Organismal Biological Physiology Commons^™

Identification And Characterization Of Genetic Elements That Regulate A C-Di-Gmp Mediated Multicellular Trait In Pseudomonas Fluorescens, Collin Kessler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microbial communities contain densely packed cells where competition for space and resources are fierce. These communities are generally referred to as biofilms and provide advantages to individual cells against immunological and antimicrobial intervention, dehydration, and predation. High intracellular pools of cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP) cause cells to aggregate during biofilm formation through the production of diverse extracellular polymers. Genes that encode c-di-GMP catalytic enzymes are commonly mutated during chronic infections where opportunists display enhanced resistance to phagocytosis and antibiotics. Our lab uses an emergent multicellular trait in the model organism Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 to study the emergence of c-di-GMP mutations …

Perception Of Illness And Its Association With Willingness To Adhere To Treatment In Chronic Hepatitis C Patients With New Diagnosis Of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Carmel Kruse

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing DNP Capstone Projects

Chronic liver disease is becoming the most common cause of mortality, morbidity, and utilization of healthcare services globally. Both nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) are frequent causes of chronic liver disease. Recently, there have been significant findings on the relationship between NAFLD and CHC; patients with CHC have a higher incidence of NAFLD. The introduction of direct-acting antivirals has cured more CHC patients than ever before. Unfortunately, the current interventions for NAFLD requiring behavioral change remain ineffective. Patient’s ability to follow advice depends largely on their health beliefs; therefore, understanding their illness perception is an …

Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis In Broilers: Bacterial Species Involvement And Influence Of Probiotics And Synbiotics, Amer Abdullah Hasan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since 1945, the market for broiler production has evolved from a collection of smallholder poultry farms into an industry worth billions of dollars. Poultry production has not gone without challenges. Lameness in young broilers is presently a serious issue in the poultry industry for reasons of animal health and welfare, as well as significant lost production and revenue. Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) is a major form of lameness in broilers. This dissertation contains information about (i) the influence of Staphylococcus agnetis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Enterococcus faecalis on inducing BCO lameness, (ii) evaluation of of probiotics for reducing …

A Conserved Mechanism For Hormesis In Molecular Systems, Sharon N. Greenwood, Regina G. Belz, Brian P. Weiser

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Hormesis refers to dose-response phenomena where low dose treatments elicit a response that is opposite the response observed at higher doses. Hormetic dose-response relationships have been observed throughout all of biology, but the underlying determinants of many reported hormetic dose-responses have not been identified. In this report, we describe a conserved mechanism for hormesis on the molecular level where low dose treatments enhance a response that becomes reduced at higher doses. The hormetic mechanism relies on the ability of protein homo-multimers to simultaneously interact with a substrate and a competitor on different subunits at low doses of competitor. In this …

Discovering Novel Polyextremotolerant Fungi And Determining Their Ecological Role Within The Biological Soil Crust Consortium, Erin C. 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 …

Parameter Estimation Using Nudging On The Logistic Growth Equation, Susan Rogowski

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Role And Regulation Of Staphylococcal Cell Death, Abdulelah Ahmed Alqarzaee S

Theses & Dissertations

The transition from growth to stationary phase is a natural response of bacteria to starvation and stress. When stress is alleviated and more favorable growth conditions return, bacteria resume proliferation without a significant loss in fitness. Although specific adaptations that enhance persistence and survival of bacteria in stationary phase have been identified, mechanisms that help maintain the competitive fitness potential of non-dividing bacterial populations have remained obscure. This dissertation demonstrates that staphylococci entering stationary phase following growth in excess glucose undergo regulated cell death to maintain the competitive fitness potential of the population. Upon a decrease in extracellular pH, the …

How Acetylation Regulates Metabolic Enzyme Function During Environmental Shifts, Jared Canonigo

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae can regulate the mechanisms of proteins through post-translational modification. These modifications play a vital role in functional proteomic activity because they can regulate protein activity, localization, and interaction with other cellular molecules. Such modifications include phosphorylation, methylation, and acetylation. The metabolic mechanisms of yeast became of keen interest to our lab because our lab noticed many stress defense proteins were being acetylated during stress heat shock. Notably, Adh1p and Adh2p showed both an increase and a decrease in acetylation at two lysine residues (K315 and K314) overtime during heat shock respectively, though the exact function …

