Other Microbiology Commons^™

The Roles Of Microcystin And Sulfide In Physiology And Tactic Responses Of Pathogenic And Non-Pathogenic Mat-Forming Cyanobacteria, Abigael C. Brownell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Planktothricoides raciborskii and Roseofilum reptotaenium are physiologically similar, yet ecologically distinct organisms found in a hot spring outflow and coral black band disease (BBD), respectively. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between R. reptotaenium and sulfide in BBD, to compare microcystin (MC) production in response to environmental factors, and to determine chemotactic responses to MC and sulfide by the two organisms. Results showed that the pathogenicity of R. reptotaenium in BBD is dependent on sulfate-reducing bacteria as secondary pathogens. Roseofilum reptotaenium produced significantly more MC than P. raciborskii, as measured using ELISA. Roseofilum reptotaenium …

Functional Implications Of The Baf-B1 Axis During The Vaccinia Virus Life Cycle, Nouhou Ibrahim

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Vaccinia virus is the prototypic member of the Poxviridae family, which includes variola virus, the agent of smallpox. Poxviruses encode their own transcriptional machinery and a set of proteins to evade the host defense system, and thus are able to replicate entirely in the cytoplasm of their host. The poxvirus life cycle occurs in sequential stages: early gene expression, DNA replication, intermediate gene expression and then late gene expression and morphogenesis. The temporally staged poxvirus life cycle makes viral DNA replication a required event for post-replicative events to occur. However, viral DNA replication itself depends on an early viral Ser/Thr …

Ultraviolet Photoprotective Compounds From Cyanobacteria In Biomedical Applications, Tanya Soule, Ferran Garcia-Pichel

Tanya Soule

No abstract provided.

Listeria Monocytogenes Can Utilize Both M Cell Transcytosis And Inla-Mediated Uptake To Cross The Epithelial Barrier Of The Intestine During An Oral Infection Model Of Listeriosis, Hilary Denney

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

The invasive pathways, InlA- and InB-mediated uptake and M cell transcytosis, that Listeria monocytogenes uses to invade the intestine have mainly been studied using infection models that do not truly replicate what occurs during a natural infection. Recently, our lab has developed an oral infection model that is more physiolocally relevant to what occurs during food borne listeriosis. We have sought to evaluate the relative roles of the previously defined invasive pathways, in our oral model of infection. We have done this by utilizing an InlAmCG Lm strain that is able to bind murine E-cadherin, knockout Lm strains, ΔinlA Lm …

Relationships Between Equine Management Practices And Intestinal Parasite Infection, Abigail Pagel

Honors Projects

Parasitology is an important area of veterinary medicine, but the risk factors for high parasite loads are not well-understood. Equine intestinal parasites can cause extensive disease and death. In the current study, the relationship between equine intestinal parasite loads and adherence to veterinary guidelines for equine management practices was studied. Satisfactory adherence to guidelines regarding food, pasture, and flooding management was related to lower parasite loads. Adherence to guidelines regarding deworming, quarantine, bedding, and water did not appear to lower parasite loads. Still, adhering to these guidelines has been shown to improve equine welfare, even if they are not related …

Regional Dust Storm Modeling For Health Services: The Case Of Valley Fever, William A. Sprigg, Slobodan Nickovic, John N. Galgiani, Goran Pejanovic, Slavo Petkovic, Mirjam Vujadinovic, Ana Vukovic, Milan Dacic, Scott Dibiase, Anup K. Prasad, Hesham El-Askary

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

On 5 July 2011, a massive dust storm struck Phoenix, Arizona (USA), raising concerns for increased cases of valley fever (coccidioidomycosis, or, cocci). A quasi-operational experimental airborne dust forecast system predicted the event and provides model output for continuing analysis in collaboration with public health and air quality communities. An objective of this collaboration was to see if a signal in cases of valley fever in the region could be detected and traced to the storm - an American haboob. To better understand the atmospheric life cycle of cocci spores, the DREAM dust model (also herein, NMME-DREAM) was modified to …

Characterizing The Human Vaginal Microbiome Using High-Throughput Sequencing, Jean Megan E. Macklaim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The human vaginal microbiome undoubtedly has a significant role in reproductive health and for protection from infectious organisms. Recent efforts to characterize the bacterial species of the vagina using molecular techniques have uncovered an unexpected diversity. Using high-throughput sequencing I sought to describe the structure and function of the vaginal microbiome under different physiological states including healthy, bacterial vaginosis (BV), post-menopausal vaginal atrophy, and acute vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC).

Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that healthy, asymptomatic women most often have vaginal biotas dominated by Lactobacillus iners or L. crispatus. In contrast, BV is a heterogeneous, highly diversified condition …

Characterization Of Uncultured, Human Oral Microbiota Using A Targeted, Single-Cell Genomics Approach, Alisha Gail Campbell

Doctoral Dissertations

Microbial communities associated with the human oral cavity are complex, and many oral microbes have yet to be cultured. These uncultured community members are of interest ecologically and phylogenetically, and a number of uncultured species have been positively correlated with oral diseases such as periodontitis. Thus, an approach was adapted to selectively separate single cells from mixed populations of oral bacteria and obtain genomic information for uncultured community members. A combination of fluorescent labeling, cell sorting with flow cytometry and multiple displacement amplification was used to obtain sufficient genomic material for whole-genome pyrosequencing.

The first targets were from uncultured oral …

Detection Of Bacterial Retroelements Using Genomics, Sen Mu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The reverse flow of genetic information can occur when a special DNA polymerase called Reverse Transcriptase (RT) copies the genetic information in an RNA molecule back into a complementary DNA. One type of RT encoding gene found in bacteria is called a retron element. Recent bacterial genome sequencing projects have revealed many examples of retron RT genes. This gene assignment is based on comparison with a few known retron RT proteins. However, RT proteins are highly diverse in their amino acid sequences, and thus the assigned identity of these RT proteins as retrons in genome databases is questionable. One way …

Validation Of Microwave Heating Instructions For The Destruction Of Salmonella Spp. In Microwaveable Foods, Carol J. Valenzuela

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Microwave heating instructions for three products (chicken nuggets, turkey pot-pies and mashed potato) were developed and validated based on end point temperatures using two microwave ovens (2,459 MHz; 700 W and 1,350 W). Heating instructions for chicken nuggets were validated using different configuration of product placement (edge or center of the carousel) and number of units (4, 6 and 8). Salmonella spp. reductions of 6.56 log CFU/g (700 W) were observed in chicken nuggets heated in groups of 4 and placed at the center of the carousel with 1 min 26 s of heating time with a target end point …

Development Of A Novel Inoculum Preparation Method For Solid-State Fermentation - Cellophane Film Culture (Cfc) Technique, Teck Nam Ang, Gek Cheng Ngoh, Adeline Seak May Chua

Teck Nam Ang Dr.

This study reports a user-friendly technique in the preparation of fungal inoculum intended for solid-state fermentation (SSF) – Cellophane Film Culture (CFC) technique. This technique uses cellophane film-overlaid agar plates to facilitate the separation of fungal biomass. The findings showed that inoculum of P. sajor-caju produced is viable, and it was confirmed by the presence of laccase enzyme activity in SSF of rice husk. The correlation between fungal dry and wet weights (r2 = 0.9329) provides an accurate estimation of fungal dry weight from its wet weight during inoculum preparation. Besides, this technique does not require a strict sterile handling …

A World Review Of Fungi, Yeasts, And Slime Molds In Caves, Karen J. Vanderwolf, David Malloch, Donald F. Mcalpine, Graham J. Forbes

International Journal of Speleology

We provide a review of fungi, yeasts, and slime molds that have been found in natural solution caves and mines worldwide. Such habitats provide frequent roost sites for bats, and in eastern North America the environmental conditions that support white-nose syndrome, a lethal fungal disease currently devastating bat populations. A list of 1029 species of fungi, slime moulds, and yeasts in 518 genera have been documented from caves and mines worldwide in 225 articles. Ascomycota dominate the cave environment. Most research has been conducted in temperate climates, especially in Europe. A mean of 17.9±24.4SD fungal species are reported per study. …

Characterization Of Genes And Pathways Controlling Biofilm Formation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Neha Sarode

Doctoral Dissertations

Biofilms are a mode of growth where aggregated cells adhere to a foreign surface and grow as a complex community. Biofilms have found wide utility in commercial industries, however infections caused by biofilms in clinical settings are a major cause of concern. Understanding molecular details of biofilm formation could help in exploitation or elimination efforts.

