Publications

Structurally divergent and recurrently mutated regions of primate genomes (2024)
Yafei Mao, William T. Harvey, David Porubsky, Katherine M. Munson, Kendra Hoekzema, Alexandra P. Lewis, Peter A. Audano, Allison Rozanski, Xiangyu Yang, Shilong Zhang, DongAhn Yoo, David S. Gordon, Tyler Fair, Xiaoxi Wei, Glennis A. Logsdon, Marina Haukness, Philip C. Dishuck, Hyeonsoo Jeong, Ricardo del Rosario, Vanessa L. Bauer, Will T. Fattor, Gregory K. Wilkerson, Yuxiang Mao, Yongyong Shi, Qiang Sun, Qing Lu, Benedict Paten, Trygve E. Bakken, Alex A. Pollen, Guoping Feng, Sara L. Sawyer, Wesley C. Warren, Lucia Carbone, Evan E. Eichler
Cell, in press

Infection pressure in apes has driven selection for CD4 alleles that resist lentivirus (HIV/SIV) infection (2024)
Cody J. Warren*, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero*, Vanessa L. Bauer, Alex C. Stabell, Obaiah Dirasantha, Qing Yang, and Sara L. Sawyer
eLIFE, link.

Macrophages derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) serve as a high-fidelity cellular model for investigating HIV-1, dengue, and influenza viruses (2024)
Qing Yang, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, Laurence M. Fairchild, Teisha J. Rowland, Robin D. Dowell, Mary A. Allen, Cody J. Warren, Sara L. Sawyer
Journal of Virology, in press

Identifying animal viruses in humans (2023)
Cody J. Warren and Sara L. Sawyer
Science, link.

How avian influenza viruses spill over to mammals (2023)
Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, Daniel R Perez, Sara L. Sawyer
eLIFE, link.

Human mRNA in saliva can correctly identify individuals harboring acute infection (2023)
Qing Yang, Nicholas R. Meyerson, Camille L. Paige, James H. Morrison, Stephen K. Clark, Will T. Fattor, Carolyn J. Decker, Halley R. Steiner, Elena Lian, Daniel B. Larremore, Rushika Perera, Eric M. Poeschla, Roy Parker, Robin D. Dowell, Sara L. Sawyer
mBio, link.

Quantification of virus-infected cells using RNA FISH-Flow (2023)
Cody J. Warren, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, Devra Huey, Qing Yang, Emma R. Worden-Sapper, Jens H. Kuhn, and Sara L. Sawyer
Star Protocols, link.

High rates of observed face mask use at Colorado universities align with students’ opinions about masking and support the safety and viability of in-person higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic (2023)
Kevin C Clark, Maximilian J Bailey, Stefan Wasshuber, Raissa Huntley, Kristen K Bjorkman, Leisha Conners Bauer, Camille L Paige, Sara L Sawyer, Michaila Czarnik, Margaret A Riggs, Margaret J Gutilla, Tanya L Alderete
BMC Public Health, link.

Structurally divergent and recurrently mutated regions of primate genomes (2023)
Yafei Mao, William T Harvey, David Porubsky, Katherine M Munson, Kendra Hoekzema, Alexandra P Lewis, Peter A Audano, Allison Rozanski, Xiangyu Yang, Shilong Zhang, David S Gordon, Xiaoxi Wei, Glennis A Logsdon, Marina Haukness, Philip C Dishuck, Hyeonsoo Jeong, Ricardo Del Rosario, Vanessa L Bauer, Will T Fattor, Gregory K Wilkerson, Qing Lu, Benedict Paten, Guoping Feng, Sara L Sawyer, Wesley C Warren, Lucia Carbone, Evan E Eichler
bioRxiv, link.

Primate hemorrhagic fever-causing arteriviruses are poised for spillover to humans (2022)
Cody J. Warren, Shuiqing Yu, Douglas K. Peters, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, Qing Yang, Bridget L. Burris, Gabriella Worwa, I-Chueh Huang, Gregory K. Wilkerson, Tony L. Goldberg, Jens H. Kuhn, Sara L. Sawyer
Cell, link.

On the lookout for viruses that could leap from animals into humans (2022)
Q&A with Sara L. Sawyer
Nature, link.

Monkeypox Emergency: Urgent Questions and Perspectives (2022)
Stefan Rothenburg,  Zhilong Yang, Pip Beard, Sara L. Sawyer, Boghuma Titanji, Gregg Gonsalves, Jason Kindrachuk
Cell, link.

Human ACE2 Polymorphisms from Different Human Populations Modulate SARS-CoV-2 Infection (2022)
Pan Hu, Vanessa L. Bauer, Sara L. Sawyer, Felipe Diaz-Griffero
Viruses, link.

