Life Sciences Commons^™

Image-Based Microbiome Profiling Differentiates Gut Microbial Metabolic States, Sarwesh Rauniyar

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

A Novel Approach For Characterizing The Ultra-Micro Size-Fraction Community, Abdullah Ahmed Salim, Priscilla Nicole Pineda, Isabella Alamilla, Andrew Dean Putt

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

A Novel Approach for Characterizing the Ultra-Micro Size-Fraction Community

Students: Abdullah Salim, Priscilla Pineda, Isabella Alamilla

Mentors/Supervisors: Andrew Putt, Terry C. Hazen

ABSTRACT

The ultra-micro size-fraction (UMSF) are bacteria that can pass through the 0.2 µm pore membrane filters employed in environmental surveys. Despite being ubiquitous and having high metabolic activity, UMSF remain elusive and largely uncultured. Investigations of UMSF are skewed by difficulties in culturing and a lack of techniques for measuring UMSF biogeochemical signatures. This study measures surface stream UMSF community diversity, and community response to the addition of the synthetic pharmaceutical and cosmetic carbon product cyclodextrin which …

Biocontrol Of Foodborne Pathogens Using Bacteriophages, Dzhuliya Ignatova, Erion Hogan, Simone Dakare, Jean Lu

Symposium of Student Scholars

Biocontrol of Foodborne Pathogens Using Bacteriophages

Dzhuliya Ignatova, Erion Hogan, Simone Dakare, and Jean Lu

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Abstract

Salmonella and Shigella are two important groups of foodborne bacterial pathogens. Salmonella cause an illness called salmonellosis while Shigella cause shigellosis (bacillary dysentery). The most common symptoms of these illnesses are abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and fever. Shigella can also cause bloody diarrhea. It was estimated that each year Salmonella cause 93.8 million cases of gastroenteritis and 155,000 deaths globally. Shigella causes 164.7 million cases and 1.1 million deaths throughout the world yearly. People get these illnesses mainly by …

S-Layer Increases Predation Ability Of Myxococcus Xanthus

Symposium of Student Scholars

Background: Myxococcus xanthus is a gram-negative soil bacterium that exhibits micro-predatory activities. When starved, M. xanthus produces resistant spores within fruiting bodies for survival. The S-layer is a paracrystalline structure intertwined in many different patterns and is composed of proteins or glycoproteins. A species that produces the S-layer is Aeromonas. A. salmonicida is a strain of Aeromonas that infects fish. A. hydrophila is another pathogenic strain that causes a wide range of human diseases. We investigated the ability of the S-layer to protect Aeromonas from predation by Myxobacteria. Methods: Myxococcus and prey Aeromonas cultures were standardized to a concentration …

Bacteriophages Infecting Enterobacter Cloacae To Reduce Bloater Damage In Fermented Cucumbers

Symposium of Student Scholars

Fermented cucumbers are one of the most important fermented vegetables consumed worldwide. During cucumber fermentations, certain undesirable changes may occur. One of such changes is known as bloater defect (hollow cavities in fermented cucumbers), which is primarily caused by gas-producing bacteria including Enterobacter cloacae. Bloater defect lowers product quality and leads to significant economic loss to the pickle industry, and effective preventative methods are needed. Bacteriophages (phages) are highly host-specific bacterial killers. Use of phages to control unwanted bacteria in foods is a promising approach because phages do not change food properties. This research was to isolate, characterize, and …

Effectiveness Of Bacteriophages Against Bloater-Causing Bacteria Enterobacter Cloacae In A Model Food System, Ashley Reed, Dzhuliya Ignatova, Sandra Kopic, Unique Sardeneta

Symposium of Student Scholars

Effectiveness of bacteriophages against bloater-causing bacteria Enterobacter cloacae in a model food system

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Ashley Reed, Dzhuliya Ignatova, Sandra Kopic, Unique Sardeneta, and Jean Lu

Abstract

Cucumber fermentation is one of the most important vegetable fermentations in the United States and Europe. Enterobacter cloacae and other gas-producing bacteria can cause bloater defect (the gas pockets or hollow cavities formed in fermented cucumbers) which lowers the quality and the yield of fermented cucumbers, thereby resulting in significant economic losses to the pickling industry. Cost-effective strategies to control E. cloacae and other microbiota need to be …

