Dr. Eric (Sam) Loker

Office: 290 Castetter Hall

Office Phone: (505) 277-2496
Lab:     265 Castetter Hall

Lab Phone:     (505) 277-3134

email:  esloker@unm.edu FAX:                  (505) 277-0304


Research Interests: Comparative immunobiology of schistosomes and other digenetic trematodes; host–parasite relationships.


My Favorite Images

Member of the Biomphalaria glabrata genome initiative


CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION:

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, B.S. 1972 Biology

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, M.S. 1974 Zoology

Iowa State University., Ames, IA, Ph.D. 1979 Immunobiology

 

POSITIONS:

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1972–1974

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Zoology, Iowa State University, 1974–78

Lecturer, Department of Zoology, Iowa State University, 1978

Instructor, Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, 1979–82

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, 1982–83

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology. Virginia Commonwealth University, 1983–85

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, 1985–90

Associate Professor, Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, 1990–96

Fogarty Senior International Fellow, University of Glasgow, January–July, 1992

Regents' Lecturer, The University of New Mexico, 1994–97

Member, NIH Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002

Member, NIH study section on Tropical Medicine Research Centers, 2000, 2001

Chairman, NIH Special Emphasis Panel, Schistosomiasis Reagent Resource Center Proposal, 2002

Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Helminthology, Invertebrate Biology, 2004–present

Associate Chair, Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, 1995–97

Professor, Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, 1996–present

Regents' Professor, Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, 2003–present

Director, NIH COBRE Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, 2003–present

 

PUBLICATIONS (since 1995):

Bandoni, S.M., Mulvey, M., and Loker, E.S. 1995. Phylogenetic analysis of eleven species of Biomphalaria Preston, 1910 (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) based on comparison of allozymes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 54:1-27.

Loker, E.S., and Adema, C.M. 1995. Schistosomes, echinostomes and snails: comparative immunobiology. Parasitology Today 11:120-124.

Bandoni, S.M., Mulvey, M., and Loker, E.S. 1995. Intraspecific and interspecific patterns of allozyme variation among species of Biomphalaria Preston, 1910 (Gastropoda: Planorbidae). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 23:593-616.

Hanelt, B., Van Schyndel, D., Adema, C.M., Lewis, L.A., and Loker, E.S. 1996. The phylogenetic position of Rhopalura ophiocomae (Orthonectida) based on 18S ribosomal sequence analysis. Molecular Biology and Evolution 13:1187-1191. Abstract

Adema, C.M. and Loker, E.S. 1997. Specificity and immunobiology of larval digenean-snail associations. Pp. 229-263 in Advances in Trematode Biology, edited by B. Fried and T. K. Graczyk, CRC Press, Boca Raton.

Adema, C.M., Hertel, L.A., Miller, R.D., and Loker, E.S. 1997. A family of fibrinogen-related proteins that precipitates parasite-derived molecules is produced by an invertebrate after infection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 94:8691-8696. Abstract

Hanelt, B., Adema, C.M., Mansour, M.H., and loker, E.S. 1997. Detection of Schistosoma mansoni in Biomphalaria using nested PCR. Journal of Parasitology 83:387-394. Abstract

DeGaffe, G. and Loker, ES. 1998. Susceptibility of Biomphalaria glabrata to infection with Echinostoma paraensei: Correlation with the effect of parasite secretory-excretory products on host hemocyte spreading. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 71(1):64-72. Abstract

Mkoji, G.M., Mungai, B.N., Koech, D.K., and Loker, E.S. 1998. Experimental control of the schistosome-transmitting snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi by the ampullariid snail Pila ovata. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 92(1):65-72. Abstract

Sapp, K.K., Meyer, K.A., and Loker, E.S. 1998. Intramolluscan development of the digenean Echinostoma paraensei: Rapid production of a unique mother redia that adversely affects development of conspecific parasites. Invertebrate Biology 117(1):20-28.

