Molecular Genetics Commons^™

Identification Of Uncommon Antibiotic-Producing Illinois Soil Isolates, Lesly Muniz, Dr. Lori Scott

Identifying and Characterizing Novel Antibiotic Producing Microbes From the Soil

This project is a collaboration with the Tiny Earth Project Initiative (TEPI), which is a global network of educators and students focused on student sourcing antibiotic discovery from the soil. We researched tester strains B. subtilis and E. coli from the soil isolates obtained. We further verified if the isolates were common antibiotic bacteria. Unfortunately, this project heavily relied on biochemical tests, colony morphology, and Gram stains to reject or fail to reject our hypothesis. Our goal was to discover new antibiotic-producing bacteria that could be beneficial in combating ESKAPE strains. A proper PCR and DNA extraction would be required …

Pseudomonas And Bacillus Soil Isolates Produce Antibiotics, Chelsea Brandt, Dr. Lori Scott

Identifying and Characterizing Novel Antibiotic Producing Microbes From the Soil

The recent emergence of antibiotic resistance bacterial strains presents a significant challenge and threat to human healthcare. While new methods of treatment such as bacteriophage therapy and combinations of existing antibiotics are being researched, the human population is in dire need of new antibiotics to replace those that are ineffective. This research addresses this need by identifying antibiotic producing bacteria in a soil sample from Davenport, IA. This project is a collaboration with the Tiny Earth Project Initiative (TEPI), which is a global network of educators and students focused on studentsourcing antibiotic discovery from soil. Microbiology lab techniques and 16S …

Identification Of Antibiotic Producing Soil Bacteria Against Bacillus Subtilis, Morgan Brockhouse, Dr. Lori Scott

Identifying and Characterizing Novel Antibiotic Producing Microbes From the Soil

This project is a collaboration with the Tiny Earth Project Initiative (TEPI), which is a global network of educators and students focused on student-sourcing antibiotic discovery from soil. Individual strains of soil bacteria were isolated and produced antibiotic against Bacillus subtilis. Two of these samples were sequenced using the 16S rRNA gene to reveal they are very closely related to the genus Pseudomonas.

Gene Expression Pattern Analysis Of Anterior Hox Genes During Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) Embryonic Development Reveals Divergent Expression Patterns From Other Teleosts, Adam Davis

Georgia Journal of Science

The regional identity of organs and organ systems along the anterior-posterior axis during embryonic development is patterned, in part, by Hox genes, which encode transcription factor proteins that activate or repress the expression of downstream target genes. Divergent nested Hox gene expression patterns may have had a role in facilitating morphological divergence of structures, such as the pharyngeal jaw apparatus, among evolutionarily divergent teleost fishes. Recent studies from several evolutionarily divergent teleosts, such as the Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes) and the Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), have shown the presence of divergent expression patterns of several Hox …

Frontotemporal Dementia Nonsense Mutation Of Progranulin Rescued By Aminoglycosides, Lisha Kuang, Kei Hashimoto, Eric J. Huang, Matthew S. Gentry, Haining Zhu

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is an early onset dementia and is characterized by progressive atrophy of the frontal and/or temporal lobes. FTD is highly heritable with mutations in progranulin accounting for 5-26% of cases in different populations. Progranulin is involved in endocytosis, secretion and lysosomal processes, but its function under physiological and pathological conditions remains to be defined. Many FTD-causing nonsense progranulin mutations contain a premature termination codon (PTC), thus progranulin haploinsufficiency has been proposed as a major disease mechanism. Currently, there is no effective FTD treatment or therapy.

Aminoglycosides are a class of antibiotics that possess a less known function …

Using Crispr-Cas9 As A Restriction Enzyme, Zack Crawley

Master's Theses

Restriction digests are a commonly utilized process for cleaving DNA at specific, but relatively common sites. Restriction enzymes have widespread use in DNA manipulation. CRISPR/Cas9 is a recently identified endonuclease which utilizes a customizable guide sequence to recognize and cut specific ~20 bp sites located in a DNA sequence. This preliminary research aimed to exploit the potential benefit of DNA restriction using the CRISPR/Cas9 procedure through alterations of different components involved in that system. We sought to refine existing CRISPR/Cas9 protocols and make a budget friendly, user-selectable CRISPR/Cas9 restriction digest protocol. The motivation for this research was to simplify and …

The Physical Interactions Of Klp-4 & The Effects Of Microtubule Acetylation, Lindsey Wright

