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Characterizing Cultivable Bacteria From Trachymyrmex Septentrionalis Fungus Gardens, Hannah Beatty

Honors Scholar Theses

The relationship between the fungus-growing ant Trachymyrmex septentrionalis, its symbiotic cultivar fungus, and the transient and residential community of microorganisms is a diverse and complex symbiosis that has evolved over space and time. The fungus garden, comprised primarily of the cultivar fungus belonging to the family Leucocoprineae,provides an environment that hosts many bacteria, which may also play an important role in this symbiosis. Although it is known that Pseudonocardia bacteria defend the ant host against fungal pathogens, other species of bacteria that are present in these fungus gardens also likely contribute to this symbiosis. Previous studies of this …

Changes In The Microbial Community Of Lubomirskia Baicalensis Affected By Red Sponge Disease, Colin Rorex

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lake Baikal is the oldest known lake and a unique ecosystem, home to several species of fresh water sponge. A disease outbreak affecting the dominant species, Lubormirskia baialensis, was recently reported. The cause of the disease has not been determined but one of the current hypothesis is that the increase in methane concentration is correlated to the disease outbreak. This pilot study characterized the microbiomes of sick and healthy sponges through the use of 16S rRNA sequencing. Sick sponge microbiomes shared a conserved group of taxa while the healthy sponge microbiomes had greater diversity. Indicator species analysis identified two significant …

Bioprospecting Deep-Sea Actinobacteria For Novel Anti-Infective Natural Products, Dongbo Xu, Linna Han, Chunhui Li, Qi Cao, Duolong Zhu, Nolan H. Barrett, Dedra Harmody, Jing Chen, Haining Zhu, Peter J. Mccarthy, Xingmin Sun, Guojun Wang

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The global prevalence of drug resistance has created an urgent need for the discovery of novel anti-infective drugs. The major source of antibiotics in current clinical practice is terrestrial actinobacteria; the less-exploited deep-sea actinobacteria may serve as an unprecedented source of novel natural products. In this study, we evaluated 50 actinobacteria strains derived from diverse deep water sponges and environmental niches for their anti-microbial activities against a panel of pathogens including Candida albicans, Clostridium difficile, Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. More than half of the tested strains (27) were identified as …

Investigation Into The Causes And Severity Of The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Alex T. Freedenberg

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

The 1918 Influenza outbreak is regarded as one of the worst pandemics in human history due to its widespread effects across the globe and its high death rate. This death rate was unusual among influenza infections as most strains do not cause the amount of death that is seen in this outbreak, with 20 million dead as a conservative estimate and 100 million by other estimations. This pandemic was not very well contained for a plethora of reasons. Two main reasons are that it came at a time when understanding viral mechanics still escaped medical professionals, and due to the …

Characterization Of The Interaction Between R. Conorii And Human Host Vitronectin In Rickettsial Pathogenesis, Abigail Inez Fish

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia are inoculated into the mammalian host during hematophagous arthropod feeding. Once in the bloodstream and during dissemination, the survival of these pathogens is dependent upon their ability to evade innate host defenses until a proper cellular target is reached. The establishment of a successful infection also relies on the ability of the bacteria to attach and invade target cells, as failure to do so results in destruction of the bacterium. Rickettsia conorii expresses an outer membrane protein, Adr1, which binds the multifunctional human glycoprotein, vitronectin, to promote resistance to complement mediated killing. Homologs of Adr1 are …

In Vitro Assay Development As An Alternative To The Use Of Laboratory Animals For Measuring Clostridium Perfingens Type C Toxoid, Lauren M. Wilmes

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Clostridium perfringens type C produces beta toxin, which is a primary virulence determinate that can cause necrotic enteritis in neonatal animals. Vaccines directed against C. perfringens toxins have shown to be efficacious in preventing disease. However, the production of a commercial vaccine requires not only an efficacious antigen, but also testing methods for quantifying antigens and potency on final product. This research was undertaken to fulfill a need for the reduction in small animal usage to produce and deliver vaccines. The current testing methods are performed in vivo according to the Code of Federal Regulations number 9 (9CFR) United …

