, K.E., Swei, A., Briggs, C.J. 2018. Risk of vector tick exposure initially increases then declines through time in response to wildfire in California. Ecosphere, 9(5):e02227. Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2227 PDF
O'Connor, K.E., Kjemtrup, A., Conrad, P., Swei, A. 2018. A highly sensitive, diagnostic protocol to detect the blood-borne pathogen, Babesia duncani. Journal of Parasitology, 104 (4): 429-432. PDF
Lawrence, A.M., O'Connor, K.E., Swei, A. 2018. Patterns of diversity along a habitat size gradient in a biodiversity hotspot. Ecosphere 9 (4): e02183. Open Access Link; https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2183
Owens, M.T., G. Trujillo, S.B. Seidel, C.D. Harrison, K.M. Farrar, H.P. Benton, J.R. Blair, K.E. Boyer, J. Breckler, L.W. Burrus, D.T. Byrd, N. Caporale, E.J. Carpenter, Y.-H.M. Chan, J. Chen, L. Chen, L.H. Chen, D.S. Chu, W.P. Cochlan, R.J. Crook, K.D. Crow, J.R. de la Torre, W.F. Denetclaw, L.M. Dowdy, D. Franklin, M. Fuse, M.A. Goldman, B. Govindan, M. Green, H.E. Harris, Z.-H. He, S. Ingalls, P.D. Ingmire, A.R.B. Johnson, J.D. Knight, G. LeBuhn, T.L. Light, C. Low, L. Lund, L.M. Márquez-Magaña, V.C. Miller-Sims, C.A. Moffatt, H. Murdock, G.L. Nusse, V.T. Parker, S.G. Pasion, R. Patterson, P.S. Pennings, J.C. Ramirez, R.M. Ramirez, B. Riggs, R.V. Rohlfs, J.M. Romeo, B.S. Rothman, S.W. Roy, T. Russo-Tait, R.N.M Sehgal, K.A. Simonin, G.S. Spicer, J.H. Stillman, A. Swei, L.C. Tempe, V.T. Vredenburg, S.L. Weinstein, A.G. Zink, L.A. Kelley, C.R. Domingo, K.D. Tanner. Collectively Improving our Teaching: Attempting Biology Department-wide Professional Development in Scientific Teaching. CBE: Life Sciences Education. March 1; 17(1):ar2.
Kwan, J., Griggs, R., Chicana, B., Miller, C., Swei, A. 2017. Vertical versus horizontal transmission of the microbiome in a key disease vector. Molecular Ecology. 26 (23): 6599-6761. DOI: 10.1111/mec.14391 PDF
Bouquet, J., Melgar, M., Swei, A., Delwart, E., Lane, R.S. and Chiu, C.Y. 2017. Metagenomics of the Pacific Coast tick, Dermacentor occidentalis, in northwestern California, 2011-2014. Nature Scientific Reports. 7: 12234. pdf
Catenazzi, A., A. Swei, J. Finkle, E. Foreyt, L. Wyman, V. Vredenburg. 2017. Epizootic to enzootic transition of a fungal disease in tropical Andean frogs: are surviving species still susceptible? PLoS ONE. 12(10):e0186478. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186478
Swei, A. and J. Kwan. 2017. Tick microbiome and pathogen acquisition altered by host blood meal. The International Society for Microbial Ecology. 11: 813-816. Swei and Kwan 2017 PDF.
Kilpatrick, A.M., Dobson, A.D.M., Levi, T., Salkeld, D.J., Swei, A. Ginsberg, H.S., Kjemptrup, A., Padgett, K.A., Jensen, P.M., Fish, D., Ogden, N.H., Diuk-Wasser, M. 2017. Lyme disease ecology in a changing world: consensus, uncertainty, and critical gaps for improving control. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 322(1722): pii: 20160117. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0117​ PDF
Owens, M.T., Seidel, S.S., Wong, M., Bejines, T., Lietz, S., Perez, J., Sit, S., Subedar, Z., Acker, G., Akana, S.F., Balukjian, B.J., Benton, H., Blair, J.R., Boaz, S., Boyer, K.E., Bram, J., Burrus, L.W., Byrd, D.T., Caporale, N., Carpenter, E.J., Chan, Y.M., Chen, L., Chovnick, A., Chu, D.S., Clarkson, B.K., Cooper, S. Creech, C., Crow, K.D., de la Torre, J.R., Denetclaw, W.F., Duncan, K., Edwards, A., Erickson, K., Fuse, M., Gorga, J., Govindan, B., Green, J.J, Hankamp, P., Harris, H.E., He, Z., Ingalls, S., Ingmire, P., Jacobs, J.B., Kamakea, M., Kimpo, R.R., Knight, J., Krause, S.K., Krueger, L., Light, T., Lund, L., Marquez-Magana, L.M., McCarthy, B., McPheron, L., Miller-Sims, V.C., Moffat, C., Muick, P.C., Nagami, P.H., Nusse, G.L., Okimura, K., Pasion, S.G., Patterson, R., Pennings, P.S., Riggs, B., Romeo, J., Roy, S.W., Russo-Tait, T., Schultheis, L., Sengupta, L., Small, R., Spicer, G.S., Stillman, J.H., Swei, A., Wade, J.M., Waters, S.B., Weinstein, S.L., Willsie, J., Wright, D., Harrison, C., Kelley, L., Trujillo, G., Domingo, C.R., Schinske, J.N., Tanner, K.D. 2017. Classroom sound can be used to classify teaching practices in college science courses. Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. 114 (12): 3085-3090. Owens et al. 2017 PDF
MacDonald, A.J., Hyon, D.W., Brewington, J.B., O'Connor, K.E, Swei, A., Briggs, C.J. 2017. Lyme disease risk in southern California: abiotic and environmental drivers of Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) density and infection prevalence with Borrelia burgdorferi. Parasites & Vectors. 10:7. MacDonald et al. 2017 PDF.