Taxonomic Microbiome Profiling And Abundance Patterns In The Cacao (Theobroma Cacao L.) Rhizosphere Treated With Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Bamboo Biochar, Angelbert D. Cortes, Nelly S. Aggangan, Rina B. Opulencia

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

Biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are agricultural interventions adopted by farmers to improve the growth of crops in nutrient-deficient acidic soil, which relatively influence the biological properties in the rhizosphere. This greenhouse study investigated the changes in prokaryotic diversity in the rhizosphere of cacao plants grown in acidic soil with AMF and bamboo biochar (BB) for 15 months under nursery conditions. Metagenomic analysis of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene of the rhizosphere with AMF, 15% BB, and AMF + 15% BB revealed that the addition of AMF and BB reduced the sample's diversity, but the treatments …

Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica) As A Novel Model To Study The Relationship Between The Avian Microbiome And Microbial Endocrinology-Based Host-Microbe Interactions, James Keane, Joshua M. Lyte, Julia Eckenberger, Nicholas Anthony, Sandip Shrestha, Daya Marasini, Karrie M. Daniels, Valentina Caputi, Annie M. Donoghue, Mark Lyte

Articles

Background

Microbial endocrinology, which is the study of neuroendocrine-based interkingdom signaling, provides a causal mechanistic framework for understanding the bi-directional crosstalk between the host and microbiome, especially as regards the effect of stress on health and disease. The importance of the cecal microbiome in avian health is well-recognized, yet little is understood regarding the mechanisms underpinning the avian host-microbiome relationship. Neuroendocrine plasticity of avian tissues that are focal points of host-microbiome interaction, such as the gut and lung, has likewise received limited attention. Avian in vivo models that enable the study of the neuroendocrine dynamic between host and microbiome are …

Inhibition Of Biofilm Formation By The Synergistic Action Of Egcg-S And Antibiotics, Shrameeta Shinde, Lee Lee, Tinchun Chu

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Biofilm, a stress-induced physiological state, is an established means of antimicrobial tolerance. A perpetual increase in multidrug resistant (MDR) infections associated with high mortality and morbidity have been observed in healthcare settings. Multiple studies have indicated that the use of natural products can prevent bacterial growth. Recent studies in the field have identified that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea polyphenol, could disrupt bacterial biofilms. A modified lipid-soluble EGCG, epigallocatechin-3-gallate-stearate (EGCG-S), has enhanced the beneficial properties of green tea. This study focuses on utilizing EGCG-S as a novel synergistic agent with antibiotics to prevent or control biofilm. Different formulations of …

Community Opioid Overdose Prevention And Naloxone Distribution Programs: An Evidence-To-Practice Review, Madison M. Hauge, Kathryn C. Downs, Zachary K. Winkelmann

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100 people die of drug overdose in the United States every day. This frighteningly high mortality rate has created the need for community-based opioid overdose prevention programs (OOPPs). Currently, there are more than 188 community-run programs operating in the United States. These programs teach individuals how to distribute naloxone and respond properly to a drug overdose situation. This guiding systematic review depicts the current literature available on OOPPs and their effectiveness. The authors performed an article search to discover the most relevant and recent articles, which were graded using a quality …

Effectiveness Of Take-Home Naloxone Programs In Athletic Training: An Evidence-To-Practice Review, Michael J. Palm, Amanda N. Flanscha, Zachary K. Winkelmann

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

The number of opioid overdoses (ODs) has risen in recent years and has become more complex due to the co-involvement of both prescription and illicit opioid drug use. Provisional programs for take-home naloxone (a medication designed to rapidly reverse opiate OD symptoms) kits have been distributed to combat this potentially fatal epidemic. Although there is strong evidence to support the efficacy of naloxone in the reversal of opiate OD, there is limited evidence to support the efficacy of take-home naloxone (THN) kits. The purpose of this evidence-to-practice review was to summarize a systematic review on the efficacy of THN programs. …