Neutrophils From Both Susceptible And Resistant Mice Efficiently Kill Opsonized Listeria Monocytogenes, Michelle G. Pitts, Travis A. Combs, Sarah E. F. D'Orazio

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Inbred mouse strains differ in their susceptibility to infection with the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, largely due to delayed or deficient innate immune responses. Previous antibody depletion studies suggested that neutrophils (polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMN]) were particularly important for clearance in the liver, but the ability of PMN from susceptible and resistant mice to directly kill L. monocytogenes has not been examined. In this study, we showed that PMN infiltrated the livers of BALB/c/By/J (BALB/c) and C57BL/6 (B6) mice in similar numbers and that both cell types readily migrated toward leukotriene B4 in an in vitro chemotaxis assay. However, …

Microbiology (Sgsc), Molly Smith, Sara Selby

Biological Sciences Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Microbiology was created under a Round Six ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Role Of Mucin 19 In The Respiratory Tract, Kaitlin Mcbride

LSU Master's Theses

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a negative sense, single stranded RNA virus belonging to the Pneumoviridae family, and represents an important pathogen that causes severe respiratory disease worldwide. There is currently no vaccine against HMPV, so it is important to study the aspects of the immune response induced by HMPV. Because infiltration of mucus is a hallmark of HMPV infection, it is warranted to study the role of mucus in the disease process. Mucin proteins make up the major component of mucus and can be found within the airway and lungs. Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated a high upregulation of …

Rapid Identification And Typing Of Mycobacterium Avium Complex Using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (Maldi-Tof) Library And Biomarker Based Approaches, Claudia Antonika, John Dustin Loy, Raul Barletta, Michael Collins

UCARE: Research Products

Bacteria associated with the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) cause significant problems in animal agriculture and cause large economic losses and morbidity of livestock. Two clinically important subspecies of M. avium are M.avium ssp paratuberculosis (MAP) and M. avium ssp hominissuis (MAH). MAP is the etiologic agent of Johne’s disease, a chronic and fatal enteritis in ruminants, that has been linked to Crohn’s disease in humans.1 MAH has zoonotic potential as it is one of the leading causes of secondary infections in AIDS patients. Identification of M. avium in clinical samples is challenging as they have overlapping host ranges and clinical …

Factors Affecting The Parasitism Of Gregarine Species In Grasshoppers In Western Nebraska, Alexandra Creigh, Kristin Mclarty, Scott Lyell Gardner

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

We conducted a survey of the species of parasites found in grasshoppers around the area of Dunwoody’s Pond to investigate whether there were any species specific parasitic relationships occurring there. We collected grasshoppers from several areas around Dunwoody’s Pond totaling 15 species including Melanoplus bivittatus (Say 1825) , Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius, 1798) , Melanoplus differentialis (Thomas 1865), and Melanoplus femurrubrum (De Geer 1773), along with others (Seymour et al., 2009) and compared the parasites found in them. This study is similar to one conducted in South America by Lloyd in 1951, and we hoped to find connections between species to …

Gas Plasma Pre-Treatment Increases Antibiotic Sensitivity And Persister Eradication In Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Li Guo, Ruobing Xu, Yiming Zhao, Dingxin Liu, Zhijie Liu, Xiaohua Wang, Hailan Chen, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of serious nosocomial infections, and recurrent MRSA infections primarily result from the survival of persister cells after antibiotic treatment. Gas plasma, a novel source of ROS (reactive oxygen species) and RNS (reactive nitrogen species) generation, not only inactivates pathogenic microbes but also restore the sensitivity of MRSA to antibiotics. This study further found that sublethal treatment of MRSA with both plasma and plasma-activated saline increased the antibiotic sensitivity and promoted the eradication of persister cells by tetracycline, gentamycin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, rifampicin, and vancomycin. The short-lived ROS and RNS generated by plasma …

Comparative Analysis Of Microbial Sensing Molecules In Mucosal Tissues With Aging, Octavio A. Gonzalez, Sreenatha S. Kirakodu, Michael John Novak, A. J. Stromberg, L. Orraca, J. Gonzalez-Martinez, A. Burgos, Jeffrey L. Ebersole

