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Full-Text Articles in Pathogenic Microbiology
The Role Of Phosphatidylserine And Phosphatidylethanolamine In Candida Albicans Virulence, Sarah Elizabeth Davis
The Role Of Phosphatidylserine And Phosphatidylethanolamine In Candida Albicans Virulence, Sarah Elizabeth Davis
Doctoral Dissertations
In hospitalized patients with neutropenia, Candida albicans is the fourth leading cause of systemic bloodstream infections, which have a mortality rate of approximately 30 %. The phosphatidylserine synthase enzyme of C. albicans, Cho1p, appears to be a good drug target as a mutant lacking this enzyme (the cho1Δ/Δ [null mutant]) is avirulent in animal models of Candida infections and this enzyme is not conserved in humans. We discovered that the loss of phosphatidylserine (PS) synthesis affects C. albicans' expression of the Als3p adhesin, a virulence protein, and loss of PS synthesis also compromises the cell wall, causing increased …
Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, And Evolution Of Virulence In Toxoplasma Gondii, Elliot Keats Cullen Shwab
Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, And Evolution Of Virulence In Toxoplasma Gondii, Elliot Keats Cullen Shwab
Doctoral Dissertations
Toxoplasma gondii is among the most widespread eukaryotic pathogens known. It chronically infects approximately one third of the world’s human population and has been isolated from an extremely diverse array of globally distributed mammals and birds. Understanding the structure of the worldwide T. gondii population enhances our understanding of the factors that have shaped that structure and led to the proliferation of one of the most evolutionarily successful pathogens on Earth. Herein we collate genotypic data from global isolates, demonstrating that T. gondii possesses a unique population structure in which only a small number of genotypes dominate throughout the northern …
Thermal Inactivation Of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli In Foods, Malcond David Valladares
Thermal Inactivation Of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli In Foods, Malcond David Valladares
Doctoral Dissertations
Emerging non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) were recently added to the zero tolerance policy by the USDA-FSIS. Therefore, the precise characterization of their thermal inactivation kinetics in different foods and the effect of stress on thermal inactivation are needed. This research aimed at determining the heat inactivation kinetics of non-O157 and O157 STECs in buffer and model food matrices and the effects of DnaK levels on thermal resistance after acid and heat-shock. Thermal inactivation was carried out in either in 2-ml glass vials or nylon vacuum-sealed bags for buffer and food (spinach, ground-beef, turkey deli-meat, pasta) samples, respectively. Vials …