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Articles 3631 - 3660 of 8390

Full-Text Articles in Microbiology

Differential Preservation Of Endogenous Human And Microbial Dna In Dental Calculus And Dentin, Allison E. Mann, Susanna Sabin, Kirsten Ziesemer, Ashild J. Vagene, Hannes Schroeder, Andrew T. Ozga, Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, Courtney A. Hofman, James A. Fellows Yates, Domingo C. Salazar-Garcia, Bruno Frohlich, Mark Aldenderfer, Menno Hoogland, Christopher Read, George R. Milner, Anne C. Stone, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Johannes Krause, Corinne Hofman, Kirsten I. Bos, Christina Warinner Jun 2018

Differential Preservation Of Endogenous Human And Microbial Dna In Dental Calculus And Dentin, Allison E. Mann, Susanna Sabin, Kirsten Ziesemer, Ashild J. Vagene, Hannes Schroeder, Andrew T. Ozga, Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, Courtney A. Hofman, James A. Fellows Yates, Domingo C. Salazar-Garcia, Bruno Frohlich, Mark Aldenderfer, Menno Hoogland, Christopher Read, George R. Milner, Anne C. Stone, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Johannes Krause, Corinne Hofman, Kirsten I. Bos, Christina Warinner

Biology Faculty Articles

Dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) is prevalent in archaeological skeletal collections and is a rich source of oral microbiome and host-derived ancient biomolecules. Recently, it has been proposed that dental calculus may provide a more robust environment for DNA preservation than other skeletal remains, but this has not been systematically tested. In this study, shotgun-sequenced data from paired dental calculus and dentin samples from 48 globally distributed individuals are compared using a metagenomic approach. Overall, we find DNA from dental calculus is consistently more abundant and less contaminated than DNA from dentin. The majority of DNA in dental calculus is …


Plants Pre-Infested With Viruliferous Med/Q Cryptic Species Promotes Subsequent Bemisia Tabaci Infestation, Xiaobin Shi, Gong Chen, Huipeng Pan, Wen Xie, Qingjun Wu, Shaoli Wang, Yong Liu, Xuguo Zhou, Youjun Zhang Jun 2018

Plants Pre-Infested With Viruliferous Med/Q Cryptic Species Promotes Subsequent Bemisia Tabaci Infestation, Xiaobin Shi, Gong Chen, Huipeng Pan, Wen Xie, Qingjun Wu, Shaoli Wang, Yong Liu, Xuguo Zhou, Youjun Zhang

Entomology Faculty Publications

The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is one of the most invasive insect pests worldwide. The two most destructive whitefly cryptic species are MEAM1/B and MED/Q. Given that MED/Q has replaced MEAM1/B in China and the invasion of MED/Q has coincided with the outbreak of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), we hypothesize that pre-infestation with viruliferous B. tabaci will affect the subsequent host preferences. To test this hypothesis, we (1) conducted bioassays to compare the host preference of viruliferous and non-viruliferous MEAM1/B and MED/Q, respectively, on plants pre-infested with viruliferous and non-viruliferous MEAM1/B and MED/Q; (2) profiled plant …


Snf1 Cooperates With The Cwi Mapk Pathway To Mediate The Degradation Of Med13 Following Oxidative Stress, Stephen D Willis, David C Stieg, Kai Li Ong, Ravina Shah, Alexandra K. Strich, Julianne H Grose, Katrina F Cooper Jun 2018

Snf1 Cooperates With The Cwi Mapk Pathway To Mediate The Degradation Of Med13 Following Oxidative Stress, Stephen D Willis, David C Stieg, Kai Li Ong, Ravina Shah, Alexandra K. Strich, Julianne H Grose, Katrina F Cooper

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Eukaryotic cells, when faced with unfavorable environmental conditions, mount either pro-survival or pro-death programs. The conserved cyclin C-Cdk8 kinase plays a key role in this decision. Both are members of the Cdk8 kinase module that, along with Med12 and Med13, associate with the core Mediator complex of RNA polymerase II. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, oxidative stress triggers Med13 destruction, which releases cyclin C into the cytoplasm to promote mitochondrial fission and programmed cell death. The SCFGrr1 ubiquitin ligase mediates Med13 degradation dependent on the cell wall integrity pathway, MAPK Slt2. Here we show that the AMP kinase Snf1 activates a second …