Antibacterial Action Of Graphene Oxide Towards Bacteria And Its Toxicological Effects On Human Epidermal Keratinocytes, Thiruchelvi Pulingam

Student Works (2020-2029)

The antibacterial nature of graphene oxide (GO) has stimulated wide interest in the medical field. Although the antibacterial activity of GO towards bacteria has been well studied, a deeper understanding of the mechanism of action of GO is still lacking. The objectives of the study were to characterize the physicochemical properties of GO, to determine the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity and the mechanistic action of GO against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis and Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to determine the synergistic behaviour of GO with selected antibiotics against bacterial cells in suspension and biofilm and to determine …

A Race Against Time: Reduced Azithromycin Susceptibility In Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhi In Pakistan, Junaid Iqbal, Irum Fatima Dehraj, Megan E. Carey, Zoe A. Dyson, Denise Garrett, Jessica C. Seidman, Furqan Kabir, Senjuti Saha, Stephen Baker, Farah Naz Qamar

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Antimicrobial resistance is an ongoing issue in the treatment of typhoid fever. Resistance to first-line antimicrobials and extensively drug resistant (XDR) Salmonella Typhi isolates in Pakistan have left azithromycin as the only remaining effective oral treatment. Here, we report the emergence of organisms with a single point mutation in acrB gene, implicated in azithromycin resistance, in a S. Typhi isolate from Pakistan. The isolation of this organism is worrisome and highlights the significance of the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccine in South Asia.
Importance: The emergence of XDR Salmonella Typhi in Pakistan has left azithromycin as the only viable oral …

Identifying Determinants Of Target Specificity In Two Related Bacterial Peptide Toxins, Andrew D. Holmes

Honors Thesis

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems were originally identified as two-component systems ensuring the stable inheritance of plasmids in bacterial populations. Recently, they have been identified on bacterial chromosomes where their functions remain mostly undefined. The par locus of E. faecalis plasmid pAD1 (par_pAD1) was the first TA system defined in a Gram-positive bacterium and a homolog encoded on the E. faecalis chromosome (par_EF0409) was later described. Related loci numbering in the hundreds have been identified throughout Gram-positive bacteria based on homology to the toxin of the system, Fst, and similarities in genetic organization and regulation. Despite …

Toxicity Analysis Of 2’-Deoxyguanosine-N2-6-Aminopyrene And 2’-Deoxyguanosine-N2-8-Aminopyrene In Escherichia Coli, Emily Janeiro

Honors Scholar Theses

Cancer is a disease that stems from genomic errors that are not corrected properly by cellular repair mechanisms. Errors are more likely to form when organisms are subjected to DNA damage by mutagenic compounds. 1-Nitropyrene, a nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (nitro-PAH), has been shown to be a potent mutagen that causes cancer. Nitro-PAHs can arise from diesel exhaust products in the environment. Out of all nitro-PAHs, 1-nitropyrene is found in largest quantities in the environment. This poses a great need to study its effects biochemically in order to address its toxicity in DNA. Other nitropyrene derivatives, including 1,6-dinitropyrene and 1,8-dinitropyrene, …

Characterizing The Requirements For The Matricellular Protein, Dccn, In Nervous System Function, Elizabeth L. Catudio Garrett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The brain is organized as a complex network of specialized neurons that communicate via a combination of electrical and chemical signals. Our brains function to generate movement, control organ function, or direct complex behaviors; all of which requires the ability to regulate the flow of communication between circuits and networks. Work in this thesis addresses two areas of neuron communication: first, how does the release of more than one neurotransmitter from a single neuron impact behavior, and second, are matricellular proteins (MCPs) key contributors to synaptic transmission and neuron function? The conserved CCN family of MCPs have a …

Non-Invasive Method For Leptin Supplementation In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Regan Mcnamara