Estimating the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on US SARS-CoV-2 infections in the first year of the pandemic (2022)
NA Duncan, GF L’Her, AG Osborne, Sara L Sawyer, MR Deinert
Royal Society Open Science, link.

RNase L activation in the cytoplasm induces aberrant processing of mRNAs in the nucleus (2022)
James M Burke, Nina Ripin, Max B Ferretti, Laura A St Clair, Emma R Worden-Sapper, Sara L Sawyer, Rushika Perera, Kristen W Lynch, Roy Parker
PLoS Pathogens, link.

Optimizing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using machine learning (2021)
Nicholas J. Cordaro, Andrew J. Kavran, Michael Smallegan, Megan Palacio, Nickolaus Lammer, Tyler S. Brant, Vanessa DuMont, Naiara Doherty Garcia, Suzannah Miller, Tara Jourabchi, Sara L. Sawyer, Aaron Clauset.
BioRxiv, link.

RNase L limits host and viral protein synthesis via inhibition of mRNA export (2021)
James M. Burke, Alison R. Gilchrist, Sara L. Sawyer, Roy Parker.
Science Advances, link.

Just 2% of SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals carry 90% of the virus circulating in communities (2021)
Qing Yang, Tassa K. Saldi, Erika Lasda, Carolyn J. Decker, Camille L. Paige, Denise Muhlrad, Patrick K. Gonzales, Morgan R. Fink, Kimngan L. Tat, Cole R. Hager, Jack C. Davis, Christopher D. Ozeroff, Nicholas R. Meyerson, Stephen K. Clark, Will T. Fattor, Alison R. Gilchrist, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, Emma R. Worden-Sapper, Sharon S. Wu, Gloria R. Brisson, Matthew B. McQueen, Robin D. Dowell, Leslie Leinwand, Roy Parker, Sara L. Sawyer
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, link.

Saliva TwoStep for rapid detection of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers (2021)
Qing Yang, Nicholas R Meyerson, Stephen K Clark, Camille L Paige, Will T Fattor, Alison R Gilchrist, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, Benjamin G Healy, Emma R Worden-Sapper, Sharon S Wu, Denise Muhlrad, Carolyn J Decker, Tassa K Saldi, Erika Lasda, Patrick K Gonzales, Morgan R Fink, Kimngan L Tat, Cole R Hager, Jack C Davis, Christopher D Ozeroff, Gloria R Brisson, Matthew B McQueen, Leslie Leinwand, Roy Parker, Sara L Sawyer
eLIFE, link.

Positive Natural Selection in Genes of the Type I Interferon Response in Primates (2021)
Elena Judd*, Alison Gilchrist*, Nicholas Meyerson, Sara L. Sawyer
BMC Ecology and Evolution, link.

Nuku, a family of primate retrocopies derived from KU70 (2021)
Paul A Rowley, Aisha Ellahi, Kyudong Han, Jagdish Suresh Patel, James T Van Leuven, Sara L Sawyer
G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, link.

dsRNA-Seq: Identification of viral infection by purifying and sequencing dsRNA (2019)
Carolyn J Decker, Halley R Steiner, Laura L Hoon-Hanks, James H Morrison, Kelsey C Haist, Alex C Stabell, Eric M Poeschla, Thomas E Morrison, Mark D Stenglein, Sara L Sawyer, Roy Parker
Viruses, link.

Selective Use of Primate CD4 Receptors by HIV-1 (2019) 
Warren CJ, Meyerson NR, Dirasantha O, Feldman ER, Wilkerson GK, Sara L Sawyer
PLoS Biology, link.

A glycan shield on chimpanzee CD4 protects against infection by primate lentiviruses (HIV/SIV) (2019)
Warren CJ, Meyerson NR, Stabell AC, Fattor WT, Wilkerson GK, Sara L Sawyer
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116 (23) 11460-11469.

A metaanalysis of bat phylogenetics and positive selection based on genomes and transcriptomes from 18 species (2019)
Hawkins JA, Kaczmarek ME, Müller MA, Drosten C, Press WH, Sara L Sawyer
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116 (23) 11351-11360.

How host genetics dictates successful viral zoonosis (2019)
Cody J. Warren and Sara L Sawyer.
PLoS Biology 17(4): e3000217.
This is a comprehensive review of how the process of viral zoonosis works

TRIM5 restricts flavivirus replication by targeting the viral protease for proteasomal degradation (2019)
Chiramel AI, Meyerson NR, McNally KL, Broeckel RM, Montoya VR, Méndez-Solís O, Robertson SJ, Sturdevant GL, Lubick KJ, Nair V, Youseff BH, Ireland RM, Bosio KM, Kim K, Luban J, Hirsch VM, Bouamr F, Taylor RT, Sara L Sawyer, Best SM
Cell Reports, 27, 3269–3283.

dsRNA-Seq: Identification of Viral Infection by Purifying and Sequencing dsRNA (2019)
Decker CJ, Steiner HR, Hoon-Hanks LR, Morrison JH, Haist KC, Stabell AC, Poeschla EM, Morrison TE, Stenglein MD, Sara L Sawyer, Parker R
Viruses, 11, 943; doi:10.3390/v11100943.