Center for Oral Health Research Faculty Publications

Host-bacterial interactions at mucosal surfaces require recognition of the bacteria by host cells enabling targeted responses to maintain tissue homeostasis. It is now well recognized that an array of host-derived pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), both cell-bound and soluble, are critical to innate immune engagement of microbes via microbial-associated molecular patterns (MAMP). This report describes the use of a nonhuman primate model to evaluate changes in the expression of these sensing molecules related to aging in healthy gingival tissues. Macaca mulatta aged 3-24 years were evaluated clinically and gingival tissues obtained, RNA isolated and microarray analysis conducted for gene expression of …

A Comparison Of Oral And Intravenous Mouse Models Of Listeriosis, Michelle G. Pitts, Sarah E. F. D'Orazio

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Listeria monocytogenes is one of several enteric microbes that is acquired orally, invades the gastric mucosa, and then disseminates to peripheral tissues to cause systemic disease in humans. Intravenous (i.v.) inoculation of mice with L. monocytogenes has been the most widely-used small animal model of listeriosis over the past few decades. The infection is highly reproducible and has been invaluable in deciphering mechanisms of adaptive immunity in vivo, particularly CD8+ T cell responses to intracellular pathogens. However, the i.v. model completely bypasses the gut phase of the infection. Recent advances in generating both humanized mice and murinized bacteria, as well …

Integrating Tuberculosis And Antimicrobial Resistance Control Programmes, Rumina Hasan, Sadia Shakoor, Johanna Hanefeld, Mishal Khan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Many low- and middle-income countries facing high levels of antimicrobial resistance, and the associated morbidity from ineffective treatment, also have a high burden of tuberculosis. Over recent decades many countries have developed effective laboratory and information systems for tuberculosis control. In this paper we describe how existing tuberculosis laboratory systems can be expanded to accommodate antimicrobial resistance functions. We show how such expansion in services may benefit tuberculosis case-finding and laboratory capacity through integration of laboratory services. We further summarize the synergies between high-level strategies on tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance control. These provide a potential platform for the integration of …

Emergence Of An Extensively Drug-Resistant Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhi Clone Harboring A Promiscuous Plasmid Encoding Resistance To Fluoroquinolones And Third-Generation Cephalosporins, Rumina Hasan, Sadia Shakoor, Farah Naz Qamar, Dania Khalid Saeed, Ghazala Shaheen, Shahida Qureshi, Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai, Muhammad Khalid Salim, Zahra Hasan, Elizabeth J. Klemma, Andrew J. Page, Kim Judge, Vanessa K. Wong, Timothy J. Dallman, Satheesh Nair, Stephen Baker, Gordon Dougan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates are prevalent in parts of Asia and Africa and are often associated with the dominant H58 haplotype. Reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones is also widespread, and sporadic cases of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins or azithromycin have also been reported. Here, we report the first large-scale emergence and spread of a novel S. Typhi clone harboring resistance to three first-line drugs (chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) as well as fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins in Sindh, Pakistan, which we classify as extensively drug resistant …

Infection Of A Ventricular Septal Defect Patch With Acremonium Species, Nosheen Nasir, Kauser Jabeen, Joveria Farooqi, Binish Arif Sultan, Afia Zafar, Aamir Hameed Khan, Muneer Amanullah, Farheen Ali

Section of Internal Medicine

A ventricular septal defect (VSD) patch infection with Acremonium species isolated from vegetation and blood culture is described. Antifungal treatment was discontinued after 3 months and patient developed relapse. Surgery with prolonged oral voriconazole was instituted with recovery. We emphasize importance of surgery and prolonged therapy to treat such infections.

