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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Assesment Of Antibiotic Resistant Gene Expression In Clinical Isolates Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Dustin Esmond Sep 2021

Assesment Of Antibiotic Resistant Gene Expression In Clinical Isolates Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Dustin Esmond

Biology Theses

Increasing prevalence of nosocomial infections by antimicrobial resistant pathogens resulting in higher mortality rates and financial burden is of great concern. Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents one of six highly virulent “ESKAPE” pathogens that exhibit considerable intrinsic drug resistance as well as mechanisms for acquiring further resistance. As many of these mechanisms are regulated through gene expression, we sought to identify regulatory strategies and patterns at play in 23 clinical isolates collected from Baku, Azerbaijan and Tyler, Texas, USA. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed on six gene targets implicated in resistance and contrasted with antibiotic phenotypes. We found AmpC cephalosporinase …


High-Spatial-Resolution Transcriptomic Map Of The Mouse Lymph Node Microenvironment Using Deterministic Barcoding, Archibald Enninful, Yang Liu, Rong Fan Aug 2021

High-Spatial-Resolution Transcriptomic Map Of The Mouse Lymph Node Microenvironment Using Deterministic Barcoding, Archibald Enninful, Yang Liu, Rong Fan

The Yale Undergraduate Research Journal

Spatial transcriptomics is an emerging approach which characterizes gene expression profiles for a more nuanced understanding of biological processes at a tissue level. This offers significant advantages over traditional omics which require the digestion of tissues and subsequent isolation of cells, during which the spatial information is completely lost. Lymph nodes are an integral part of the immune system and an in-depth analysis of its spatial organization will provide useful insights which can be applicable in the development of novel immunotherapies. In this study, the mouse lymph node is characterized using the newly developed microfluidic-based approach, Deterministic Barcoding in Tissue …


Elucidating The Evolution And Function Of Srnas That Facilitate Bacterial Stress Tolerance, Madeline Claire Krieger Jun 2021

Elucidating The Evolution And Function Of Srnas That Facilitate Bacterial Stress Tolerance, Madeline Claire Krieger

Dissertations and Theses

Non-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) are ubiquitous post-transcriptional regulators found in both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Despite their integral role in many regulatory pathways, including those that facilitate stress-tolerance, little is known about the evolutionary forces that drive the emergence of novel sRNAs, how prevalent sRNAs are within bacterial species, or the functions of a majority of these transcripts. In this work, I first describe the evolution of OxyS, a well-characterized sRNA in gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae that is involved in coordinating the bacterial response to oxidative stress. Next, I identify novel sRNAs differentially produced by the gram-positive oral pathogen Streptococcus mutans in …


The Brain Transcriptome Of The Wolf Spider, Schizocosa Ocreata, Daniel Stribling, Peter L. Chang, Justin E. Dalton, Christopher A. Conow, Malcolm Rosenthal, Eileen Hebets, Rita M. Graze, Michelle N. Arbeitman Jun 2021

The Brain Transcriptome Of The Wolf Spider, Schizocosa Ocreata, Daniel Stribling, Peter L. Chang, Justin E. Dalton, Christopher A. Conow, Malcolm Rosenthal, Eileen Hebets, Rita M. Graze, Michelle N. Arbeitman

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Arachnids have fascinating and unique biology, particularly for questions on sex differences and behavior, creating the potential for development of powerful emerging models in this group. Recent advances in genomic techniques have paved the way for a significant increase in the breadth of genomic studies in non-model organisms. One growing area of research is comparative transcriptomics. When phylogenetic relationships to model organisms are known, comparative genomic studies provide context for analysis of homologous genes and pathways. The goal of this study was to lay the groundwork for comparative transcriptomics of sex differences in the brain of wolf spiders, a …


The Role Of Med31 And Med12 In Directing Adipogenesis Of Human Adult-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Joseph Straub May 2021

The Role Of Med31 And Med12 In Directing Adipogenesis Of Human Adult-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Joseph Straub

