Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Pathogenic Microbiology
The Identification Of Small Molecule Inhibitors To Candida Albicans Phosphatidylserine Synthase, Yue Zhou
The Identification Of Small Molecule Inhibitors To Candida Albicans Phosphatidylserine Synthase, Yue Zhou
Doctoral Dissertations
Candida albicans phosphatidylserine (PS) synthase, encoded by the CHO1 gene, has been identified as a potential drug target for new antifungals against systemic candidiasis due to its importance in virulence, absence in the host and conservation among fungal pathogens. This dissertation is focused on the identification of inhibitors for this membrane enzyme. Cho1 has two substrates: cytidyldiphosphate-diacylglycerol (CDP-DAG) and serine. Previous studies identified a conserved CDP-alcohol phosphotransferase (CAPT) binding motif present within Cho1, and here we revealed that mutations in all but one conserved amino acid within the CAPT motif resulted in decreased Cho1. For serine, we have predicted a …
Mechanisms By Which Xenorhabdus Nematophila Interacts With Hosts Using Integrated -Omics Approaches, Nicholas C. Mucci
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 …
Comparative Genomics Of Microbial Chemoreceptor Sequence, Structure, And Function, Aaron Daniel Fleetwood
Comparative Genomics Of Microbial Chemoreceptor Sequence, Structure, And Function, Aaron Daniel Fleetwood
Doctoral Dissertations
Microbial chemotaxis receptors (chemoreceptors) are complex proteins that sense the external environment and signal for flagella-mediated motility, serving as the GPS of the cell. In order to sense a myriad of physicochemical signals and adapt to diverse environmental niches, sensory regions of chemoreceptors are frenetically duplicated, mutated, or lost. Conversely, the chemoreceptor signaling region is a highly conserved protein domain. Extreme conservation of this domain is necessary because it determines very specific helical secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures of the protein while simultaneously choreographing a network of interactions with the adaptor protein CheW and the histidine kinase CheA. This dichotomous …