Honors Program Theses

Our nervous system propagates signals by releasing neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft between two adjacent neurons. The transport and delivery of such neurotransmitters within the neuron is reliant on microtubule structure and motor proteins present. The direction of motor protein transport is dictated by the inherent polarity of microtubules. Kinesin-3 motor proteins, such as KLP-4 found in Caenorhabditis elegans, use this polarity to travel in an anterograde direction towards neurotransmitter exocytosis sites. Thus, KLP-4 is associated with the maintenance of neuron functionality. The klp-4 (ok3537) allele results in a large, in frame deletion within the cargo-binding domain of the motor …

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (Snps) Study On X-Chromosome In Thai Sle Populations, Krisana Jaiwan

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is common autoimmune disease in Thailand which dominantly in females in ratio 9:1 of patients. Previous study has shown that the genetic components especially in X chromosome contributed a lot to the disease development. However, the susceptibility loci in Thai population have not been fully examined. Here, we conducted genome-wide association study (GWAS) on X chromosome using the data from two independent cohorts: primary dataset (controls = 1,683, SLE = 487) and secondary dataset (controls = 1,711, SLE = 455). Through meta-analyzing and imputation base on 1 KGP the two data set, SNP rs1059702 in IRAK1- …

Temperate Eurasian Origins Of Hawaiian Chenopodium (Amaranthaceae) Plus Description Of A New Species Endemic To Moloka‘I, Jason T. Cantley, Angela J. Mcdonnell, J Branson, S R. Long, W Garnett, Christopher T. Martine

Faculty Journal Articles

Chenopodium taxa of Hawai‘i are tetraploids distinguished from other members of the circumglobally distributed genus by minute morphological characters. Because of these reasons, the geographic origin of Hawaiian Chenopodium has remained unclear. Across the Hawaiian Archipelago, Chenopodium taxa are morphologically variable and grow in highly disparate xeric habitats, especially in terms of precipitation, temperature, wind, salt spray, and solar irradiation. Habitats include dry subalpine shrublands, sandy beach strand of atolls in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, dry forests, and precipitously tall sea cliffs of northwestern Moloka‘i. From the Moloka‘i sea cliffs, which are battered by high energy winds, salt spray, and …

The Origin And Evolution Of Flower Characters In Angiosperms With A Case Study On The Genetic Basis Of Zygomorphic Corolla Development In Bee And Hummingbird Pollinated Species Of Schizanthus (Solanaceae), Ghadeer Bukhari

Theses and Dissertations

This Ph.D. dissertation investigates two main projects separated into two chapters, one for each. The first chapter explores the evolution of flowering plants (angiosperms), a macro-scale study. The second project is on a micro-scale that focus on exploring the genes that regulate the similarities and the differences of flower morphology reflecting their different pollination syndromes in two species of Schizanthus (Solanaceae), i.e., S. pinnatus, a bee-pollinated flower, and S. grahamii, a hummingbird- pollinated flower.

In the first chapter, I used floral diagrams to study the origin and the evolution of floral traits in angiosperms, a new set of morphological data …

Novel Strategies To Overcome Carboplatin Resistance In Triple Negative Breast Cancer Using Patient Derived Xenografts, Mohammad A. Al Zubi

Theses and Dissertations

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients have a poor prognosis and rely on chemotherapeutic treatment as standard of care. Often, they develop chemotherapy resistance, which leaves them without more therapeutic options, like targeted therapy. New models have been developed to test targeted inhibitors in human tumors, and they are known as patient-derived xenografts (PDX). These tumors are obtained from patients, then established and maintained in mice where they areused for tumor studies. In this work, we characterized 14 PDXs for their primary tumor growth rate and investigated metastatic propensity using spontaneous and experiment metastasis models. We utilized RNA-sequencing to characterize contributions …

Analysis Of Genetic Structure And Pathogen Dynamics Of Ixodes Scapularis In Southwestern Virginia, Leemu Jackson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Ixodes scapularis, or the blacklegged tick, is the primary vector of Borrelia burgdorferi. This pathogen is the causative agent of Lyme disease, the most common vector-transmitted disease in the United States. Although I. scapularis is distributed throughout the eastern U.S., Lyme disease is only considered endemic in the northeastern region of the country. Prior to 2007, Lyme disease was uncommon in Virginia, but since then cases of Lyme disease have increased dramatically with a hotspot forming in the Roanoke-Blacksburg area. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether B. burgdorferi prevalence and the genetic structure of I. …

Aging Induces B Cell Defects And Decreased Antibody Responses To Influenza Infection And Vaccination, Daniela Frasca, Bonnie B. Blomberg

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Background: Aging is characterized by a progressive decline in the capacity of the immune system to fight influenza virus infection and to respond to vaccination. Among the several factors involved, in addition to increased frailty and high-risk conditions, the age-associated decrease in cellular and humoral immune responses plays a relevant role. This is in large part due to inflammaging, the chronic low-grade inflammatory status of the elderly, associated with intrinsic inflammation of the immune cells and decreased immune function.

