Molecular Biology Commons^™

Targeting Mycobacterial Efflux System For Combating Anti-Microbial Resistance, Arathi Radhakrishnan, Raj Kishor Kapardar, Rajpal Srivastav

Research Symposium

Background: The drug resistance in the microbes is a serious concern in medicine. Along with intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors like unprescribed usage of drugs are the contributing factors. The drug tolerance has led to the emergence of superbugs. Mycobacterial species utilize an array of multidrug efflux mechanisms linked to intrinsic and acquired antibiotic resistance. Understanding molecular mechanisms regulating efflux could reveal new therapeutic targets and strategies. Our study is aimed to target regulators of efflux Mycobacterial transporter.

Methods: Using the reference mycobacterial strain, antibiotic sensitivity was first profiled by minimal inhibitory concentration assays across a panel of antimicrobials, followed by …

Microbial Diversity And Community Structure In Sediments Associated With The Seagrass (Thallassia Testudinum) In Apalachicola Bay, Florida, Rahma Ahmed, Thomas Mcelroy, Troy Mutchler

Symposium of Student Scholars

Seagrass is an angiosperm which provides many ecosystem services in coastal areas, such as providing food, shelter and nurseries for many species, and decreasing the impact of waves on shorelines. A global assessment reported that 29% of known seagrass meadows are in a state of decline due to the effects of human activity. Seagrass is commonly found in shallow marine waters where they form meadows containing a microbiome that plays an important role in providing nutrients for seagrass growth, though little is known about the microorganisms within the seagrass meadow sediments. Our project collected sediments from seagrass meadows and adjacent …

A Novel Approach For Characterizing The Ultra-Micro Size-Fraction Community, Abdullah Ahmed Salim, Priscilla Nicole Pineda, Isabella Alamilla, Andrew Dean Putt

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

A Novel Approach for Characterizing the Ultra-Micro Size-Fraction Community

Students: Abdullah Salim, Priscilla Pineda, Isabella Alamilla

Mentors/Supervisors: Andrew Putt, Terry C. Hazen

ABSTRACT

The ultra-micro size-fraction (UMSF) are bacteria that can pass through the 0.2 µm pore membrane filters employed in environmental surveys. Despite being ubiquitous and having high metabolic activity, UMSF remain elusive and largely uncultured. Investigations of UMSF are skewed by difficulties in culturing and a lack of techniques for measuring UMSF biogeochemical signatures. This study measures surface stream UMSF community diversity, and community response to the addition of the synthetic pharmaceutical and cosmetic carbon product cyclodextrin which …

Improving Biomanufacturing Production With Novel Elp-Based Transcriptional Regulators, Juya Jeon, Logan R. Readnour, Kevin V. Solomon

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Microbes can be used to produce valuable drugs, chemicals, and biofuels, but their potential has not been fully realized due to low production yields. To improve biomanufacturing processes and yield, we are developing novel, transcriptional regulators using biosynthesis technology in order to improve cellular health and overall production. Our regulator contains elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs), which make ideal sensors since they exhibit a sharp, inverse phase transition to indicators of cell health such as intracellular pH and ionic strength, and external stimuli such as temperature. We hypothesize that ELP can be fused to transcription factors to control expression of target genes. …

The Effects Of Inulin And Galactooligosaccharides On The Production Of Reuterin By Lactobacillus Reuteri, Micah Forshee

Scholar Week 2016 - present

The microbiome is a dynamic community that can positively and negatively influence host health. Lactobacillus reuteri is a probiotic that has received much attention for its ability to inhibit pathogens such as Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Clostridium difficile. It does so by its unique ability to metabolize glycerol into the antimicrobial compound 3-HPA, which is commonly referred to as reuterin. The ability to secrete reuterin is dependent not only on glycerol availability but also the concentration of glucose. In fact, there appears to be a “goldilocks” ratio between glucose and glycerol as either too much or too …

Functional Characteristics And Genomic Sequencing Of Antarctic Environmental Isolates, Amanda Kemper, Christina Aigner, Michelle Tigges, Sara Anderson

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Doxycycline Resistance In Plasmodium Falciparum Linked To Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms In The Plasmodium Falciparum Apicoplast Small Subunit Ribosomal Rna (Pfssrrna) Gene, Amanda Wasko

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

Plasmodium falciparum, a protozoan parasite known as malaria, widely impacts human health; thus antimalarial drug investigations are critical. Doxycycline is a commonly used antimalarial prophylactic, but its mechanism of action is unclear. In prokaryotes, doxycycline works as an antibacterial by disrupting protein translation via the small subunit ribosome. Interestingly, P. falciparum has a small subunit ribosome of prokaryotic origins in the apicoplast, a plastid-like organelle. Therefore, we hypothesized that doxycycline works in P. falciparum by inhibiting protein synthesis via the small subunit ribosomal RNA and that mutations in the gene encoding the P. falciparum apicoplast small subunit ribosomal RNA …