Global Distribution Of Invasive Serotype 35d Streptococcus Pneumoniae Isolates Following Introduction Of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Stephanie W. Lo, Rebecca A. Gladstone, Andries J. Van Tonder, Paulina A. Hawkins, Brenda Kwambana Adams, Jennifer E. Cornick, Shabir A. Madhi, Susan A. Nzenze, Mignon Du Plessis, Rama Kandasamy, Philip E. Carter, Sadia Shakoor Jun 2018

Global Distribution Of Invasive Serotype 35d Streptococcus Pneumoniae Isolates Following Introduction Of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Stephanie W. Lo, Rebecca A. Gladstone, Andries J. Van Tonder, Paulina A. Hawkins, Brenda Kwambana Adams, Jennifer E. Cornick, Shabir A. Madhi, Susan A. Nzenze, Mignon Du Plessis, Rama Kandasamy, Philip E. Carter, Sadia Shakoor

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

A newly recognized pneumococcal serotype 35D, which differs from the 35B polysaccharide in structure and serology by not binding to factor serum 35a, was recently reported. The genetic basis for this distinctive serology is due to the presence of an inactivating mutation in wciG, which encodes an O-acetyltransferase responsible for O-acetylation of a galactofuranose. Here, we assessed the genomic data of a worldwide pneumococcal collection to identify serotype 35D isolates and understand their geographical distribution, genetic background and invasiveness potential. Of 21,980 pneumococcal isolates, 444 were originally typed as serotype 35B by PneumoCaT. Analysis of wciGrevealed 23 isolates …


Msab And Cody Interact To Regulate Staphylococcus Aureus Capsule In A Nutrient-Dependent Manner, Justin Batte, Gyan S. Sahukhal, Mohamed O. Elasri Jun 2018

Msab And Cody Interact To Regulate Staphylococcus Aureus Capsule In A Nutrient-Dependent Manner, Justin Batte, Gyan S. Sahukhal, Mohamed O. Elasri

Faculty Publications

Staphylococcus aureus has a complex regulatory network for controlling the production of capsule polysaccharide. In S. aureus, capsule production is controlled by several regulators in response to various environmental stimuli. Previously, we described MsaB as a new regulator that specifically binds to the cap promoter in a growth-phase or nutrient-dependent manner. In addition to MsaB, several other regulators have also been shown to bind the same region. In this study, we examined the interactions between MsaB and other nutrient-sensing regulators (CodY and CcpE) with respect to binding to the cap promoter in a nutrient-dependent manner. We observed that msaABCR …


Identifying Novel Regulators Of Cellular Respiration, Sam Nicholes, Julianne Grose Jun 2018

Identifying Novel Regulators Of Cellular Respiration, Sam Nicholes, Julianne Grose

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The impetus behind my project was to contribute in a small but meaningful way to the growing body of research for cures and treatments for cancer. Cancer is fundamentally unwanted cell growth and proliferation. Metabolic processes that take place on the cellular level are the key to finding solutions to the many worldwide problems of cancer. My project looked at some of these metabolic processes in order to help identify the control mechanisms that cause these processes to function normally or to behave aberrantly. The goal was to identify a cellular pathway that could be used as a potential target …


Borrelia Burgdorferi Invasion Of B Lymphocytes, Jacob Bailey, Richard Robinson Jun 2018

Borrelia Burgdorferi Invasion Of B Lymphocytes, Jacob Bailey, Richard Robinson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The goal of this project was to determine if Borrelia Burgdorferi’s linear plasmid 36 is required for intracellular localization in B lymphocytes. A more complete understanding of the intracellular localization of B. burgdorferi may provide the means to effective Lyme treatment. It has been proposed that intracellular localization of Lyme spirochetes may be, at least in part, responsible for Post Treatment Lyme Disease. As the spirochetes are safe within human cells, Borrelia are able to evade host immune system responses and be protected from antibiotic treatment. A more complete understanding of the intracellular localization of B. burgdorferi may provide the …


