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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Antifungal Defense Molecules From Bacterial Symbionts Of North American Trachymyrmex Ants, Georgia Scherer
Antifungal Defense Molecules From Bacterial Symbionts Of North American Trachymyrmex Ants, Georgia Scherer
CMC Senior Theses
Defensive symbioses, in which microbes provide molecular defenses for an animal host, hold great potential as untapped sources of therapeutically useful antibiotics. Fungus-growing ants use antifungal defenses from bacterial symbionts to suppress pathogenic fungi in their nests. Preliminary chemical investigations of symbiotic bacteria from this large family of ants have uncovered novel antifungal molecules with therapeutic potential, such as dentigerumycin and selvamicin.
In this study, the bacterial symbionts of North American Trachymyrmex fungus-growing ants are investigated for antifungal molecules. Plate-based bioassays using ecologically-relevant fungal pathogens confirmed that these bacteria have antifungal activity. In order to purify and identify the antifungal …
Functional Analysis Of Synthetic Gene Circuits Controlling A Protein Pump In Yeast, Junchen Diao
Functional Analysis Of Synthetic Gene Circuits Controlling A Protein Pump In Yeast, Junchen Diao
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Synthetic biology aims to build biological devices to understand living systems and explore new applications. Synthetic gene circuits such as genetic switches, oscillators and logic gates are at the core of many synthetic biology applications. These gene circuits often include a sensor/regulator protein capable to detect small molecules and then transduce them into a regulatory signal to generate measurable output. Similar signal transduction networks are also abundant in nature. However, in many natural and engineered scenarios, the output also affects the regulator/sensor protein. How such interactions between the regulator/sensor and the output affect synthetic gene circuit function has not been …