Mkoji, G.M., Boyce, T.G., Mungai, B.N., Copeland, R.S., Hofkin, B.V. and Loker, E.S. 1999. Predation of aquatic stages of Anopheles gambiae by the Louisiana red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii). Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 15(1):69-71. Abstract

Mkoji, G.M., Hofkin, B.V., Kuris, A.M., Stewart-Oaten, A., Mungai, B.N., Kihara, J.H., Mungai, F., Yundu, J., Mbui, J., Rashid, J.R., Kariuki, C.H., Ouma, J.H., Koech, D.K. and Loker, E.S. 1999. Impact of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii on Schistosoma haematobium transmission in Kenya. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 61(5):751-759. Abstract

Loker, E.S., Coustau, C., Ataev, G.L. and Jourdane, J. 1999. In vitro culture of rediae of Echinostoma caproni. Parasite-Journal De La Societe Francaise de Parasitologie 6(2):169-174. Abstract

Adema, C.M., Hertel, L.A. and Loker, E.S. 1999. Evidence from two planorbid snails of a complex and dedicated response to digenean (echinostome) infection. Parasitology 119(4):395-404. Abstract

Bandoni, S.M., Mulvey, M., and Loker, E.S. 2000. Population structure and taxonomic discrimination among three species of Biomphalaria Preston, 1910 (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) from Kenya . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 129:387-401.

Adema, C.M., Sapp, K.K., Hertel, L.A., and Loker, E.S. 2000. Immunobiology of the relationship of echinostomes with snail intermediate hosts. Pp. 149-173 in Echinostomes as Experimental Models for Biological Research, edited by Thaddeus K. Graczyk and Bernard Fried. Kluvyer Press.

Adema, C.M., Leonard, P.M., DeJong, R.J., Day, H.L., Edwards, D.J., Burgett, G., Hertel, L.A. and Loker E.S. 2000. Analysis of messages expressed by Echinostoma paraensei miracidia and sporocysts, obtained by random EST sequencing. Journal of Parasitology 86(1):60-65. Abstract

Hertel, L.A., Stricker, S.A., and Loker, E.S. 2000. Calcium dynamics of hemocytes of the gastropod Biomphalaria glabrata: Effects of digenetic trematodes and selected bioactive compounds. Invertebrate Biology 119(1):27-37.

Snyder, S.D. and Loker, E.S. 2000. Evolutionary relationships among the Schistosomatidae (Platyhelminthes: Digenea) and an Asian origin for Schistosoma. Journal of Parasitology 86:283-288. Abstract

Barber, K.E., Mkoji, G.M., and Loker, E.S. 2000. PCR-RFLP analysis of the ITS2 region to identify Schistosoma heamtobium and S. bovis from Kenya. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 62:434-440.

Sapp, K.K. and Loker, E.S. 2000. A comparative study of mechanisms underlying digenean-snail specificity: in vitro interactions between hemocytes and digenean larvae. Journal of Parasitology 86:1020-1029. Abstract

Sapp, K.K. and Loker, E.S. 2000. Mechanisms underlying digenean-snail specificity: The role of host hemocytes. Journal of Parasitology 86:1012-1019. Abstract

Snyder, S.D., Loker, E.S., Johnston, D., and Rollinson, D. 2001. The Schistosomatidae: Advances in phylogenetics and genomics. Pp. 194-200 in Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes, edited by D.T.J. Littlewood and R.A. Bray. Taylor and Francis, London.

Zhao, X., Duszynski, D.W., and Loker, E.S. 2001. A simple method of DNA extraction for Eimeria species. Journal of Microbiological Methods 44:131-137. Abstract

Leonard, P.M., Adema, C.M., Zhang, S.M., and Loker, E.S. 2001. Structure of two FREP genes that combine IgSF and fibrinogen domains, with comments on diversity of the FREP gene family in the snail Biomphalaria glabrata. Gene 269:155-165. Abstract

Maldonado, A., Loker, E.S., Morgan, J.A.T., Rey, L., and Lanfredi, R.M. 2001. Description of the adult worms of a new Brazilian isolate of Echinostoma paraensei, (Platyhelminthes: Digenea) from its natural vertebrate host Nectomys squamipes by light and scanning electron microscopy and molecular analysis. Parasitology Research 87(10):840-848. Abstract

