Improved Protein Splicing Through Viral Passaging,
2025
Murray State University
Improved Protein Splicing Through Viral Passaging, John Smetana
Scholars Week
Intervening proteins (inteins) are translated as subdomains within host proteins and removed through an intein-driven splicing reaction where the flanking sequences (exteins) are joined with a peptide bond. Previously, we developed a self-removing translation reporter for labeling Ebola virus (EBOV). In this reporter, an intein (RadA) containing the fluorescent protein ZsGreen (ZsG) is inserted within the EBOV protein VP30. Upon VP30-RadA-ZsG expression from the viral genome, RadA-ZsG is removed from VP30 through the protein splicing activity of RadA, generating functional, non-tagged VP30 and functional ZsGreen. While incorporation of our VP30-RadA-ZsG fusion reporter into recombinant EBOV (rEBOV- RadA-ZsG) resulted in an …
Biochemical And Structural Insights Into The Yersinia Effector Yopm And Its Negative Regulation Of The Pyrin Inflammasome,
2025
Dartmouth College
Biochemical And Structural Insights Into The Yersinia Effector Yopm And Its Negative Regulation Of The Pyrin Inflammasome, Bethany Wairimu Mwaura
Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations
Bacteria utilize sophisticated secretion systems to inject effectors into host cells in order to facilitate their survival and replication in the host. Some pathogenic species of Gram-negative bacteria use a conserved contact-dependent T3SS to inject a wide array of effectors. While the effectors diverge in their structures, functions and cell-localization, the T3SS is well conserved. Several effectors discussed in this thesis target key host inflammasome responses. The focus of this work is how the Yersinia effector YopM inhibits the pyrin inflammasome. During Yersinia infection, two effectors, YopE and YopT inadvertently activate the pyrin inflammasome while targeting RhoA to avoid phagocytosis. …
Resistant & Persistent Bacterial Cells,
2025
Chapman University
Resistant & Persistent Bacterial Cells, Jean-Louis Bru
Open Educational Resources
An activity on the difference between resistant & persistent bacterial cells. This activity aims to build on the pre-lecture materials about resistant bacterial cells, so that students can make a connection toward persistent cells. In both cases, they make antibiotics less effective.
Learning Objectives
Recognize the importance of antibiotics in fighting bacterial infections. Understand how bacterial species become antibiotic resistant. Determine the difference between resistant and persistent bacterial cells.
Social and Collaborative
Students work together on this in-class activity in groups of 2-4 (3, ideally). Each student will have one of the following roles: encourager, recorded, investigator, and time keeper. …
Clinical Characteristics And Outcomes Of Pediatric Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (Ssss) At An Inner-City Tertiary Care Center,
2025
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Clinical Characteristics And Outcomes Of Pediatric Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (Ssss) At An Inner-City Tertiary Care Center, Nina Kb Gust Md, Ashley Frei Bs, Rebecca M. Adams Bs, Elika Ridelman Phd, Christina Shanti Md, Ronald Thomas Phd, Jocelyn Y. Ang Md
Medical Student Research Symposium
Introduction
Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS) is a blistering skin condition caused by a toxin-producing staphylococcus species. Epidemiologic studies on pediatric SSSS in the United States are limited, with a reported incidence of 7.67 cases per million children and 45.1 per million infants. Immature renal function, lack of protective antibodies, and increased exotoxin target desmoglein-1 are hypothesized to increase incidence in younger children. We aimed to determine clinical and microbiological characteristics of pediatric SSSS and factors that could help predict disease severity.
