Organisms Commons^™

The Biosorption Of Lead From Aqueous Solutions By A Wood-Immobilized Fungal Biosorbent, Zomesh A N Maini, Niña Therese B. Flores, Enrico P. Muñoz

Biology Faculty Publications

Lead [Pb(II)] biosorption capacities of immobilized Talaromyces macrosporus on Moringa oleifera L. wood were compared against pure fungal and pure M. oleifera biomass. A Pb(II) contact test of 1000 ug/mL show similar Pb(II) removal of non-immobilized fungal biomass (F) and powdered wood colonized with fungi (WP+F), with WP+F producing more biomass. Powdered sorbents had higher Pb(II) uptake compared to whole sorbents analyzed through ICP-AES, possibly due to increased surface area for Pb(II) binding. FTIR analysis of the F, WP, and WP+F identified hydroxyl, amino, carbonyl, and sulfhydryl functional groups which constitute probable Pb(II)-affinitive binding sites. The biosorbents tested in a …

Evaluating Volatile Organic Compounds For Contact-Independent Antagonism Of Pseudogymnoascus Destructans

Symposium of Student Scholars

White-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is responsible for the extensive mortality of bats in the United States. In an effort to develop tools to reduce bat mortality attributed to WNS, an in vitro experiment was conducted to quantify the inhibitory effects of select volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as well as explore potential synergistic activities. The experiment involved exposing mycelial plugs of P. destructans to various concentrations of B23 as well as B23 and decanal together at equimolar ratios. Measurements of the plugs were taken over the course of the 13 day experiment allowing …

Oral Fungal Microbiota: To Thrush And Beyond, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The oral microbiota is complex, multikingdom, interactive, and involves extensive biofilm formation. While dominated by bacteria, Candida is a frequent member of this microbiota; however, several other potentially pathogenic fungi (among around 100 identified species) appear to reside in some individuals, including Cryptococcus, Aspergillus, and Fusarium. Oral candidiasis may manifest as a variety of disease entities in normal hosts and in the immunocompromised. These include pseudomembranous candidiasis (thrush), hyperplastic or atrophic (denture) candidiasis, linear gingival erythema, median rhomboid glossitis, and angular cheilitis. The purpose of this review is to describe the oral fungal microbiota (ie, oral mycobiota), …

The Essential Role Of Carbon Metabolism In The Virulence Of Cryptococcus Neoformans, Mara Weigner

Senior Honors Theses

Cryptococcus neoformans infections are a major cause of meningoencephalitis in immunosuppressed patients worldwide. Inhaled as spores or desiccated yeast cells, C. neoformans can undergo metabolic changes in response to the new host environment that allow it to cross the blood brain barrier and cause deadly central nervous system (CNS) infections. Nutrient acquisition, and specifically carbon metabolism, is critical for survival and proliferation within the host. Notably, efficient carbon metabolism is necessary to produce the polysaccharide capsule, which is arguably C. neoformans’ most important and well-studied virulence factor. As such, a better understanding of carbon acquisition and regulation is essential for …

Coccidioidomycosis: Medical And Spatio-Temporal Perspectives, Nikias Sarafoglou, Rafael Laniado-Laborin, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is a disease of major public health importance due to the challenges in its diagnosis and treatment. To understand CM requires the attributes of a multidisciplinary network analysis to appreciate the complexity of the medical, the environmental and the social issues involved: public health, public policy, geology, atmospheric science, agronomy, social sciences and finally humanities, all which provide insight into this population transformation.

In section 1 of this paper, we describe the CM-epidemiology, the clinical features, the diagnosis and finally the treatment.

In section 2, we highlight the most important contributions and controversies in the history of the …

The Effect Of Prescribed Burning On Wood-Decay Fungi In The Forests Of Northwest Arkansas, Nawaf Ibrahim Alshammari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prescribed burning is defined as the process of the planned application of fire to a predetermined area under specific environmental conditions in order to achieve a desired outcome such as land management. This project used both morphological and molecular methods to identify and characterize the wood-decay fungi associated with the forests of northwest Arkansas—Pea Ridge National Military Park, Devil’s Den State Park, and the Buffalo National River—through frequent visits made between February 2018 and February 2019. In addition, in order to assess the effects of prescribed burning, incubation chambers were used to compare the growth of fungi from both unburned …

Selectivity Of Infrared Heat Treatment On Inactivation Of Mycotoxigenic Fungi On Stored Grain, Shantae A. Wilson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Selective Infrared (IR) heating holds great potential to decontaminate spores of unsafe fungi in corn. The objectives for this study were to investigate the impact of exposing corn to infrared energy at selected peak wavelengths (λ), infrared intensities and treatment durations, followed by tempering for further inactivation of microbes on the grain and explore a method for decontaminating Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) spores on corn. Freshly harvested corn with initial moisture contents (IMCs) of 16%, 20%, and 24% wet basis (w.b.) were used. The corn samples were treated at different infrared wavelengths (3.2, 4.5, and 5.8 μm) for 20, 40 …