Zhao, X., Duszynski, D.W., and Loker, E.S. 2001. Phylogenetic position of Eimeria antrozoi, a bat coccidium (Apicomplexa, Eimeriidae), and its relationship to morphologically similar Eimeria spp. from bats and rodents based on nuclear 18S and plastid 23S rRNA gene sequences. Journal of Parasitology 87(5):1120-1123. Abstract

Ataev, G.L., Dobrovolskij, A.A., Avanessian, A.V., and Loker, E.S. 2001. Germinal elements and their development in Echinostoma caproni and Echinostoma paraensei (Trematoda) miracidia. Journal of Parasitology 87(5):1160-1164. Abstract

DeJong, R.J., Morgan, J.A.T., Paraense, W.L., Pointier, J-P., Amarista, M., Ayeh-Kumi. P.F.K., Babiker, A., Barbosa, C.S., Bremond, P., Canese, A.P., de Souza, C.P., Dominguez, C., File, S., Gutierrez, A., Incani, R.N., Kawano, T., Kazibwe, F., Kpikpi, J., Lwambo, N.J.S., Mimpfoundi, R., Poda, J-N., Sene, M., Velasquez, L.E., Yong, M., Adema, C.M., Hofkin, B.V., Mkoji, G.M., and Loker, E.S. 2001. Evolutionary relationships and biogeography of Biomphalaria (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) with implications regarding its role as host of the human bloodfluke, Schistosoma mansoni. Molecular Biology and Evolution 18(12):2225-2239. Abstract

Morgan, J.A.T., DeJong, R.J., Mkoji, G.M., and Loker, E.S. 2001. Schistosoma mansoni and Biomphalaria: Past history and future trends. In Flukes and Snails, edited by D. Rollinson, a special supplement to the journal Parasitology 123:S211-S228. Abstract

Zhang, S-M., Leonard, P.M., Adema, C.M., and Loker, E.S. 2001. Parasite responsive IgSF members in the snail Biomphalaria glabrata: characterization of genes with tandemly arranged IgSF domains and a fibrinogen domain. Immunogenetics 53(8):684-694. Abstract

Loker, E.S. and Bayne, C.J. 2001. Molecular studies of the molluscan repsonse to digenean infection. Pp. 209-222 in Phylogenetic Perspectives on the Vertebrate Immune System, edited by G. Beck and E.L. Cooper. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dortdrecht, The Netherlands. Abstract

Morgan, J.A.T., DeJong, R.J., Jung, Y., Khallaayoune, K., Kock, S., Mkoji,G.M., and Loker, E.S. 2002. A phylogeny of planorbid snails, with implications for the evolution of Schistosoma parasites. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 25:477-488. Abstract

Hertel, L.A., Bayne, C.J., and Loker, E.S. 2002. The symbiont Capsaspora owczarzaki, nov. gen. nov. sp., isolated from three strains of the pulmonate snail Biomphalaria glabrata is related to members of the Mesomycetozoa. International Journal for Parasitology 32:1183-1191. Abstract

Pointier, J.P., Paraense, W.L., DeJong, R.D., Loker, E.S., Bargues, M.D., and Mas-Coma, S. 2002. A potential snail host of schistosomiasis in Bolivia: Biomphalaria amazonica Paraense, 1966. Memorias do Instituto Oswald Cruz 97:793-796. Abstract

Loker, E.S. and Nowak, T.S. 2003. Of genomes and parasitism. In Taxonomie, Ecologie et Evolution des Métazoaires Parasites. Taxonomy, ecology and evolution of metazoan parasites. (Livre hommage à Louis Euzet). Tome 2. Edited by C. Combes and J. Jourdane. PUP Perpignan: 59-32.

Zhang, S-M. and Loker, E.S. 2003. The FREP gene family in the snail Biomphalaria glabrata: Additional members, and evidence consistent with alternative splicing and FREP retrosequences. Developmental and Comparative Immunology 27:175-187. Abstract

Morgan, J.A.T., DeJong, R.J., Lwambo, N.J.S., Mungai, B.N., Mkoji,G.M., and Loker, E.S. 2003. First report of a natural hybrid between Schistosoma mansoni and S. rodhaini. Journal of Parasitology 89:416-418. Abstract

Morgan, J.A.T., DeJong, R.J., Kazibwe, F., Mkoji, G.M., and Loker, E.S. 2003. A newly identified lineage of Schistosoma. International Journal for Parasitology 33:977-985. Abstract