Results: Aging is usually associated with reduced influenza virus-specific and influenza vaccine-specific antibody responses but some elderly individuals with higher pre-exposure …

Investigating The Role Of Centromeric Repeats In Female Meiotic Drive, Jocelyn Crawford

CMC Senior Theses

Female meiotic drive is an unequal transmission of alleles that arises through the competition of paired chromosomes for inclusion in the egg, resulting in an increase in frequency of the driven alleles regardless of their effect on fitness of the individual. In Mimulus guttatus (monkeyflower) second filial generations, driven alleles display transmission advantages resulting in the virtual elimination of recessive homozygotes, while the equivalent lines lacking drive elements conform to traditional Mendelian segregation population ratios. Centromeres have been identified as mechanistic drive elements due to their role in chromosomal segregation during female meiosis, with Mimulus providing the best documented case …

Assessing Pepper Pungency By Using Rt-Qpcr To Measure Pun1 Expression, Sam Blechman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Capsicum spp. evolved capsaicin as a chemical defense to deter consumption of its fruits by mammals, allowing birds to disperse the seeds throughout a greater range. The Pun1 locus codes for a capsaicin synthase (CS), the expression of which is a direct determinant of capsaicin accumulation. RT-qPCR was used to measure low-abundance mRNA transcripts. The aim of this study was to use RT-qPCR to measure Pun1 expression in cDNA synthesized from total RNA extracted from placental tissue of Capsicum annuum and chinense cultivars. A secondary aim was to troubleshoot the protocol designed for this experiment to verify the efficacy of …

A Kinesin Adapter Directly Mediates Dendritic Mrna Localization During Neural Development In Mice, Hao Wu, Jing Zhou, Tianhui Zhu, Ivan Cohen, Jason Dictenberg

Publications and Research

Motor protein-based active transport is essential for mRNA localization and local translation in animal cells, yet how mRNA granules interact with motor proteins remains poorly understood. Using an unbiased yeast two–hybrid screen for interactions between murine RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and motor proteins, here we identified protein interaction with APP tail-1 (PAT1) as a potential direct adapter between zipcode-binding protein 1 (ZBP1, a β-actin RBP) and the kinesin-I motor complex. The amino acid sequence of mouse PAT1 is similar to that of the kinesin light chain (KLC), and we found that PAT1 binds to KLC directly. Studying PAT1 in mouse …

การพัฒนาแถบตรวจ Mtb Strip แบบอ่านผลด้วยตาเปล่าอย่างรวดเร็ว สำหรับวินิจฉัยวัณโรคจากปฏิกิริยา Multiplex-Recombinase Polymerase Amplification, วิลาณี เดชขจร

