Microbiology Commons^™

Galleria Mellonella As An Alternate Infection Model For Burkholderia Species And A Comparison Of Suspension And Surface Test Methods For Evaluating Sporicidal Efficacy, Joseph D. Thiriot

Theses and Dissertations

Melioidosis is a neglected tropical disease that continues unabated in many countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. There is no vaccine and antimicrobial treatment is expensive and complicated. Virulence models are important tools used to investigate genes involved in pathogenesis. Galleria mellonella is the larvae of the wax worm moth that has been used to model various infections. Based on previous studies, we attempted to establish an infection model using Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia thailandensis, a related species which is avirulent in humans. Injections of various forms of these species (fresh and frozen) were used to develop Kaplan-Meier plots. We …

The Antimicrobial Properties Of Honey And Their Effect On Pathogenic Bacteria, Shreena Himanshu Mody

Theses and Dissertations

Honey has been used to heal wounds since ancient times. There are many references in ancient literature that cite honey for its medicinal uses. It is used as an alternative agent to cure infections of wounds, burns, ulcers etc. Researchers have shown some of the antimicrobial properties of honey when used as an ointment. When applied to an affected area, it helps to promote the growth of healthy tissue. One of the factors on which the quality of the honey depends, is its geographical origin. Based on the location, honey types can vary as much as 100-fold from each other …

Preservation Of Oncorhynchus Clarkii By Comparison Of Biomarkers, Chase Paulson, Dr. R. Paul Evans

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project is to analyze biomarkers present in cutthroat and cutbow (a mixture of cutthroat and rainbow trout) trout of the Payson Hatchery compared to typical cutthroat and rainbow markers to better understand if cutthroat trout are being preserved locally and in the Western United States.

The Effect Of The Overexpression Of Irf% In B-Cells On Inflammatory And Co-Stimulatory Activity, Reika Takita, Brian Poole

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory tissue damage inflicted by the body's rogue immune system (1). Although treatment is available for the disease, the pathogenesis of SLE remains unclear (2). However, researchers suspect the disease to be associated with environmental, genetic, and hormonal factors (1).

Antibiotic Resistance In Staphylococcus Aureus From Commercially Available Meat, Samuel Schriever, Bradford Berges

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Bacteria can be found everywhere. While some bacteria can help humans to make medicine and clean up environmental disasters, other bacteria can cause horrible disease. After the discovery of antibiotics in the early twentieth century humans have been using them to treat human and animal disease. At first antibiotics very effective at clearing bacterial infections. Bacteria that were able to survive the antibiotics were able to spread and become more common. Bacteria have the ability to share genes and those genes are very favorable for the bacteria that have them. Today, animals are given more antibiotics than humans are. This …

Engineering A Cancer Specific 3rd Generation Car Immunotherapy, Josie Tueller, K. Scott Weber

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project aimed to develop a cancer-specific immunotherapy that will target and destroy cancer cells without killing healthy cells. Current cancer treatments struggle to successfully target cancer cells and commonly target all rapidly dividing cells (both healthy and cancerous). Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) immunotherapy aims to harness T cells, the body’s natural defense system, to fight cancer by giving T cells via molecular engineering a non-native protein which targets cancer. We successfully produced a T cell that can effectively kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells untouched while minimizing the toxic side effects normally experienced by patients. Future steps involve …

Examining How The Cd5 Co-Receptor Alters T Helper Cell Activation In Response To Bacterial Infection, Garrett Hamblin, Scott Weber

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Properly functioning helper T cells are crucial in a response to an infection. The adaptive immune response is orchestrated by T helper cells and their function is dependent upon interactions between the T cell receptor (TCR), peptide MHC (pMHC) and co-receptors. Upon TCR interaction with a foreign antigen, a calcium signaling cascade is initiated, which determines T cell activation, survival, proliferation and differentiation. CD5 is a T cell co-receptor that is a negative regulator of T cell activation. T cells with higher CD5 expression respond better to foreign antigen than those with lower CD5 expression. Cell-surface expression of CD5 is …

Association Of Essential Tremor And Parkinson’S Disease Development, Alexander Gosch, Mary David

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Essential tremor (ET) is a neurological disorder characterized by symmetrical tremor of the upper limbs. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a similar disorder, also characterized by tremor, with a few differences: ET tremor is mostly seen during action, while PD tremor is more prevalent while at rest. PD is characterized by problems with walking and balance, while ET is characterized primarily by tremor without balance problems. PD symptoms generally improve with the use of the drug levodopa while ET responds better to the drugs propranolol and primidone.

Development Of A Model For Adult T Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma In Htlv-1 Infected Humanized Mice, Kayleigh Ingersoll, Dr. Brad Berges

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) is a virus that is linked to Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), causing cancer in T cells. There are an estimated 10-20 million people worldwide infected with HTLV-1. HTLV-1 is transmitted through contact of bodily fluid and usually occurs through breastfeeding, sexual transmission, and sharing needles. ATLL develops in only about 5% of infected persons after decades of infection. An ATLL diagnosis is grim as there is no cure, and most patients do not respond or only have a limited response to treatments. Current treatments include antiretrovirals or chemotherapy, but there has been little to no …

Bacteriophages For Treating American Foulbrood And The Neutralization Of Paenibacillus Larvae Spores, Thomas Scott Brady

