Apichai Tuanyok

Apichai Tuanyok,

Associate Professor

Department: Department of Infectious Diseases & Immunology
Business Phone: (352) 294-8269
Business Email: tuanyok@ufl.edu

Teaching Profile

Courses Taught
2019-2021,2023-2024
VME6905 Problems in Veterinary Medical Sciences
2020-2024
VEM5571 Emerging Diseases
2016,2018-2019
VME6464 Molecular Pathogenesis
2018
GMS7980 Research for Doctoral Dissertation
2018
VME7979 Advanced Research
2023
VEM5991 Clkship Indiv Invest
Teaching Philosophy
While enrolled at a university, students can obtain knowledge in several different ways. The most common way is via typical, structured teaching sessions in a lecture hall or a teaching laboratory. However, in most research-intensive departments, such as the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at UF, mentoring is another common way for graduate students to obtain new knowledge. I learned to be prepared as a classroom teacher twenty-one years ago. As part of this process, I worked as a full-time lecturer at Mahidol University in Thailand. I taught the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) – Tropical Hygiene course to 50 international professional students in the 2000/2001 academic year. This course covered etiology, environmental and nutritional impacts, epidemiology, and disease control and prevention of tropical diseases. I learned to be a laboratory teacher when I was a research faculty at Northern Arizona University. Coaching graduate students in a laboratory was different from a classroom setting. It required not only knowledge of the subject being studied, but also the hands-on experience that helped students to solve technical problems they faced. The problem-based learning approach was used to solve an open-ended problem in their study that could drive their motivation and learning. Being open to discussion is a key of this learning process and I encourage it. As a course coordinator in the veterinary professional program at UF, my teaching goal has changed to adapt to a new environment and responsibility. I ensure that our course supports the college’s mission in preparing the next generations of veterinarians for broad veterinary career paths; in my view, one of the most important career paths for them is becoming veterinarians in public health.

Research Profile

I was trained as a medical microbiologist in the laboratories of Dr. Donald Woods at the University of Calgary and Dr. Paul Keim at Northern Arizona University for a total of 9 years before becoming an independent researcher. I have studied various aspects of melioidosis and glanders, from diagnostics to therapeutic and vaccine developments. I have learned “One Health”, a collaborative multidisciplinary approach to improve health outcomes by recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, and ecosystems. The One Health paradigm has been used in most of my studies to better understand the public health and biodefense aspects of both diseases. Most of my publications are with a particular focus on population genetics, genomics, and pathogenesis. These focused areas require extensive knowledge about the pathogens and the genetic databases. I was among a few researchers who published most of B. pseudomallei and B. mallei genomes through GenBank, the NIH genetic sequence database. Being an expert in these fields, I was frequently asked to provide insights on the pathogens’ genetics and genomics, and to be included as a co-author on the manuscripts.

After joining the College of Veterinary Medicine at UF in October 2014, I have begun studying the veterinary aspects of both diseases. Since both B. pseudomallei and B. mallei are classified as Tier 1 biothreat agents that require special permits and biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) containment for research in the US, my research is of interest to, and funded by, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. I believe that my areas of specialization have provided a unique contribution to UF’s portfolio.

Areas of Interest
  • Burkholderia mallei (Glanders) vaccine development
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei – genotype classification, effective treatment and early diagnosis of Melioidosis and its impact on Southeast Asia
  • Molecular genetics and biology of pathogenic bacteria and their drug resistance
Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