Elucidating Immune Signaling Of Influenza A Virus And Aspergillus Fumigatus Co-Infections Through Pioneered Model Development, Meagan Danyelle Rippee-Brooks

MSU Graduate Theses

Bacterial co-infections with influenza A virus (IAV) are extremely serious and life-threatening. However, there exists limited understanding about the importance of fungal infections with IAV. Clinical case reports indicate that fungal co-infections do occur and suggest the IAV pandemic of 2009 had a propensity to predispose patients to secondary fungal infections more than previous IAV strains. IAV-fungal co-infections are marked by high mortality rates of 47 to 61% in previously healthy individuals between the ages of 20 and 60. Yet, the variables involved in this co-infection remain undetermined. I achieved effective recapitulation of this co-infection using a C57Bl/6 murine (mouse) …

Crispr/Cas9 In Yeast: A Multi-Week Laboratory Exercise For Undergraduate Students, Randi J. Ulbricht

Open Educational Resources

Providing undergraduate life-science students with a course-based research experience that utilizes cutting-edge technology, is tractable for students, and is manageable as an instructor is a challenge. Here, I describe a multi-week lesson plan for a laboratory-based course with the goal of editing the genome of budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Students apply knowledge regarding advanced topics such as: CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, DNA repair, genetics, and cloning. The lesson requires students to master skills such as bioinformatics analysis, restriction enzyme digestion, ligation, basic microbiology skills, polymerase chain reaction, and plasmid purification. Instructors are led through the technical aspects of the protocols, …

Amphotercin Washout Of Fungal Peritonitis In Liver Transplant Recipient: A Novel Approach, Ann Thompson Do, Mara Piltin Do, Alyssa Imperatore Do, Ely Sebastian Md, Sandra Paluzzi Md

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Invasive fungal infection has a significant prevalence among organ transplant patients and is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Fungal infection is difficult to identify early and subsequently difficult to effectively treat. In this case presentation we have a 45 y/o orthotopic liver transplant recipient who was profoundly sick from fungal peritonitis and due to the appearance of her abdomen and intestines, with the help of infectious disease, decided to proceed with direct amphotercin washout of the abdomen in the operating room. The patient had complete resolution of her fungal peritonitis and is doing well.

Reporting Charcoal Rot In Chia And Developing A Susceptibility Assay, Reis M. Misaka, Hagop S. Atamian Dr., Julien Besnard Dr.

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Chia (Salvia Hispanica) cross breeds were planted in the summer of 2018 with the intent of selective breeding for agricultural benefit. Preexisting pathogens in the soil caused 40-50% fatality of adult plants. This was surprising due to the precursory knowledge that chia has antibiotic and antifungal oils (Elshafie et. al. 2018); chia was only recently documented to be susceptible to Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum). The primary pathogen responsible was identified as Macrophomina phaseolina (aka charcoal rot); a widespread soilborne pathogen which has multiple commercial hosts (Su et. al. 2001).

M. phaesolina on wheat seed vector where used as …

Characterizing Aft1/2-Grx3/4 Interaction And The Role Of Bol2 During Iron Regulation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, William Rivers

Senior Theses

Iron dysregulation has been linked to a variety of human diseases, such as anemia, Friedreich’s ataxia, X-linked sideroblastic anemia, sideroblastic-like microcytic anemia, and myopathy. Thus, it is vitally important to understand the mechanisms for regulating intracellular iron. Here, we use fluorescence microscopy techniques in live cells to study interactions of the yeast proteins Grx3/4, Aft1/2, and Bol2, which have been shown to be involved in turning off iron import when the cell has adequate iron. Modified versions of genes encoding these proteins have been incorporated into several yeast backgrounds to use fluorescence to monitor interactions under varying iron levels.

Mucormycosis - Dual Therapy With Prolonged Survival, Maydelin Pecchio, Yariela Osabio, Yariela Morales, Forest W. Arnold

Journal of Refugee & Global Health

Mucorales fungal infection is a fungal disease with potentially fatal outcomes. The most frequent involvement in humans comes from the orders known as Mucorales and Entomophthorales. Mucorales is more acute and has a predilection for immunocompromised patients. Mucorales are associated with an affinity for vessels, which leads to invasion and infarction of tissue. Mucormycosis is a devastating complication that can be a life threatening fungal invasion in many patients in an immunocompromised state.