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Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology
Mechanisms Of Stress Survival In Gram Positive Bacterial Pathogens, Asia Poudel
Mechanisms Of Stress Survival In Gram Positive Bacterial Pathogens, Asia Poudel
Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations
Anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria are not a well-characterized group but include many human pathogens that are resilient against stresses caused by the human immune system or by antibiotic treatment. This dissertation investigated the survival mechanisms of two clinically relevant Gram-positive organisms, Clostridioides difficile and Cutibacterium acnes under extracellular stresses. The response of the opportunistic skin pathogen Cutibacterium acnes to nanosecond electric pulses is characterized and found that growth in a biofilm, which usually protects bacteria from stress, renders this species more killable by this treatment. In addition, the stringent response (SR), a conserved bacterial stress survival mechanism, is studied in the …
Evaluating The Role Of The Stringent Response Mechanism In Clostridioides Difficile Survival And Pathogenesis, Astha Pokhrel
Evaluating The Role Of The Stringent Response Mechanism In Clostridioides Difficile Survival And Pathogenesis, Astha Pokhrel
Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations
The human pathogen Clostridioides difficile is increasingly tolerant of multiple antibiotics and causes infections with a high rate of recurrence, creating an urgent need for new preventive and therapeutic strategies. The stringent response, a universal bacterial response to extracellular stresses, governs antibiotic survival and pathogenesis in diverse organisms but has not previously been characterized in C. difficile. This dissertation explores the ability of C. difficile to mount the stringent response. The bacteria encode a full-length, canonical bifunctional Rel/Spo Homolog or RSH enzyme. C. difficile RSH is incapable of utilizing GTP as a substrate but readily synthesizes putative 5’-pGpp-3’ alarmones. …