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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

The Antimicrobial Resistance Plasmid Mobilome Of Salmonella Enterica And Related Enteric Species And Factors That Influence The Transfer Efficiency., Suad Algarni Dec 2022

The Antimicrobial Resistance Plasmid Mobilome Of Salmonella Enterica And Related Enteric Species And Factors That Influence The Transfer Efficiency., Suad Algarni

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dynamic distribution of antimicrobial resistance genes in Salmonella enterica is considered a public health risk. S. enterica is one of the most important etiological agents of foodborne illness and has a critical impact on global human health. In S. enterica and related species, mobile genetic elements (MGEs) serve as primary vehicles for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes in the bacterial evolution. This dissemination can be impacted by different selective pressures that leads to diverse antibiotic response phenotypes. This project focusses on the dynamics of antimicrobial resistance genes, particularly exploring the transfer efficiency of multidrug resistance plasmids in S. …


Comparative Genomics And Virulence Studies Of Streptomyces Soil Rot And Scab Pathogen Species, Natasha Soares Aug 2022

Comparative Genomics And Virulence Studies Of Streptomyces Soil Rot And Scab Pathogen Species, Natasha Soares

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Comparative genomic analyses were performed to gain insights into the organization and content of the genome of Streptomyces ipomoeae, the soil rot pathogen that infects sweetpotatoes. Unlike Streptomyces scab pathogens, the thaxtomin phytotoxin gene cluster (txt) in S. ipomoeae does not appear to reside within a genomic island and has diverged from its scab pathogen counterparts. Increased usage of the rare TTA codon, particularly for the txt cluster, suggests greater translational control by the bldA tRNA in S. ipomoeae. Orthologous gene searches and secondary metabolite profiling yielded ortholog groups and metabolite gene clusters that were exclusive …


Identification And Characterization Of Genetic Elements That Regulate A C-Di-Gmp Mediated Multicellular Trait In Pseudomonas Fluorescens, Collin Kessler Aug 2022

Identification And Characterization Of Genetic Elements That Regulate A C-Di-Gmp Mediated Multicellular Trait In Pseudomonas Fluorescens, Collin Kessler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microbial communities contain densely packed cells where competition for space and resources are fierce. These communities are generally referred to as biofilms and provide advantages to individual cells against immunological and antimicrobial intervention, dehydration, and predation. High intracellular pools of cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP) cause cells to aggregate during biofilm formation through the production of diverse extracellular polymers. Genes that encode c-di-GMP catalytic enzymes are commonly mutated during chronic infections where opportunists display enhanced resistance to phagocytosis and antibiotics. Our lab uses an emergent multicellular trait in the model organism Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 to study the emergence of c-di-GMP mutations …


Characterization Of Genetic Pathways Involved In Resistance To A Novel Antifungal Peptide, Kayla L. Haberman Aug 2022

Characterization Of Genetic Pathways Involved In Resistance To A Novel Antifungal Peptide, Kayla L. Haberman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotic resistance is increasing prevalence, particularly in Candida glabrata. This opportunistic pathogen is closely phylogenetically related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae; however, its characterization is limited. C. glabrata is only second to Candida albicans as a fungal pathogen in immunocompromised patients. Commonly resistant to azoles, the most common fungal therapy, it has become costly and challenging to treat. A histatin 5 derived antifungal peptide, KM29, has a high degree of efficacy in Candida species and S. cerevisiae. The objective of this work is to advance our understanding of the mechanism of action of KM29 against C. glabrata. Previous work in the lab …


Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis In Broilers: Genomics, Phylogenomics, And Methods To Detect Specific Pathogens During Outbreaks., Abdulkarim Abdulaziz A. Shwani Aug 2022

Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis In Broilers: Genomics, Phylogenomics, And Methods To Detect Specific Pathogens During Outbreaks., Abdulkarim Abdulaziz A. Shwani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lameness is a major issue in animal welfare and the broiler industry. Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) is one of the main causes of lameness. Many staphylococcal species, including Staphylococcus agnetis isolate 908, have been isolated from the bones and blood of lame broilers at the University of Arkansas. Staphylococcus agnetis is a coagulase-variable, Gram-positive bacterial species that has been previously associated with subclinical or mild clinical cases of mastitis in dairy cattle. The annotated complete genome of hypervirulent strain 908 was published at NCBI. In this study, it has been compared to nine genomes we assembled for hypervirulent isolates …


Mechanisms By Which Xenorhabdus Nematophila Interacts With Hosts Using Integrated -Omics Approaches, Nicholas C. Mucci May 2022

Mechanisms By Which Xenorhabdus Nematophila Interacts With Hosts Using Integrated -Omics Approaches, Nicholas C. Mucci

Doctoral Dissertations

Nearly all organisms exist in proximity to microbes. These microbes perform most of the essential metabolic processes necessary for homeostasis, forming the nearly hidden support system of Earth. Microbial symbiosis, which is defined as the long-term physical association between host and microbes, relies on communication between the microbial community and their host organism. These interactions among higher order organisms (such as animals, plants, and fungi) and their bacteria links metabolic processes between interkingdom consortia. Many questions on microbial behavior within a host remain poorly understood, such as the colonization efficiency among different microbial species, or how environmental context changes their …


Screening For Binding Partners And Protein-Protein Interactions Of A Fungal Transcription Factor- Xdr1, Nishadi Punsara Gallala Gamage Mar 2022

Screening For Binding Partners And Protein-Protein Interactions Of A Fungal Transcription Factor- Xdr1, Nishadi Punsara Gallala Gamage

Masters Theses

Clarireedia spp. (formerly Sclerotinia homoeocarpaF.T. Bennett) is the causal agent dollar spot, the most economically important turfgrass disease impacting golf courses in North America. The most effective strategy for dollar spot control is repeated application of multiple classes of fungicides. However, reliance on chemical application has led to resistance to four classes of fungicides as well as multidrug resistance (MDR). Fungi are known to detoxify xenobiotics, like fungicides, through transcriptional regulation of three detoxification phases: modification, conjugation and secretion. Little is known, however, of the protein-protein interactions that facilitate these pathways. Following next-generation RNA sequencing of Clarireedia spp., a …


A Multidisciplinary Characterization Of The Enzymology And Biology Of Reversible Glucan Phosphorylation In Toxoplasma Gondii , Robert Murphy Jan 2022

A Multidisciplinary Characterization Of The Enzymology And Biology Of Reversible Glucan Phosphorylation In Toxoplasma Gondii , Robert Murphy

Theses and Dissertations--Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic, protozoan parasite of all warm-blooded animals, infecting roughly one-third of humans worldwide. Humans acquire infections by consuming T. gondii tissue cysts in undercooked meat or from oocysts shed in cat feces. Encysted parasites convert into rapidly growing tachyzoites that disseminate throughout the body, defining the acute phase of infection. Under host immune pressure, tachyzoites convert into bradyzoites that populate tissue cysts found in CNS or muscle tissue and persist for the lifetime of the host, defining the chronic phase of infection. Tissue cysts are responsible for transmission via carnivory, but also possess the ability to …