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

วัณโรคเป็นโรคติดต่อที่มีการระบาดทั่วโลก และยังคงเป็นปัญหาสาธารณสุขที่สำคัญของประเทศไทย วัณโรคยังเป็นสาเหตุของการเสียชีวิตจากโรคติดต่อสูงเป็นอันดับสองรองจากโรคเอดส์ โดยมีสาเหตุมาจากเชื้อแบคทีเรีย Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) การตรวจวินิจฉัยวัณโรคทางห้องปฏิบัติการ เป็นหนึ่งปัจจัยที่สำคัญในการควบคุมการแพร่ระบาดของโรค การนำเทคนิคทางอณูชีววิทยาเข้ามาใช้วินิจฉัยทางห้องปฏิบัติการ ซึ่งมีความรวดเร็วมากกว่าการเพาะเลี้ยงเชื้อด้วยวิธีดั้งเดิมและสามารถวินิจฉัยโรคได้ภายใน 1 วัน มีบทบาทที่สำคัญในการวินิจวัณโรคในปัจจุบัน การศึกษานี้มีวัตถุประสงค์ในการพัฒนาแถบตรวจ MTB Strip แบบอ่านผลด้วยตาเปล่าอย่างรวดเร็ว สำหรับวินิจฉัยวัณโรคจากปฏิกิริยา Multiplex-recombinase polymerase amplification (M-RPA) โดยใช้ไพรเมอร์ที่จำเพาะต่อ IS1081 และ IS6110 ซึ่งมีความจำเพาะต่อเชื้อ MTBC และตรวจสอบผลผลิตของทั้งสอง IS ร่วมกัน เพื่อเพิ่มความไวของเทคนิคในการวินิจฉัยวัณโรค การทดสอบเบื้องต้นกับดีเอ็นเอที่สกัดจากโคโลนีของเชื้อ แสดงให้เห็นว่าเทคนิค M-RPA ร่วมกับแถบตรวจ MTB Strip สามารถจำแนกเชื้อ MTBC ออกจาก NTM ได้อย่างถูกต้อง เมื่อนำเทคนิค M-RPA ร่วมกับแถบตรวจ MTB Strip มาวินิจฉัยกับดีเอ็นเอที่สกัดจากสิ่งส่งตรวจเสมหะจำนวน 131 ตัวอย่าง พบว่ามีความไวและความจำเพาะ เท่ากับ 91.03% และ 84.91% ตามลำดับ โดยมีค่าความสอดคล้องในเกณฑ์ดี (κ=0.762) เมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับการย้อมสีทนกรด ในขณะที่มีความไวและความจำเพาะเท่ากับ 100.0% และ 94.55% ตามลำดับ และมีค่าความสอดคล้องในเกณฑ์ดีมาก (κ=0.953) เมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับเทคนิค Real-time PCR เทคนิค M-RPA ร่วมกับแถบตรวจ MTB Strip ใช้ระยะเวลาทำปฏิกิริยาเพียง 25 นาที ภายใต้อุณหภูมิ 37 องศาเซลเซียส และตรวจสอบผลผลิตด้วยแถบตรวจ MTB Strip ภายในเวลา 15 นาที โดยตรวจสอบความเข้มข้นดีเอ็นเอตั้งต้นน้อยที่สุดได้เท่ากับ 0.1 ng/µl และไม่เกิดปฏิกิริยาข้ามกลุ่มเชื้อแบคทีเรียสายพันธุ์อื่นที่มักก่อโรคในระบบทางเดินหายใจ ดังนั้นเทคนิค M-RPA ร่วมกับแถบตรวจ MTB Strip จึงเป็นเทคนิคที่มีความรวดเร็ว ไม่ซับซ้อน …

Apoe As A Metabolic Regulator In Humans, Mice, And Astrocytes, Brandon C. Farmer

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Altered metabolic pathways appear to play central roles in the pathophysiology of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Carrier status of the E4 allele of the APOE gene is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset AD, and increasing evidence suggests that E4 carriers may be at an increased risk for neurodegeneration based on inherent metabolic impairments. A new appreciation is forming for the role of APOE in cerebral metabolism, and how nutritional factors may impact this role. In chapter 1, the literature on nutritional interventions in E4 carriers aimed at mitigating disease risk is reviewed. Studies investigating the mechanism by which …

Spatial And Temporal Genetic Structure Of Winter-Run Steelhead (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) Returning To The Mad River, California, Steven R. Fong

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Distinct populations of steelhead in the wild are in decline. The propagation of steelhead in hatcheries has been used to boost population numbers for recreational fisheries and for use in conservation. However, hatchery breeding practices of steelhead can result in changes in genetic structure. I investigated the genetic structure of winter-run steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) returning to the Mad River, California, where a hatchery has been used enhance production for recreational fisheries since 1971. Genetic variability in Mad River steelhead was evaluated using 96 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among 4203 individuals, including the Mad River and nearby locations, and …

Functional Analysis Of Fam83d And Dupd1 – Two Novel Neruogenic Skeletal Muscle Atrophy-Induced Genes, Lisa Michelle Cooper

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fam83d and Dupd1 have been identified as novel genes in skeletal muscle that are upregulated in response to neurogenic atrophy in a mouse model. qPCR analysis reveaed both genes are expressed in skeletal muscle with Fam83d expression being highest during myoblast proliferation, while Dupd1 expression is highest during myotube differentiation. Overexpression of either protein results in inhibition of proper muscle cell differentiation as evidenced by repression of both myosin heavy chain and myogenin expression. Characterization of transcriptional activity revealed both genes are modulated by myogenic regulatory factors and additionally, Dupd1 expression is enhanced by dexamethasone treatment. Assessment of subcellular localization …