Bacterial Diversity Associated With Mineral Substrates And Hot Springs From Caves And Tunnels Of The Naica Underground System (Chihuahua, Mexico), Adriana Espino Del Castillo, Hugo Beraldi-Campesi, Patricia Amador-Lemus, Hiram Isaac Beltrán, Sylvie Le Borgne Jun 2018

Bacterial Diversity Associated With Mineral Substrates And Hot Springs From Caves And Tunnels Of The Naica Underground System (Chihuahua, Mexico), Adriana Espino Del Castillo, Hugo Beraldi-Campesi, Patricia Amador-Lemus, Hiram Isaac Beltrán, Sylvie Le Borgne

International Journal of Speleology

The Naica Underground System (NUS) in Northern Mexico comprises a lead, zinc, and silver producing mine and displays the largest gypsum crystals ever found in natural caves. The caves are now closed to the public and mining activities have been suspended for an undefined period since October 2015. Besides its geological, economical, and tourist importance, the bacterial diversity in the NUS has not been fully explored yet. This study surveyed for bacteria present on different mineral substrates (gypsum crystals, iron oxide crusts) and hot spring samples collected before the NUS was inaccessible, using culture-dependent and culture–independent (PCR-DGGE) methods. This study …


Pseudomonas Pb1-Like Phages: Whole Genomes From Metagenomes Offer Insight Into An Abundant Group Of Bacteriophages, Siobhan C. Watkins, Emily Sible, Catherine Putonti Jun 2018

Pseudomonas Pb1-Like Phages: Whole Genomes From Metagenomes Offer Insight Into An Abundant Group Of Bacteriophages, Siobhan C. Watkins, Emily Sible, Catherine Putonti

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite the abundance, ubiquity and impact of environmental viruses, their inherent genomic plasticity and extreme diversity pose significant challenges for the examination of bacteriophages on Earth. Viral metagenomic studies have offered insight into broader aspects of phage ecology and repeatedly uncover genes to which we are currently unable to assign function. A combined effort of phage isolation and metagenomic survey of Chicago’s nearshore waters of Lake Michigan revealed the presence of Pbunaviruses, relatives of the Pseudomonas phage PB1. This prompted our expansive investigation of PB1-like phages. Genomic signatures of PB1-like phages and Pbunaviruses were identified, permitting the unambiguous distinction between …


Investigating The Viral Ecology Of Global Bee Communities With High-Throughput Metagenomics, David A. Galbraith, Zachary L. Fuller, Allyson M. Ray, Axel Brockmann, Maryann Frazier, Mary W. Gikungu, J. Francisco Iturralde Martinez, Karen M. Kapheim, Jeffrey T. Kerby, Sarah D. Kocher, Oleksiy Losyev, Elliud Muli, Harland M. Patch, Cristina Rosa, Joyce M. Sakamoto, Scott Stanley, Anthony D. Vaudo, Christina M. Grozinger Jun 2018

Investigating The Viral Ecology Of Global Bee Communities With High-Throughput Metagenomics, David A. Galbraith, Zachary L. Fuller, Allyson M. Ray, Axel Brockmann, Maryann Frazier, Mary W. Gikungu, J. Francisco Iturralde Martinez, Karen M. Kapheim, Jeffrey T. Kerby, Sarah D. Kocher, Oleksiy Losyev, Elliud Muli, Harland M. Patch, Cristina Rosa, Joyce M. Sakamoto, Scott Stanley, Anthony D. Vaudo, Christina M. Grozinger

Biology Faculty Publications

Bee viral ecology is a fascinating emerging area of research: viruses exert a range of effects on their hosts, exacerbate the impacts of other environmental stressors, and, importantly, are readily shared across multiple bee species in a community. However, our understanding of bee viral communities is limited, as it is primarily derived from studies of North American and European Apis mellifera populations. Here, we examined viruses in populations of A. mellifera and 11 other bee species from 9 countries, across 5 continents and Oceania. We developed a novel pipeline to rapidly, inexpensively, and robustly screen for bee viruses. This pipeline …


