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Full-Text Articles in Pathogenic Microbiology
Insights Into Determinants That Contribute To Colonization, Virulence And Antibiotic Resistance In Enterococci, Maria Camila Montealegre
Insights Into Determinants That Contribute To Colonization, Virulence And Antibiotic Resistance In Enterococci, Maria Camila Montealegre
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium are increasingly common as causative agents of human infections, many of which are very difficult to treat due to multi-drug resistance. The work presented in the first part of this dissertation elucidates a mechanism for the regulation of pilus expression. I showed that ATT is the initiation codon of ebpA, the first gene of an operon that codes for the endocarditis and biofilm-associated pili (Ebp), a recognized virulence factor in E. faecalis. The presence of this rare start codon downregulates EbpA translation and protein levels, diminishing biofilm and binding abilities of …
Molecular Basis Of Corynebacterium Diphtheriae Virulence And Infection In The Caenorhabditis Elegans Model Host, Melissa M. Broadway
Molecular Basis Of Corynebacterium Diphtheriae Virulence And Infection In The Caenorhabditis Elegans Model Host, Melissa M. Broadway
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the causative agent of cutaneous and pharyngeal diphtheria in humans. While lethality is certainly caused by diphtheria toxin, corynebacterial colonization may primarily require proteinaceous fibers called pili, which mediate adherence to specific tissues. The type strain of C. diphtheriae possesses three distinct pilus structures, namely the SpaA, SpaD, and SpaH-type pili, which are encoded by three distinct pilus gene clusters. The pilus is assembled onto the bacterial peptidoglycan by a specific transpeptidase enzyme called sortase. Although the SpaA pili are shown to be specific for pharyngeal cells in vitro, little is known about functions of the three …