Direct Detection Of Shigella In Stool Specimens By Use Of A Metagenomic Approach, Jie Liu, Mathieu Almeida, Furqan Kabir, Sadia Shakoor, Shahida Qureshi, Anita K. M. Zaidi, Shan Li, Boubou Tamboura, Samba O. Sow, Inacio Mandomando

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

The underestimation of Shigella species as a cause of childhood diarrhea disease has become increasingly apparent with quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based diagnostic methods versus culture. We sought to confirm qPCR-based detection of Shigella via a metagenomics approach. Three groups of samples were selected from diarrheal cases from the Global Enteric Multicenter Study: nine Shigella culture-positive and qPCR-positive (culture⁺ qPCR⁺) samples, nine culture-negative but qPCR-positive (culture^- qPCR⁺) samples, and nine culture-negative and qPCR-negative (culture^- qPCR^-) samples. Fecal DNA was sequenced using paired-end Illumina HiSeq, whereby 3.26 × 10⁸ ± 5.6 × 10 …

Benchmark Evaluation Of True Single Molecular Sequencing To Determine Cystic Fibrosis Airway Microbiome Diversity, Andrea Hahn, Matthew L. Bendall, Keylie M. Gibson, Hollis Chaney, Iman Sami, Geovanny F. Perez, Anastassios C. Koumbourlis, Timothy A. Mccaffrey, Robert J. Freishtat, Keith A Crandall

Computational Biology Institute

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease associated with recurrent lung infections that can lead to morbidity and mortality. The impact of antibiotics for treatment of acute pulmonary exacerbations on the CF airway microbiome remains unclear with prior studies giving conflicting results and being limited by their use of 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Our primary objective was to validate the use of true single molecular sequencing (tSMS) and PathoScope in the analysis of the CF airway microbiome. Three control samples were created with differing amounts of Burkholderia cepacia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Prevotella melaninogenica, three common bacteria found in cystic …

Conjugative Transposons And Their Cargo Genes Vary Across Natural Populations Of Rickettsia Buchneri Infecting The Tick Ixodes Scapularis, Rachael Hagen, Victoria I. Verhoeve, Joseph J. Gillespie, Timothy P. Driscoll

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Rickettsia buchneri (formerly Rickettsia endosymbiont of Ixodes scapularis, or REIS) is an obligate intracellular endoparasite of the black-legged tick, the primary vector of Lyme disease in North America. It is noteworthy among the rickettsiae for its relatively large genome (1.8 Mb) and extraordinary proliferation of mobile genetic elements (MGEs), which comprise nearly 35% of its genome. Previous analysis of the R. buchneri genome identified several integrative conjugative elements named Rickettsiales amplified genomic elements (RAGEs); the composition of these RAGEs suggests that continued genomic invasions by MGEs facilitated the proliferation of rickettsial genes related to an intracellular lifestyle. In this study, …

Seastar: Systematic Evaluation Of Alternative Transcription Start Sites In Rna, Zhiyi Qin, Peter Stoilov, Xuegong Zhang, Yi Xing

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Alternative first exons diversify the transcriptomes of eukaryotes by producing variants of the 5′ Untrans- lated Regions (5′UTRs) and N-terminal coding se- quences. Accurate transcriptome-wide detection of alternative first exons typically requires specialized experimental approaches that are designed to iden- tify the 5′ ends of transcripts. We developed a compu- tational pipeline SEASTAR that identifies first exons from RNA-seq data alone then quantifies and com- pares alternative first exon usage across multiple bi- ological conditions. The exons inferred by SEASTAR coincide with transcription start sites identified di- rectly by CAGE experiments and bear epigenetic hall- marks of active promoters. To …

The Effects Of Socs1, Socs3 And Hsv-1 Infection On Morphology, Cell Viability And Rab7 Expression In Polarized M1 And M2 Raw 264.7 Murine Macrophages, Jessica Renee Hey

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

HSV-1 causes a life-long infection in its host and has evolved multiple strategies to facilitate infection and evade the immune response. This virus has been found to enter cells by both endocytosis and fusion. The way the virus exploits endocytosis is not fully understood. Recent studies have uncovered roles of Rab GTPases, key regulators in intracellular membrane trafficking pathways, in distinct steps of the HSV-1 life cycle (Raza et al., 2018). This study will focus on analyzing the levels of the late endosomal regulator Rab7 expression in macrophages infected with HSV-1. Revealing the effect of virus on the levels of …