Master's Theses

Selective gene expression is crucial in maintaining the self-renewing and multipotent properties of stem cells. Mediator is a large, evolutionarily conserved, multisubunit protein complex that modulates gene expression by relaying signals from cell type-specific transcription factors to RNA polymerase II. In humans, this complex consists of 30 subunits arranged in four modules: head, middle, tail, and kinase. In our introduction, we show the state of the field of Mediator study with a focus on the critical kinase module. In the following chapters, we used siRNA knockdowns to investigate the roles of the highly-conserved core subunit MED31 and the kinase module …


Differential Gene Expression In Starvation Selected Drosophila Melanogaster, Katherine Schultz May 2021

Differential Gene Expression In Starvation Selected Drosophila Melanogaster, Katherine Schultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Fruit flies that have been selected for starvation resistance can be used in experimental studies to study physiological processes. Both their genomes and their phenotypes, especially metabolism, change significantly as a result of artificial selection. Starvation selected flies develop slower and are larger due to higher lipid content as adults. We used RNAseq to study gene expression in third instar larval fat body tissue from selected and control lines at the same chronological time point, when the fed control (“FC”) lines were wandering, and the starvation selected (“SS”) lines were in the third larval instar but not yet wandering due …


The Role Of Med31 And Med12 In Directing Adipogenesis Of Human Adult-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Joseph Straub May 2021

The Role Of Med31 And Med12 In Directing Adipogenesis Of Human Adult-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Joseph Straub

Doctoral Dissertations

Selective gene expression is crucial in maintaining the self-renewing and multipotent properties of stem cells. Mediator is a large, evolutionarily conserved, multisubunit protein complex that modulates gene expression by relaying signals from cell type-specific transcription factors to RNA polymerase II. In humans, this complex consists of 30 subunits arranged in four modules: head, middle, tail, and kinase. In our introduction, we show the state of the field of Mediator study with a focus on the critical kinase module. In the following chapters, we used siRNA knockdowns to investigate the roles of the highly-conserved core subunit MED31 and the kinase module …


Transcriptome Prediction Performance Across Machine Learning Models And Diverse Ancestries, Paul Chukwuebuka Okoro, Ryan Schubert, Xiuqing Guo, W. Craig Johnson, Jerome I. Rotter, Ina Hoeschele, Yongmei Liu, Hae Kyung Im, Amy Luke, Lara R. Dugas, Heather Wheeler Apr 2021

Transcriptome Prediction Performance Across Machine Learning Models And Diverse Ancestries, Paul Chukwuebuka Okoro, Ryan Schubert, Xiuqing Guo, W. Craig Johnson, Jerome I. Rotter, Ina Hoeschele, Yongmei Liu, Hae Kyung Im, Amy Luke, Lara R. Dugas, Heather Wheeler

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Transcriptome prediction methods such as PrediXcan and FUSION have become popular in complex trait mapping. Most transcriptome prediction models have been trained in European populations using methods that make parametric linear assumptions like the elastic net (EN). To potentially further optimize imputation performance of gene expression across global populations, we built transcriptome prediction models using both linear and non-linear machine learning (ML) algorithms and evaluated their performance in comparison to EN. We trained models using genotype and blood monocyte transcriptome data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) comprising individuals of African, Hispanic, and European ancestries and tested them using …


Gene Expression Associated With Disease Resistance And Long-Term Growth In A Reef-Building Coral, Emma R. Kelley, Robin S. Sleith, Mikhail V. Matz, Rachel M. Wright Apr 2021

Gene Expression Associated With Disease Resistance And Long-Term Growth In A Reef-Building Coral, Emma R. Kelley, Robin S. Sleith, Mikhail V. Matz, Rachel M. Wright

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Rampant coral disease, exacerbated by climate change and other anthropogenic stressors, threatens reefs worldwide, especially in the Caribbean. Physically isolated yet genetically connected reefs such as Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) may serve as potential refugia for degraded Caribbean reefs. However, little is known about the mechanisms and trade-offs of pathogen resistance in reef-building corals. Here, we measure pathogen resistance in Montastraea cavernosa from FGBNMS. We identified individual colonies that demonstrated resistance or susceptibility to Vibrio spp. in a controlled laboratory environment. Long-term growth patterns suggest no trade-off between disease resistance and calcification. Predictive (pre-exposure) gene expression highlights …


