Microbiology Commons^™

Exploring The Microbial Composition Of Moonmilk In Wind Cave National Park, Emma Pellegrino

Honors Program Theses

Moonmilk is a white substance mainly composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) that is often found in limestone caves. It is one of many mineral composites, or speleothems, in Wind Cave National Park South Dakota and is thought to be formed by microbial activity. This cave system is a complex, isolated environment that serves as an analog for similar domains beyond the Earth. Each site has varying degrees of human exposure, from public tour routes to caverns only occasionally visited by park rangers, making it an ideal place of study for pristine samples in extreme conditions. Wind Cave also varies in …

College Of Natural Sciences 2022 Year-End Publication, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

This is the 2022 issue of the annual College of Natural Sciences year-end publication.

Contents:
[Page] 2 Dean's message
[Page] 3 Department highlights
[Page] 4 Overview of Bold & Blue Campaign
[Page] 5 Dr. Edward Hogan recognition & endowment
[Page] 6 Career milestones
[Page] 7 Student travel and research
[Page] 8 $11 million COBRE grant
[Page] 9 Professional Science Masters & Research highlights
[Page]10 Outreach highlights throughout the state
[Page] 11 2022 events recap – join us in 2023!
[Page] 12 Updates on our VR initiative
[Page] 14 Overview of awards and recognitions from 2022

Effect Of Soil Transplantation On Fungal Communities During Restoration, Thomas Luehl

All Master's Theses

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are integral parts of natural ecological systems that provide access to nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable by forming symbiotic relationships with plants. Relationships with ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to improve plant growth rate, increase plant resistance to pathogens, and improve survival. Current revegetation practices often ignore this relationship between fungi and plants. During the revegetation of the Interstate 90 Keechelus Lake wildlife overcrossing (Easton, WA), soil from forest sites adjacent to the restoration area were collected and used to inoculate a set of experimental plots to determine whether ectomycorrhizal fungi would become established in the plots and …

The Antibacterial Efficacy Of Silver (I) Cyanoximates Against Streptococcus Mutans Ua159 Biofilm Growth And Infection In Galleria Mellonella Larvae, Jill Hughes

Honors Program Theses

Streptococcus mutans is the known etiological agent of dental caries. S. mutans’ virulence factors, namely biofilm formation and lactic acid fermentation, contribute to its pathogenic behavior within the oral cavity. Biofilms are thick, antibiotically resistant communities of bacteria that are much more difficult to treat than planktonic or free-floating bacteria. Continued misuse of antibiotics against dynamic communities, like biofilms, has led to increased research on non-antibiotic alternatives. Amongst these alternatives, there are silver and silver-based compounds. Silver is commonly incorporated into medicine due to its inhibitory and bactericidal effects and antibacterial properties. Silver (I) cyanoximates have demonstrated promising antibacterial activity …

Contrast Of Smokeless Tobacco And It's Microbiological Footprint In Users And Non-Users, Monayjia Brown, Katie Robbins, Elyse Mckinney, Sydney Snell

Humboldt Journal of Microbiology

Smokeless tobacco products such as vapes have gained significant popularity over the last 20 years (7), and it is clear that the effects of these products are primarily unknown. This study examines how the microbial profiles found in smokeless tobacco products, such as vapes, can be used in forensic science. By linking these profiles to their owners, investigators can identify suspects in cases where traditional evidence is lacking. This information could provide valuable assistance in tracking victims and matching perpetrators or victims to crime scenes. Forensic science involves any evidence found at a crime scene that is examined and analyzed …

Under Ice Photosynthetic Primary Production And Dark Carbon Fixation In A Temperate Freshwater System, Vanessa Cubillos Tellez

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Ice-covered lakes are vulnerable to environmental change, especially those in the Northern Hemisphere where ice cover is rapidly declining due to global warming. These changes can alter metabolic processes and disrupt carbon cycling driven by primary producers who form the base of the food chain and are key to sustaining ecosystem function. Photosynthetic primary production and dark carbon fixation under the ice in the Keweenaw Waterway, a temperate freshwater system that is ice-covered for ~3 months out of the year, were studied using a carbon isotopic labeling (14C-bicarbonate) technique. Water samples were collected weekly during ice cover and monthly during …

Stem And Pre-Health Students’ Diminishing Online Conversation Volume Regarding Majors And Careers Within The Field: Why Higher Education Should Care, Susan Roh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the STEM and pre-health online mention volume change regarding STEM and pre-health majors, careers, and universities, with the data collection period encompassing August of 2018 through June of 2021. We evaluated if the mention sentiment shifted between academic year periods. The data gathered for this study was procured in collaboration with Campus Sonar and the social-listening tool of Brandwatch, which allowed for specifications of the data collected. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine the means of the majors, careers, and universities mentions and mean sentiment volumes. Changes in not only online conversation …