Guidelines And Recommendations On Yeast Cell Death Nomenclature, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez, Maria Anna Bauer, Andreas Zimmermann, Andrés Aguilera, Nicanor Austriaco, Kathryn Ayscough, Rena Balzan, Shoshana Bar-Nun, Antonio Barrientos, Peter Belenky, Marc Blondel, Ralf J Braun, Michael Breitenbach, William C Burhans, Sabrina Büttner, Duccio Cavalieri, Michael Chang, Katrina F Cooper, Manuela Côrte-Real, Vítor Costa, Christophe Cullin, Ian Dawes, Jörn Dengjel, Martin B Dickman, Tobias Eisenberg, Birthe Fahrenkrog, Nicolas Fasel, Kai-Uwe Fröhlich, Ali Gargouri, Sergio Giannattasio, Paola Goffrini, Campbell W Gourlay, Chris M Grant, Michael T Greenwood, Nicoletta Guaragnella, Thomas Heger, Jürgen Heinisch, Eva Herker, Johannes M Herrmann, Sebastian Hofer, Antonio Jiménez-Ruiz, Helmut Jungwirth, Katharina Kainz, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis, Paula Ludovico, Stéphen Manon, Enzo Martegani, Cristina Mazzoni, Lynn A Megeney, Chris Meisinger, Jens Nielsen, Thomas Nyström, Heinz D Osiewacz, Tiago F Outeiro, Hay-Oak Park, Tobias Pendl, Dina Petranovic, Stephane Picot, Peter Polčic, Ted Powers, Mark Ramsdale, Mark Rinnerthaler, Patrick Rockenfeller, Christoph Ruckenstuhl, Raffael Schaffrath, Maria Segovia, Fedor F Severin, Amir Sharon, Stephan J Sigrist, Cornelia Sommer-Ruck, Maria João Sousa, Johan M Thevelein, Karin Thevissen, Vladimir Titorenko, Michel B Toledano, Mick Tuite, F-Nora Vögtle, Benedikt Westermann, Joris Winderickx, Silke Wissing, Stefan Wölfl, Zhaojie J Zhang, Richard Y Zhao, Bing Zhou, Lorenzo Galluzzi, Guido Kroemer, Frank Madeo

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Elucidating the biology of yeast in its full complexity has major implications for science, medicine and industry. One of the most critical processes determining yeast life and physiology is cellular demise. However, the investigation of yeast cell death is a relatively young field, and a widely accepted set of concepts and terms is still missing. Here, we propose unified criteria for the definition of accidental, regulated, and programmed forms of cell death in yeast based on a series of morphological and biochemical criteria. Specifically, we provide consensus guidelines on the differential definition of terms including apoptosis, regulated necrosis, and autophagic …

A Cure For Salmonella: Engaging Students In Pathogen Microbiology And Bioinformatics, Sophie Jurgensen

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Advances in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology have generated a vast amount of publicly available genomic data, creating a need for students with training in computational analysis. This laboratory lesson is a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) focusing on environmental Salmonella, a common foodborne pathogen that is of great interest to public health laboratories but is relatively less virulent than most other such pathogens. As discovery is a central tenet of CUREs, students isolate novel Salmonella enterica and related strains from stream sediment, poultry litter, or other sources in the first half of the lesson (Module 1). They also …

Altered Ratio Of T Follicular Helper Cells To T Follicular Regulatory Cells Correlates With Autoreactive Antibody Response In Simian Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected Rhesus Macaques, Wenjin Fan, Andrew James Demers, Yanmin Wan, Qingsheng Li

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Individuals with chronic HIV-1 infection have an increased prevalence of autoreactive Abs. Many of the isolated HIV broadly neutralizing Abs from these individuals are also autoreactive. However, the underlying mechanism(s) that produce these autoreactive broadly neutralizing Abs remains largely unknown. The highly regulated coordination among B cells, T follicular helper (T_FH) cells, and T follicular regulatory (T_FR) cells in germinal centers (GCs) of peripheral lymphatic tissues (LTs) is essential for defense against pathogens while also restricting autoreactive responses. We hypothesized that an altered ratio of T_FH/T_FR cells in the GC contributes to the …

