Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Whole Genome Sequencing Of Moraxella Bovoculi Reveals High Genetic Diversity And Evidence For Interspecies Recombination At Multiple Loci, Aaron M. Dickey, Gennie Schuller, John D. Loy, Michael L. Clawson

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Moraxella bovoculi is frequently cultured from the ocular secretions and conjunctiva of cattle with Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK). Previous work has shown that single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity in this species is quite high with 81,284 SNPs identified in eight genomes representing two distinct genotypes isolated from IBK affected eyes (genotype 1) and the nasopharynx of cattle without clinical IBK signs (genotype 2), respectively. The goals of this study were to identify SNPs from a collection of geographically diverse and epidemiologically unlinked M. bovoculi strains from the eyes of IBK positive cattle (n = 183) and another from the eyes …

Differential Modulation Of Human Gabac‑Ρ1 Receptor By Sulfur‑Containing Compounds Structurally Related To Taurine, Lenin David Ochoa‑De La Paz, Martin González‑Andrade, Herminia Pasantes‑Morales, Rodrigo Franco, Rubén Zamora‑Alvarado, Edgar Zenteno, Hugo Quiroz‑Mercado, Roberto Gonzales‑Salinas, Rosario Gulias‑Cañizo

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The amino acid taurine (2-Aminoethanesulfonic acid) modulates inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors. This study aimed to determine if the dual action of taurine on GABAC- ρ1R relates to its structure. To address this, we tested the ability of the structurally related compounds homotaurine, hypotaurine, and isethionic acid to modulate GABAC- ρ1R.

Results: In Xenopus laevis oocytes, hypotaurine and homotaurine partially activate heterologously expressed GABAC- ρ1R, showing an increment in its deactivation time with no changes in channel permeability, whereas isethionic acid showed no effect. Competitive assays suggest that hypotaurine and homotaurine compete for the GABA-binding site. In addition, their effects were …

Using Art And Story To Explore How Primary School Students In Rural Tanzania Understand Planetary Health: A Qualitative Analysis, Elizabeth Vanwormer, Jesca Mlawa, Elizabeth Komba, Christopher Gustafson, Hilda Mrema, Jenny M. Dauer

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background The global planetary health community increasingly recognises the need to prepare students to investigate and address connections between environmental change and human health. As we strive to support education on planetary health themes for students of all ages, understanding students’ concepts of linkages between the health of people and animals, and their shared environments might advance educational approaches. Children living in villages bordering Ruaha National Park in Iringa Region, Tanzania, have direct experience of these connections as they share a water-stressed but biodiverse environment with domestic animals and wildlife. Livelihoods in these villages depend predominantly on crop and livestock …

Quantitative Genetics Of Populus, Roba Bdeir

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Evidence for bark, stem and stomatal density adaptation to different climates in the model species Populus is seen in both the natural population as well as in the greenhouse, but the genetic basis of these adaptation remains poorly understood. The present thesis investigates bark texture, bark thickness, diameter and stomatal density variations among Populus population using two quantitative genetics methods to attempt understand the genetic system controlling inheritance of these traits and to associate them with respective genes. The first approach aimed at detecting quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with all phenotypic traits in an interspecific hybrid pedigree (Populus …

A Journey Towards Understanding Biology Holistically At The Nanoscale, Trevor Moser

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Characterizing biological processes with microscopy techniques that allow one to directly visualize the complexity of life is an important component of understanding both physiological function and structure. The wide spectrum of biological structures from individual proteins to whole ecosystems necessitates that multiple techniques are used to characterize all levels of organization. While existing techniques cover portions of this spectrum, continued improvement of established methods and development of new techniques is needed. This dissertation outlines my journey in enabling new approaches for imaging biosystems at various scales. Chapters 1 and 2 provide motivation for bioimaging and background for the use of …

The Abiotic Stress Response Of Hydroponic Vetiver Grass (Chrysopogon Zizanioides L.) To Acid Mine Drainage And Its Potential For Environmental Remediation, Jef Kiiskila

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Mining activities can generate acid mine drainage (AMD), an acidic discharge that contains elevated sulfate (SO₄^2-), soluble metals, and orange-yellow metal-containing particulates. AMD imposes ecological risks from metal toxicity and physical stress, which may physically spread to nearby water sources or biologically through bioaccumulation. Current methods for AMD treatment, such as chemical or passive biological treatments, are often non-sustainable. Chemical treatments can be expensive and create large amounts of secondary waste, whereas biological treatments like anaerobic wetlands require continuous maintenance through input of organic nutrients. The end goal of this research is to develop a cost-efficient and …

