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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Evolution And Selection: From Suppression Of Metabolic Deficiencies To Bacteriophage Host Range And Resistance, Daniel Kurt Arens Apr 2021

Evolution And Selection: From Suppression Of Metabolic Deficiencies To Bacteriophage Host Range And Resistance, Daniel Kurt Arens

Theses and Dissertations

The evolution and adaptation of microorganisms is so rapid it can be seen in the time frame of days. The root cause for their evolution comes from selective environmental pressures that see organisms with beneficial mutations survive otherwise deadly encounters or outperform members of its population who fail to adapt. This does not always result in strict improvement of the individual as in the case of antibiotic resistant bacteria who often display fitness tradeoffs to avoid death (see Reviews [1-3]). For example, when an ampicillin resistance gene (ampC) containing plasmid that is occasionally found in the wild was transformed into …


Isolation, Genetic Characterization And Clinical Application Of Bacteriophages Of Pathogenic Bacterial Species, Trever Leon Thurgood Jul 2019

Isolation, Genetic Characterization And Clinical Application Of Bacteriophages Of Pathogenic Bacterial Species, Trever Leon Thurgood

Theses and Dissertations

Bacteriophages (phages) are the smallest biological entity on the planet. They provide vast amounts of valuable knowledge to biologists. Phage genomes are relatively simple compared to the organisms they infect (prokaryotes) and yet continually point to the complexity surrounding molecular- and microbiological mechanisms of life. By studying phages we can learn of the systems of gene expression, protein interaction and DNA organization. Phages are useful not only from an academic perspective, but may also have useful clinical applications. In the face of the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial “super pathogens”, scientists and researchers turn to phages as alternative treatments to these …


Further Understanding Of Bacteriophages That Infect The Bacterial Family Enterobacteriaceae, Paul Flake Mar 2019

Further Understanding Of Bacteriophages That Infect The Bacterial Family Enterobacteriaceae, Paul Flake

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite the eclectic nature of bacteriophage genomes, nucleotide comparison is an effective method for grouping phages into cluster and subcluster classifications. This process is facilitated by making preliminary cluster assignations based on the identity of the major capsid protein. As more phages continue to be sequenced and integrated into cluster/subcluster groupings, adjustments may need to be made to the genomic similarity percentages that have previously defined cluster/subcluster classifications. Implementing proteomic comparison in addition to nucleotide homology may provide added clarity to this process. Protein conservation and diversity among lytic phages that infect the bacterial family Enterobacteriaceae is discussed and the …


Combating Obesity Through Gut Microbiome Targeted Bacteriophage Therapy, Jeffrey Gongze Zhao, Laura C. Bridgewater Mar 2017

Combating Obesity Through Gut Microbiome Targeted Bacteriophage Therapy, Jeffrey Gongze Zhao, Laura C. Bridgewater

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2017

Obesity has become a serious health issue in the world (Ogden 2012), and its correlation to the human gut microbiota has been studied extensively since 2007 (Cani 2007). In 2013, researchers identified Enterobacter cloacae B29 from an obese patient’s gut and demonstrated its causal relationship to the host’s obese symptoms( Fei & Zhao 2013). However, there have not been many methods developed to alleviate obesity symptoms through eliminating pathogenic endotoxin-producing bacteria (such as E. cloacae B29), from the host’s gut flora. In this research, I propose a new strategy for treating obesity by using gut microbiome targeted bacteriophage therapy. …