Jim Van Etten

Jim Van Etten is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where his laboratory is located in MOLR 205. His research focuses on the isolation and characterization of large icosahedral, dsDNA-containing viruses that infect chlorella-like green algae, which are ubiquitous in freshwater environments worldwide.

Dr. Van Etten received his BA in Biology from Carleton College (1960), followed by an MS (1963) and PhD (1965) in Plant Pathology from the University of Illinois, Urbana. He completed postdoctoral training in Molecular Biology at the University of Pavia, Italy (1965-66).

His laboratory studies chlorella viruses with remarkably large genomes (up to 370 kb) containing as many as 400 protein-encoding and 16 tRNA genes. These viruses encode DNA methyltransferases, restriction endonucleases, and complete systems for protein glycosylation. Many chlorella virus-encoded proteins are among the smallest of their class, making them valuable models for structural and mechanistic studies. Infection by these viruses resembles bacterial infection by tailed bacteriophages in many respects.

Analysis of Dr. Van Etten's publication record reveals sustained scholarly productivity spanning multiple decades, with research outputs from 2002 through 2025. His work bridges virology, molecular biology, and glycobiology, with emphasis on viral structure, host-virus interactions, and the evolutionary implications of giant viral genomes.

Dr. Van Etten has collaborated extensively with researchers including Agarkova IV and Dunigan DD. His laboratory has been instrumental in characterizing the unique molecular machinery of chloroviruses, including their glycosylation systems and restriction-modification enzymes, contributing significantly to our understanding of algal viruses and their ecological roles.