Methods
A retrospective chart review was performed for admitted patients under 18 years old diagnosed with SSSS from …
Modeling The Cystic Fibrosis Intestinal Environment To Study Microbial Interactions,
2025
Dartmouth College
Modeling The Cystic Fibrosis Intestinal Environment To Study Microbial Interactions, Kaitlyn Emma Barrack
Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations
The microbiome of the cystic fibrosis (CF) intestine is altered significantly in structure and function beginning in early life. Key taxa associated with health, digestion and immune-training are reduced in abundance, including but not limited to Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Akkermansia, Ruminococcus and other short-chain fatty acid producers. Conversely, there is an expansion of microbes with pathogenic potential, such as Escherichia, Veillonella, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus. The shifts in microbiota composition direct community-wide changes with differences in beta diversity by genotype, whereby children with CF (cwCF) exhibit significantly different gut microbial compositions compared to nonCF children. Additionally, shifts in microbiota structure often …
The Isolation And Characterization Of Acidovorax And Brevundimonas Bacteriophages With Preliminary Biocontrol Study On Arabidopsis Thaliana,
2025
University of South Carolina - Columbia
The Isolation And Characterization Of Acidovorax And Brevundimonas Bacteriophages With Preliminary Biocontrol Study On Arabidopsis Thaliana, Minh Quynh N. Vu
Senior Theses
As antibiotic-resistance becomes an increasing global concern, researchers are looking for alternatives to combat phytopathogenic rhizobacteria – one of which is through the application of phage biocontrol. To elucidate the complex tripartite relationships between phage, bacteria and plant interactions, nine novel phages were isolated from potential phytopathogenic strains of Acidovorax (RBW13) and Brevundimonas (RBW18). These phages were isolated from root samples obtained from the Rocky Branch Creek and the Broad River located in Columbia, SC. Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), we identified seven “medium sized” phages (~40 kbp), one “large-sized” phage (~200 kbp), and one “small-sized” phage ( < 25 kbp). Three phages were determined to be lambda-like due to their “ladder-building” patterns on PFGE. Although spot-tests revealed that all phages seemed to have broad host ranges that spanned over multiple genera, plaque-formations must be observed in future experiments to determine if these phages can infect their hosts productively. Preliminary in planta experiments were performed on Arabidopsis thaliana …
Life Line Spring 2025,
2025
Otterbein University
Life Line Spring 2025, Otterbein Biology And Earth Science Department
Life Line - The Biology Department Newsletter
In this issue:
Greetings and Farewell!; COSI 2024; Ketchup, Culture, and an Unforgettable Conference; Alumna Earns PhD; Tortoises, Butterflies, and Cockroaches, Oh My!; Licking River Roundup 2024; Aquarium Students Explore Coral Restoration in Fiji; The Galapagos Islands: Geology, Ecology, Conservation, and Culture; Dr. Svitana Presents on Otterbein Lake Well Field; Cell Bio Pilots Unique Approach to Learning; Hoggarth to Retire, June 2025; AED is BACK on Campus!; The Greenhouse Gets a Lifeline; Acoustic Rabies Identification (ARID): A Sound-Based Approach to Rabies Testing
Small-Molecule Mitotic Inhibitors As Anticancer Agents: Discovery, Classification, Mechanisms Of Action, And Clinical Trials,
2025
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Small-Molecule Mitotic Inhibitors As Anticancer Agents: Discovery, Classification, Mechanisms Of Action, And Clinical Trials, Yazmin Salinas, Subhash Chauhan, Debasish Bandyopadhyay
School of Medicine Publications
Despite decades of research, cancer continues to be a disease of great concern to millions of people around the world. It has been responsible for a total of 609,820 deaths in the U.S. alone in 2023. Over the years, many drugs have been developed to remove or reduce the disease’s impact, all with varying mechanisms of action and side effects. One class of these drugs is small-molecule mitotic inhibitors. These drugs inhibit cancer cell mitosis or self-replication, impeding cell proliferation and eventually leading to cell death. In this paper, small-molecule mitotic inhibitors are discussed and classified through their discovery, underlying …
How The Biotic And Abiotic Factors In The Belle Forest Cave And Arboretum Soil Dictates Tree Species Prevalence,
2025
Belmont University
How The Biotic And Abiotic Factors In The Belle Forest Cave And Arboretum Soil Dictates Tree Species Prevalence, Amya A. Bingham
SPARK Symposium Presentations
A plethora of factors in the soil impact a plant’s health, including the presence of different biotic and abiotic factors. These include things like temperature, elevation, pH, microbial respiration and the presence of water, clay, loam, silt, sand, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Different soils will have varying amounts of these, which may dictate what is able to grow in them, and therefore also the surrounding area. This research project explores how the aforementioned biotic and abiotic factors affect the soil at the Belle Forest Cave and Arboretum. Three samples will be taken from four spots along a transect at this …
