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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Evolution And Metabolic Potential Of Francisella-Like Endosymbionts Of Ticks, Jonathan Graham Gerhart
Evolution And Metabolic Potential Of Francisella-Like Endosymbionts Of Ticks, Jonathan Graham Gerhart
Dissertations and Theses
Endosymbiosis in arthropods involves intracellular bacteria that supply an array of benefits to the host. Endosymbionts likely enhance the health of ticks by provisioning amino acids such as cysteine and tyrosine, and cofactors such as biotin and folic acid that are not available in blood--the sole nutrient source of ticks. Endosymbionts of ticks are of special interest due to their close evolutionary relationship with tick-vectored pathogens that impact livestock and human health. For example, ticks typically contain Coxiella-like endosymbionts (CLEs) that are the closest relatives of the human pathogen Coxiella burnetii. In order to understand the evolutionary relationship …
Investigating The Origin And Functions Of A Novel Small Rna In Escherichia Coli, Fenil Rashmin Kacharia
Investigating The Origin And Functions Of A Novel Small Rna In Escherichia Coli, Fenil Rashmin Kacharia
Dissertations and Theses
Non-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) regulate various cellular processes in bacteria. They bind to a chaperone protein Hfq for stability and regulate gene expression by base-pairing with target mRNAs. Although the importance of sRNAs in bacteria has been well established, the mode of origination of novel sRNA genes is still elusive, mainly because the rapid rate of evolution of sRNAs obscures their original sources. To overcome this impediment, we identified a recently formed sRNA (EcsR2) in E. coli, and show that it evolved from a degraded bacteriophage gene. Our analyses also revealed that young sRNAs such as EcsR2 are expressed …