Species-specific deamidation of cGAS facilitates herpes simplex virus lytic replication (2018)
Zhang J, Zhao J, Li J, Xu S, He S, Zeng Y, Xie L, Xie N, Liu T, Lee K, Seo GJ,Chen L, Stabell AC, Sara L Sawyer, Jung J, Huang C, Feng P.
Cell Host and Microbe. 24, 234–248

Control of Yeast Retrotransposons Mediated Through Nucleoporin Evolution (2018)
Rowley PA, Patterson K, Sandmeyer SB, Sara L Sawyer.
PLoS Genetics, e1007325

Dengue viruses cleave STING in humans but not in non-human primates, their presumed natural reservoir (2018)
Stabell AC, Meyerson NR, Gullberg RC, Gilchrist AR, Webb KJ, Old WM, Perera R, Sara L Sawyer.
eLIFE, e31919.

Species-specific vulnerability of RanBP2 shaped the evolution of SIV as it transmitted in African apes (2018)
Meyerson NR, Stabell AC, Vieira D, Diaz-Griffero F, Sara L Sawyer.
PLoS Pathogens, 14(3):e1006906.

TRIM25 is a restriction factor that specifically targets influenza virus ribonucleoproteins to block the onset of RNA chain elongation (2017)
Meyerson NR, Zhou L, Guo YR, Zhou C, Tao YJ, Krug RM, Sara L Sawyer.
Cell Host and Microbe, 22(5):627-638.e7

Owl monkey CCR5 reveals synergism between CD4 and CCR5 in HIV-1 entry (2017)
Nahabedian J, Sharma A, Kaczmarek ME, Wilkerson GK, Sara L Sawyer, Overbaugh J.
J. Virology, 512:180-186.

Non-human Primate Schlafen11 Inhibits Production of Both Host and Viral Proteins (2016)
Stabell AC, Hawkins J, Li M, Gao X, David M, Press WH, Sara L Sawyer
PLoS Pathogens 12(12): e1006066.

An Intrinsically Disordered Region of the DNA Repair Protein Nbs1 Is a Species-Specific Barrier to Herpes Simplex Virus 1 in Primates (2016)
Lou DI, Kim ET, Meyerson NR, Pancholi NJ, Mohni KN, Enard D, Petrov DA, Weller SK, Weitzman MD, Sara L Sawyer.
Cell Host & Microbe, 20(2), 178–188.

At the mercy of viruses (2016) 
Claus O. Wilke and Sara L Sawyer
eLIFE, 5, e16758.

XRN1 Is a Species-Specific Virus Restriction Factor in Yeasts (2016)
Rowley PA, Ho B, Bushong S, Johnson A, Sara L Sawyer
PLoS Pathogens 12(10): e1005890.

Filovirus receptor NPC1 contributes to species-specific patterns of ebolavirus susceptibility in bats (2015) 
Ng M, Ndungo E, Kaczmarek ME, Herbert AS, Binger T, Kuehne AI, Jangra RK, Hawkins JA, Gifford RJ, Biswas R, Demogines A, James RM, Yu M, Brummelkamp TR, Drosten C, Wang L-F, Kuhn JH, Muller MA, Dye JM, Sara L Sawyer, Chandran K.
eLIFE, 4, e11785.

Understanding Biases in Ribosome Profiling Experiments Reveals Signatures of Translation Dynamics in Yeast (2015)
Hussmann JA, Patchett S, Johnson A, Sara L Sawyer, Press WH
PLoS Genetics, 11(12), e1005732.

Computational and Functional Analysis of the Virus-Receptor Interface Reveals Host Range Trade-Offs in New World Arenaviruses (2015)
Kerr SA, Jackson EL, Lungu OI, Meyer AG, Demogines A, Ellington AD, Georgiou G, Wilke CO,  Sara L Sawyer
Journal of Virology, 89(22), 11643–11653.

The effect of species representation on the detection of positive selection in primate gene data sets (2015)
McBee RM, Rozmiarek SA, Meyerson NR, Rowley PA, Sara L Sawyer
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32(4), 1091–1096.

Identification of Owl Monkey CD4 Receptors Broadly Compatible with Early-Stage HIV-1 Isolates (2015)
Meyerson NR, Sharma A, Wilkerson GK, Overbaugh J, Sara L Sawyer
Journal of Virology, 89(16), 8611–8622.

