Microbiology Commons^™

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma And New Treatments In Development, Melissa J. Moisan

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most frequently mutated (95%) 5exocrine pancreatic cancers. Patients with PDAC are also the least likely to survive more than 5 years with only 8% overall survivability. The median survival for patients with distant metastasis is less than one year. Most pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma occurs in the pancreatic head, and the remainder can be found within the body (5% to 15%) or tail (10% to 15%) (14). This extremely aggressive cancer has an increasingly large metastatic dissemination rate to surrounding organs such as the liver, lung, and peritoneum, or can be seen as distant metastases …

Understanding Human Gut Bacterial Interactions And Their Role In Colonization Resistance Against Clostridioides Difficile Using Mini-Bioreactor Array And Caenorhabditis Elegans As Model Systems, Achuthan Ambat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effectiveness Of Atmospheric Cold Plasma In Inactivating Microorganisms, Nadee Shanika Kaluwahandi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the food processing industry, Cold Plasma (CP) is an emerging green process with a number of potential applications. Cold plasma has mostly been used to reduce microbial counts in foodstuffs and biological materials as well as in different levels of packaging, particularly in cases where there is thermal sensitivity. Recent studies have demonstrated that CP technology is being developed for use in the food and agriculture industries. The primary focus is on the interactions between reactive species and food-borne microbes to inactivate them. The literature review discusses both proven and potential applications for cold plasma in food processing, as …

College Of Natural Sciences 2022 Year-End Publication, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

This is the 2022 issue of the annual College of Natural Sciences year-end publication.

Contents:
[Page] 2 Dean's message
[Page] 3 Department highlights
[Page] 4 Overview of Bold & Blue Campaign
[Page] 5 Dr. Edward Hogan recognition & endowment
[Page] 6 Career milestones
[Page] 7 Student travel and research
[Page] 8 $11 million COBRE grant
[Page] 9 Professional Science Masters & Research highlights
[Page]10 Outreach highlights throughout the state
[Page] 11 2022 events recap – join us in 2023!
[Page] 12 Updates on our VR initiative
[Page] 14 Overview of awards and recognitions from 2022

Stem And Pre-Health Students’ Diminishing Online Conversation Volume Regarding Majors And Careers Within The Field: Why Higher Education Should Care, Susan Roh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the STEM and pre-health online mention volume change regarding STEM and pre-health majors, careers, and universities, with the data collection period encompassing August of 2018 through June of 2021. We evaluated if the mention sentiment shifted between academic year periods. The data gathered for this study was procured in collaboration with Campus Sonar and the social-listening tool of Brandwatch, which allowed for specifications of the data collected. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine the means of the majors, careers, and universities mentions and mean sentiment volumes. Changes in not only online conversation …

Evaluation Of Welded And Polished Stainless-Steel Surfaces In Supporting Sporeformer Biofilms In Dairy Plants, Taghreed Almalki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Indigenous Toxin Affects Cell Viability, While An Artificial Proteolytic Queueing Causes The Upregulation Of Specific Genes, Mohammed Salahuddin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studying bacterial physiology is crucial to understand the fundamental mechanisms that govern bacterial growth, survival, and adaptation. This thesis combines two chapters investigating bacterial physiology by studying important cellular processes like bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems and proteolytic pathways. The first chapter involves studying bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems to understand the regulation and function of hypothetical toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems of bacteria and the effects of these TA systems on bacterial growth and survival. The emergence of these genetic modules in bacterial research and the unrevealing of some of their important roles in cell physiology in recent years has drawn much attention in scientific …

Control Of Persistent Environmental Listeria Monocytogenes Using Phenotypic And Genomic Approaches, Bhaswati Chowdhury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, September & October 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 6

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards & Recognition
Page 3 Midwest Regional ACS Meeting
Page 4 North Central ASM Meeting
Page 5 Geography Department Travel
Page 6-7 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 7 REMAST Program at SDState receives national spotlight
Page 8 Celebrating the lives of those who touched the College
Page 9 Innovative Learning Spaces
Page 10 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 11 2022 CNS Scholarship Brunch
Page 12-14 Fall 2022 Outreach Events

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, July & August 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 5

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards & Recognition
Page 3 Resources for Student Success
Page 4 Welcome to New Faculty & Staff
Page 5 Summer Activities in CNS
Page 9 Celebrating the lives of those who touched the College
Page 10 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 12 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 13 Snaps from he start of the semester
Page 14 Science as Art Competition

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, May & June 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 4