Rna In Situ Hybridization For Detecting Gene Expression Patterns In The Abdomens And Wings Of Drosophila Species, Mujeeb Olushola Shittu, Tessa Steenwinkel, William Dion, Nathan Ostlund, Komal Raja, Thomas Werner Mar 2021

Rna In Situ Hybridization For Detecting Gene Expression Patterns In The Abdomens And Wings Of Drosophila Species, Mujeeb Olushola Shittu, Tessa Steenwinkel, William Dion, Nathan Ostlund, Komal Raja, Thomas Werner

Michigan Tech Publications

RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) is used to visualize spatio-temporal gene expression patterns with broad applications in biology and biomedicine. Here we provide a protocol for mRNA ISH in developing pupal wings and abdomens for model and non-model Drosophila species. We describe best practices in pupal staging, tissue preparation, probe design and synthesis, imaging of gene expression patterns, and image-editing techniques. This protocol has been successfully used to investigate the roles of genes underlying the evolution of novel color patterns in non-model Drosophila species.


Modulation Of Bacterial Fitness And Virulence Through Antisense Rnas, Jess A. Millar, Rahul Raghavan Feb 2021

Modulation Of Bacterial Fitness And Virulence Through Antisense Rnas, Jess A. Millar, Rahul Raghavan

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Regulatory RNAs contribute to gene expression control in bacteria. Antisense RNAs (asRNA) are a class of regulatory RNAs that are transcribed from opposite strands of their target genes. Typically, these untranslated transcripts bind to cognate mRNAs and rapidly regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In this article, we review asRNAs that modulate bacterial fitness and increase virulence. We chose examples that underscore the variety observed in nature including, plasmid- and chromosome-encoded asRNAs, a riboswitch-regulated as RNA, and as RNAs that require other RNAs or RNA binding proteins for stability and activity. We explore how as RNAs improve bacterial fitness …


Intragenic Dna Methylation Regulates Insect Gene Expression And Reproduction Through The Mbd/Tip60 Complex, Guanfeng Xu, Hao Lyu, Yangqin Yi, Yuling Peng, Qili Feng, Qisheng Song, Chengcheng Gong, Xuezhen Peng, Subba Reddy Palli, Sichun Zheng Jan 2021

Intragenic Dna Methylation Regulates Insect Gene Expression And Reproduction Through The Mbd/Tip60 Complex, Guanfeng Xu, Hao Lyu, Yangqin Yi, Yuling Peng, Qili Feng, Qisheng Song, Chengcheng Gong, Xuezhen Peng, Subba Reddy Palli, Sichun Zheng

Entomology Faculty Publications

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification. However, the regulations and functions of insect intragenic DNA methylation remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that a regulatory mechanism involving intragenic DNA methylation controls ovarian and embryonic developmental processes in Bombyx mori. In B. mori, DNA methylation is found near the transcription start site (TSS) of ovarian genes. By promoter activity analysis, we observed that 5′ UTR methylation enhances gene expression. Moreover, methyl-DNA-binding domain protein 2/3 (MBD2/3) binds to the intragenic methyl-CpG fragment and recruits acetyltransferase Tip60 to promote histone H3K27 acetylation and gene expression. Additionally, genome-wide analyses showed that the peak …


Disruption Of Cellular P-Bodies During An Adenovirus Infection​, La`Quita Randolph, Kevin Neubrecht, Kasey A. Karen Jan 2021

Disruption Of Cellular P-Bodies During An Adenovirus Infection​, La`Quita Randolph, Kevin Neubrecht, Kasey A. Karen

Graduate Research Showcase

Adenovirus has made major contributions in medicine by serving as a model DNA virus to study other viruses, such as human papillomavirus (HPV). Adenoviruses are a diverse family of nonenveloped, double-stranded DNA viruses that are ubiquitous to animals and humans. There are over 67 serotypes of human adenoviruses that can cause a variety of illnesses including, gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis and respiratory infections. Adenovirus can cause these infections by invading host cells and producing an environment that is favorable for viral replication. During the early phases of infection, adenovirus expresses various viral proteins such as E4 11k, which has multiple functions. One …


