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Full-Text Articles in Microbiology
Discovering Novel Polyextremotolerant Fungi, And Determining Their Ecological Role Within The Biological Soil Crust Consortium, Erin Carr
School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The ecological niche of polyextremotolerant fungi within oligotrophic ecosystems such as biological soil crusts has not yet been determined. These fungi persist in locations where nutrients are depleted while simultaneously surrounded by autotrophic microbes such as algae and cyanobacteria. Yet it has not been shown that they are engaging in any exchange of nutrients the way lichens do. However, there is seemingly no other way for these fungi to obtain vital nutrients, such as carbon or nitrogen, other than from these microbes. Here we have isolated polyextremotolerant fungi from cold desert biological soil crusts which are a microbial biofilm that …
Farnesol Signaling In Candida Albicans, Melanie L. Langford
Farnesol Signaling In Candida Albicans, Melanie L. Langford
School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Candida albicans is a polymorphic fungus that causes a range of disease in humans, from mucosal infections to systemic disease. Its ability to cause disease is linked to conversion between yeast and filamentous forms of growth, and the first quorum-sensing molecule discovered in an eukaryote, farnesol, blocks this transition. In C. albicans, farnesol also kills mating-competent opaque cells, inhibits biofilm formation, protects the cells from oxidative stress, and can be a virulence factor or protective agent in disseminated and mucosal mouse models of infection, respectively. While much emphasis has been placed on determining its effect on C. albicans morphology, …