Life Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Biofilm Of Candida Auris As It Relates To Persistence In Clinical Setting And Susceptibility To Antimicrobials, Bethany Butts

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

The rapid rise of drug-resistant pathogens is a global health concern. Known pathogens are acquiring resistance to many commonly used drugs, while new drug-resistant pathogens are emerging. These resistant pathogens are responsible for many healthcare-associated infections (HAI) [1, 2]. Candida auris is among these emerging drug-resistant pathogens, first described in 2009. The CDC labels C. auris at the highest level of global public health threat [3,4]. Effective methods of decolonization and control of the organisms have yet to be established, as it is resistant to many agents used for microbial control. Recent research has found that C. auris has the …

Comparing Allelochemicals Of ​English Ivy And Native Georgia Plants​, Rebecca Senft

Symposium of Student Scholars

English Ivy (Hedera helix L.) is a common invasive plant causing biodiversity losses across the southeast and parts of the northwestern US. The mechanisms by which Ivy invades native ecosystems are not well understood but may include allelopathy, a process through which one species produces biochemicals that disrupt competitors. These biochemicals are often produced and exuded by roots into soil, making them difficult to isolate. This study used a soil-less hydroponic system and gas-chromatography mass spectroscopy to examine differences in the chemicals produced by roots of native Georgia plants and English Ivy. Our results suggest there are differences in the …

The Evolutionary Origins Of Autism Associated Genes And Their Role In Great Ape Socio-Communicative Behavior, Azeeza Abdulrauf

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a set of neurological disorders characterized by reduced social interactions and deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication. Although there are no clear genetic markers for ASD, studies have found associations between gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and patients diagnosed with ASD. For this study, the focus is on OXTR, AVPR1A, and FOXP2. OXTR is reported to regulate empathy and stress reactivity while AVPR1A is reported to regulate stress management and territorial aggression, as well as social bonding and recognition. FOXP2 is one of the first genes to be associated with both speech and language recognition …

Assessment Of Non-Saccharomyces Yeast Species As Secondary Fermenters In Beer, Paul J. Clark

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Secondary fermentation of beer is traditionally used to condition and refine the sensory profile of a beer. During methods such as barrel aging or lagering, the yeast continues to produce flavor-active compounds. Some methods include the intentional inoculation of microorganisms or the utilization of natural consortia associated with a barrel, fruit, or additive for the generation of desired sensory profiles. As unique products increase in popularity, brewers have begun to experiment with secondary fermentation using alternative yeast species as bioflavorants. To assess the viability of an organism’s application to brewing, the physiochemical properties of beer and their impact on the …

Bacteriophages Infecting Enterobacter Cloacae To Reduce Bloater Damage In Fermented Cucumbers

Symposium of Student Scholars

Fermented cucumbers are one of the most important fermented vegetables consumed worldwide. During cucumber fermentations, certain undesirable changes may occur. One of such changes is known as bloater defect (hollow cavities in fermented cucumbers), which is primarily caused by gas-producing bacteria including Enterobacter cloacae. Bloater defect lowers product quality and leads to significant economic loss to the pickle industry, and effective preventative methods are needed. Bacteriophages (phages) are highly host-specific bacterial killers. Use of phages to control unwanted bacteria in foods is a promising approach because phages do not change food properties. This research was to isolate, characterize, and …

Food Deserts: Hungry For Answers, Lawren Cumberbatch

Symposium of Student Scholars

In 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 23.5 million people in the United States live in food deserts. As defined by the USDA, a “food desert” is a neighborhood that lacks healthy food sources. This can be measured by distance to a store, number of stores in an area, individual-level resources such as family income or vehicle availability, and neighborhood-level resources such as availability of public transportation. Past research provides evidence that food deserts are especially likely to occur in communities heavily populated by minorities. As a Black Indian pre-med student aiming to join the world …

Determining Malignancy: Can Mammogram Results Help Predict The Diagnosis Of Breast Tumors?, Taylor Behrens

Symposium of Student Scholars

Even with advancements in treatment and preventative care, breast cancer remains an epidemic claiming more than 40,000 American male and female lives each year. The mammogram dataset that I am analyzing was initially complied in the early 1990s by a team from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Past research diagnoses breast cancer from fine-needle aspirates. My research focuses on predicting whether we can determine breast cancer diagnoses without the use of invasive procedures and, in particular, whether we can predict breast cancer based on mammogram data. Do measures of gray-scale texture, radius, concavity, perimeter, compactness, area, and smoothness of …

Initial Assessment Of Potential Relationships Between Plant Communities And The Soil Microbiome In Closed Forest And Longleaf Pine Restoration Sites., Sean Davis, Ian Kennedy

Symposium of Student Scholars

Longleaf pine is an endangered ecosystem characterized by high levels of biodiversity.