Reply to Schmitt et al.: Data-filtering schemes for avoiding double-counting in circle sequencing (2014)
Hussmann JA, Lou DI, Sara L Sawyer, Press WH
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 111(16), E1561.

Widespread Sequence Variations in VAMP1 across Vertebrates Suggest a Potential Selective Pressure from Botulinum Neurotoxins (2014)
Peng L, Adler M, Demogines A, Borrell A, Liu H, Tao L, Tepp WH, Zhang SC, Johnson EA, Sara L Sawyer, Dong M
PLoS Pathogens, 10(7), e1004177.

Rapid evolution of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in humans and other primates (2014)
Lou DI, McBee RM, Le UQ, Stone AC, Wilkerson GK, Demogines AM, Sara L Sawyer
BMC Evolutionary Biology, 14, 155.

Positive selection of primate genes that promote HIV-1 replication (2014)
Meyerson NR, Rowley PA, Swan CH, Le DT, Wilkerson GK, Sara L Sawyer
Virology, 454-455, 291–298.

Effects of human SAMHD1 polymorphisms on HIV-1 susceptibility (2014)
White TE, Brandariz-Nuñez A, Valle-Casuso JC, Knowlton C, Kim B, Sara L Sawyer, Diaz-Griffero F
Virology, 460-461(C), 34–44.

Dual host-virus arms races shape an essential housekeeping protein (2013)
Demogines A, Abraham J, Choe H, Farzan M, Sara L Sawyer
PLoS Biology, 11(5), e1001571.

High-throughput DNA sequencing errors are reduced by orders of magnitude using circle sequencing (2013)
Lou DI, Hussmann JA, McBee RM, Acevedo A, Andino R, Press WH,  Sara L Sawyer 
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 110(49), 19872–19877.

Recent host-shifts in ranaviruses: signatures of positive selection in the viral genome (2013)
Abrams AJ, Cannatella DC, Hillis DM, Sara L Sawyer
J General Virology, 94(Pt 9), 2082–2093.

An evolutionary screen highlights canonical and noncanonical candidate antiviral genes within the primate TRIM gene family (2013)
Malfavon-Borja R, Sara L Sawyer, Wu LI, Emerman M, Malik HS
Genome Biology and Evolution, 5(11), 2141–2154.

Generation of an HIV Resistant T-Cell Line by Targeted “Stacking” of Restriction Factors (2013)
Voit RA, McMahon MA, Sara L Sawyer, Porteus MH
Molecular Therapy, 21(4), 786–795.

Evolutionary reconstructions of the transferrin receptor of Caniforms supports canine parvovirus being a re-emerged and not a novel pathogen in dogs (2012)
Kaelber JT, Demogines A, Harbison CE, Allison AB, Goodman LB, Ortega AN, Sara L Sawyer, Parrish CR
PLoS Pathogens, 8(5), e1002666.

Evidence for ACE2-Utilizing Coronaviruses (CoVs) Related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV in Bats (2012)
Demogines A, Farzan M, Sara L Sawyer
Journal of Virology, 86(11), 6350–6353.

Species-specific features of DARC, the primate receptor for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi (2012)
Demogines A, Truong KA, Sara L Sawyer
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 29(2), 445–449.

A cross-species view on viruses (2012)
Sara L Sawyer and Nels C. Elde
Current Opinion in Virology, 2(5), 561–568.

HIV-1 Capsid-Targeting Domain of Cleavage and Polyadenylation Specificity Factor 6 (2012)
Lee K, Mulky A, Yuen W, Martin TD, Meyerson NR, Choi L, Yu H, Sara L Sawyer, KewalRamani VN
Journal of Virology, 86(7), 3851–3860.

Identification of a genomic reservoir for new TRIM genes in primate genomes (2011)
Han K, Lou DI, Sara L Sawyer
PLoS Genetics, 7(12), e1002388.

Two-stepping through time: mammals and viruses (2011)
Meyerson NR, Sara L Sawyer
Trends in Microbiology, 19(6), 286–294.

Ancient and recent adaptive evolution of primate non-homologous end joining genes (2010)
Demogines A, East AM, Lee J-H, Grossman SR, Sabeti PC, Paull TT, Sara L Sawyer
PLoS Genetics, 6(10), e1001169.

Molecular evolution of the antiretroviral TRIM5 gene (2009)
Johnson WE and Sara L Sawyer
Immunogenetics, 61(3), 163–176.

An expanded clade of rodent Trim5 genes (2009)
Tareen SU, Sara L Sawyer, Malik HS, Emerman M.
Virology, 385(2), 473–483.