Superresolved Three-Dimensional Analysis Of The Spatial Arrangement Of The Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 (Hiv-1) Envelope Glycoprotein At Sites Of Viral Assembly, Carmen Anne Buttler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) replicates by forcing infected host cells to produce new virus particles, which assemble form protein components on the inner leaflet of the host cell's plasma membrane. This involves incorporation of the essential viral envelope glycoprotein (Env) into a structural lattice of viral Gag proteins. The mechanism of Env recruitment and incorporation is not well understood. To better define this process, we seek to describe the timing of Env-Gag encounters during particle assembly by measuring angular positions of Env proteins about the surfaces of budding particles. Using three-dimensional superresolution microscopy, we show that Env distributions …

Mucosal Antibody Responses To Vaccines Targeting Siv Protease Cleavage Sites Or Fulllength Gag And Env Proteins In Mauritian Cynomolgus Macaques, Hongzhao Li, Yan Hai, So-Yon Lim, Nikki Toledo, Jose Crecente-Campo, Dane Schalk, Lin Li, Robert W. Omange, Tamara G. Dacoba, Lewis R. Liu, Mohammad Abul Kashem, Yanmin Wan, Binhua Liang, Qingsheng Li, Eva Rakasz, Nancy Schultz-Darken, Maria J. Alonso, Francis A. Plummer, James B. Whitney, Ma Luo

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

HIV mutates rapidly and infects CD4⁺ T cells, especially when they are activated. A vaccine targeting conserved, essential viral elements while limiting CD4⁺ T cell activation could be effective. Learning from natural immunity observed in a group of highly HIV-1 exposed seronegative Kenyan female sex workers, we are testing a novel candidate HIV vaccine targeting the 12 viral protease cleavage sites (PCSs) (the PCS vaccine), in comparison with a vaccine targeting full-length Gag and Env (the Gag/Env vaccine) in a Mauritian cynomolgus macaque/SIV model. In this study we evaluated these vaccines for induction of mucosal antibodies to SIV …

Investigation Into The Role Of Manganese In The Growth Of The Opportunistic Pathogen Streptococcus Sanguinis, Brittany Spivey

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

While Streptococcus sanguinis plays a beneficial role in the oral cavity as a competitor of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus, the bacteria that produce dental caries, it can cause deadly infective endocarditis if given the opportunity to colonize the vegetations that form over damaged endocardial tissue. Pre-existing heart conditions, surgery, and intravenous drug use predispose individuals to endocarditis. S. sanguinis growth and consequential virulence is significantly impeded by restriction to manganese. This is due to the resulting overwhelming oxidative stress and formation of reactive oxygen species which damage DNA and other cellular components. Manganese is essential for S. sanguinis proteins …

Biosynthetic Mechanism Of The Antibiotic Capuramycin, Erfu Yan

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

A-102395 is a member of the capuramycin family of antibiotics which was isolated from the culture broth of Amycolatopsis sp. SANK 60206. A-102339 is structurally classified as a nucleoside antibiotic, which like all members of the capuramycin family, inhibits bacterial MraY (translocase I) with IC₅₀ of 11 nM which is the lowest among the capuramycin family. A semisynthetic derivative of capuramycin is currently in clinical trials as an antituberculosis antibiotic, suggesting high potential for using A-102395 as a starting point for new antibiotic discovery. In contrast to other capuramycins, A-102395 has a unique arylamine-containing polyamide side chain. The biosynthetic …

Sivcpz Closely Related To The Ancestral Hiv-1 Is Less Or Non-Pathogenic To Humans In A Hu-Blt Mouse Model, Zhe Yuan, Guobin Kang, Lance Daharsh, Wenjin Fan, Qingsheng Li

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The HIV-1 pandemic is a consequence of the cross-species transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus in wild chimpanzees (SIVcpz) to humans. Our previous study demonstrated SIVcpz strains that are closely related to the ancestral viruses of HIV-1 groups M (SIVcpzMB897) and N (SIVcpzEK505) and two SIVcpz lineages that are not associated with any known HIV-1 infections in humans (SIVcpzMT145 and SIVcpzBF1167), all can readily infect and robustly replicate in the humanized-BLT mouse model of humans. However, the comparative pathogenicity of different SIVcpz strains remains unknown. Herein, we compared the pathogenicity of the above four SIVcpz strains with HIV-1 using humanized-BLT mice. …