Examining Effects Of The Dna Regulator Lrp On Quorum Sensing Gene Expression In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Bradley Lumsden

Symposium of Student Scholars

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen that has the capacity to express multiple virulence factors that are regulated through an extensive quorum sensing network. Three major quorum sensing systems have been identified in Pseudomonas species: the acyl homoserine lactones of las and rhl, and the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS). We seek to investigate the involvement of a global regulator, Lrp with the expression of these three networks. Specifically, we will compare expression levels of las, rhl, and pqs in wild type P. aeruginosa (MPAO1) with an lrp transposon insertion mutant using quantitative PCR. Through this comparative …

The Role Of Proneural Transcription Factor Ngn-1/Neurogenin During Caenorhabditis Elegans Embryonic Development, Michaela Diane Crego

Symposium of Student Scholars

Accurate control of neuronal cell identification and movement is crucial to embryonic development. Defects in this process can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders, creating an imperative for further study. The transcription factor neurogenin is required for multiple neurodevelopmental processes during vertebrate embryonic development and mutations in this gene underpin multiple human neurological disorders. Despite this, little is known about how this gene controls nervous system development and function. Neurogenin is deeply conserved across phyla. As such, we can investigate neurogenin function in simple systems such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which has a close ortholog of neurogenin, ngn-1. Previous work in …

Soil Bacteria: Metabolic Diversity In A Wildlife Management Area, Nicholas Green

Symposium of Student Scholars

This research is part of a larger study linking the soil microbiome and processes to the aboveground plant community.

Soil samples were collected from six plots under closed canopy in the Sheffield Wildlife management area in the Piedmont ecoregion of Georgia in Paulding County. Two of the plots were located in the longleaf pine savanna where restoration of longleaf pine has been in place since 2010. Samples were collected in sterile plastic tubes at the center of each plot and 10 meters above and below the center. For each sample, soil pH and the concentration of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), …

Efficacy Of Volatile Organic Compounds As Treatment For Bats Affected With White-Nose Syndrome, Whitney Jones

Symposium of Student Scholars

Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), is a fungal pathogen implicated in the widespread mortality of hibernating bats across North America. Since its arrival to the United States in 2006, the pathogen has spread rapidly to 34 US states and 7 Canadian provinces. Researchers have been searching for disease management strategies to minimize the spread and severity of this fungal pathogen, as bats are an important aspect of a healthy regional and global ecosystem as insect predators and pollinators. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), produced by a variety of microorganisms, have been found to exhibit antimicrobial properties …

Glide Another Day: Characterization Of Wild Isolates Of Predatory Myxobacteria, Daniella Krakue, Juan Vasquez, Simone Dakare

Symposium of Student Scholars

Myxobacteria belongs to a group of predatory bacteria that are found in various soil environments. They are exceptionally unique microbes who use their gliding motility to move towards prey microbes and consume them. They also have the remarkable ability to produce secondary metabolites that have antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antitumor properties. For this reason, they are of interest to us so that we can understand their abilities and apply them to discover their potential as a source of novel metabolites with potential therapeutic applications. Our methodology began by collecting soil samples from various sites around the country. We then standardized …

Community Level Physiological Profiling Of The Longleaf Pine Savannah Microbiome, Gavin Treadaway

Symposium of Student Scholars

Soil microorganisms secrete chemicals into their surroundings, which the root system will uptake and in return release root exudates, which usually consist of low-molecular-weight organic compounds. These root exudates behave as signaling molecules and substrates for microorganisms to recruit beneficial soil bacteria to the plant root system, which will provide the plants with immunity to foliar diseases and pathogen infection. Studies have shown that bacteria on the root surface can protect aerial sections of the plant by promoting induced systemic resistance, a mechanism of increasing physical or chemical barriers of the plant.