Mapping Genetic Variants Associated With Dynamic Protein Abundance In Haploid Yeast, Tanner Thuet-Davenport Jan 2021

Mapping Genetic Variants Associated With Dynamic Protein Abundance In Haploid Yeast, Tanner Thuet-Davenport

WWU Graduate School Collection

As organisms respond to changes in their environment genetic variation between individuals can directly affect organismal trait phenotypes by altering gene expression. Historically, studies have focused on the effect of genetic variation on mRNA synthesis (transcription) and decay rates. Relatively few studies have probed the relationship between DNA variants and protein-specific regulation of individual genes, despite the plethora of evidence that RNA levels are often poor proxies for protein levels. No study to date has mapped genetic variation associated with dynamic protein levels. In this study we investigated the location and identity of genetic variants acting on protein expression dynamics …


Targeting The Tumor Stroma: Integrative Analysis Reveal Gata2 And Toryaip1 As Novel Prognostic Targets In Breast And Ovarian Cancer, Ömer Faruk Erceylan, Ayşe Savaş, Esra Göv Jan 2021

Targeting The Tumor Stroma: Integrative Analysis Reveal Gata2 And Toryaip1 As Novel Prognostic Targets In Breast And Ovarian Cancer, Ömer Faruk Erceylan, Ayşe Savaş, Esra Göv

Turkish Journal of Biology

Tumor stroma interaction is known to take a crucial role in cancer growth and progression. In the present study, it was performed gene expression analysis of stroma samples with ovarian and breast cancer through an integrative analysis framework to identify common critical biomolecules at multiomics levels. Gene expression datasets were statistically analyzed to identify common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by comparing tumor stroma and normal stroma samples. The integrative analyses of DEGs indicated that there were 59 common core genes, which might be feasible to be potential marks for cancer stroma targeted strategies. Reporter molecules (i.e. receptor, transcription factors and …


Identification Of Ires Activity In Cellular Mrnas And Viral Rna Using A Circular Rna Construct, Priyanka Sehta Jan 2021

Identification Of Ires Activity In Cellular Mrnas And Viral Rna Using A Circular Rna Construct, Priyanka Sehta

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Translation initiation is a critical step in the process of protein synthesis. The canonical way of translation initiation involves ribosomes being recruited to the 7-methyl guanosine cap present at the 5’end of the untranslated region (5’ UTR) of the RNAs. However, viral RNAs and some cellular mRNAs lack this 5’ cap structure and thus deploy an alternate non-canonical translation initiation mechanism. In non-canonical translation initiation, ribosome recruitment is facilitated by the RNA secondary structures called Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) present most often in the 5’ UTR. To measure IRES-mediated translation, the dual luciferase assay has been the gold standard. …


Fast And Pervasive Transcriptomic Resilience And Acclimation Of Extremely Heat-Tolerant Coral Holobionts From The Northern Red Sea, Romain Savary, Daniel J. Barshis, Christian R. Voolstra, Anny Cárdenas, Nicolas R. Evensen, Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Maoz Fine, Anders Meiborn Jan 2021

Fast And Pervasive Transcriptomic Resilience And Acclimation Of Extremely Heat-Tolerant Coral Holobionts From The Northern Red Sea, Romain Savary, Daniel J. Barshis, Christian R. Voolstra, Anny Cárdenas, Nicolas R. Evensen, Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Maoz Fine, Anders Meiborn

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Corals from the northern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba exhibit extreme thermal tolerance. To examine the underlying gene expression dynamics, we exposed Stylophora pistillata from the Gulf of Aqaba to short-term (hours) and long-term (weeks) heat stress with peak seawater temperatures ranging from their maximum monthly mean of 27 °C (baseline) to 29.5 °C, 32 °C, and 34.5 °C. Corals were sampled at the end of the heat stress as well as after a recovery period at baseline temperature. Changes in coral host and symbiotic algal gene expression were determined via RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq). Shifts in coral microbiome composition were …