A Novel Synthetic Yeast For Enzymatic Biodigester Pretreatment, Tianyu Tan, Mark S. Aronson, Arren Liu, Jill H. Osterhus, Melissa Robins, Suraj Mohan, Erich Leazer, Bowman Clark, Alexa Petrucciani, Katherine Lowery, James Welch, Casey Martin, Helena Lysandrou, Michael E. Scharf, Jenna Rickus

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Lignin, a complex organic polymer, is a major roadblock to the efficiency of biofuel conversion as it both physically blocks carbohydrate substrates and poisons biomass degrading enzymes, even if broken down to monomer units. A pretreatment process is often applied to separate the lignin from biomass prior to biofuel conversion. However, contemporary methods of pretreatment require large amounts of energy, which may be economically uncompelling or unfeasible. Taking inspiration from several genes that have been isolated from termites and fungi which translate to enzymes that degrade lignin, we want to establish a novel “enzymatic pretreatment” system where microbes secrete these …

Preliminary Report On The Production Of A Shiga-Like Toxoid Fusion Protein As Associated With Novel Flic Vaccine, Michael Maulin

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Investigating Mitochondrial Protein Trafficking In Crithidia Fasciculata, Jeremiah Arnold

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Modifying Commercially Available Vectors For Expression Of Standardized Igem Biobricks, Merhawi T. Yigzaw, Dafna Lapido, Holly M. Bowman

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Dna Secondary Structures And Their Contribution To Mutagenesis In B. Subtilis Stationary Phase Cells, Carmen Vallin, Holly Martin, Christian Ross, Ronald Yasbin, Eduardo Robleto

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

It is widely known and accepted that the cause of many mutations in cells are generated during the replication process of actively dividing cells, however more recent research has shown that mutations also arise in non growing conditions, a phenomenon known as stationary phase mutagenesis. Much of what is known come from studies in eukaryotic and bacterial models. It has been proposed that in non~growing cells, the process of transcription plays an important role in mutagenesis. We test the hypothesis that DNA secondary structures, formed during transcription, promote mutagenesis. The transcription-generated structures are speculated to be prone to mutations by …

Inactivation Of Spo0a Gene Increases Stationary Phase Mutagenesis In Bacillus Subtilis, Denisse Reyes, Amanda Prisbrey, Holly Martin, Eduardo Robleto

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Stationary phase mutagenesis occurs when a population of cells acquires mutations conferring escape from nongrowing or stress conditions. This type of mutations is observed in nutritionally starved cells. Because the mutations occur after the onset of stress and in cells that are in non-replicative conditions, elucidating the underlying mechanisms contributes novel views to the process of evolution and apply to the formation of cancer in human cells and antibiotic resistance in microbial pathogens. Studies have shown that in Bacillus subtilis, the Mfd protein which is a transcription repair coupling factor is necessary for this phenomenon to occur. Here, we investigate …

Synthesis Of Chimeric Receptors Essential For Spore Germination, Christopher Yip, Christian Ross, Eduardo Robleto, Ernesto Abel-Santos

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Various species of bacteria have been reported to form an endospore, a metabolically dormant cell, during times of nutrient deficiencies and extreme stress. These said structures are outstandingly resistant to harsh chemicals, extreme temperatures, and can revert back to a metabolically active cell, through a process known as germination, when the necessary conditions are met. The rigid membrane of the endospore contains various germination (Ger) receptors which sense the external environment for necessary metabolites and germinants. Ger receptors are encoded by tricistronic operons that produce three distinct membrane proteins, the A, B, and C subunits. Although the function of the …

Regulation Of The Shigella Flexneri Icsp Gene And H-Ns Dependent Repression, Rosa Ojeda, Amanda Wigley, Dustin Harrison, Helen Wing

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

The gram negative bacterium Shigella flexneri is known to cause dysentery in humans and primates. In order to help prevent the spread of shigellosis, gene regulation must be understood. Studies show that the virulence genes in S .flexneri are thermo regulated. At 30°C histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) represses transcription of virulence genes and at 37°C VirB derepresses virulence genes. One of the genes that contribute to the virulence of S. flexneri is icsP. My project focuses on the regulation of the S. flexneri icsP gene and has two main goals. The first is to identify the sequence of H-NS …

Identification Of Nitrifying Bacteria Contained In A Commercial Inoculant Using Molecular Biology Techniques, Anthony Harrington, John Perry, Penny S. Amy

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Nitrifying bacteria play an important role in aquatic and terrestrial environments through the nitrogen cycle. Nitrification, one of the processes of the nitrogen cycle, refers to the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate. This process requires two types of chemoautotrophic bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). These bacteria are essential in maintaining an optimal environment for plants and aquatic organisms, such as fish. Current applications of nitrifiers include: inoculants for aquariums, biofertilizers, and nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment plants. This study wants to identify a consortium of nitrifers that can be used to produce sufficient nitrate for plants in …