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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Influence Of G4 Dna Structures On Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, Tatiana Ermi May 2020

The Influence Of G4 Dna Structures On Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, Tatiana Ermi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Until the late 1980’s it was widely understood that bacterial variance emerges randomly during growth. Research that followed has convincingly shown evidence for mutations arising in non-growing conditions, a phenomenon known as stationary-phase mutagenesis. In Bacillus subtilis, an elegant mutagenic mechanism has been elucidated in non-growing cells that biases mutations to transcribed regions of a subpopulation. One interesting possibility is that mutations can be further biased to hotspots within genes through alternate DNA structures known as non-B DNA. Non-B DNA have been linked to genomic instability and disease in humans, lesser is known about its role in bacteria. Here we …


Beneficial Endophytic Bacterial Populations Associated With Medicinal Plant Thymus Vulgaris Alleviate Salt Stress And Confer Resistance To Fusarium Oxysporum, Osama Aballa Abdelshafy Mohamad, Jin-Bao Ma, Yong-Hong Liu, Daoyuan Zhang, Shao Hua, Shirkant Bhute, Brian P. Hedlund, Wen-Jun Li, Li Li Feb 2020

Beneficial Endophytic Bacterial Populations Associated With Medicinal Plant Thymus Vulgaris Alleviate Salt Stress And Confer Resistance To Fusarium Oxysporum, Osama Aballa Abdelshafy Mohamad, Jin-Bao Ma, Yong-Hong Liu, Daoyuan Zhang, Shao Hua, Shirkant Bhute, Brian P. Hedlund, Wen-Jun Li, Li Li

Life Sciences Faculty Research

As a result of climate change, salinity has become a major abiotic stress that reduces plant growth and crop productivity worldwide. A variety of endophytic bacteria alleviate salt stress; however, their ecology and biotechnological potential has not been fully realized. To address this gap, a collection of 117 endophytic bacteria were isolated from wild populations of the herb Thymus vulgaris in Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah of North Sinai Province, Egypt, and identified based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences. The endophytes were highly diverse, including 17 genera and 30 species. The number of bacterial species obtained from root tissues was …


Development Of The K-State (Competence) And Mutagenesis In Stressed Bacillus Subtillis Cells, Amanda Kidman Dec 2016

Development Of The K-State (Competence) And Mutagenesis In Stressed Bacillus Subtillis Cells, Amanda Kidman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mutagenesis is central to the evolutionary process. We currently view evolution as a gradual process affecting all cells within a population. However, my project studied an underestimated part of the evolutionary process: mutations generated during stationary phase (caused by nutritional stress or growth arrest) within a subpopulation of cells. I used Bacillus subtilis, a bacterial model for cell growth and differentiation. Stationary-phase cultures of B. subtilis differentiate subpopulations that exhibit different survival strategies including competence, secondary metabolite production, biofilm formation, cannibalism, and endospore formation. The development of competence permits cells to uptake exogenous DNA and incorporate it into their genome. …


The Role Of Mfd In Stationary-Phase Oxidative Damage Repair In Bacillus Subtilis, Katelyn E. Porter Aug 2016

The Role Of Mfd In Stationary-Phase Oxidative Damage Repair In Bacillus Subtilis, Katelyn E. Porter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the 1950’s it has been shown that bacterial cells accumulate mutations even in non- dividing conditions, but how this type of mutation occurs is still highly debated. In Bacillus subtilis, Mfd, a precursor of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) system, mediates the formation of mutations in stationary-phase or non-replicating cells. In growing cells, Mfd recruits repair when RNA polymerase is stalled during transcription; it then recruits proteins from NER to repair damage. Here, we examine the hypothesis that Mfd mediates the formation of mutations by interacting with cellular components that repair reactive oxygen species (ROS), a natural byproduct of …


The Role Of Transcription In Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, Holly Anne Martin Apr 2010

The Role Of Transcription In Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, Holly Anne Martin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Stationary phase mutagenesis, also known as stress-induced or adaptive mutagenesis, is defined as the accumulation of mutations during conditions of no net growth or conditions of stress. This process has been implicated in acquiring antibiotic resistance and evasion of host immune responses in microbial pathogens and in the generation of mutations that lead to neoplasia in animal cells. Previous work has shown that defects in DNA synthesis and repair systems contribute to the formation of adaptive mutations; however the role of transcription in the accumulation of mutations is still being examined. It is speculated that transcriptional derepression leads to an …


The Role Of Rpoe In Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus, Turquoise C. Alexander, Eduardo A. Robleto Aug 2009

The Role Of Rpoe In Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus, Turquoise C. Alexander, Eduardo A. Robleto

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Stationary phase mutagenesis is a phenomenon whereby random mutations are generated in non-dividing cells. In order to understand how these mutations arise, we use Bacillus subtilis, a gram positive rod-shaped model organism. It is hypothesize that increased transcription promotes stationary phase mutagenesis in this organism. We therefore examined the role of rpoE, a gene that encodes RNA polymerase ! subunit and proposed to influence efficiency of transcription. To this end, we will first generate a strain bearing a deletion in the rpoE gene. In order to determine if this gene is important for mutagenesis, we will examine the accumulation of …


The Role Of Recn In Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, Lauren E. Johnson, Katherine R. Ona, Eduardo A. Robleto, Ronald E. Yasbin Aug 2009

The Role Of Recn In Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, Lauren E. Johnson, Katherine R. Ona, Eduardo A. Robleto, Ronald E. Yasbin

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Here, we examine mutagenic programs that are independent of growth, such aspects of the evolutionary process are novel and have been implicated in the formation of cancers in animal cells and the acquisition of antibiotic resistance in animal pathogens. Adaptive or stationary phase mutagenesis is a genetic program to in increase diversity in cells under conditions of stress whereby cells escape non-dividing conditions. Previous research has shown that recombination functions are required to generate mutations that promote growth in Escherichia coli cells starved for carbon. This project tests the hypothesis that recombination functions are required for the generation of mutations …


The Effect Of Cody On Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, May Yared, Holly Martin, Eduardo A. Robleto, Ronald E. Yasbin Aug 2008

The Effect Of Cody On Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, May Yared, Holly Martin, Eduardo A. Robleto, Ronald E. Yasbin

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

We examine the notion that cells in conditions of stress accumulate mutation is in genes under selection via transcription processes. CodY is a global transcriptional regulator in many Gram positives, including soil and pathogenic microbes. In conditions of exponential growth and when branch chain amino acids and GTP are in abundance CodY acts as a transcriptional repressor of many metabolic operons. This transitional repression saves the cell energy and allows efficient use of resources. In conditions of starvation, CodY relieves repression of genes involved in acquisition of nutrients and degradation of carbon sources (genes under selection). Here, we compare the …