The Zinc Transporter Zipt-7.1 Regulates Sperm Activation In Nematodes, Yanmei Zhao, Chieh-Hsiang Tan, Amber Krauchunas, Andrea Scharf, Nicholas Dietrich, Kurt Warnhoff, Zhiheng Yuan, Marina Druzhinina, Sam Guoping Gu, Long Miao, Andrew Singson, Ronald E Ellis, Kerry Kornfeld Jun 2018

The Zinc Transporter Zipt-7.1 Regulates Sperm Activation In Nematodes, Yanmei Zhao, Chieh-Hsiang Tan, Amber Krauchunas, Andrea Scharf, Nicholas Dietrich, Kurt Warnhoff, Zhiheng Yuan, Marina Druzhinina, Sam Guoping Gu, Long Miao, Andrew Singson, Ronald E Ellis, Kerry Kornfeld

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Sperm activation is a fascinating example of cell differentiation, in which immotile spermatids undergo a rapid and dramatic transition to become mature, motile sperm. Because the sperm nucleus is transcriptionally silent, this transition does not involve transcriptional changes. Although Caenorhabditis elegans is a leading model for studies of sperm activation, the mechanisms by which signaling pathways induce this transformation remain poorly characterized. Here we show that a conserved transmembrane zinc transporter, ZIPT-7.1, regulates the induction of sperm activation in Caenorhabditis nematodes. The zipt-7.1 mutant hermaphrodites cannot self-fertilize, and males reproduce poorly, because mutant spermatids are defective in responding to activating …


Antimicrobial Activities Of Culturable Microorganisms (Actinomycetes And Fungi) Isolated From Chaabe Cave, Algeria, Larbi Belyagoubi, Nabila Belyagoubi-Benhammou, Valme Jurado, Joëlle Dupont, Sandrine Lacoste, Fatima Djebbah, Fatima Z. Ounadjela, Souad Benaissa, Salim Habi, Djamel E. Abdelouahid, Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez Jun 2018

Antimicrobial Activities Of Culturable Microorganisms (Actinomycetes And Fungi) Isolated From Chaabe Cave, Algeria, Larbi Belyagoubi, Nabila Belyagoubi-Benhammou, Valme Jurado, Joëlle Dupont, Sandrine Lacoste, Fatima Djebbah, Fatima Z. Ounadjela, Souad Benaissa, Salim Habi, Djamel E. Abdelouahid, Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez

International Journal of Speleology

The discovery of new antibiotics and other bioactive microbial metabolites is a priority given the frequency of the emerging multi-drug resistant pathogenic microorganisms. Thus, scientists are searching for new antibiotics in microorganisms isolated from extreme habitats such as caves. In the present study, we aimed to perform the first analysis on culturable microorganisms in the Chaabe Cave (Algeria), and to test the antimicrobial activities of the isolates (Streptomyces spp. and Penicillium spp.). The potential for antimicrobial activity of 47 strains of actinomycetes and 23 strains of fungi were tested on Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Listeria monocytogenes, …


Microbial Associations Of Four Species Of Algal Symbiont-Bearing Foraminifera From The Florida Reef Tract, Usa, Makenna May Martin Jun 2018

Microbial Associations Of Four Species Of Algal Symbiont-Bearing Foraminifera From The Florida Reef Tract, Usa, Makenna May Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Marine microbiome research is a rapidly expanding field of study, as scientists investigate the functions of microbial associations in eukaryotic organisms. Foraminifera are among the most abundant shelled organisms in the oceans, yet little is known of their associated microbiomes. This study investigated microbes associated with four species of Foraminifera that host three kinds of algal endosymbionts. The Order Miliolida, Family Soritidae, was represented by three species: Archaias angulatus and Cyclorbiculina compressa, which both host chlorophyte symbionts, and Sorites orbiculus, which hosts dinoflagellate symbionts. The fourth species, Amphistegina gibbosa, belongs to the Order Rotaliida and hosts diatom endosymbionts. Bacterial DNA …


Survival And Inactivation Of Salmonella Enterica And Human Norovirus On Consumer Contact Surfaces, Dorra Simmons Jun 2018

Survival And Inactivation Of Salmonella Enterica And Human Norovirus On Consumer Contact Surfaces, Dorra Simmons

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Salmonella enterica and human norovirus (HuNoV) are the leading cause of bacterial and viral gastroenteritis worldwide, respectively. One of the most important transmission routes of these pathogens is contaminated surfaces. In this study, we investigated the survival and the disinfection of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) and HuNoV on selected consumer contact surfaces.