Identification Of Genes And Metabolites Involved In Durian Durio Zibethinus Fruit Ripening, Pinnapat Pinsorn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Durian (Durio zibethinus M.), a major economic fruit, actively produces infamous sulfur-containing compounds during ripening. However, sulfur metabolism which is important in this fruit is rarely investigated. In this study, the integration of metabolomics using CE-TOF/MS and transcriptomics using de novo RNA-seq assembly was performed to reveal metabolic changes involved in sulfur metabolism and chemical composition related to fruit quality. During ripening, the expression level of genes involved in sulfur metabolism is concurred with the reduced sulfate ion content in placenta and the up-accumulation of sulfur metabolism-related metabolites in pulps. It is noteworthy that durian pulps highly accumulate γ-glutamylcysteine (γ-EC) …

The Distinction Of The Interactions Between The Transmembrane Domains Of Basigin Gene Products And Monocarboxylate Transporters, Joseph D. Fong

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although it was once thought that neurons solely rely on glucose as a substrate for cellular energy production, it is now known that small monocarboxylate molecules, like pyruvate, lactate, and ketone bodies, are also utilized. Monocarboxylates are transported across plasma membranes via facilitated diffusion using a family of transport proteins known as monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs). Four MCTs (MCT1, MCT2, MCT3, and MCT4) are expressed within neural tissues. Expression of the MCTs has been tied to co-expression of a cell adhesion molecule belonging to the Basigin subset of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF). Basigin gene products are known to interact with MCT1 …

Study Of Hiv-1 Reverse Transcriptase And Protease Inhibition By Mushroom Extracts, Chanin Sillapachaiyaporn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a world serious public health problem. HIV-1 protease (HIV-1 PR) and reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT) are necessary target enzymes which have been used for antiretroviral drugs development. Herein, Lignosus rhinocerus (LR), Auricularia polytricha (AP) and Astraeus spp. (AH) crude extracts were screened for inhibitory activities on both enzymes. Crude hexane extract of AP (APH) exhibited significant inhibition on both HIV-1 PR and RT activities not only in an in vitro non-cell based but also cell based assays. In HIV-1 infected MOLT-4 cell model, APH significantly reduced capsid protein (p24) …

Development Of Simple Devices For Point-Of-Care Screening Of Bacterial Infection And Inflammatory Markers, Julaluk Noiphung

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

A paper-based analytical devices (PADs) provides a great benefit in medical diagnostics, especially in the developing world. The first part of this dissertation describes the effect of sample viscosity on PADs for the measurement of pH and nitrite concentration in human saliva. Preliminary study found that viscosity had a significant effect on the calibration curve of nitrite and a consistent curve could be generated after added washing buffer. Nitrite measurement in artificial saliva with viscosity 1.87-5.10 mPa-s was tested on the proposed device and also showed a good correlation with the standard spectrophotometry method (p=0.8484, paired sample t-test, n=20). Moreover, …

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of High Molecular Weight Proteins In Solution - Considerations For Sample Analysis And Data Pre-Processing, Drishya Rajan Parachalil, Brenda B. Brankin, Jennifer Mcintyre, Hugh Byrne

Articles

This study explores the potential of Raman spectroscopy, coupled with multivariate regression techniques and a protein separation technique (ion exchange chromatography), to quantitatively monitor diagnostically relevant changes in high molecular weight proteins in liquid plasma. Measurement protocols to detect the imbalances in plasma proteins as an indicator of various diseases using Raman spectroscopy are optimised, such that strategic clinical applications for early stage disease diagnostics can be evaluated. In a simulated plasma protein mixture, concentrations of two proteins of identified diagnostic potential (albumin and fibrinogen) were systematically varied within physiologically relevant ranges. Scattering from the poorly soluble fibrinogen fraction is …

Quantifying The Spectrum Of Depression, Octavious Bishop

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Walden University

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by

Octavious Bishop

has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects,

and that any and all revisions required by

the review committee have been made.

Review Committee

Dr. Thomas Edman, Committee Chairperson, Psychology Faculty

Dr. Ricardo Thomas, Committee Member, Psychology Faculty

Dr. Joanna Bissell-Havran, University Reviewer, Psychology Faculty

Chief Academic Officer

Eric Riedel, Ph.D.

Quantifying the Spectrum of Depression

by

Octavious Bishop

MA, University of Texas at Austin, 2008

BS, University of Texas at Austin, 2001

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment …

Characterization Of Tetraethyl Orthosilicate-Based Dynamic Hydrogels For Use As Reversible 3-D Cell Culture Matrices, Krisitan Stipe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Interleukin-6 And Exercise; Early Evidence Of A Novel Myokine, Brendan Hogg Mr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) was first identified as a pleiotropic cytokine, with a host of body-wide functions. Cytokine functions are characterized by chronically elevated levels within various inflammatory states. In this regard, IL-6 is largely associated with the acute phase response to many stimuli and performs specific actions when produced from certain cell types. Accrued evidence indicates IL-6 release from skeletal muscle often includes myokine functions. Novel myokine functions are adaptive in nature, and as compared to inflammatory/cytokine roles, exhibit a transient time course. Following exercise plasma IL-6 peaks and returns to resting levels within 1-2 hours. In contrast, IL-6 is observed …