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards and Recognition
Page 3-4 The path to a Doctorate Degree
Page 4 American Indian Student Center Native Graduate Honoring Ceremony
Page 5 Celebrating the lives of those who touched the College
Page 6 Media coverage of CNS
Page 7 Open PRAIRIE
Page 8-10 CNS Graduation Festivities
Page 11-14 Spring 2022 Dean's List
Page 16 Richard and Janice Vetter Endowed Professorship in Biotechnology.position

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, March & April 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 3

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2-3 Awards and Recognition
Page 4 2022 URSCAD - CNS Snaps
Page 5 Geography Convention Recap
Page 6 Attention Students!
Page 7-8 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 9 Spring Break Outreach, Adopt the Pantry,
Page 10 Discovery on Tap Event
Page 11 CNS Students Visit State Capital
Page 12 Celebrating 50 Years of Sally
Page 13 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 14 Grants Awarded and Bio-Micro Day of Scholars
Page 15 -17 2022 Geography Convention Snaps
Page 18 Sally Krueger's 50th Work Anniversary

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, February 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 2

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards & Recognition
Page 3-4 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 5- 6 Local Boy Scouts Earn Their Chemistry Merit Badges
Page 7-8 Mount Vernon Teacher Wins 2022 South Dakota Outstanding Physical Science Teacher Award
Page 9 Middle Schoolers Visit SDSU
Page 10 Microbiology Club Tours POET
Page 11 53rd Geography Convention
Page 12 Open PRAIRIE Data

Interrelationships Of Systemic Changes In Hepatic Encephalopathy, Els Reuvekamp

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Hepatic encephalopathy is a temporary decline in mental function that is often associated with liver disease and/or portal-systemic disease. Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) symptoms can range from minor cognitive declines to coma and are known to result from excess ammonia accumulations in the blood stream subsequent to liver failure. While HE is known to result from hepatobiliary disorder, many of the physiological process underlying its development and progression remain to be elucidated. Recent studies have identified neurological, metabolic, and microbiome changes implicated in the disease state of HE. In this review, the roles of traditional pharmaceutical interventions and newly developing understandings …

Non-Invasive Biomarkers For The Diagnosis Of Endometriosis And Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Chandana Kamaraj

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Benign gynecological disorders can affect a high percentage of women of reproductive age, ages 15-44 years. These conditions can affect the lifestyle of the individual and can be associated with infertility. The gold standard to identify and diagnose endometriosis requires invasive surgical procedures, while the Rotterdam Criteria is used to identify and diagnose polycystic ovary syndrome. The purpose of this paper is to discuss, describe, and characterize potential non-invasive biomarkers that are present in various pathological stages of both endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome. These biomarkers include CA125, Serum galectin-9, hsa-miRNA-154-5p, miRNA-93, miRNA-320 and ET-1, miRNA-222, miRNA-146a, and miR-30c used …

Leveraging Queueing Theory To Develop Advanced Synthetic Biological Circuits, Prajakta K. Jadhav

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complexity and redundancy in the network topology of the cell hinder our understanding of the natural system, making it challenging to engineer living organisms with the desired functionality. The long-term goal of synthetic biology and bioengineering is to engineer cells to perform specific functions with increased robustness. The robust engineered systems can be easily applied to different species with the same outcome. An effective approach is a bottom-up approach where we tease apart the biological pathways and study them independently. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of biological pathways can be further applied to construct complex biological circuits that function similarly …

Genistein-Enriched Pig Gut Microbiota Library As A Potential Probiotic Consortium, Theresah Amponsah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plant-based diets contain numerous flavonoid compounds that produce antibacterial effects and gut health improvement. Genistein is among the most abundant isoflavones present in a plant-based diet and can be found in high amounts in soy products (up to 1g Kg-1). We describe here a robust method to identify genistein tolerant and metabolizing bacteria in swine gut microbiota and to screen the strains that have antibacterial and immunestimulatory properties. Such strains could be developed as non-antibiotic alternatives to prevent enteric infections in pigs and improve gut immunity. To this end, a mini bioreactorbased system was used to enrich genistein metabolizing bacteria …

Characterizing The Lir Domain Of Abin1 And Identifying Its Role As A Regulator Of Mitophagy, Andrew Rhiner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A20 Inhibitor of NF-κB (ABIN1/TNIP1) is a known regulator of TNFα signaling induced cell death and inflammation. The regulatory activity has been attributed to ABIN1’s recruitment of the ubiquitin editing enzyme TNF-α-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3/A20) to Receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1). The regulation of RIPK1 by ABIN1 and A20 relies on a third player, linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC), which is involved in the recruitment of ABIN1 to RIPK1. Loss of LUBAC or ABIN1 is embryonic lethal, but loss of A20 is not embryonic lethal. The embryonic lethality due to loss of ABIN1, paired with the lack of lethality …

