Life Sciences Commons^™

Vitro Bacteriophage Treatment For A Staphylococcus Aureus And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Co-Culture, Alexis Perry

Arkansas Women in STEM Conference

Recent studies show that up 27-36% of all infections are polymicrobial, involving more than one bacteria species. In all categories, polymicrobial infections are often more virulent and harmful to the patient. Since different types of bacteria can communicate with each other through quorum-sensing when in the presence of each other, they can display different genomic characteristics. Further research into polymicrobial infections needs to be done because these changing characteristics can prevent treatment from working, such as antibiotics or bacteriophage therapy. This experiment focused on the co-culture between the two bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, which can be found co-existing …

The Use Of Aloe-Based Silver Nanoparticles As A Possible Treatment For Contaminated Water, Lozetta Davis

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Water contamination is a world-wide issue that causes the death of millions yearly. This comes from regularly tainted water with water borne pathogens, which is typically seen in undeveloped areas. As antibiotics are used more, more resistance is being seen, and thus newer methods of microbial contamination need to be developed. Silver nanoparticles have shown success in microbial contamination on petri dishes, but not in a water system. It was hypothesized that if silver nanoparticles were added to bacteria contaminated water they would be able to reduce the amount of bacteria present. Silver nanoparticles that are synthesized from plants such …

Investigating Alternative Induction Of The S. Aureus 80a Prophage, Jody Caretti

Student Scholar Showcase

Widespread antibiotic resistance has quickly become one of the most concerning crises affecting modern medicine, especially in cases of Staphylococcal infections, which have become resistant to all ��-lactam antibiotics. As a result, research into alternative forms of treatment for bacterial infections is a top priority. Bacteriophage therapy is a popular candidate for replacing antibiotics, due to the way the viruses interact with the bacteria. The 80�� prophage integrates its DNA into Staphylococcus aureus strain 10616 via the lysogenic cycle, and replicates with the bacterial cell. When stressed, the bacteria stop replicating and the prophage stimulates the lytic cycle, activating transcription …

Insights Into Viral Genome Function Through Comparative Structural Analysis, Lydia Phillips

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Enteroviruses are single stranded RNA viruses which have caused many public health concerns, particularly in children. These viruses are responsible for polio, hand, foot, and mouth disease, many polio-like neurological diseases, and the common cold. The enterovirus called Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), a close relative to poliovirus, has been shown responsible for severe human disease, including pancreatitis, myocarditis, and type 1 diabetes. A unique advantage of studying CVB3 is the existence of a naturally occurring strain (CVB3/GA) which displays no known pathogenicity. Earlier comparative genomic studies have shown that the primary difference between avirulent CVB3/GA and the virulent strains of CVB3 …

Lipoarabinomannan From Mycobacterium Smegmatis Stimulates An Inflammatory Response In Raw 264.7 Murine Macrophages, Aysha Zaman

Student Scholar Showcase

Macrophages are a key leukocyte in defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The precise mechanism by which M. tuberculosis evades host macrophage defenses remains unknown, so understanding how macrophages interact with cell wall components of mycobacteria is critical. Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a glycolipid Toll-like receptor-2 (TLR-2) ligand found on the cell wall of mycobacteria, and is thought to contribute to the cell wall structural integrity. When LAM binds to TLR on host leukocytes, this activates cellular responses and phagocytosis by host macrophages. Nitric oxide production can be used as a measure of inflammatory response and can be evaluated via nitrite response …

Co-Occurrence Of Manganese Oxidase Genes Indicates Lateral Transfer Between Classes Of Proteobacteria, Jacob Olichney

Student Scholar Showcase

Pseudomonas putida GB-1 is a model organism for the study of manganese oxidation in bacteria, however, the frequency of co-localization of multiple known and suspected manganese oxidizing proteins, as well as their occurrence between species, is unknown. Eight different genes isolated from known manganese oxidizing bacteria (MnxG, MopA, McoA, PputGB1_2552, PputGB1_2553, MoxA, MofA, and Bacillus MnxG) were tested individually using BioPython and BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) on multiple genomic databases. BLAST searches had an expect value cutoff of 1e-50, limiting gene homologs to those with high sequence similarity. The abundance of homologous genes across classes of proteobacteria point …

Targeted Therapy For The Future: The Use Of Novel Antimicrobial Peptides Against P. Aeurginosa, Matthew Froid

