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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Engineering Yeast To Evaluate Human Proteins Involved In Selective Rna Packaging During Hiv Particle Production, Ryan M. Bitter
Engineering Yeast To Evaluate Human Proteins Involved In Selective Rna Packaging During Hiv Particle Production, Ryan M. Bitter
Master's Theses
Despite recent advances in antiretroviral therapy, nearly 37 million people continue to live with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Basic and applied research on the assembly of HIV could be enhanced by using a genetically tractable organism, such as yeast, rather than mammalian cells. While previous studies showed that expression of the HIV Gag polyprotein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae spheroplasts resulted in the production of virus-like particles (VLPs), many questions regarding the utility of yeast in HIV assembly remain uninvestigated. Here, we report use of S. cerevisiae for both the production of VLPs with selectively packaged RNA and to evaluate the human …
Detecting A Probiotic Product Within The Gut Of Broiler Chickens, Anneka Pisula
Detecting A Probiotic Product Within The Gut Of Broiler Chickens, Anneka Pisula
Master's Theses
As of January 2017, the U.S. poultry industry banned the use of antibiotics and now relies on alternatives such as probiotics to help protect animal health. Although probiotic use is not a new concept in the poultry industry, identifying the best combination of bacterial strains to generate an effective probiotic formula requires further investigation. This study aimed to detect a probiotic product of four bacterial strains (Pedioccoccus acidilactici, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Bacillus subtilis) in a feeding trial with broiler chickens. Birds given the probiotic were predicted to show an improved growth performance with …
The Role And Contribution Of Saprotrophic Fungi During Standing Litter Decomposition Of Two Perennial Grass Species, Schizachyrium Scoparium And Schizachyrium Tenerum, Matthew Lodato
Master's Theses
In terrestrial ecosystems, most of the plant biomass produced enters the detrital pool, where microbial decomposers colonize, enzymatically degrade, and assimilate plant litter carbon and nutrients in amounts sufficient to bring about the decomposition of plant litter. Here, I estimated the biomass and production of fungi and microbial respiration associated with decaying Schizachyrium scoparium and Schizachyrium tenerum leaf litter, and constructed a partial organic matter budget estimating C flow into and through fungal decomposers. Significant losses in S. scoparium (57%) and S. tenerum (68%) leaf mass was observed during litter decomposition along with concomitant increases in fungal biomass, which reached …
Detection, Activity Measurement And Phylogeny Of Ureolytic Bacteria Isolated From Elasmobranch Tissue, Yimu Yang
Master's Theses
Free-ranging marine elasmobranch tissue-associated micro-organisms were cultured from free-ranging Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina) and Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae). 16S rRNA gene phylogeny indicated bacteria community structure in both elasmobranchs were under phylum Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. By conducting split-plot ANOVA, we found the microbial richness is significantly different (P=0.0814) between two superorders of elasmobranch, which may largely due to their preferred habitats and feeding habits. Urease presentence and activity was detected in phylogenetically diverse bacterial strains. Species with high urea-hydrolyzing ability, such as Micrococcus luteus (shark blood isolate: 46.84 mU/mg protein; stingray blood isolate: 24.36 …
Characterizing Immune Response To Hiv-1 Infection In Bicd2-Knockout Cells, Omar Abdel-Rahim
Characterizing Immune Response To Hiv-1 Infection In Bicd2-Knockout Cells, Omar Abdel-Rahim
Master's Theses
An important part of the HIV-1 infection cycle is the attachment of the intracellular viral core to the host microtubule network, facilitated by attachment of the viral capsid to cargo adaptor proteins. One such cargo adaptor is Bicaudal D Homolog Protein 2 (BICD2). BICD2 can attach to both the HIV-1 capsid and the dynein/dynactin complex and facilitate the trafficking of the viral core towards the host nucleus. Removal of BICD2 can disrupt this viral translocation, resulting in an elevated immune response that impairs productive HIV-1 infection. In my research, we investigated what viral particles are detected in the absence of …
Characterizing The Roles Of Staphylococcus Aureus Secreted Factors In Virulence And Modulation Of Innate Immune Cell Activity, Cameron Harvey
Characterizing The Roles Of Staphylococcus Aureus Secreted Factors In Virulence And Modulation Of Innate Immune Cell Activity, Cameron Harvey
Master's Theses
Staphylococcus aureus is a prominent human pathogen that is responsible for a massive burden on healthcare. This thesis takes two approaches to characterize how S. aureus secreted factors subvert the innate immune response. First, characterization of the integral membrane protease 1984 showed that it regulates secretion of a putative lytic transglycosylase, IsaA, which is implicated in virulence. My results suggest IsaA and 1984 are capable of modulating immune responses that result in enhanced heart colonization in vivo. In addition, recent studies have uncovered TLR-independent pathways that induce inflammatory responses after S. aureus insult. Therefore, I hypothesized the bacterium secretes factors …
Understanding The Dynamics Of Protein Lipoylation In Staphylococcus Aureus, Sarah C. Flury
Understanding The Dynamics Of Protein Lipoylation In Staphylococcus Aureus, Sarah C. Flury
Master's Theses
Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal bacterium that also acts as an opportunistic pathogen. The pathogenicity of S. aureus has often been attributed to the wide range of virulence factors that the bacterium produces. While virulence factors do contribute a great deal, there is a growing field of research that aims to investigate the role of metabolism in bacterial virulence.
My project focuses on the necessity of a metabolic cofactor, lipoic acid. To ensure sufficient amounts of lipoic acid are available for enzyme activity, S. aureus has evolved two pathways to obtain the important nutrient. The lipoic acid salvage pathway is …
Immunobiology Of Adenovirus-Vector Vaccines For Mrsa, Emily Orvis
Immunobiology Of Adenovirus-Vector Vaccines For Mrsa, Emily Orvis
Master's Theses
Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive, extracellular bacterium that has emerged as an
important human pathogen. This bacterium is a leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections
(SSTIs) in humans, often leading to invasive and life-threatening infections. Treatment of S.
aureus infections is becoming more complicated due to the rise of methicillin-resistant S. aureus
(MRSA) strains, which are becoming increasingly resistant to a number of antibiotics. In the
United States, invasive MRSA infections result in more deaths annually than any other infectious
agent.
Despite a dire need, there is currently no vaccine against S. aureus infections. The failure
of past …
Surveying Host Innate Immune Responses To Interferon Antagonist-Deficient Murine Coronaviruses, Aaron Brian Volk
Surveying Host Innate Immune Responses To Interferon Antagonist-Deficient Murine Coronaviruses, Aaron Brian Volk
Master's Theses
Two coronaviruses (CoVs)—severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus—have emerged in the 21st century from animal reservoirs into the human population, each causing an epidemic associated with significant disease and mortality. CoV epidemics are currently only controllable by rigorous public health measures; no targeted therapeutics or vaccines exist to treat or prevent any human CoV infection. One method of generating attenuated CoV strains to be studied as vaccine candidates involves specifically disrupting CoV-encoded interferon (IFN) antagonists, thereby rendering the virus vulnerable to host innate antiviral immunity. Deubiquitinating (DUB) activity encoded within CoV nonstructural protein …