Bouquet, J., Soloski, M., Swei, A., Cheadle, C., Federman, S., Billaud, J., Rebman, A., Kabre, B., Halpert, R., Boorgula, M., Aucott, J., and Chiu, C.Y. 2016. Longitudinal transcriptome analysis reveals a sustained differential gene expression signature in patients treated for acute Lyme Disease. mBio. 7(1): e00100-16. Bouquet et al. 2016.
Springer, Y.P., Hoekman, D., Johnson, P.T.J., Duffy, P.A., Kao, R.H., Barnett, D.T., Allan, B.F., Amman, B.R., Barker, C.M., Barrera, R., Beard, C.B., Beati, L., Begon, M., Blackmore, M.S., Bradshaw, W.E., Brisson, D., Calisher, C.H., Childs, J.E., Diuk-Wasser, M.A., Douglass, R.J., Eisen, R.J., Foley, D.H., Foley, J.E., Gaff, H.D., Gardner, S.L., Ginsberg, H.S., Glass, G.E., Hamer, S.A., Hayden, M.H., Hjelle, B., Holzapfel, C.M., Juliano, S.A., Kramer, L.D., Kuenzi, A.J., LaDeau, S.L., Livdahl, T.P., Mills, J.N., Moore, C.G., Morand, S., Nasci, R.S., Ogden, N.H., Ostfeld, R.S., Parmenter, R.R., Piesman, J., Reisen, W.K., Savage, H.M., Sonenshine, D.E., Swei, A. and M.J. Yabsley. 2016. Continental-scale surveillance of infectious agents: tick-, mosquito-, and rodent-borne parasite sampling designs for NEON. Ecosphere. 7(5): e01271. Springer et al.pdf
Swei, A. Bowie, V., Bowie, R.C. 2015. Comparative genetic diversity of Lyme disease bacteria in Northern Californian ticks and their vertebrate hosts. Ticks and Tick-borne diseases. 6: 414-423. Swei et al. 2015
Swei, A., Russell, B.J., Naccache, S., Veeraraghaan, N., Pilgard, M., Johnson, B.J.B., Chiu, C.Y. 2013. The genome sequence of Lone Star virus, a novel bunyavirus found in the Amblyomma americanum tick. PlosOne 8(4): e62083. Lone_Star_Virus.pdf
Veeraraghavan, N., Russell, B.J., Naccache, S.N. , Kabre, B., Pilgard, M.A., Johnson, B.J.B., Swei, A., Chiu, C.Y. 2013 Deep sequencing reads matching to viral sequences. Figshare. DOI: http://0-dx.doi.org.opac.sfsu.edu/10.1371/journal.pone.0062083.t001
Swei, A., R.S. Ostfeld, R.S. Lane, C.J. Briggs. 2012. Impacts of an introduced forest pathogen on risk of Lyme disease in California. Vector borne zoonotic diseases, 12(8): 623-632. Swei 2012.pdf
Swei, A., J.J.L. Rowley, D. Rödder, M. L. L. Diesmos, A. C. Diesmos, C. J. Briggs, R. Brown, T. T. Cao, T. L. Cheng, R. A. Chong, B. Han, J.-M. Hero, H. D. Hoang, M. D. Kusrini, D. T. T. Le, J. A. McGuire, M. Meegaskumbura, M. S. Min, D. G. Mulcahy, T. Neang, S. Phimmachak, D.Q. Rao, N. M. Reeder, S. D. Schoville, N. Sivongxay, N. Srei, M. Stöck, B. L. Stuart, L. S. Torres, D. T. A. Tran, , T. S. Tunstall, D. Vieites, V. T. Vredenburg. Vredenburg. 2011. Is chytridiomycosis an emerging infectious disease in Asia? PLoS ONE 6(8): e23179. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023179 Swei_PlosOne2011_AsiaBd.pdf
Swei, A., C.J. Briggs, R.S. Lane, R.S. Ostfeld. 2011a. Impact of lizard removal on the abundance and infection prevalence of a Lyme disease vector. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 278 (1720): 2970-2978. Proc. R. Soc. B-2011-Swei-rspb.2010.2402.pdf
Swei, A., R. Meentemeyer, C.J. Briggs. 2011b. Influence of abiotic and environmental factors on the density and infection prevalence of Ixodes pacificus (Acari:Ixodidae) with Borrelia burgdorferi. Journal of Medical Entomology, 48 (1): 20-28. JMedEnt2011.pdf
Swei, A., Ostfeld, R.S., Lane, R.S., Briggs, C.J. 2010. Effects of an invasive forest pathogen on abundance of vertebrate hosts in a California Lyme disease focus. Oecologia, 166 (1): 91-100. Oecologia_2010.pdf
Killilea, M. E., Swei, A., Lane, R.S., Briggs, C.J., and Ostfeld, R.S. 2008. Spatial dynamics of Lyme disease: A review. EcoHealth, 5(2): 167-195. EcoHealth2008.pdf