Our study took place in the Sheffield Wildlife Management Area located in the Piedmont ecoregion of Georgia in Paulding County. Fifty plots of 10 x 30 m² were setup on south or north facing slopes, some in covered forest, and some in an area actively being restored for the longleaf pine. All trees above 1.37 m were identified and had their diameter measured, and species diversity, relative density, dominance, and frequency were determined. Herbaceous plant cover percentages were recorded in select plots. Soil samples were also collected …

Laryngeal Vocals In Old World Locals: Air Sacs Usage In Bonobos, Chelsea Trenbeath

Symposium of Student Scholars

Except for humans, extant great apes have evolutionarily conserved lateral ventricular air sacs extending from laryngeal saccules. Humans are the only species of Hominidae that lack this anatomical feature attached to the primary vocal apparatus. As we are the only species that produces spoken language, this association has led to hypothesis that the loss of lateral ventricular air sacs was necessary for the evolution of spoken language. However, why these sacs are conserved in all other hominids remains unclear. Computer modeling has indicated that air sacs may increase resonance properties, but there are no data from great apes indicating which …

A 10-Year Post-Analysis Of The Maya Health Toolkit For Medical Providers, Lorenna Garcia-Bochas

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Researchers have often overlooked America's Indigenous community when conducting health disparities research. In Central and South America, The World Bank 2015 report identifies 774 indigenous groups living today (Davis-Castro, n.d.). One of the oldest known is the Maya people. The Maya have been through various cultural struggles, from the Spanish conquistadors of the past to current anti-indigenous discrimination, violence, and rhetoric. The historical conflict and prejudice have contributed to why many Maya migrate north to the United States for a better opportunity and a more peaceful life for their families. In doing so, they face many health risks to their …

Racial And Socioeconomic Disparities Influencing Obesity Amongst Middle-Aged Women, Morgan Woods

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Many studies have examined the effects of racial and socioeconomic differences on health-related disparities involving obesity but, few have examined the mental and physical well-being intersection. Obesity is a disease that affects many Americans and has become an epidemic affecting the American population. Obesity, especially morbid obesity, is a risk factor for many other obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and more. Using the 2018 Healthcare Avoidance Study, differences were found between two racial groups, Caucasian and African-American women. Race was found as a significant factor for both level of physical activity and ideal body image perception

Evaluating Volatile Organic Compounds For Contact-Independent Antagonism Of Pseudogymnoascus Destructans And Assessing The Impact Of Fungal Pigmentation On Antifungal Susceptibility, Ashley Mcdonald

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

White-nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the psychrophilic fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has been implicated in the massive decline of hibernating bat populations across North America and has led to the listing of impacted species under the US endangered Species Act. Due to the importance of bats to biodiversity and their ecosystem services in agricultural systems, researchers, in conjunction with wildlife management agencies, have been actively exploring disease control methods to mitigate the impact of WNS on susceptible bat species. The accessibility and ecology of bat hibernacula pose unique complications for application of disease management approaches, contributing to the need for …

Quantifying Resource Use Among Insectivorous Bat Species With Overlapping Distributions, Shannon Whitney

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Bats make up 20% of all mammalian species, are globally distributed, and are the only mammals capable of sustained flight. Bats have adapted to feed on insects, scorpions, aquatic arthropods, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, blood, carrion, fruit, flowers, nectar, pollen, and even seeds and foliage. However, the feeding ecology of these organisms is not well understood. Most bat species in North America rely on the same method of foraging and locomotion. The geographical range and habitats of these bats also commonly overlap. Bat feeding ecology studies have used fecal analysis to identify consumed prey species. Factors such as time …

Yakety Sacs: Laryngeal Air Sac Usage In Great Apes, Chelsea Trenbeath

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Except for humans, extant great apes have evolutionarily conserved lateral ventricular air sacs extending from laryngeal saccules. Humans are the only species of Hominidae that lack this anatomical feature attached to the primary vocal apparatus. As we are the only species that produces spoken language, this association has led to the hypothesis that the loss of lateral ventricular air sacs was necessary for the evolution of spoken language. However, why these sacs are conserved in all other hominids remains unclear. Computer modeling has indicated that air sacs may increase resonance properties, but there are no data from great apes indicating …