Attachment Issues: Microbes, Minerals, And The Persistence Of Soil Organic Matter, Md Shafiul Islam Rion

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The remnants of microorganisms are now understood to account for the majority of organic matter in many mineral soils. Despite the significance of this microbial necromass for soil carbon storage, we know relatively little about how the traits of microorganisms interact with soil minerals to determine the stability of microbe derived carbon in soil. Soil minerals differ in their surface area and chemistry potentially influencing microbial attachment, biofilm formation, and the persistence of microbial necromass. To address this knowledge gap, we grew twelve bacterial species from four broad groups of varying cell wall morphology (Gram positive, Gram negative, filamentous actinobacteria, …

Laboratory Practices And Antimicrobial Resistance In A Florida Hospital, Crispina Marie Sy-Trias

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Antibiotic resistance is a health threat affecting millions of Americans. Microorganisms develop resistance to antibiotics, rendering them useless for treating infections. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the associations between sample processing time and antibiotic resistance and is based on the health belief model. A retrospective specimen tracking activity of data from November 2019 to November 2020 was obtained by random sampling of 246 bacterial cultures. One hundred ninety-six (80%) samples were processed on time, and 50 (20%) were delayed; 167 (68%) samples were determined to have the presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and 79 (32%) with …

From Culture To Metagenomics: A Comprehensive Evaluation Of The Female Reproductive Tract Microbiome In Pregnancy, Jonathan Panzer

Wayne State University Dissertations

The advent of Next Generation Sequencing technologies prompted novel investigations of the microbiome. These revealed both increased diversity of known microbiomes such as those of the gut, oral cavity and vagina, but also bacterial DNA in tissues previously considered sterile such as the blood, liver, brain, and placenta. Thus, previous paradigms of sterility, based primarily on culture data, were called into question. However, interpretation of bacterial DNA signals from low-microbial biomass tissues is complex due to the strong potential for contamination and interference from the surrounding environment. Yet, many new methodologies are being developed to help isolate valid bacterial DNA …

Expanding Our Grasp Of Two-Component Signaling In Clostridioides Difficile, Orlando Berumen Alvarez, Erin B. Purcell

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The intestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile encodes roughly 50 TCS, but very few have been characterized in terms of their activating signals or their regulatory roles. A. G. Pannullo, B. R. Zbylicki, and C. D. Ellermeier (J Bacteriol 205:e00164-23, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00164-23) have identified both for the novel C. difficile TCD DraRS. DraRS responds to antibiotics that target lipid-II molecules in the bacterial cell envelope, and regulates the production of a novel glycolipid necessary for bacitracin and daptomycin resistance in C. difficile.

A Characterization Of Key Residues In Class I Viral Fusion Proteins Important For Fusogenic Activity, Hadley E. Neal

Theses and Dissertations--Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Viral fusion proteins are critical for viral entry and subsequent infection. Class I fusion proteins are characterized by synthesis as an inactive precursor requiring cleavage by a host cell protease to become fusion competent. Though vaccine and antiviral therapeutic developments often target the fusion protein, questions surrounding cleavage dynamics and protein stability remain. The work presented in this dissertation investigates specific regions of three class I viral fusion proteins in an effort to identify key residues involved in proteolytic processing and membrane fusion.

The trimeric severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein (S) mediates receptor binding, facilitates fusion …

Characterization Of The Function And Regulation Of The Hmpv Phosphoprotein, Rachel Thompson

Theses and Dissertations--Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a non-segmented, negative strand RNA virus (NNSV) that frequently causes respiratory tract infections in infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Despite the initial identification of HMPV in 2001, there are currently no FDA approved antivirals or vaccines available. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of HMPV replication is critical for the identification of novel therapeutic targets. A key feature in the replication cycle of HMPV and other NNSVs is the formation of membrane-less, liquid-like replication and transcription centers in the cytosol termed inclusion bodies (IBs). Recent work on NNSV IBs suggests they display characteristics of biomolecular condensates formed …

Survival Of Listeria Monocytogenes On Organic Honeycrisp And Fuji Apples During Storage At 5, 12 And 22.5◦C, Connor S. Freed