In the case of S. Typhimurium, formica laminate, stainless steel, and plastic cutting board surfaces were inoculated with different microbial loads of cells collected at log (6 h), stationary (24 h), or LTS (14 days) phases. The disinfection efficacy of two disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite or …


Gesture: An Online Hand-Drawing Tool For Gene Expression Pattern Search, Chunyan Wang, Yiqing Xu, Xuelin Wang, Li Zhang, Suyun Wei, Qiaolin Ye, Youxiang Zhu, Hengfu Yin, Manoj Nainwal, Luis Tanon-Reyes, Feng Cheng, Tongming Yin, Ning Ye Jun 2018

Gesture: An Online Hand-Drawing Tool For Gene Expression Pattern Search, Chunyan Wang, Yiqing Xu, Xuelin Wang, Li Zhang, Suyun Wei, Qiaolin Ye, Youxiang Zhu, Hengfu Yin, Manoj Nainwal, Luis Tanon-Reyes, Feng Cheng, Tongming Yin, Ning Ye

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

Gene expression profiling data provide useful information for the investigation of biological function and process. However, identifying a specific expression pattern from extensive time series gene expression data is not an easy task. Clustering, a popular method, is often used to classify similar expression genes, however, genes with a ‘desirable’ or ‘user-defined’ pattern cannot be efficiently detected by clustering methods. To address these limitations, we developed an online tool called GEsture. Users can draw, or graph a curve using a mouse instead of inputting abstract parameters of clustering methods. GEsture explores genes showing similar, opposite and time-delay expression patterns with …


Identification Of A Novel Polyamine Scaffold With Potent Efflux Pump Inhibition Activity Toward Multi-Drug Resistant Bacterial Pathogens, Renee Fleeman, Ginamarie Debevec, Kirsten Antonen, Jessie Adams, Radleigh G. Santos, Gregory S. Welmaker, Richard A. Houghten, Marc A. Guilianotti, Lindsey N. Shaw Jun 2018

Identification Of A Novel Polyamine Scaffold With Potent Efflux Pump Inhibition Activity Toward Multi-Drug Resistant Bacterial Pathogens, Renee Fleeman, Ginamarie Debevec, Kirsten Antonen, Jessie Adams, Radleigh G. Santos, Gregory S. Welmaker, Richard A. Houghten, Marc A. Guilianotti, Lindsey N. Shaw

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

We have previously reported the use of combinatorial chemistry to identify broad-spectrum antibacterial agents. Herein, we extend our analysis of this technology toward the discovery of anti-resistance molecules, focusing on efflux pump inhibitors. Using high-throughput screening against multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we identified a polyamine scaffold that demonstrated strong efflux pump inhibition without possessing antibacterial effects. We determined that these molecules were most effective with an amine functionality at R1 and benzene functionalities at R2 and R3. From a library of 188 compounds, we studied the properties of 5 lead agents in detail, observing a fivefold to eightfold decrease …


Mechanism Of Virus Inactivation By Cold Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma And Plasma-Activated Water, Li Guo, Ruobing Xu, Lu Gou, Zhichao Liu, Yiming Zhao, Dingxin Liu, Lei Zhang, Hailan Chen, Michael G. Kong Jun 2018

Mechanism Of Virus Inactivation By Cold Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma And Plasma-Activated Water, Li Guo, Ruobing Xu, Lu Gou, Zhichao Liu, Yiming Zhao, Dingxin Liu, Lei Zhang, Hailan Chen, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

ABSTRACT Viruses cause serious pathogenic contamination that severely affects the environment and human health. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma efficiently inactivates pathogenic bacteria; however, the mechanism of virus inactivation by plasma is not fully understood. In this study, surface plasma in argon mixed with 1% air and plasma-activated water was used to treat water containing bacteriophages. Both agents efficiently inactivated bacteriophages T4, ϕ174, and MS2 in a time-dependent manner. Prolonged storage had marginal effects on the antiviral activity of plasma-activated water. DNA and protein analysis revealed that the reactive species generated by plasma damaged both nucleic acids and proteins, consistent with the …