Computational Design Of Levansucrase For Production Of Tailor-Made Length Levan-Type Fructo-Oligosaccharides, Pongsakorn Kanjanatanin

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Levansucrase (LS) is an exocellular fructosyltransferase catalyzing the hydrolysis of sucrose and polymerization of levan and levan-type fructo-oligosaccharides (LFOs) that have various potentials in pharmaceutical and biological applications such as prebiotics and anticancer agents. LFOs with the chain length of 5 (LFO5 or GF4) showed inhibition activity against the SW480 colorectal cell lines up to about 83%. Although LFO5 has beneficial properties, the ability to produce LFO5 in large quantity is still limited. This study aimed to explore conformational diversity and elucidate the structural and molecular properties of LFO5, LFO10 and LFO15 as well as to redesign the active site …

Environmental And Genetic Factors Affecting Antibiotic Resistance Of Extended Spectrum Î?-Lactamase Bacteria From The Rio Grande River In El Paso, Tx And Cd. Juarez, Mexico, Maria D. Fuentes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: The Rio Grande River provides a major source of potable and agricultural water for the population of the Texas/Mexico border region. Cattle farming and ranching are the most prevalent activities, which may contribute to the microbial burden of pharmaceuticals into our state's water resources. Antibiotics, presumably released into the environment by discharges originating from waste-water treatment plants, septic disposal systems, animal feeding operations and urban runoff have a definite impact on the ecosystem and may contribute to an increase in antibiotic resistance. We hypothesized that waters of the Rio Grande River contained Multi Drug Resistant Organisms (MDRO) and mobile …

Integrated Immunoassays On Paper/Polymer Hybrid Microfluidic Devices For Low-Cost Detection Of Disease Biomarkers, Sanjay Sharma Timilsina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Infectious diseases and cancers have been the major cause of global death and disability causing a significant impact on global health and economies. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is one of the most widely used laboratory diagnostic methods for infectious diseases and cancer. ELISA detects proteins based on their binding to immobilized antibodies or antigen. Even though most ELISAs performed today in 96-well plates are well suited for high throughput assays, performing ELISA in low-resource settings is limited by several factors, such as long incubation time, large volumes of precious reagents, and well-equipped laboratories. Herein, we have developed multiple simple, miniaturized …

Computational Modeling Of Ring Dna-Carbon Nanotube Sensors, Aliasghar Alizadehmojarad

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Non-covalent interactions between single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) oligonucleotides and carbon nanotubes have provided a unique class of tunable chemistries for applications in nanotube chirality purification, gene delivery, electrochemistry, and nanosensor development. However, mechanistic insight into both the photophysical and intermolecular phenomena underlying their utility in such applications is lacking, resulting in non-systematic approaches to producing DNAnanotube based technologies. In this work, we explore the molecular interactions between ssDNA polymers, in particular (GT)6, and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) in an ultrasensitive nanosensor for a modulatory neurotransmitters dopamine. Classical molecular dynamics simulations show that (GT)6 oligonucleotides adopt ordered, ring-like conformations around SWNT in …

The Biogeochemical Cycling Of Iron, Copper, Nickel, Cadmium, Manganese, Cobalt, Lead, And Scandium In A California Current Experimental Study, Travis Mellett, Matthew T. Brown, P. Dreux Chappell, Carolyn Duckham, Jessica N. Fitzsimmons, Claire P. Till, Robert M. Sherrell, Maria T. Maldonado, Kristen N. Buck

OES Faculty Publications

A 3-day shipboard incubation experiment was conducted in the California Current System in July 2014 to investigate the cycling of iron (Fe), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), and scandium (Sc) under a range of light and particle conditions. Filtered (< 0.2 μm) and unfiltered treatments were incubated under the following light conditions: Dark, light (“UV”), and light without the ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths (“noUV”). The experiment was sampled for carbon and Fe uptake rates, dissolved trace metal concentrations (Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd, Mn, Co, Pb, Sc), Fe and Cu speciation, size-fractionated concentrations of Cd and Fe, and diatom community composition from DNA sequencing. Exposure to UV light increased phytoplankton Fe uptake in the first 24 h of the incubation relative to the noUV treatment, suggesting that a fraction of the ambient ligand-bound Fe was photoreactive. Fe-binding organic ligand production was observed in the unfiltered light treatments in association with increasing chlorophyll a, and evidence for Cu-binding ligand production in these treatments was also observed. Biological uptake of Cd and Co was observed along with scavenging of dissolved Pb. Manganese appeared to be rapidly oxidized by Mn-oxidizing bacteria with concomitant drawdown of dissolved Ni. Scandium displayed similar trends to Fe, reinforcing the limited observations …