0000-0002-3380-0448

Publications

2023
Both Feline Coronavirus Serotypes 1 and 2 Infected Domestic Cats Develop Cross-Reactive Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain: Its Implication to Pan-CoV Vaccine Development
Viruses. 15(4) [DOI] 10.3390/v15040914. [PMID] 37112894.
2023
Editorial: Glanders and melioidosis: one health model.
Frontiers in veterinary science. 10 [DOI] 10.3389/fvets.2023.1303556. [PMID] 37901106.
2023
Evidence of a Sjögren’s disease–like phenotype following COVID-19 in mice and humans
JCI Insight. 8(24) [DOI] 10.1172/jci.insight.166540. [PMID] 37676726.
2023
Phylogeographic characterization of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated from Bangladesh.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 17(12) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011823. [PMID] 38060593.
2023
Under-Reporting Cases and Deaths from Melioidosis: A Retrospective Finding in Songkhla and Phatthalung Province of Southern Thailand, 2014–2020
Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 8(5) [DOI] 10.3390/tropicalmed8050286. [PMID] 37235334.
2022
Effects of ruminal lipopolysaccharides on growth and fermentation end products of pure cultured bacteria.
Scientific reports. 12(1) [DOI] 10.1038/s41598-022-20073-2. [PMID] 36151241.
2022
Evidence of a Sjögren’s disease-like phenotype following COVID-19.
medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences. [DOI] 10.1101/2022.10.20.22281265. [PMID] 36324812.
2022
Multiple phylogenetically-diverse, differentially-virulent Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated from a single soil sample collected in Thailand
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 16(2) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010172. [PMID] 35143500.
2021
Ruminal Lipid A Analysis by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry
Polysaccharides. 2(4):817-824 [DOI] 10.3390/polysaccharides2040049.
2021
Use of Recombinant Escherichia coli Strains in Immunofluorescence Assays for Melioidosis Diagnosis
Pathogens. 10(5) [DOI] 10.3390/pathogens10050559. [PMID] 34066462.
2020
Genomic loss in environmental and isogenic morphotype isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei is associated with intracellular survival and plaque-forming efficiency
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 14(9) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008590. [PMID] 32991584.
2020
Humoral Immune Responses to Burkholderia pseudomallei Antigens in Captive and Wild Macaques in the Western Part of Java, Indonesia
Veterinary Sciences. 7(4) [DOI] 10.3390/vetsci7040153. [PMID] 33050516.
2020
Investigation of Melioidosis Outbreak in Pig Farms in Southern Thailand
Veterinary Sciences. 7(1) [DOI] 10.3390/vetsci7010009. [PMID] 31947512.
2020
Pathogen to commensal? Longitudinal within-host population dynamics, evolution, and adaptation during a chronic >16-year Burkholderia pseudomallei infection
PLOS Pathogens. 16(3) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008298. [PMID] 32134991.
2019
A novel selective medium for the isolation of Burkholderia mallei from equine specimens.
BMC veterinary research. 15(1) [DOI] 10.1186/s12917-019-1874-0. [PMID] 31064357.
2019
An in situ high-throughput screen identifies inhibitors of intracellular Burkholderia pseudomallei with therapeutic efficacy.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 116(37):18597-18606 [DOI] 10.1073/pnas.1906388116. [PMID] 31439817.
2019
Burkholderia pseudomallei acquired ceftazidime resistance due to gene duplication and amplification.
International journal of antimicrobial agents. 53(5):582-588 [DOI] 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2019.01.003. [PMID] 30639528.
2019
Caprine humoral response to Burkholderia pseudomallei antigens during acute melioidosis from aerosol exposure.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 13(2) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006851. [PMID] 30811382.
2019
Successful Treatments and Management of A Case of Canine Melioidosis
Veterinary Sciences. 6(4) [DOI] 10.3390/vetsci6040076. [PMID] 31547534.
2018
Burkholderia pseudomallei distribution in Australasia is linked to paleogeographic and anthropogenic history.
PloS one. 13(11) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0206845. [PMID] 30395628.
2018
Lipid A Remodeling Is a Pathoadaptive Mechanism That Impacts Lipopolysaccharide Recognition and Intracellular Survival of Burkholderia pseudomallei
Infection and Immunity. 86(10) [DOI] 10.1128/iai.00360-18.
2018
Outer Membrane Vesicle Vaccines from Biosafe Surrogates Prevent Acute Lethal Glanders in Mice.
Vaccines. 6(1) [DOI] 10.3390/vaccines6010005. [PMID] 29320408.
2018
Research Letter: Cross reactivity of latex agglutination assay complicates the identification of Burkholderia pseudomallei from soil.
FEMS Microbiology Letters. [DOI] 10.1093/femsle/fny256.
2018
Seroepidemiology of Burkholderia pseudomallei, Etiologic Agent of Melioidosis, in the Ouest and Sud-Est Departments of Haiti.
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 99(5):1222-1228 [DOI] 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0352. [PMID] 30226137.
2018
Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of PenA β-lactamase in acquired Burkholderia pseudomallei β-lactam resistance
Scientific Reports. 8(1) [DOI] 10.1038/s41598-018-28843-7. [PMID] 30006637.
2017