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study aimed to evaluate and model the survival of Listeria monocytogenes on organic HoneyCrisp (HC) and Fuji (FJ) apples during storage at various temperatures. Fresh organic HC and FJ apples (without wax coating) obtained from a local wholesale market were inoculated with a 2-strain mix of L. monocytogenes followed by storage at 5.0 (22.9% RH), 12.0 (37.0% RH), and 22.5oC (50.4% RH) for 60, 35, 7 days, respectively, and periodically (day-0 to 60) analyzing microbial populations. Surviving L. monocytogenes were spread-plated on Modified-Oxford agar after 10 or 100-fold serial dilution. Data were analyzed using the mixed-model procedure of SAS …

Optimizing Sample Collection And Data Interpretation For Effective Wastewater-Based Epidemiology In Combined Sewer Systems, Christopher Allen Anderson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

COVID-19 has spurred growth in the science surrounding wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) pertaining to the detection of severe acute respiratory virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in waste streams as an early warning signal for public health. However, the highly variable wastewater environment has made it difficult to standardize an approach for sampling and analysis, especially in locations using combined sewer infrastructure. This study addresses knowledge gaps of WBE via three specific aims: (1) to compare diurnal fluctuations of SARS-CoV-2 and the human fecal indicator, pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent samples collected during dry versus wet weather conditions; …

Evaluating Innovative Methods Of Quantitatively Linking Microbial Community Structure To Ecosystem Function, Jeth Gv Walkup

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Microbial functional diversity is the product of community structure and intraspecific trait variation. Due to microbial diversity and limited availability of microbial trait measurements, it has been challenging to quantitatively link community structure to microbial function. Although community-level activity rates vary with community composition, issues in the scale of their measurement inhibit our understanding of their relationship. Quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP) is a method for quantitatively measuring taxon-specific microbial traits, providing new opportunities to apply trait-based approaches for studying microbial ecology. Quantitative microbial trait data from these experiments enables the functional characterization of microbial communities, potentially enabling the extrapolation …

Editorial: New Frontiers In The Application Of Stable Isotopes To Ecological And Ecophysiological Research, Keith A. Hobson, John P. Whiteman, Seth D. Newsome

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Frankenbacteriosis Targeting Interactions Between Pathogen And Symbiont To Control Infection In The Tick Vector, Lorena Mazuecos, Pilar Alberdi, Angélica Hernández-Jarguín, Marinela Contreras, Margarita Villar, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz, Ladislav Simo, Almudena González-García, Sandra Díaz-Sánchez, Girish Neelakanta, Sarah I. Bonnet, Erol Fikrig, José De La Fuente

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

(Summary) Tick microbiota can be targeted for the control of tick-borne diseases such as human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) caused by model pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Frankenbacteriosis is inspired by Frankenstein and defined here as paratransgenesis of tick symbiotic/commensal bacteria to mimic and compete with tick-borne pathogens. Interactions between A. phagocytophilum and symbiotic Sphingomonas identified by metaproteomics analysis in Ixodes scapularis midgut showed competition between both bacteria. Consequently, Sphingomonas was selected for frankenbacteriosis for the control of A. phagocytophilum infection and transmission. The results showed that Franken Sphingomonas producing A. phagocytophilum major surface protein 4 (MSP4) mimic pathogen and reduce infection …

Confocal Analysis Of Sindbis Virus In Aedes Aegypti Unveils Novel Infection Site At Pyloric Armature, Katie Gillian Peters

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), such as Sindbis virus (SINV), generate foci of infection within the midgut of viremic blood-fed mosquitoes. Arboviruses can disseminate out of the midgut into the surrounding musculature and hemolymph, eventually making it to the salivary glands where virus can be transmitted by saliva during a subsequent blood-feed. In this study, the virus SINV containing the reporter gene GFP, combined with immunohistochemistry, was imaged using confocal microscopy and used to evaluate the infection within the vector mosquito Aedes aegypti. The spatial distribution of SINV infection revealed two common characteristics of foci generated in the midgut. (1) There …

The Type Iv Pilus Secretin Bfpb: Structural Analysis And Binding Interactions, Janay I. Little

Theses and Dissertations

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) causes severe diarrhea in young children. The type IV pilus (T4P) of EPEC, known as the bundle-forming pilus (BFP), plays an important role in EPEC pathogenesis. T4Ps are a family of surface appendages that are important for adhesion, colonization, biofilm formation, virulence, twitching motility and many other functions. One essential component of the BFP system is the secretin, BfpB. Secretins are a large family of integral outer membrane proteins found in T4Ps as well as type II and type III secretion systems, and filamentous phages. Details of the secretin structure have been limited to the overall …