The Chemistry Of Fermentation As It Relates To The Art Of Winemaking, Olivia Cochran

Symposium of Student Scholars

The process of fermentation can be traced back to the beginning of civilization. Countries, over time, have learned this scientific process and turned it into the backbone of their culture through the making and manufacturing of wine. While climate-change and global-warming have impacted the commercial marketability of wine, the scientific process has remained constant. This undergraduate project analyses the production, fermentation and analytical approach of producing high quality wine. Beginning from the picking of grapes, to testing the acidity through a series of titrations, winemaking is truly where science and art collide.

Manipulation Of The Microbiome In The Gut Of The Fruit Fly To Alleviate Cadmium Bioaccumulation, Natasya Tamba

Symposium of Student Scholars

Cadmium (Cd) poisoning contributes to severe bodily detriments characterized by kidney failure, osteomalacia, and osteoporosis, otherwise known as Itai-Itai disease. The ingestion of cadmium contaminated foods primarily causes these conditions. There are no treatments to remove cadmium once absorbed, resulting in bioaccumulation. In this study, we are developing a method to manipulate the community of microorganisms (microbiome) living within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), intending to use microorganisms to reduce the availability of ingested cadmium.

The biodiversity of microorganisms within the GI tract is responsible for metabolizing substances that the body cannot perform. …

Detecting Bacterial Species From Ancient Human Skeletal Samples, Ariel Owens, Daisy Mcgrath, Tsai-Tien Tseng

Symposium of Student Scholars

This paleopathological study aims to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and other Mycobacterium species in silico from skeletal samples that belonged to 28 Polish individuals in the Neolithic period under PRJNA422903 from the Sequence Read Archive (SRA). After next-generation sequencing (NGS), bioinformatics methods are heavily relied upon for identification of pathogens from complex samples. We implemented a bioinformatics pipeline, with custom-built databases, utilizing the following software tools: Trim Galore! and Kraken2. After adapter trimming, Kraken2 was used for taxonomic classifications. We have found that Mycobacterium is present in all 28 individuals. The average percentage of MAC …

Beyond The Kármán Gait: Knifefish Swimming In Periodic And Irregular Vortex Streets, Victor M. Ortega-Jiménez, Christopher P. Sanford

Faculty and Research Publications

Neotropical freshwater fishes such as knifefishes are commonly faced with navigating intense and highly unsteady streams. However, our knowledge on locomotion in apteronotids comes from laminar flows, where the ribbon fin dominates over the pectoral fins or body bending. Here, we studied the 3D kinematics and swimming control of seven black ghost knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons) moving in laminar flows (flow speed U∞≈1-5 BL s-1) and in periodic vortex streets (U∞≈2-4 BL s-1). Two different cylinders (∼2 and ∼3 cm diameter) were used to generate the latter. Additionally, fish were exposed to an irregular wake produced by a free oscillating cylinder …

Probing Interactions Between Canonical Nox Domains, Akua Acheampong

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

NAPDH oxidase enzymes (NOXes) reduce molecular oxygen to superoxide and other ROS. NOXes contain a catalytic core comprising a heme-containing transmembrane (TM) domain and a cytoplasmic dehydrogenase (DH) domain that binds the substrate NADPH and the cofactor. Previously, NOXes were only characterized in eukaryotes, but have recently been identified in prokaryotes, namely bacteria. Due to their constitutive activity and solubility in detergent, bacterial NOXes, such as Streptococcus Pneumoniae NOX, have emerged as a model for studying NOXes. Past research studies in NOXes have identified conserved, putative interacting regions at the interface of the TM and DH domains: the TM B-loop, …

The Contribution Of The Pectoral Fins, Body, And The Ribbon Fin To Turning Maneuvers Of A Gymnotiform Swimmer, Olivia Hawkins

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Turning is an ecologically important maneuver in fishes as it is used in prey detection, predator avoidance, and to navigate complex environments. Fishes with traditional control surfaces primarily use body bending and pectoral fins to turn. However, little is known about how fishes with atypical control surfaces facilitate turning. This study investigated the weakly electric Black ghost knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons: Apteronotidae) with an atypical control surface, namely a ribbon fin. To investigate how a fish with an atypical control surface performs turning maneuvers, A. albifrons was filmed performing small and large turns and during steady swimming using high …