An avirulent Burkholderia pseudomallei ∆purM strain with atypical type B LPS: expansion of the toolkit for biosafe studies of melioidosis
BMC Microbiology. 17(1) [DOI] 10.1186/s12866-017-1040-4. [PMID] 28592242.
2017
Antibiotic Resistance Markers in Burkholderia pseudomallei Strain Bp1651 Identified by Genome Sequence Analysis.
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. 61(6) [DOI] 10.1128/AAC.00010-17. [PMID] 28396541.
2017
AOAC SMPR 2016.010.
Journal of AOAC International. 100(1):261-265 [DOI] 10.5740/jaoacint.SMPR2016.010. [PMID] 28825553.
2017
Development of Immunoassays for Burkholderia pseudomallei Typical and Atypical Lipopolysaccharide Strain Typing.
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 96(2):358-367 [DOI] 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0308. [PMID] 27994103.
2017
Global and regional dissemination and evolution of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
Nature microbiology. 2 [DOI] 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.263. [PMID] 28112723.
2017
Multitarget Quantitative PCR Improves Detection and Predicts Cultivability of the Pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei.
Applied and environmental microbiology. 83(8) [DOI] 10.1128/AEM.03212-16. [PMID] 28188208.
2017
Phylogeographic, Genomic, and Meropenem Susceptibility Analysis of Burkholderia Ubonensis
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 11(9) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005928. [PMID] 28910350.
2017
Structural diversity of Burkholderia pseudomallei lipopolysaccharides affects innate immune signaling
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 11(4) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005571. [PMID] 28453531.
2016
Correction for Johnson et al., Complete Genome Sequences for 59 Burkholderia Isolates, Both Pathogenic and Near Neighbor.
Genome announcements. 4(2) [DOI] 10.1128/genomeA.00313-16. [PMID] 27103731.
2016
The Effects of Signal Erosion and Core Genome Reduction on the Identification of Diagnostic Markers.
mBio. 7(5) [DOI] 10.1128/mBio.00846-16. [PMID] 27651357.
2016
Two-Phase Bactericidal Mechanism of Silver Nanoparticles against Burkholderia pseudomallei.
PloS one. 11(12) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0168098. [PMID] 27977746.
2015
A Burkholderia pseudomallei colony variant necessary for gastric colonization.
mBio. 6(1) [DOI] 10.1128/mBio.02462-14. [PMID] 25650400.
2015
Complete Genome Sequence of Burkholderia cepacia Strain LO6.
Genome announcements. 3(3) [DOI] 10.1128/genomeA.00587-15. [PMID] 26067955.
2015
Direct detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei and biological factors in soil.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 109(7):462-8 [DOI] 10.1093/trstmh/trv040. [PMID] 26048871.
2015
Identification of Burkholderia pseudomallei Near-Neighbor Species in the Northern Territory of Australia.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 9(6) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003892. [PMID] 26121041.
2015
Melioidosis diagnostic workshop, 2013.
Emerging infectious diseases. 21(2) [DOI] 10.3201/eid2102.141045. [PMID] 25626057.
2015
Pangenome Analysis of Burkholderia pseudomallei: Genome Evolution Preserves Gene Order despite High Recombination Rates.
PloS one. 10(10) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0140274. [PMID] 26484663.
2014
Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, are predominantly susceptible to aminoglycosides and macrolides.
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. 58(1):162-6 [DOI] 10.1128/AAC.01842-13. [PMID] 24145517.
2014
Burkholderia pseudomallei type G in Western Hemisphere.
Emerging infectious diseases. 20(4):682-4 [DOI] 10.3201/eid2004.130960. [PMID] 24655932.
2014
Structural characterization of polysaccharides expressed by Burkholderia oklahomensis E0147.
Carbohydrate research. 386:68-72 [DOI] 10.1016/j.carres.2013.08.011. [PMID] 24491843.
2014
Variable virulence factors in Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis) associated with human disease.
PloS one. 9(3) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0091682. [PMID] 24618705.
2013
Accurate and rapid identification of the Burkholderia pseudomallei near-neighbour, Burkholderia ubonensis, using real-time PCR.
PloS one. 8(8) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0071647. [PMID] 23967229.
2013
Complete Genome Sequence of the Encephalomyelitic Burkholderia pseudomallei Strain MSHR305.
Genome announcements. 1(4) [DOI] 10.1128/genomeA.00656-13. [PMID] 23969058.
2013
Genome Sequence of Burkholderia pseudomallei NCTC 13392.
Genome announcements. 1(3) [DOI] 10.1128/genomeA.00183-13. [PMID] 23704173.
2013
Systematic review and consensus guidelines for environmental sampling of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 7(3) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002105. [PMID] 23556010.
2013
Within-host evolution of Burkholderia pseudomallei over a twelve-year chronic carriage infection.
mBio. 4(4) [DOI] 10.1128/mBio.00388-13. [PMID] 23860767.
2012
An objective approach for Burkholderia pseudomallei strain selection as challenge material for medical countermeasures efficacy testing.
Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology. 2 [DOI] 10.3389/fcimb.2012.00120. [PMID] 23057010.
2012
Characterization of ceftazidime resistance mechanisms in clinical isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei from Australia.