The longleaf pine is an endangered species of …

Assessing Selective Plasmids For Bradyrhizobium Sp. Doa9 And Mesorhizobium Loti, Aiden J. Wilcox, Rebecca Meaney, Bogumil Karas

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Pre-Lysis Rinses To Improve Dna Yield And Purity, Joseph Correa, Emma Pellegrino, Marek K. Sliwinski Ph.D.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

The widespread sampling of environmental DNA from soils has led to a fundamental shift in our understanding of Earth’s microbiome by identifying previously unknown microbes that have never been grown in the laboratory. Many of the published protocols for the extraction of environmental DNA differ based on the starting material. These differences include changes to buffer composition, detergents, and enzymatic digest. To remove this bias, we sought a standardized protocol for samples from Wind Cave National Park, which includes both above ground prairie soil and paleofill from the deepest depths of the cave system. Pre-rinsing samples with either of two …

Manipulation Of The Microbiome In The Gut Of The Fruit Fly To Alleviate Cadmium Bioaccumulation, Natasya Tamba

Symposium of Student Scholars

Cadmium (Cd) poisoning contributes to severe bodily detriments characterized by kidney failure, osteomalacia, and osteoporosis, otherwise known as Itai-Itai disease. The ingestion of cadmium contaminated foods primarily causes these conditions. There are no treatments to remove cadmium once absorbed, resulting in bioaccumulation. In this study, we are developing a method to manipulate the community of microorganisms (microbiome) living within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), intending to use microorganisms to reduce the availability of ingested cadmium.

The biodiversity of microorganisms within the GI tract is responsible for metabolizing substances that the body cannot perform. …

Detecting Bacterial Species From Ancient Human Skeletal Samples, Ariel Owens, Daisy Mcgrath, Tsai-Tien Tseng

Symposium of Student Scholars

This paleopathological study aims to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and other Mycobacterium species in silico from skeletal samples that belonged to 28 Polish individuals in the Neolithic period under PRJNA422903 from the Sequence Read Archive (SRA). After next-generation sequencing (NGS), bioinformatics methods are heavily relied upon for identification of pathogens from complex samples. We implemented a bioinformatics pipeline, with custom-built databases, utilizing the following software tools: Trim Galore! and Kraken2. After adapter trimming, Kraken2 was used for taxonomic classifications. We have found that Mycobacterium is present in all 28 individuals. The average percentage of MAC …

Identification And Comparison Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Soil Microbiomes Between American Chestnuts And Surrounding Hardwoods, Sarah Andrews, Geoffrey Eger, Isabella Vahle

Symposium of Student Scholars

Background/Questions/Methods

The introduction of the Chinese chestnut blight in 1904 decimated native American chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marshall) Borkh.) populations. In this study we aim to: 1) document the location of individual chestnuts in our vicinity; 2) document healthy versus blight infected individuals; 3) characterize putative differences in the soil microbiome between infected and non-infected individuals, as well as between chestnuts and hardwood neighbors. With this information we hope to provide new insights into mechanisms that may enhance blight and fungal resistance in American chestnuts through the understanding of the interactions between the trees and their surrounding soil microbiome.

Soil …

Investigating The Sars-Cov-2 Orf 8 Accessory Protein: Expression, Purification, And Structural Determination, Laney Hedgeman, Caroline Salha

Symposium of Student Scholars

Abstract

In order to provide insight into potential therapeutic breakthroughs for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), more research must be done to understand the structure and function of its proteins. The open reading frame 8 (ORF 8) accessory protein is particularly unstable on its own outside of the viral envelope but can be stabilized when bound to the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) protein. The stable ORF 8-SUMO protein complex can be expressed and purified using familiar techniques and later characterized with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, thus allowing us to gain knowledge about the role it plays …

Lipoxin A 4 (Lxa 4 ) Promotes Reduction And Antibiotic Efficacy Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm, Julianne M. Thornton, Jean Walker, Prem Y.K. Sundarasivarao, Bernd Spur, Ana Rodriguez, Kingsley Yin

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P aeruginosa) is an opportunistic bacterium commonly found in wound infections and airways of cystic fibrosis patients P aeruginosa readily forms biofilms which can reduce the efficacy of antibiotics used to eradicate the pathogen We have previously shown that a Specialized Pro resolving Mediator ( Lipoxin A 4 (LxA 4 is a quorum sensing inhibitor which can reduce P aeruginosa virulence In this study, we examined the direct actions of LxA 4 and RvD 2 on P aeruginosa biofilm formation and virulence gene expression The influence of LxA 4 on antibiotic efficacy and the combined effects on biofilm …