Automated Plant Morphological Assessment And Microbial Community Monitoring In Simulated Lunar Regolith,
2025
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Automated Plant Morphological Assessment And Microbial Community Monitoring In Simulated Lunar Regolith, Collin R. Topolski
Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses
Upcoming lunar bases will need to leverage in-situ resources to ensure long-term sustainability and reduce mission costs. One key challenge is food production, which could be addressed by growing crops in lunar regolith-based substrates. However, lunar regolith lacks essential nutrients, requiring organic amendments to support continuous plant cultivation. This study examined the impact of manure-amended lunar regolith simulant on Mizuna mustard growth while assessing microbial community diversity and functionality. To support this effort, a custom software pipeline utilizing an open-source library, PlantCV, was developed to automatically track plant leaf area and height via image analysis. Results indicated that amended rhizosphere …
Host Range And Efficiency Of Plating Determination Of Phages Infecting Caulobacter And Non-Caulobacter Species,
2025
University of South Carolina - Columbia
Host Range And Efficiency Of Plating Determination Of Phages Infecting Caulobacter And Non-Caulobacter Species, Christopher Scott
Senior Theses
Seven bacteriophages were studied to determine their host range among Caulobacter and non-Caulobacter bacteria. Recently, Caulobacter-associated phages have been shown to have broader host ranges than previously believed. Thus, it is crucial to thoroughly verify the range of bacteria strains that these phages can infect. To understand the extent of each phage’s host range, phage lysates were spotted on bacterial lawns to determine whether lysis could occur. Host-range analyses in this project conclude that these Dolichocephalovirinae phages were able to infect multiple genera and species of host bacteria. Plating efficiency experiments were also conducted to compare the phage’s …
Cis-2-Decenoic Acid Modulation Of Vibrio Vulnificus Biofilms,
2025
University of South Carolina
Cis-2-Decenoic Acid Modulation Of Vibrio Vulnificus Biofilms, Gracie K. Anderson
Senior Theses
Vibrio vulnificus is a marine bacterial pathogen perpetrating severe wound and gastrointestinal infections in humans. The growing incidence of V. vulnificus infections and the widening ecological range of the species, closely linked to climate change trends, draw attention to an increasing need for methods to combat V. vulnificus infections without further augmenting the threat of antimicrobial resistance. The results presented herein highlight the ability of an unsaturated fatty acid diffusible signal factor, cis-2-decenoic acid (CDA), to influence the behavior of biofilms formed by a virulent human isolate strain of V. vulnificus (ATCC 27562). Results indicated that joint treatment of biofilms …
Neutrophil Inflammatory Death Regulation By Bacterial Type Iii Secreted Effectors,
2025
Dartmouth College
Neutrophil Inflammatory Death Regulation By Bacterial Type Iii Secreted Effectors, Arianna D. Reuven
Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations
Yersinia and Pseudomonas use a T3SS to secrete effectors into host cells that inhibit phagocytosis and modulate immune responses, such as inflammasome activation. Inflammasomes promote the activation of the proinflammatory protease caspase-1. The activation of an inflammasome sensor in response to a signal or ligand initiates the assembly of the inflammasome leading to activation of caspase-1 which cleaves GSDMD and pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 into their mature forms. As neutrophils are recruited in large quantities to sites of infection, they are excellent candidates to drive inflammasome dependent responses. Neutrophils have been shown to produce multiple inflammasomes, like pyrin and …
Eating The Fat Of The Land: The Work Of Coxiella Burnetii To Traverse Intracellular Lipid Landscapes,
2025
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Eating The Fat Of The Land: The Work Of Coxiella Burnetii To Traverse Intracellular Lipid Landscapes, Charlie Porto
Theses & Dissertations
Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular pathogen and the causative agent of Q fever in humans. With primary hosts in livestock ruminants, C. burnetii is endemic globally, presenting significant health risks to agricultural workers and herd health at large. Numerous wild animal reservoirs exist, increasingly threatened by expanding livestock ranges. Furthermore, with a low infectious dose through aerosol transmission, the CDC considers C. burnetii a potential bioweapon, though in humans a large amount of infections persist subclinically, occasionally progressing to pneumonia and hepatitis with chronic infections leading to endocarditis.