Characterization Of Porcine Respiratory Epithelial Cells And Their Innate Immune Responses To Bacterial And Viral Ligands, Yam Prasad Gautam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In response to a pathogenic attack, the host produces a series of defense mechanisms through various intracellular signaling pathways. The byproduct of these signaling pathways helps tackle the invading pathogen and protects the body from getting into a diseased state. This system is called the immune system. The immune system can be divided into two branches namely the innate immune system and adaptive immune system. The groups of immune cells that provide protection regardless of the pathogen specificity constitute the innate immune system. The system that acts according to the pathogen specificity is called the adaptive immune response. The production …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, January 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 1

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards & Recognition
Page 3 Outreach in Harrisburg, SD
Page 4 Geography Alumni Named Among 'Highly Cited Researchers', 53rd Annual Geography Convention
Page 5 Geography Convention Speakers, Brookings/SDSU Day
Page 6 Media Coverage of Natural Sciences
Page 7 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 8 Fall 2021 Dean's List
Page 9 Fall 2021 Dean's List, cont.

A Review Of Virus-Vectored Vaccines: Current Production Methods, Uses, Issues, And Future Perspectives, Jaden Marks

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Viral vector vaccines have recently risen to the forefront of vaccinology, but there are multiple factors that must be addressed before they achieve widespread approval and use. The concept of using viruses as vectors is not new, and numerous attempts to create vaccines that utilize virus vectors have been made in the past 25 years. Despite this, only one viral vector vaccine has gained full approval by the FDA. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the types of viral vector vaccines, production and purification methods, current and future viral vector vaccines, the issues and …

Review Of A Chimeric Hemagglutinin-Based Influenza Vaccine Approach, Whitney Muck

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Influenza virus has affected human populations for centuries, causing an acute respiratory effect on the body. Even with scientific advancements in vaccine research, there are still serious limitations to the influenza vaccine. Varying strains and the constant recombination of the influenza virus has caused annual influenza circulation to be difficult to predict. The ongoing 40 race to develop a more efficient vaccine to broadly protect against the variety of influenza strains remains a public health priority. Many strategies have been studied to improve the current vaccine. The use of a chimeric hemagglutinin-based vaccine is in the first stages of human …

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy In Cancer, Brian Stahl

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

The development of immune-checkpoint-inhibitors (ICIs) has led to promising advancements in the treatment of patients with cancers, leading with the use of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) as a negative regulator of T cell activation in the mid-1990s. With the discovery of two ligands for program cell death protein-1 (PD-1) and promising checkpoint blockades in 2010, this sparked a cascade of hallmark immunotherapy drug patents, focusing on the mechanism of anti PD-1 and anti PD-L1 antibody inhibitors. Since then, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T (CAR-T) cells have emerged into the immuno-oncologic scene for treatment of hematological malignancies. These genetically …

A Review Of T1d: Prevalence, Current Therapies, And Cellular Therapies For The Future, Fahd Nazir

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease that is characterized by the destruction of pancreatic β-cells and therefore, creating an insulin deficiency within the body. A deficiency of insulin within the body disrupts homeostatic glucose control leading to hyperglycemia and therefore, the need for exogenous insulin. Global incidence of T1D has been increasing for several decades and if current trajectory trends continue, incidence could double in the next year. In addition, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Current therapies for the treatment of T1D include insulin injections, insulin-pump therapy, pancreatic transplant, and …

Alzheimer’S Disease: An Overview And Current Phase 3 Disease-Modifying Biologic Treatments, Haley Jahnke

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a degenerative brain disease caused by cell damage leading to brain changes such as amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Alois Alzheimer was a clinical psychiatrist and neuroanatomist in Germany who first discovered Alzheimer’s Disease through microscopic viewing of Auguste D’s brain. Through more research following Dr. Alzheimer’s death, they began to stage AD. The six stages are: pre-clinical, mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe, and very severe. The current treatments approved by the FDA work to slow the progression of AD, rather than modify the disease. There are currently three Disease-Modifying Biologic clinical-trial drugs on the market …

Oral Microbiome And Its Effect On Respiratory Disease, Cole Pudwill

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

The oral microbiome is composed of several different types of bacteria that can affect how our body operates. There are over 700 different bacteria living in our mouths. These bacteria can be helpful and harmful to our bodies, but they are synergistic in a way. There are several factors such as age, diet, smoking, and oral care that affect bacterial makeup. When there 10 is a significant difference, our immune system becomes weakened and respiratory disease set in. The immune system then works to return the microbiome back to homeostasis. When this fails, the diseases become chronic. Thus, the oral …