PloS one. 7(2) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0030789. [PMID] 22363490.
2012
Comparison of TaqMan PCR assays for detection of the melioidosis agent Burkholderia pseudomallei in clinical specimens.
Journal of clinical microbiology. 50(6):2059-62 [DOI] 10.1128/JCM.06737-11. [PMID] 22442327.
2012
Detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei O-antigen serotypes in near-neighbor species.
BMC microbiology. 12 [DOI] 10.1186/1471-2180-12-250. [PMID] 23126230.
2012
Development and validation of Burkholderia pseudomallei-specific real-time PCR assays for clinical, environmental or forensic detection applications.
PloS one. 7(5) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0037723. [PMID] 22624061.
2012
Out of the ground: aerial and exotic habitats of the melioidosis bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei in grasses in Australia.
Environmental microbiology. 14(8):2058-70 [DOI] 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2011.02671.x. [PMID] 22176696.
2012
The genetic and molecular basis of O-antigenic diversity in Burkholderia pseudomallei lipopolysaccharide.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 6(1) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001453. [PMID] 22235357.
2012
The toxin/immunity network of Burkholderia pseudomallei contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems.
Molecular microbiology. 84(3):516-29 [DOI] 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2012.08039.x. [PMID] 22435733.
2012
Towards a rapid molecular diagnostic for melioidosis: Comparison of DNA extraction methods from clinical specimens.
Journal of microbiological methods. 88(1):179-81 [DOI] 10.1016/j.mimet.2011.10.023. [PMID] 22108495.
2011
Diversity of 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) reveals phylogenetic relationships in Burkholderia pseudomallei and its near-neighbors.
PloS one. 6(12) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0029323. [PMID] 22195045.
2011
Epidemiological tracking and population assignment of the non-clonal bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 5(12) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001381. [PMID] 22180792.
2011
Epidemiology and investigation of melioidosis, Southern Arizona.
Emerging infectious diseases. 17(7):1286-8 [DOI] 10.3201/eid1707.100661. [PMID] 21762589.
2011
Knockout and pullout recombineering for naturally transformable Burkholderia thailandensis and Burkholderia pseudomallei.
Nature protocols. 6(8):1085-104 [DOI] 10.1038/nprot.2011.346. [PMID] 21738123.
2011
Molecular characterization of clinical Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates from India.
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 85(1):121-3 [DOI] 10.4269/ajtmh.2011.11-0166. [PMID] 21734136.
2011
Molecular investigations of a locally acquired case of melioidosis in Southern AZ, USA.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 5(10) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001347. [PMID] 22028940.
2010
BurkDiff: a real-time PCR allelic discrimination assay for Burkholderia pseudomallei and B. mallei.
PloS one. 5(11) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0015413. [PMID] 21103048.
2010
Characterization of the type III capsular polysaccharide produced by Burkholderia pseudomallei.
Journal of medical microbiology. 59(Pt 12):1403-1414 [DOI] 10.1099/jmm.0.022202-0. [PMID] 20724509.
2010
Within-host evolution of Burkholderia pseudomallei in four cases of acute melioidosis.
PLoS pathogens. 6(1) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000725. [PMID] 20090837.
2009
Molecular basis of rare aminoglycoside susceptibility and pathogenesis of Burkholderia pseudomallei clinical isolates from Thailand.
PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 3(9) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000519. [PMID] 19771149.
2009
Phylogeographic reconstruction of a bacterial species with high levels of lateral gene transfer.
BMC biology. 7 [DOI] 10.1186/1741-7007-7-78. [PMID] 19922616.
2008
Genomic islands from five strains of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
BMC genomics. 9 [DOI] 10.1186/1471-2164-9-566. [PMID] 19038032.
2008
Survival of Burkholderia pseudomallei in water.
BMC research notes. 1 [DOI] 10.1186/1756-0500-1-11. [PMID] 18710531.
2008
The core and accessory genomes of Burkholderia pseudomallei: implications for human melioidosis.
PLoS pathogens. 4(10) [DOI] 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000178. [PMID] 18927621.
2007
A horizontal gene transfer event defines two distinct groups within Burkholderia pseudomallei that have dissimilar geographic distributions.
Journal of bacteriology. 189(24):9044-9 [PMID] 17933898.
2007
Yersinia pestis evolution on a small timescale: comparison of whole genome sequences from North America.
PloS one. 2(8) [PMID] 17712418.
2006
Genome-wide expression analysis of Burkholderia pseudomallei infection in a hamster model of acute melioidosis.
Infection and immunity. 74(10):5465-76 [PMID] 16988221.
2005
Genome-wide expression analysis of iron regulation in Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei using DNA microarrays.
FEMS microbiology letters. 252(2):327-35 [PMID] 16242861.
2004
Contribution of gene loss to the pathogenic evolution of Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei.
Infection and immunity. 72(7):4172-87 [PMID] 15213162.