Ms Analysis Of A Dilution Series Of Bacteria: Phytoplankton To Improve Detection Of Low Abundance Bacterial Peptides, Emma Timmins-Schiffman, Molly P. Mikan, Ying Sonia Ting, H. Rodger Harvey, Brook L. Nunn Jun 2018

Ms Analysis Of A Dilution Series Of Bacteria: Phytoplankton To Improve Detection Of Low Abundance Bacterial Peptides, Emma Timmins-Schiffman, Molly P. Mikan, Ying Sonia Ting, H. Rodger Harvey, Brook L. Nunn

OES Faculty Publications

Assigning links between microbial activity and biogeochemical cycles in the ocean is a primary objective for ecologists and oceanographers. Bacteria represent a small ecosystem component by mass, but act as the nexus for both nutrient transformation and organic matter recycling. There are limited methods to explore the full suite of active bacterial proteins largely responsible for degradation. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics now has the potential to document bacterial physiology within these complex systems. Global proteome profiling using MS, known as data dependent acquisition (DDA), is limited by the stochastic nature of ion selection, decreasing the detection of low abundance peptides. …


Biomarker Analysis And Clinical Relevance Of Thymidine Kinase 1 In Solid And Hematological Malignancies, Evita Giraldez Weagel Jun 2018

Biomarker Analysis And Clinical Relevance Of Thymidine Kinase 1 In Solid And Hematological Malignancies, Evita Giraldez Weagel

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the global effort to discover and improve ways to detect, treat, and monitor cancer, it still remains the second leading cause of death in the United States and poses a major health and economic burden worldwide. While traditional treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy have been successful and have decreased cancer mortality, cancer incidence in all sites continues to rise. Consequently, there is an immediate need to find new therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. In recent years, and with the continuing push towards personalized medicine, cancer biomarkers have become crucial to detect, treat, and monitor …


Inhibition Of Listeria Monocytogenes By Human Gut Bacteria, Patrycja Sylvia Olesky Jun 2018

Inhibition Of Listeria Monocytogenes By Human Gut Bacteria, Patrycja Sylvia Olesky

Masters

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen, which continues to be problematic to the food industry due to its ability survive within food products and persist within food processing environments. The growing trend towards natural food preservatives and antimicrobial agents increases the need for the development of novel, natural anti-Listeria agents. Evidence presented in the literature suggests that the human gut microbiota is a reservoir of novel antimicrobial agents. It was therefore hypothesized that novel anti-Listeria agents are produced by human gut-derived bacteria. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize gut bacteria with anti-Listeria monocytogenes activity. A total …


Isolating And Identifying Fungal Endophytes From Roots Of Rare Orchid Cypripedium Arietinum In Grand Sable Dunes, Michigan, Kari Farkas-Lasich Jun 2018

Isolating And Identifying Fungal Endophytes From Roots Of Rare Orchid Cypripedium Arietinum In Grand Sable Dunes, Michigan, Kari Farkas-Lasich

All NMU Master's Theses

Recently the population of Cypripedium arietinum in Grand Sable Dunes, Michigan was estimated at more than 3.5 million plants, greater than 90% of the world’s known population. There is little research on this species’ root associated fungal endophytes. This new population estimate allows the ethical, destructive sampling required to shed light on root associated symbionts and further successful preservation and restoration of the species. Samples were collected of current year’s roots from 75 C. arietinum orchids at 75 locations within 4 jack pine forests in the Grand Sable Dunes, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. Fungal endophyte cultures were obtained from …


Arthropod Evs Mediate Dengue Virus Transmission Through Interaction With A Tetraspanin Domain Containing Glycoprotein Tsp29fb, Ashish Vora, Wenshuo Zhou, Berlin Londono-Renteria, Michael Woodson, Michael B. Sherman, Tonya M. Collpitts, Girish Neelakanta, Hameeda Sultana Jun 2018