Theses and Dissertations

The causative agent of the most devastating honeybee disease, American foulbrood (AFB), is the spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. To prevent AFB outbreaks beekeepers prophylactically treat their hives with antibiotics even though it decreases the overall health of uninfected hives. A new treatment for AFB is needed due to recent legislation against using antibiotics, antibiotic resistance developing in P. larvae, and the resilience of P. larvae spores. Bacteriophages, or phages, are an attractive alternative to traditional antibiotics because of their specificity and ability to evolve alongside their target bacterium. In this study, two phage cocktails were developed for the …

The Diversity Found Among Carbapenem-Resistant Bacteria, Galen Edward Card

Theses and Dissertations

This work will look at two factors that add to the diversity of carbapenem resistant bacteria. First, it focuses on the diversity of carbapenemase resistance plasmids. 446 plasmids were characterized by size, gene content and replicon groups. We identified that on average, over 30% of the encoded proteins on each plasmid have an unknown function. Plasmid sizes ranged from 1.6kb to 500kb, with an average of around 100kb and median of 80kb. Additionally, six replicon groups account for 80% of all the carbapenemase resistance plasmids. We also highlight the lack of data available for carbapenemase carrying plasmids from bacterial genera …

The Ability Of Novel Phage To Infect Virulent Bacillus Anthracis Isolates, Hyrum Smith Shumway

Theses and Dissertations

Bacillus anthracis is a soil dwelling microbe with pronounced pathogenic potential. Historically, anthrax has infected livestock and man. In the modern-age, anthrax is a bioterrorism concern with major incidents every decade. While the threat of large scale attacks is currently viewed as unlikely, the threat is consistent and constant. Current methods to defend against such an attack focus on antibiotics and containment of public panic. Antibiotic resistance, while not currently an issue for anthrax, could easily become so with genetically engineered weaponized strains created by rogue states or independent actors. This project evolved from collaborations between the Grose lab and …

Identifying Novel Regulators Of Cellular Respiration, Sam Nicholes, Julianne Grose

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The impetus behind my project was to contribute in a small but meaningful way to the growing body of research for cures and treatments for cancer. Cancer is fundamentally unwanted cell growth and proliferation. Metabolic processes that take place on the cellular level are the key to finding solutions to the many worldwide problems of cancer. My project looked at some of these metabolic processes in order to help identify the control mechanisms that cause these processes to function normally or to behave aberrantly. The goal was to identify a cellular pathway that could be used as a potential target …

Borrelia Burgdorferi Invasion Of B Lymphocytes, Jacob Bailey, Richard Robinson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The goal of this project was to determine if Borrelia Burgdorferi’s linear plasmid 36 is required for intracellular localization in B lymphocytes. A more complete understanding of the intracellular localization of B. burgdorferi may provide the means to effective Lyme treatment. It has been proposed that intracellular localization of Lyme spirochetes may be, at least in part, responsible for Post Treatment Lyme Disease. As the spirochetes are safe within human cells, Borrelia are able to evade host immune system responses and be protected from antibiotic treatment. A more complete understanding of the intracellular localization of B. burgdorferi may provide the …

Biomarker Analysis And Clinical Relevance Of Thymidine Kinase 1 In Solid And Hematological Malignancies, Evita Giraldez Weagel

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the global effort to discover and improve ways to detect, treat, and monitor cancer, it still remains the second leading cause of death in the United States and poses a major health and economic burden worldwide. While traditional treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy have been successful and have decreased cancer mortality, cancer incidence in all sites continues to rise. Consequently, there is an immediate need to find new therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. In recent years, and with the continuing push towards personalized medicine, cancer biomarkers have become crucial to detect, treat, and monitor …

Discovery Of Geographical Gene Variants In Related Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Bacteriophages, Emilee Carr, Elise Melhado, Emily Loertscher, Trever Thurgood, Ruchira Sharma, Julianne H. Grose

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2019

Antibiotic resistant bacterial strains are a major crisis in the world due to the difficult nature of curing individuals afflicted with them. Phage therapy has been proposed as an alternate treatment for these bacterium. In Dr. Julianne Grose's lab, bacteriophages were against the bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To isolate, environmental samples were utilized in enrichment cultures that were ultimately used in serial dilutions, plaque purification, electron microscopy, DNA isolation, sequencing, and genome annotation. The P. aeruginosa phage, TF17, infects a bacterial strain that is highly related to a strain that causes fatalities as an opportunistic infection in patients with cystic fibrosis. …

Hospital And Meat Associated Staphylococcus Aureus And Their Biofilm Characteristics, Trevor Michael Wienclaw

Theses and Dissertations

Biofilm phenotypes were studied in 32 Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from store-bought meats and 22 from diseased patients in hospitals. Of the meat-associated strains, 21 were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 11 were methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). The hospital-associated strains included 15 MRSAs and 7 MSSAs. We studied the robustness and composition of the biofilms produced by these strains. We found that on average hospital-associated strains form more robust biofilms than meat associated strains. The model often used to describe S. aureus biofilm composition includes two biofilm types defined by the presence or absence of polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA), PIA-dependent …

Povidone-Iodine Vapor Kills Mrsa, Benjamin Ogilvie, Jon Mitton, Jordan Tucker, Dennis L. Eggett, Richard A. Robison

Student Works

Povidone-iodine is an antiseptic that is frequently used to clean skin prior to surgery. Current FDA regulations require that hospitals dispense povidone-iodine from single-use bottles, rather than large, multi-use containers, to prevent microbial contamination. This results in hospitals generating lots of product waste. However, if povidone-iodine vapor can kill microbes, then multi-use containers may be safe to use, since any bacteria that contaminated the inside of the container would soon die. The purpose of this research was to determine whether vapor from povidone-iodine could kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common cause of hospital-associated infections.

In summary, this experiment demonstrated …