DeJong, R.J., Morgan, J.A.T., Wilson, W.D., Al-Jaser, M.H., Appleton C.C., Coulibaly G., Doenhoff, M.D., Haas, W., Idris, M.A., Magalhães L.A., Moné H., Mouahid G., Mubila L., Pointier, J.-P., Webster J.P., Zanotti-Magalhães, E.M., Paraense W.L., Mkoji G.M., and Loker, E.S. 2003. Phylogeography of Biomphalaria glabrata and B. pfeifferi, the two most important hosts of Schistosoma mansoni in the New and Old World tropics. Molecular Ecology 12:3041-3056. Abstract

Loker, E.S., Adema, C.M., Zhang, S.-M., and Kepler, T.B. 2004. Invertebrate immune systems—Not homogeneous, not simple, not well understood. Immunological Reviews 198:10-24. Abstract

Nowak, T.S., Woodards, A.C., Jung, Y., Adema, C.M., and Loker, E. S. 2004. Identification of transcripts generated during the response of resistant Biomphalaria glabrata to Schistosoma mansoni infection using suppression subtractive hybridization. Journal of Parasitology 90:1034-1041. Abstract

Hertel, L.A., Barbosa, C.S., Santos, R.A.A.L., and Loker, E.S. 2004. Molecular identification of symbionts from the pulmonate snail Biomphalaria glabrata in Brazil. Journal of Parasitology 90:759-763. Abstract

Zhang, S.-M., Adema, C.M., Kepler, T.B., and Loker, E.S. 2004. Diversification of Ig superfamily genes in an invertebrate. Science 305:251-254. Abstract

Zhang, S.-M. and Loker, E.S. 2004. Representation of an immune responsive gene family encoding fibrinogen-related proteins in the freshwater mollusc Biomphalaria glabrata, an intermediate host for Schistosoma mansoni. Gene 341:255-266. Abstract

Loker, E.S. and Mkoji, G.M. In press. Schistosomes and their snail hosts: The present and future of reconstructing their past. Chapter 1 in Schistosomiasis, edited by W. Evan Secor and Daniel G. Colley, World Class Parasites Series, Kluwer Press.

Hertel, L. A., Adema, C.M., and Loker, E. S. In press. Differential expression of FREP genes in two strains of Biomphalaria glabrata following exposure to the digenetic trematodes Schistosoma mansoni and Echinostoma paraensei. Developmental and Comparative Immunology.

Lotfy, W.M., DeJong, R.J., Black, B.S., and Loker, E.S. In press. Specific identification of Egyptian Biomphalaria species and possible hybrids using the polymerase chain reaction based on nuclear and mitochondrial loci. Molecular and Cellular Probes.

Nowak, T.S. and Loker, E.S. Echinostoma paraensei: Differential gene transcription in the sporocyst stage. Experimental Parasitology. In review.

Lotfy, W.M., DeJong, R.D., Kader, A.A., and Loker, E.S. Submitted. A molecular survey of Biomphalaria in Egypt: Is B. glabrata present? The American Journal of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Morgan, J.A.T., DeJong, R.J., Ansah, E., Barbosa, C.S., Brémond, P., Cesari, I.M., Charbonnel, N., Corrêa, L.R., Coulibaly, G., D’Andrea, P.S., File, S., Incani, R.N., Kamau, T., Karanja D.M.S., Kazibwe, F., Kpikpi, J., Lwambo, N.J.S., Makundi, A., Mubila, L., Muchemi, G., Pereira de Souza, C., Séne, M., Théron, A., Yousif, F., Mkoji. G.M., and Loker, E.S. 200X. A global view of phylogeography and colonization by Schistosoma mansoni. In revision.

DeJong, R.J., Morgan, J.A.T., Barbosa, C.S., Corrêa, L.R., D’Andrea, P.S., Magalhães L.A., Théron, A., Zanotti-Magalhães, E.M., Mkoji, G.M., and Loker, E.S. 200X. Microsatellite diversity of New World Schistosoma mansoni isolates, with an emphasis on isolates using unusual hosts. In preparation.


Research