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University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Bacterial spore germination

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Full-Text Articles in Microbiology

Poop! There It Is! Anti-Germinants And Biological Variables As Modulators Of Clostridioides Difficile Infection (Cdi), Jacqueline Renee Phan May 2023

Poop! There It Is! Anti-Germinants And Biological Variables As Modulators Of Clostridioides Difficile Infection (Cdi), Jacqueline Renee Phan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Due to its insidious nature, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared CDI an urgent threat. A key characteristic of C. difficile is its ability to form dormant spores that act as the infectious vehicles for disease. In the gut, spores recognize bile salts to germinate into toxin-producing cells.Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome is a key factor in allowing the C. difficile spores to germinate. Normal gut microbiota naturally protects from CDI. However, biological variables such as diet and sex have been found to modulate to …


Effects Of Cations And Dipicolinic Acid On B. Anthracis Spore Physiology And Cytotoxicity, Chandler P. Hassan May 2023

Effects Of Cations And Dipicolinic Acid On B. Anthracis Spore Physiology And Cytotoxicity, Chandler P. Hassan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Inhalation of Bacillus anthracis spores leads to the most severe form of anthrax. Following phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages, spores germinate inside the phagolysosome. The mechanism used by the newly germinated B. anthracis cells to survive within macrophages is not completely understood.B. anthracis spores contain large concentrations of calcium in complex with dipicolinic acid (Ca-DPA). Upon germination, the cell excretes the large depot of Ca-DPA. DPA is an amphipathic molecule that could act as a buffer and modulate phagolysosome acidification. Intracellular calcium overload can disrupt signaling pathways required for normal macrophage function and trigger cell death. We hypothesized the release of …


The Perplexing Paradox Of Clostridioides (Clostridium) Difficile Infection (Cdi) - Analysis Of Anti-Germinants As Part Of Cdi Prophylaxis, Christopher Yip Dec 2019

The Perplexing Paradox Of Clostridioides (Clostridium) Difficile Infection (Cdi) - Analysis Of Anti-Germinants As Part Of Cdi Prophylaxis, Christopher Yip

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infections (CDI) have become the leading cause of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea worldwide. Under normal circumstances, bacteria found in the gastrointestinal tract provide a barrier against C. difficile colonization. Upon antibiotic therapy, the protective barrier is lost as the microbial community becomes depleted thus providing the opportunity for C. difficile to colonize the human gut. Exposure to taurocholate, a bile acid produced within the mammalian gastrointestinal tract, causes C. difficile spores to begin their transition, a process known as germination, from metabolically dormant structures to toxin-producing cells. As germination is required for the onset of CDI, anti-germination compounds …