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Full-Text Articles in Organisms

Resolving The Repression Pathway Of Virulence Gene Hila In Salmonella, Alexandra King, Lon Chubiz Phd, Brenda Pratte, Lauren Daugherty Jun 2022

Resolving The Repression Pathway Of Virulence Gene Hila In Salmonella, Alexandra King, Lon Chubiz Phd, Brenda Pratte, Lauren Daugherty

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Salmonella is a relatively abundant, virulent species of bacteria that is most known for spreading gastrointestinal diseases through food. These illnesses result in approximately 1.35 million infections, including over 25,000 hospitalizations each year, in the U.S. alone (CDC.gov). As antibiotic resistance becomes an increasingly urgent public health problem, the importance of developing alternative treatment methods is only becoming more crucial. One of the genes responsible for this virulence is known as hilA. HilA is the main transcriptional regulator of Salmonella Pathogenicity Island-1 gene (UniProt). SPI-1 plays an important role in the invasion of Salmonella into epithelial cells. The proteins encoded …


Assesment Of Antibiotic Resistant Gene Expression In Clinical Isolates Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Dustin Esmond Sep 2021

Assesment Of Antibiotic Resistant Gene Expression In Clinical Isolates Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Dustin Esmond

Biology Theses

Increasing prevalence of nosocomial infections by antimicrobial resistant pathogens resulting in higher mortality rates and financial burden is of great concern. Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents one of six highly virulent “ESKAPE” pathogens that exhibit considerable intrinsic drug resistance as well as mechanisms for acquiring further resistance. As many of these mechanisms are regulated through gene expression, we sought to identify regulatory strategies and patterns at play in 23 clinical isolates collected from Baku, Azerbaijan and Tyler, Texas, USA. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed on six gene targets implicated in resistance and contrasted with antibiotic phenotypes. We found AmpC cephalosporinase …


The Effects Of Farnesol, A Quorum Sensing Molecule From Candida Albicans, On Alcaligenes Faecalis, Savannah Hutson May 2020

The Effects Of Farnesol, A Quorum Sensing Molecule From Candida Albicans, On Alcaligenes Faecalis, Savannah Hutson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Quorum sensing molecules have become a recent focus of study to learn if and how they can be used, both on their own and in conjecture with current antimicrobial methods, as a means of bacterial control. One such quorum sensing molecule is the sesquiterpene alcohol, Farnesol, which is synthesized and released by the fungus, Candida albicans. In most in-vivo cases, our laboratory has shown that Alcaligenes faecalis overtakes C. albicans, preventing its growth. However, as a way to counteract this inhibitory effect, Farnesol may be one way that Candida has found to fight back. In this study, we …


Elucidating The Importance Of Hope And Its Potential Lewis Glycosylation In Helicobacter Pylori, Keertika Yogendirarajah Aug 2018

Elucidating The Importance Of Hope And Its Potential Lewis Glycosylation In Helicobacter Pylori, Keertika Yogendirarajah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Helicobacter pylori colonizes 50% of the world’s population, whereby glycoproteins and Lewis Y-containing lipopolysaccharides contribute to its pathogenesis. We investigated whether the HopE porin is glycosylated, if the glycan is Lewis Y, and if this is mediated by the putative oligosaccharide transferase HP0946 or the O-antigen ligase WaaL. Western blotting was performed on outer membranes with anti-HopE antibodies, anti-Lewis Y antibodies and fucose-binding BambL lectin to ascertain HopE glycosylation. We discovered that HopE is likely glycosylated by a non-Lewis Y fucose-containing glycan and neither HP0946 nor WaaL are the transferase. Additionally, we investigated HopE’s role in antibiotic susceptibility via Etest …


The Inhibitory Effects Of A Novel Gel On Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilms, Lindsey Vance May 2018

The Inhibitory Effects Of A Novel Gel On Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilms, Lindsey Vance

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Antibiotic resistance is an ever-growing topic of concern within the medical field causing researchers to examine the mechanisms of resistance to develop new antimicrobials. Bacteria’s ability to form biofilms is one mechanism which aids in antimicrobial resistance. Staphylococcus aureus is of special interest as it is one of the most frequent biofilm-forming bacteria found on medical devices causing infections and posing dangerous threats in a clinical setting. A recently developed antimicrobial gel has been shown to have profound effects on treating bacterial infections and wound healing. This research is centered upon examining the antimicrobial effects of this gel on the …


The Effects That Liquid And Solid Cattle Manure Have On The Water Quality Of Drainage Ditches In Putnam County, Ohio, Janelle Horstman Jan 2014

The Effects That Liquid And Solid Cattle Manure Have On The Water Quality Of Drainage Ditches In Putnam County, Ohio, Janelle Horstman

Honors Projects

Lake Erie has experienced harmful algal blooms with increased frequency since the mid-1990s due to excess nutrients from Rivers, such as the Maumee River, and largely agricultural watersheds. Nonpoint source pollution from agriculture contributes to eutrophication, algal blooms, and the degradation of water quality. This creates stress on aquatic fauna, reduced aesthetic quality, odor, and limits of the water for usage of drinking, recreation, and industry. This research paper asks what the contributions of having access to manure application records, soil records, and information about antibiotics have on what is known about manure management and antibiotic resistance, which has been …


Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Ampr Transcriptional Regulatory Network, Deepak Balasubramanian Mar 2013

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Ampr Transcriptional Regulatory Network, Deepak Balasubramanian

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Enterobacteriaceae, the transcriptional regulator AmpR, a member of the LysR family, regulates the expression of a chromosomal β-lactamase AmpC. The regulatory repertoire of AmpR is broader in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen responsible for numerous acute and chronic infections including cystic fibrosis. Previous studies showed that in addition to regulating ampC, P. aeruginosa AmpR regulates the sigma factor AlgT/U and production of some quorum sensing (QS)-regulated virulence factors. In order to better understand the ampR regulon, the transcriptional profiles generated using DNA microarrays and RNA-Seq of the prototypic P. aeruginosa PAO1 strain with its isogenic ampR deletion …