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Full-Text Articles in Microbial Physiology
Contributions Of The Replication Initiator Protein Dnaa To Physiology And Virulence Of The Lyme Disease Spirochete, Andrew Krusenstjerna
Contributions Of The Replication Initiator Protein Dnaa To Physiology And Virulence Of The Lyme Disease Spirochete, Andrew Krusenstjerna
Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme disease, is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the United States. The spirochetal population is naturally maintained by consistently cycling between Ixodid ticks and small vertebrates. To survive within these diverse niches, B. burgdorferi has evolved a unique physiology and regulatory network to sense and respond to environmental fluxes. Replication is a hallmark of the Lyme spirochete’s enzootic life cycle, specifically at the nymphal tick-to-vertebrate interface. The mechanisms and regulatory schema for the basic cellular processes in B. burgdorferi, or indeed any member of the phylum spirochaetota, are largely unknown. The central hypothesis …
Characterizing The Physiology And Genetics Of Contact Dependent Growth Inhibiton Systems In Burkholderia Species, Alice Elizabeth Oates
Characterizing The Physiology And Genetics Of Contact Dependent Growth Inhibiton Systems In Burkholderia Species, Alice Elizabeth Oates
Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
Contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems mediate interbacterial competition. The genes encoding these systems are widespread among Gram-negative bacteria, including Burkholderia pathogens. CDI systems of Burkholderia species are composed of two-partner secretion pathway proteins and function to deliver the toxic C-terminus of a polymorphic surface-exposed exoprotein BcpA (Burkholderia CDI protein A) to the cytoplasm of neighboring recipient bacteria upon cell-cell contact. Specific outer and inner membrane proteins facilitate BcpA translocation both out of the donor bacterium and into the recipient cell cytoplasm. Most Burkholderia species-specific CDI translocation factors in recipient cells are unknown. BcpA intoxication functions as a mechanism by …
Functional Analyses Of The Dna- And Rna-Binding Protein Spovg In Borrelia Burgdorferi, Christina R. Savage
Functional Analyses Of The Dna- And Rna-Binding Protein Spovg In Borrelia Burgdorferi, Christina R. Savage
Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, exists in a defined enzootic cycle involving Ixodes scapularis ticks and various vertebrates. Humans can serve as an accidental host, if a tick colonized with B. burgdorferi happens to feed on a human. B. burgdorferi are also accidental pathogens: they do not make toxins, or destroy host tissue by other mechanisms. They merely transmit between vector and host to survive. In order to do this, they must effectively sense their current environment, and appropriately alter cellular processes. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms of how B. burgdorferi manages to do this has been …
Insights Into Key Gene Regulatory Networks In Borrelia Burgdorferi, William Kenneth Arnold
Insights Into Key Gene Regulatory Networks In Borrelia Burgdorferi, William Kenneth Arnold
Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
Gene regulatory networks are composed of interconnected regulatory nodes created by regulatory factors of multiple types. All organisms finely tune gene expression in order to adapt to and survive within their current niche. Obligate parasitic bacteria are under extreme pressure to quickly and appropriately adapt their gene regulatory programs in order to survive within their given host. Borrelia burgdorferi is one such organism and persists in nature by alternating between two hosts; Ixodes spp. ticks and small vertebrate animals. These two hosts represent drastically different environments; requiring a unique gene regulatory program to survive and transmit between them. Microbiologists have …