Grants

Jul 2021 ACTIVE
Discovery of Bacteriophages that Mediate Antimicrobial Susceptibility Trough Efflux Pump Dependent Infection
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY via DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY
Jun 2017 – May 2020
Membrane bound Burkholderia pseudomallei PenA beta-lactamase
Role: Faculty
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIAID
Feb 2017 – May 2018
Molecular Surveillance of Ceftazidime (CAZ) Resistance in Melioidosis
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: CRDF GLOBAL
Feb 2017 – May 2020
Eco-environmental signatures of danger to identify melioidosis-endemic hotzones.
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: UNIV OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES via DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY
Jan 2017 – Dec 2021
Modulation of Burkholderia pseudomallei immune responses by human-like T cell epitopes.
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: CUBRC via DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY
Jan 2015 – Sep 2015
Antigenic protein and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) signatures from Burkholderia pseudomallei and B. mallei towards specific biothreat detection strategies.
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY via US DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Education

PhD
2000 · Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool
BSc. (Second Class Honor) in Biology
1992 · Prince of Songkla University, Thailand

Contact Details

Phones:
Business:
(352) 294-8269
Emails:
Business:
tuanyok@ufl.edu
Addresses:
Business Mailing:
1945 SW 16TH AVE
GAINESVILLE FL 32608
Business Street:
1945 SW 16TH AVE
GAINESVILLE FL 32608