Arthropod Evs Mediate Dengue Virus Transmission Through Interaction With A Tetraspanin Domain Containing Glycoprotein Tsp29fb, Ashish Vora, Wenshuo Zhou, Berlin Londono-Renteria, Michael Woodson, Michael B. Sherman, Tonya M. Collpitts, Girish Neelakanta, Hameeda Sultana

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes dengue fever in humans, worldwide. Using in vitro cell lines derived from Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, the primary vectors of DENV, we report that DENV2/DENV3-infected cells secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, containing infectious viral RNA and proteins. A full-length DENV2 genome, detected in arthropod EVs, was infectious to naïve mosquito and mammalian cells, including human-skin keratinocytes and blood endothelial cells. Cryo-electron microscopy showed mosquito EVs with a size range from 30 to 250 nm. Treatments with RNase A, Triton X-100, and 4G2 antibody-bead binding assays showed that infectious …


Role Of Tnf Α, Il-6 And Cxcl10 In Dengue Disease Severity, Kiran I. Masood, Bushra Jamil, Maryam Rahim, Muniba Islam, Muhammad Farhan, Zahra Hasan Jun 2018

Role Of Tnf Α, Il-6 And Cxcl10 In Dengue Disease Severity, Kiran I. Masood, Bushra Jamil, Maryam Rahim, Muniba Islam, Muhammad Farhan, Zahra Hasan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background and objective: Dengue virus infections (Dengue) have become increasingly common in Pakistan and can result in case fatalities if not managed appropriately. Patients with Dengue virus infection may be asymptomatic or present with Dengue fever (DF), Dengue with warning signs (DWS) or severe Dengue (SD). Severity in Dengue is coincident with an exacerbated production of lymphocyte-induced cytokines and chemokines which are associated with plasma leakage. We investigated the association of circulating levels of cytokines such as Interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and CXCL-10 in Dengue patients with differing severity of disease.
Material and methods: Dengue infection was confirmed …


Characterizing The Role Of N Terminus Of Influenza A Nucleoprotein For Location And Viral Rnp Activity, Jared Lin Jun 2018

Characterizing The Role Of N Terminus Of Influenza A Nucleoprotein For Location And Viral Rnp Activity, Jared Lin

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The influenza viral ribonucleoprotein complexes (vRNPs) are responsible for viral RNA synthesis. Each vRNP is comprised of one vRNA segment, the viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase complex (RdRP), and multiple copies of nucleoprotein (NP). NP serves as scaffold in formation of vRNPs, but also regulates vRNP activity. The N-terminus of NP contains a nonconventional nuclear localization signal (NLS1) essential for initial vRNP nuclear import, but also interacts with host RNA helicases to enhance viral RNA replication in the nucleus. NP contains at least one additional NLS sequence, with bioinformatics revealing a third NLS in some NP proteins.

Published yeast-two hybrid …


An Evaluation Of Host Factors As Novel Therapeutic Targets During Influenza Infection Using Rna Technologies, Michael Ryan Haden Thompson Jun 2018

An Evaluation Of Host Factors As Novel Therapeutic Targets During Influenza Infection Using Rna Technologies, Michael Ryan Haden Thompson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Influenza A is a single-stranded, multi-segmented, negative sense RNA virus of the family Orthomyxoviridae and is the causative agent of seasonal Influenza. Influenza viruses cause significant impacts on a global scale regarding public health and economics. Annual influenza virus infections in the United States account for over 200,000 hospitalizations, up to 49,000 deaths, and an $87.1 billion economic burden. Influenza A virus has caused several pandemics since the turn of the 20th century. The effects of Influenza on public health and economics, compounded with low efficacy of the annual vaccine and emerging antiviral resistance, brings to light the need for …


Identification Of A Tola Protein Binding Site For Bacterial Toxins, Monica Ferrante May 2018

Identification Of A Tola Protein Binding Site For Bacterial Toxins, Monica Ferrante

Honors Projects

Group A colicins are proteinaceous bacteriocins encoded by plasmids that exploit the cellular envelope protein TolA to translocate the cell wall barrier and cellular envelope of the bacterium Escherichia coli. These colicins offer protocols for studying certain protein-protein interactions involved in such membrane transport functions. Previous experimentations suggest the carboxyl-terminal domain of TolA protein contains specific amino acid binding regions required for the translocation of group A colicins into E. coli. The amino acid sequence of this domain varies between E. coli and other gram-negative bacterial species. It has been suggested that this diversity could be utilized to …