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

I tested the hypothesis that recombinant leptin protein can be introduced to zebrafish in vivo through non-invasive soaking in a solution containing the protein. One way to study various molecules’ effects in vivo is through intraperitoneal or intracerebroventricular injections during the embryonic or larval stage, which is invasive, difficult to administer, and can have a high mortality rate. 48 hours post fertilization (hpf) zebrafish were soaked in a His-tagged recombinant leptin protein solution at 10 nM and 100 nM concentrations (produced by Genscript). After soaking, zebrafish larvae were washed extensively to remove all recombinant protein on their exterior before homogenization. …

Screening The Cultivable Cave Microbial Mats For The Production Of Antimicrobial Compounds And Antibiotic Resistance, Jerneja Ambrožič Avguštin, Patricia Petrič, Lejla Pašić

International Journal of Speleology

The current work extends the phenotypic characterization of a bacterial culture collection obtained from white, yellow, grey or pink microbial cave wall colonies that are common in the caves of Slovenian Karst. We have determined antibiotic resistance to 22 natural and synthetic antibiotics in 69 isolates from the microbial mats. Thirty-eight isolates (52%) were resistant to 1-5 antibiotics; another 27 isolates (37%) were resistant to 6-10 antibiotics; and 7 isolates (0.1%) were resistant to 11-17 antibiotics. We screened for production of antimicrobial compounds by growing cave isolates on five different media and overlaying individual cultures with ten Gram-positive and Gram …

Anti-Human Cd9 Antibody Fab Fragment Impairs The Internalization Of Extracellular Vesicles And The Nuclear Transfer Of Their Cargo Proteins., Mark F. Santos, Germana Rappa, Jana Karbanová, Cheryl Vanier, Chikao Morimoto, Denis Corbeil, Aurelio Lorico

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

The intercellular communication mediated by extracellular vesicles (EVs) has gained international interest during the last decade. Interfering with the mechanisms regulating this cellular process might find application particularly in oncology where cancer cell-derived EVs play a role in tumour microenvironment transformation. Although several mechanisms were ascribed to explain the internalization of EVs, little is our knowledge about the fate of their cargos, which are crucial to mediate their function. We recently demonstrated a new intracellular pathway in which a fraction of endocytosed EV-associated proteins is transported into the nucleoplasm of the host cell via a subpopulation of late endosomes penetrating …

Diversity And Shifts Of The Bacterial Community Associated With Baikal Sponge Mass Mortalities, Sergei Belikov, Natalia Belkova, Tatiana Butina, Lubov Chernogor, Alexandra Martynova-Van Kley, Armen Nalian, Colin Rorex, Igor Khanaev, Olga Maikova, Sergey Feranchuk

Faculty Publications

The disease of freshwater sponges was first discovered in 2011, when pink samples were found in the Central Basin of Lake Baikal. Subsequently, the visible signs of the disease have changed, and now sponges appear with various symptoms of damage to the body, such as discoloration, tissue necrosis, the formation of brown patches and dirty-purple biofilms on some branches. These signs of the disease are accompanied by the mass death of sponges. We identified differences in microbiomes by sequencing 16S rRNA genes and found changes in the consortium of microorganisms of freshwater Baikal sponges. We found that the observed imbalance …

Best Practices In Patellar Tendinopathy Management: An Evidence To Practice Review, Christopher J. Burcal, Adam B. Rosen, Tony Taylor, Mike Nicola

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is a degenerative condition that is common in sporting populations due to the loads placed on the tendon during dynamic activity. PT often occurs in overtraining situations; however, it may also occur in conjunction with and/or worsen through poor biomechanics, persistent inflammation, and altered movement patterns. Although sports medicine practitioners have evidence to support the prevalence of this injury, we do not have a strong base of evidence surrounding the contributing factors and pathophysiology that lead the pain and disability reported in patients with PT. The purpose of this evidence to practice review was to summarize a …

Illumination Of The Golgi Apparatus Of Pathogenic And Nonpathogenic Naegleria Species, Tyler M. Poe