E. Coli Persister Cell Survival And Rhizobia Attachment To Soybean Roots, Tanim Islam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The theme of this thesis revolves around how bacteria respond and thrive during stress. Chapters 1-3 are about how bacteria deal with life-threatening antibiotics. Chapter 4 covers new research on how bacteria can move from a stressful individual lifestyle (free-living bacteria) to initiating a symbiotic relationship with a plant (a less stressful lifestyle). In Chapter 1, I briefly summarize the current state of knowledge in the field of antibiotic resistance and persistence. In Chapter 2, I add to this knowledge by providing new insights into several antibiotics' potency and exploring the antibiotic Eagle effect. In Chapter 3, I use pyruvate …

Beneficial Plant-Microbe Interactions To Improve Nutrient Uptake And Biotic Stress Response In Crops, Jaya Krishna Yakha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mutualism is a very common phenomenon among living organisms on earth. Legumes because of their high protein content, serve as a great nutrient resource for animals. This group of plants can form a mutualistic symbiosis with beneficial microbes. For example, Alfalfa (Medicago) and soybean (Glycine max) can get colonized with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia bacteria simultaneously forming a complex tripartite interaction for nutrient benefits. Most of the previous research evaluated individual symbionts, either rhizobia bacteria or AMF, but not both. There are only a few reports which discuss the nutrient exchange mechanisms in a tripartite interaction. Thus, there …

Microbial Communities And Nitrogen Dynamics In Prairie And Cropland Soils, Bikram Kumar Das

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soil microbial communities are affected by many factors, such as soil nitrogen (N) and the quantity of grass-root exudates, changing seasons, fertilization method, plant diversity, and their origin. This holds for both natural and fertilized soils. This research was intended to expand the current understanding of soil microbial interactions associated with ecological functions. The objectives of the research were (I) to characterize prokaryotic soil communities, estimate functional potential, and quantify nitrogen cycle-associated prokaryotic gene expressions across three phases of the growing season, (II) to explore the diazotrophic community composition in a natural system using nifH sequencing as well as 16S …

Exploring Bioprocessing Technologies For Diverse Industrial Application Of Canola, Ahmad Fawzi N Alhomodi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Globally, canola is the second largest oilseed crop after soybean, which is processed for the commercial production of high value oil. The industrial processing steps for canola oil extraction include preprocessing (cleaning, pressing, flaking, and cooking), mechanical pressing, and/or organic solvents. This process results in large quantities of protein-rich (~ 40% dry basis) meal as a co-product. The meal is used partially in animal diet (<30% inclusion) due to high levels of antinutritional factors (ANFs) such as high fibers, phytic acid, and glucosinolates, and low metabolizable energy. Thus, this research was designed to examine various bioprocessing technologies (i.e., traditional sprouting, solid state fermentation, submerged state fermentation, co-culture fermentation, mild pretreatments, and their combinations) for possible advancement in canola use. Canola seed sprouting for 6-day period led to an increase in protein content and a reduction in ANFs and oil content of sprouts compared to ungerminated seed. Subsequent submerged state fermentation of 6- day old sprouts using three different strains (Aureobasidium pullulans, Trichoderma reesei and Neurospora crassa) further increased protein content and lowered ANFs. Solid-state fermentation of 144 h old sprouts using A. pullulans, N. crassa and T. reesei enhanced the protein content and reduced ANFs of sprouts. Sprouting canola seed for three days helped in hull removal, leading to high protein meal accompanied by low fiber and phytic acid level. Three-day seed sprouting had no effect on oil yield, but free fatty acid content was higher compared to seed oil. Co-culture fermentation of HECM under solid state process showed maximum reduction in fiber content with co-culture of A. pullulans and N. crassa while a combination of A. pullulans and T. reesei promoted the highest GLS and phytic acid reductions compared to other combinations, which indicated the advantage of coculture inoculation over monoculture in terms of ANFs reduction. Mild pretreatment of HECM using deionized water resulted in washed HECM (WHECM) with lower soluble sugars and GLS compared to untreated HECM, whereas protein and amino acid were concentrated due to the removal of soluble components. WHECM compared to HECM showed higher protein digestibility when fed to rainbow trout. Subsequent mono- and coculture fermentation of HECM and WHECM under submerged process resulted in higher protein and amino acid content and lower ANFs levels compared to uninoculated controls. The results of cellulase, endoglucanase and β-glucosidase activity indicated the crucial role of used substrates, fungi, fermentation modes (solid state/submerged stated) and inoculation methods (mono-/co-culture) on enzyme activities.