The Evolution Of Molecular Compatibility Between Bacteriophage Φx174 And Its Host, Alexander Kula, Joseph Saelens, Jennifer Cox, Alyxandria M. Schubert, Michael Travisano, Catherine Putonti May 2018

The Evolution Of Molecular Compatibility Between Bacteriophage Φx174 And Its Host, Alexander Kula, Joseph Saelens, Jennifer Cox, Alyxandria M. Schubert, Michael Travisano, Catherine Putonti

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Viruses rely upon their hosts for biosynthesis of viral RNA, DNA and protein. This dependency frequently engenders strong selection for virus genome compatibility with potential hosts, appropriate gene regulation and expression necessary for a successful infection. While bioinformatic studies have shown strong correlations between codon usage in viral and host genomes, the selective factors by which this compatibility evolves remain a matter of conjecture. Engineered to include codons with a lesser usage and/or tRNA abundance within the host, three different attenuated strains of the bacterial virus ФX174 were created and propagated via serial transfers. Molecular sequence data indicate that biosynthetic …


The Evolution Of Molecular Compatibility Between Bacteriophage Φx174 And Its Host, Alexander Kula, Joseph Saelens, Alyxandria M. Schubert, Michael Travisano, Catherine Putonti May 2018

The Evolution Of Molecular Compatibility Between Bacteriophage Φx174 And Its Host, Alexander Kula, Joseph Saelens, Alyxandria M. Schubert, Michael Travisano, Catherine Putonti

Bioinformatics Faculty Publications

Viruses rely upon their hosts for biosynthesis of viral RNA, DNA and protein. This dependency frequently engenders strong selection for virus genome compatibility with potential hosts, appropriate gene regulation and expression necessary for a successful infection. While bioinformatic studies have shown strong correlations between codon usage in viral and host genomes, the selective factors by which this compatibility evolves remain a matter of conjecture. Engineered to include codons with a lesser usage and/or tRNA abundance within the host, three different attenuated strains of the bacterial virus ФX174 were created and propagated via serial transfers. Molecular sequence data indicate that biosynthetic …


Functions Of Ecosystems: Stream Metabolism As An Efficient And Effective Means To Gage The Health And Understand The Interworking Of Urban Streams In A Watershed Of Rock Island, Il, Ryan Johnson, Dr. Kevin Geedey May 2018

Functions Of Ecosystems: Stream Metabolism As An Efficient And Effective Means To Gage The Health And Understand The Interworking Of Urban Streams In A Watershed Of Rock Island, Il, Ryan Johnson, Dr. Kevin Geedey

Celebration of Learning

Stream metabolism is a critical functional measure of stream health that integrates physical parameters like slope and discharge, with ecosystem functions like photosynthesis and respiration. Stream metabolism is widely studied; however, urban stream metabolism remains poorly understood. Stream metabolism was measured for five streams ranging from 1st to 5th orders from October 11th to October 18th 2017 and four streams ranging from 1st to 4th order from October 22nd to 25th 2017 located within an approximately 9.3 square kilometer watershed of Rock Island, IL that has an urban to suburban type of …


Delivering Entrapped Lactobacillus Plantarum Ncimb 8826 With Cereal-Legume Infant-Weaning Food To Improve Children's Gastrointestinal Health, Emmanuel Kyereh May 2018

Delivering Entrapped Lactobacillus Plantarum Ncimb 8826 With Cereal-Legume Infant-Weaning Food To Improve Children's Gastrointestinal Health, Emmanuel Kyereh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally, about one in five children’s deaths are attributable to it. In recent years,’ probiotics have been used as an alternative therapy measure to manage the situation. A promising delivery method that entraps probiotics in infant formula may help prevent or reduce diarrhea. The overall objectives of this study were to deliver entrapped Lactobacillus Plantarum NCIMB 8826 with maize-legume fortified complementary weaning food to reduce diarrhea and improve the gut microbiota. Both in vitro and in vivo models were used in this study and a mouse (C57BL/6 mice …