Effects On The Human Microbiome: Antibiotics And Other Chemicals, Katherine Moulton

Thinking Matters Symposium

With skin being the largest organ of the human body, there is a very large surface area for a microbiome to form and live. The human microbiome is composed of different types of bacteria, fungi, and archaea, in different locations of the body. This layer can be greatly affected by daily practices including, hygiene habits, exercise, and antibiotic uses. The major objective of this study is to identify species of the human microbiome from various body sites and test their resistance to major chemicals. To achieve this objective, the mouth, ear, axillary area, hand, belly button, and foot of several …

Project Alien, Rebecca Mccallin, Madelyn Hoying, Alex Evans, Matthew Nestler, Karli Rae Sutton, Garett Craig, Lucia Secaia Del Cid, Alexander Guy, Rachel Fernandez, Amanda Trusiak, Paige Aley, Ingabire Gakwerere, Nina Dorfner, Maria Mosbacher, Mary Flavin, Selvin Hernandez, Audrey Steen, Benjamin Kazimer

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Project ALIEN is a comprehensive plan to send humans to Mars to look for life on the Martian surface while exploring the viability and adaptability of terrestrial microbes in Martian atmospheric conditions. ALIEN will use a ballistic capture trajectory to get to Mars and stay in aerostationary orbit for a 30-day surface mission, during which two surface crewmembers will perform a variety of experiments to achieve the mission’s goals of Martian microbial discovery within brines of the Gale Crater and terrestrial microbe adaptability and viability to Martian conditions. Experimentation is based on the presumption that Martian microbes are metabolically similar …

Microplastics: Nacogdoches County’S Hidden Threat, Jordan Stanford, Sydney Matlock, Courtney Sims, Samantha Montes

Undergraduate Research Conference

Microplastics and their threat to marine environments are well known, but studies in freshwater environments are few and far between. Microplastics can be created by the breaking down of plastics or in the process of making plastics. They affect biological lifeforms in a multitude of ways, water temperature, permeability of the sediment. Pollution in Texas waterways have motivated groups like the Environmental Protection Agency, Trash Free Texas, and Environment Texas to get involved. The objectives of this study are two analyze Bonita and La Nana Bayou for microplastic presence and to educate and create awareness for Nacogdoches County on microplastics. …

B25: Generation And Characterization Of Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein-Pseudotyped Lentivirus Particles For Use In Neutralizing Antibody Titer Testing Of Human Serum, Luis Sanchez

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

B16: Chikungunya Virus Time Course Infection Of Human Macrophages, Madison Gray, Israel Guerrero-Arguero, Antonio Solis Leal, Richard Robison, Brad Burges, Brett Pickett

Annual Research Symposium

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an Alphavirus spread by Aedes spp. mosquitoes and is responsible for infecting 1.1 million people per year worldwide, including a large epidemic in the western hemisphere in 2014-2015. During the body’s immune response to CHIKV, human macrophages become infected after phagocytosis of CHIKV and undergo induced apoptosis, catalyzing the virus spread in the body. It is presently unclear what macrophage genes, functions, and intracellular signaling pathways are impacted during the early, intermediate, and late stages of CHIKV infection. Therefore we quantified the transcriptional response of human macrophage cells infected with CHIKV at two different timepoints.

B12: The T Cell Co-Receptor Cd5 Alters Mouse Behavior And Gut Microbiome Composition, Kyle Reaveley

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Variation Of E. Coli Abundance And Antibiotic Resistance Patterns In Water And Sediment Samples From Two Creeks With Different Potential Fecal Contamination Sources., James S. Zumhagen, Timothy Gsell

Research Days

Escherichia coli has served as the primary indicator for fecal contamination for the past 30 years, but more recent studies suggest that this bacteria may survive the cold weather in the soil making it difficult to tell whether it is new contamination or old contamination. Studies have found that exposure to various contaminants such as heavy metals, water treatment chemicals, agricultural runoff, fecal contamination, and antibiotics, creates an increase in the resistance of the microbes exposed to it. Wastewater treatment facilities, animal hospitals and wastewater sites increase the bacterial load and the prevalence of antibiotic resistance of bacteria residing bacteria …

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 …