Lloyd-Smith, J.O., Cross, P.C., Briggs, C.J., Daugherty, M., Getz, W.M., Latto, J., Sanchez, M.S., Smith, A.B., Swei, A. 2005. Should we expect population thresholds in wildlife disease? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20 (9); 511-519. Tree_thresholds_2005.pdf
Swei, A., Brylski, P.V., Spencer, W.D., Dodd, S.C., Patton, J.L. 2003. Hierarchical genetic structure in fragmented populations of the little pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris) in Southern California. Conservation Genetics 4; 501-514.ConsGen_2003.pdf
Media Coverage and Outreach
February 5, 2021 -- Dr. Andrea Swei commented on a recent study in an article published in Science Magazine News: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/lizards-may-be-protecting-people-lyme-disease-southeastern-united-states
February 14, 2021 -- KQED Deep Look 'Meet a Scientist' profile of Andrea Swei: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47461842
June 21, 2018 -- CSU newsletter coverage of the NSF CAREER award winners throughout the CSU system. SFSU won half of all of the CSU-wide awards including two in the Biology department!
https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/news/Pages/Six-CSU-Faculty-Members-Win-Prestigious-NSF-CAREER-Grant.aspx
May 4, 2018 -- News coverage of Alexandra Lawrence's study in Ecosphere was published today in the San Francisco Chronicle!
​https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/lyme-disease-ticks-bay-area-sf-california-12868046.php#photo-15009138
KQED Forum did a show on Lyme disease emergence! Dr. Andrea Swei was on the panel and discussed the ecological factors influencing tick abundance and risk in the San Francisco Bay Area.
https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101865065/lyme-disease-on-the-rise-in-northern-california
​May 3, 2018
ABC KGO 7 news came out to the field to learn about the habitat associations of ticks in the Bay Area. Check out their story here: ​http://abc7news.com/3387776/
Members of the Swei lab worked an outreach table at the California Academy of Sciences Nightlife event. March 26, 2018.
Science night, hosted by the SFSU chapter of SACNAS. Master's student, Arielle Crews, talks to an elementary student about ticks. September 27, 2017.
​Science tent at the Bay Area Lyme Foundation's Polo for Lyme Fundraiser, September 17, 2017
California Academy of Sciences Women in Science: 500 Women Scientist Panelist, March 29, 2018
Featured in NPR KQED Deep Look, March 20, 2018: How Ticks Dig in with a Mouth Full of Hooks
California Academy of Sciences Women in Science event, March 30, 2017
BAASICS.6 Life on the Edge, AAAS Pacific Division art and science public event invited speaker, June 14, 2015
California Academy of Sciences - NightLife Brilliant!Science Pandemics event speaker, September 25, 2014
KVMR-FM Best of Health guest speaker August 30, 2013
SF State News Story: Biologist focuses on bloodsucking ticks, disease ecology, June 21, 2013
​Biologist focuses on bloodsucking ticks, disease ecology
San Francisco Chronicle, February 22, 2011
Lizard, tick, Lyme disease study yield surprise
National Science Foundation News, February 15, 2011
Numbers of Lyme disease-carrying ticks plummet in the absence of Western lizards
University of California, Berkeley News Center, February 15, 2011
Tick population plummets in absence of lizard host
San Jose Mercury News, December 19, 2010
Scientists study possible link between tree deaths, Lyme disease
Santa Cruz Sentinel, December 18, 2010
Tree deaths affect disease-carrying ticks: Scientists study wheter there is al ink between tree deaths and Lyme disease
Poughkeepsie Journal, December 26, 2010
Tree disease's link to Lyme studied
KTVU, Channel 2 News Reported by John Fowler on December 29, 2010
Sudden Oak Death has killed millions of trees in state