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Pathogenic bacteria, such as the gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are becoming resistant to our current arsenal of antibiotics at an alarming rate. P. aeruginosa is a leading cause of nosocomial acquired infections and is a primary co-morbidity in patients with compromised immune systems. One potential source of new antibiotic agents is antimicrobial peptides. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small proteins, and some have shown a high degree of efficacy and broad-spectrum activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. An experimental AMP that has been developed by Dr. Wang at UNMC, DASamp2, has shown to be effective against virulent bacteria, including P. …

Effects Of Evolution On Laboratory Sublines Of Myxococcus Xanthus Dk1622, Mackenzie Ryan, Francesca Scribano, Kimberly Murphy

Celebration of Learning

Microbes have served as effective models for studying evolution because of their ability to be easily replicated, stored, and manipulated. Myxococcus xanthus is a soil bacterium that has served as a model organism in many laboratories. The unique social and motile behaviors exhibited by this bacterium make it ideal for phenotypic assays. A wild-type strain of M. xanthus, DK1622, has been distributed to laboratories across the United States and therefore we now have DK1622 sublines. The genomes of a number of these sublines have been sequenced and their social and motile phenotypes have been analyzed. When nine of these sublines …

Determining If Host Serum Igg Titer Is Associated With Toxoplasma Gondii Virulence, Riley E Byrd

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that causes the disease toxoplasmosis in animals and humans. One third of the world’s human population is chronically infected with this parasite (1). Toxoplasma gondii has two infectious forms: oocysts shed in the feces of felids (domestic and wild cats) and tissue cysts in chronically infected animals (Figure 1). Humans may become infected via ingestion of food or water contaminated with oocysts, the consumption of tissue cysts in undercooked meats, or vertical transmission from the mother to the fetus. Previous studies have found that T. gondii strains from South America are genetically diverse from …

Microflora In The Cheek Pouches Of Ord's Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys Ordii) From The Nebraska Sandhills, Devin M. Christensen

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The microflora living within the Ord’s kangaroo rat (Dipodymis ordii) cheek pouches has never been extensively studied before. Kangaroo rats use their cheek pouches to transport seeds and grasses in their mouths that they later store. It is predicted that the cheek pouches harbor fungal and bacterial growth that could be either helpful or harmful to the kangaroo rat and its environment. 8 kangaroo rats were humanely captured using Sherman live traps in the Nebraska Sandhills; their cheek pouches were swabbed, and the microorganisms obtained were grown on agar plates and in liquid media until an adequate amount …

The Effects Of The Fungus Beauvaria Sp. On The Cave Cricket, Hadenoecus Subterraneus, Christina N. Walker, Derrick J. Jent, Claire A. Fuller

Scholars Week

The cave cricket, Hadenoecus subterraneus, is a keystone species in cave ecosystems within Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP). Within MCNP, many cricket cadavers have been found

with a thick, white fungus growing on them; this fungus has previously been identified to be Beauveria bassiana. However, new molecular data suggests that this may actually be the species B. amorpha. Cricket cadavers with Beauveria sp. were collected from MCNP and cultured on potato dextrose agar. Cultures will be sent to the USDA for a genetic analysis and identification of the fungus. The purpose of this study is to examine if the relationship …

How Does The Exploitation And Degradation Of Finite Natural Resources By Industrial Oil Producers Effect Our Future Planetary Environment?, Zachary J. King Mr.

Symposium of Student Scholars

Zachary King

Dr. Tu

26 March 2015

GEOG 3700

Abstract

The purpose of this presentation is to communicate content of the reports given by credible institution on the degradation and exploitation of finite natural resources by corporate institutions, for short term financial gain, and how it will effect the future planetary environment. Methods used in obtaining this research range from point source observation directly from oil spills in the Gulf or pipe leaks in the Mid-West, to analytical and numerical data quantifications gathered over a period of two decades. This presentation encompasses a wide scope of information concerning the way …

The Us27 Protein Of Human Cytomegalovirus Enhances Signaling By Human Chemokine Receptor Cxcr4, Kathleen Arnolds, Juliet V. Spencer

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a prevalent pathogen that causes little disease except in immune-compromised hosts. HCMV establishes life-long latency by manipulating host immune responses. We have found that the US27 protein profoundly alters the activity of host chemokine receptor CXCR4. Cells expressing US27 and CXCR4 exhibited greater migration and calcium signaling than cells expressing CXCR4 alone. The mechanism for this enhanced signaling appears to be increased expression of CXCR4, and we are continuing to investigate how US27 causes up-regulation of CXCR4. This work is expected to clarify the role of US27 in immune evasion and provide insights into treatment strategies.