The parasitic life cycle of C. burnetii is biphasic, a small …
College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, Spring 2025,
2025
South Dakota State University
College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, Spring 2025, College Of Natural Sciences
College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports
Page 1 Dean's Message from Dr. Sen Subramanian
Page 2 Student Spotlights
Page 3 Kaushik honored, Three-Minute Thesis, & Ice Cores revealed
Page 4 Alumni Spotlight
Page 5 Day of Scholars
Page 6 Cyanide research, Record Research Expenditures, Adhikari awarded Miller Research Award
Page 8 Hanson Receives NSF Grant
Page 9 Snow Lab Research Team
Page 10 Faculty Awards
Page 11 Drone Day
Page 13 Khalaf Awarded Presidential Award
Review On Biological Management Of Bactrocera Zonata Through Pathogenic Activity Of Beauveria Bassiana,
2025
Institute of Plant Protection, MNS University of Agriculture Multan, Pakistan
Review On Biological Management Of Bactrocera Zonata Through Pathogenic Activity Of Beauveria Bassiana, Sana Ullah, Hafiz Muhammad Sajid Ali, Syed Husnain Kumail Naqvi, Muhammad Ziaullah, Farhan Ali, Sana Sarfaraz, Mamoona Kanwal
Journal of Bioresource Management
Bactrocera zonata is the destructive pest of peach, mango, and banana by causing significant economic losses. It reduces fruit quality which directly causes decline in export of these economical fruits. Many management strategies were carried to suppress the population of this invasive pest. The use of chemical insecticides in the orchard for control of B. zonata is restricted because insecticides cause several complications in fruit health and makes fruits unfit for human consumption. Due these drawbacks of chemical control, Biological control strategies are preferred for better management of B. zonata. Entomopathogenic fungi are potential bio-control agent against many insect …
Investigating The Proviral And Immunogenic Effects Of Sars-Cov-2 Accessory Protein 7a,
2025
Loyola University of Chicago Graduate School
Investigating The Proviral And Immunogenic Effects Of Sars-Cov-2 Accessory Protein 7a, Grant Michael Hawkins
Dissertations
SARS-CoV-2 and related sarbecoviruses encode a set of accessory proteins (3a, 3b, 6, 7a, 7b, 8, 9b, and 10) that control host responses to infection and promote virus growth. Of these accessory proteins, 7a is set apart by its intracellular localization near coronavirus (CoV) budding sites and its incorporation into secreted virions. Initial studies utilizing a virus-like particle (VLP) system identified significant proviral effects mediated by 7a, but the system lacked the context of an actual CoV infection. To investigate 7a functions during CoV infections, we constructed recombinant Mouse Hepatitis Viruses (rMHV strain A59) that express 7a genes. Comparative infections …
Induced Mutagenesis In West Nile Virus Non-Structural Protein 3 With A Discussion Of The Mutation's Effects On Viral Properties,
2025
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Induced Mutagenesis In West Nile Virus Non-Structural Protein 3 With A Discussion Of The Mutation's Effects On Viral Properties, Caden Connealy
Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)
West Nile Virus (WNV), a member of the Flaviviridae family and introduced to the Western hemisphere in 1999, presents a unique and emerging threat to human health. Infection in humans is often mild but can occasionally result in severe neurological impairment and even death. West Nile Virus non-structural protein 3 (NS3) plays an important role in the process of viral genome amplification. More specifically, the C-terminal domain of the protein folds into a helicase enzyme, which is responsible for the “unwinding” of double-stranded RNA intermediates and RNA secondary structure on the WNV genome. This is a vitally important step in …
College Of Natural Sciences 2024 Year-End Publication,
2025
South Dakota State University
College Of Natural Sciences 2024 Year-End Publication, College Of Natural Sciences
College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports
Page 2 Dean's Message
Page 3 Department Highlights
Page 4 One Day for State
Page 5 New Students in Wecota
Page 6-8 Faculty Excellence
Page 9 SDSU Physics Students Recognized
Page 9 Prairie Doc Watch Party
Page 10-11 Student Excellence
Page 11 Connections Abroad
Page 12-13 CNS’s Research Centers
Page 14 Connections Abroad
Page 14 Dean Wolf-Hall Retired
Page 15 Outreach Program
Page 15 Events and Traditions
Page 16 Student Spotlight
Page 17 Alumni Spotlight
Page 18-19 SDSU Alum at Paris Paralympics
Page 20 Work Anniversaries & Programs
The Design, Construction, And Testing Of Mrna Vaccine Against Equine Herpes Virus,
2025
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
The Design, Construction, And Testing Of Mrna Vaccine Against Equine Herpes Virus, Bhawana Devkota
LSU Master's Theses
Equine Herpesvirus-1 (EHV 1) is a worldwide significant pathogen that causes respiratory illness, abortion, and neurological disorders in equine. Current vaccines, including live attenuated, inactivated, and subunit platforms, do not prevent viral latency, mucosal shedding, or cross-strain immunity, requiring alternative approaches. To address these gaps, this project explores the design, synthesis, and in vitro testing of an mRNA vaccine targeting immunogenic EHV 1 glycoprotein (gB, gC, gD, gG, and gM). Epitopes were computationally predicted using the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), codon-optimized for Bos taurus, and cloned into pUCIDT vectors using SP6/T7 promoters. In vitro transcription (IVT) used nucleotide modifications …