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, Naegleria fowleri, a pathogenic amoeba and the causative agent of Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), was utilized to determine the presence or absence of classically conserved Golgi molecules featured in the expression of a Golgi apparatus. Previous studies concluded no Golgi expression via light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, but a recent report on Naegleria gruberi indicated the presence of dispersed Golgi tubules. Non-pathogenic species of the Naegleria genus such as Naegleria gruberi 30540 and Naegleria lovaniensis 30569 were utilized in Western immunoblot analysis compared to reduced whole-cell lysate proteins of two strains of N. fowleri and …

The Microbiome Of The Gastrointestinal Tract Of A Range-Shifting Marine Herbivorous Fish, Jacquelyn Jones, Joseph D. Dibattista, Michael Stat, Michael Bunce, Mary C. Boyce, David Fairclough, Michael J. Travers, Megan J. Huggett

Fisheries Research Articles

Globally, marine species’ distributions are being modified due to rising ocean temperatures. Increasing evidence suggests a circum-global pattern of poleward extensions in the distributions of many tropical herbivorous species, including the ecologically important rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens. Adaptability of a species to such new environments may be heavily influenced by the composition of their gastrointestinal microbe fauna, which is fundamentally important to animal health. Siganus fuscescens thus provides an opportunity to assess the stability of gastrointestinal microbes under varying environmental conditions. The gastrointestinal microbial communities of S. fuscescens were characterized over 2,000 km of Australia’s western coast, from tropical to …

Gut Symbiont Viability In Honey Bees Exposed To Agrochemical Stressors, Bryant Justin Gabriel

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The honey bee gut microbiome is essential for protecting this pollinator against abiotic and biotic stressors, including the prevention of harmful gut parasites and pathogens. Previous studies have not only demonstrated a linkage of bee gut dysbiosis to increased immunodeficiencies and pathogen sensitivities, but also report the maladaptation of the gut microbiome in bees exposed to agricultural and apicultural chemistries. There are few techniques available that allow for a simple and reliable analysis of the relative proportions of live and dead gut microbes in bees exposed to these chemistries. Previous techniques for measuring gut symbiont dysbiosis are temporally limited by …

Loss Of Marv1 Promotes Chop Signaling In Mouse Liver, Shad Anthony Mitchell

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a term used to define a set of metabolic diseases: obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), hyperlipidemia, hypertension, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and nonalcoholic hepatosteatosis (NASH). Those with MetS have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Current drug treatments for MetS treat the individual pathologies associated with the diseases, rather than directly targeting MetS as a whole. We hypothesize that the inhibition of a ubiquitous lipid transporter known as ARV1 can improve pathologies associated with MetS. To test this hypothesis, we utilized liver tissue from mARV1 knockout mice fed a high-fat diet and examined …

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 …

Regulation Of The Tubulin Homolog Ftsz In Escherichia Coli, Monika S. Buczek

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Escherichia coli is a well-known pathogen, and importantly, a widely used model organism in all fields of biological sciences for cloning, protein purification, and as a model for Gram-negative bacterial species. And yet, researchers do not fully understand how this bacterium replicates and divides. Every year additional division proteins are discovered, which adds complexity to how we understand E. coli undergoes cell division. Due to their specific roles in cytokinesis, some of these proteins may be potential targets for development of antibacterials or bacteriostatics, which are much needed for fighting the current global antibacterial deficit. My thesis work focuses on …

Synthesis And Kinetic Studies Of High-Valent Metal-Oxo Species Generated By Photochemical And Chemical Methods, Haiyan Liu

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Highly reactive iron-oxo intermediates play important roles as active oxidants in enzymatic and synthetic catalytic oxidation. Many transition metal catalysts are designed for biomimetic studies of the predominant oxidation catalysts in Nature, namely cytochrome P450 enzymes. In this work, a series of iron(IV)-oxo porphyrins [Fe^IV(Por)O] and manganese(IV)-oxo porphyrins [Mn^IV(Por)O] have been successfully produced in two electron-deficient ligands by photochemical and chemical methods, and spectroscopically characterized by UV-vis, and ¹H-NMR.

With iodobenzene diacetate [PhI(OAc)₂] as the oxygen source, iron(III) porphyrin and manganese(III) porphyrin complexes converted to the corresponding metal(IV)-oxo species as oxygen atom transfer …