We utilize Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system to study biofilm formation. S. cerevisiae strain belonging to genetic background Σ [sigma] 1278b is capable of forming biofilms, on low density (0.3%) agar media. When grown at 25°[degree] C for 5 days, it develops into an …

Unmasking Candidiasis: A Mechanistic Model For Innate Immune-Fungal Cell Wall Dynamics, Erica Hidu

Honors College

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause a potentially lethal systemic infection in immunocompromised patients. Increasing drug resistance of Candida species to anti-fungal treatments makes the study of this pathogen ever more important. Study of the C. albicans cell wall provides insight into its importance in pathogenesis, immune recognition, and anti-fungal action. It has been shown that β- glucan, a masked component of the fungal cell wall and ligand for the immune receptor Dectin-1, becomes available for immune recognition in the mouse model of systemic candidiasis. To develop a mechanistic model to explain this unmasking, we investigated …

The Role Of The Arched Helicases In Exosome-Mediated Function, A. Alejandra Klauer

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

RNA processing and degradation are two important functions that control gene expression and promote RNA fidelity in the cell. A major ribonuclease complex, called the exosome, is involved in both of these processes. The exosome is composed of ten essential proteins with only one catalytically active subunit, called Rrp44. While the same ten essential subunits make up both the nuclear and cytoplasmic exosome, there are nuclear and cytoplasmic exosome cofactors that promote specific exosome functions in each of the cell compartments. To date, it is unclear how the exosome distinguishes between RNA substrates. We hypothesize that compartment specific cofactors may …

Sequesteration Of Lead, Cadmium And Arsenic By Lactobacillus Species And Detoxication Potential, Marc A. Monachese

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Toxic metals are a class of elements with no biological role but with extreme toxicity. On average only 50% of ingested toxins are absorbed into the human body, for reasons still unknown. It was hypothesized that the gut microbiota plays a role in reducing toxin absorbance. The aim of this study was to determine if constituents of the gut, namely Lactobacillus species, are able to sequester arsenic, lead and cadmium from the environment. Lactobacilli were incubated with the metals, both in vitro and with a Caco-2 cell line. Analysis of metal concentrations was conducted to determine if these were reduced …

Analyzing Environmental Microbes For Genomic Regions Promoting Ionic Liquid Tolerance In E. Coli, Ann Nguyen, Alison Richins, Thomas Rüegg, Steven Singer, Michael Thelen

STAR Program Research Presentations

Ionic liquids (ILs) are promising as solvents to increase the efficiency of biofuel production; however, ILs are toxic to microbes used in the fermentation of liquid fuels. To engineer IL resistant biofuel hosts, environmental bacteria were screened for tolerance, and these were used to create gene libraries to test in E. coli. Future characterization of these libraries using molecular techniques will be used to identify genes that contribute IL-tolerance to transformed microbes.

Study Of Cellular Responses Under Chemically Induced Hypoxia, George Coricor

Theses

No abstract provided.

Identification Of Conserved Splicing Motifs In Mutually Exclusive Exons Of 15 Insect Species, Patricia Buendia, John Tyree, Robert Laredo, Shu-Ning Hsu

School of Computing and Information Sciences

Background: During alternative splicing, the inclusion of an exon in the final mRNA molecule is determined by nuclear proteins that bind cis-regulatory sequences in a target pre-mRNA molecule. A recent study suggested that the regulatory codes of individual RNA-binding proteins may be nearly immutable between very diverse species such as mammals and insects. The model system Drosophila melanogaster therefore presents an excellent opportunity for the study of alternative splicing due to the availability of quality EST annotations in FlyBase.

Methods: In this paper, we describe an in silico analysis pipeline to extract putative exonic splicing regulatory sequences from a multiple …

Molecular Diagnostics: The Changing Culture Of Medical Microbiology, Susan Bullman, Brigid Lucey, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Diagnostic molecular biology is arguably the fastest growing area in current laboratory-based medicine. Growth of the so called ‘omics’ technologies has, over the last decade, led to a gradual migration away from the ‘one test, one pathogen’ paradigm, toward multiplex approaches to infectious disease diagnosis, which have led to significant improvements in clinical diagnostics and ultimately improved patient care.