Bacteria Commons^™

Enhanced Expression Of Codon Optimized Mycobacterium Avium Subsp. Paratuberculosis Antigens In Lactobacillus Salivarius, Christopher D. Johnston, John P. Bannatine, Rodney Govender, Lorraine Endersen, Daniel Pletzer, Helge Weingart, Aidan Coffey, Jim O'Mahony, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

It is well documented that open reading frames containing high GC content show poor expression in A+T rich hosts. Specifically, G+C-rich codon usage is a limiting factor in heterologous expression of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) proteins using Lactobacillus salivarius. However, re-engineering opening reading frames through synonymous substitutions can offset codon bias and greatly enhance MAP protein production in this host. In this report, we demonstrate that codon-usage manipulation of MAP2121c can enhance the heterologous expression of the major membrane protein (MMP), analogous to the form in which it is produced natively by MAP bacilli. When heterologously over-expressed, antigenic determinants …

Interactions Of Various Bacterial Populations With Chemical And Physical Factors From Seasonal Inputs And Outputs Of Retention Ponds, Felicia A. Krelwitz

All Student Theses and Dissertations

Retention ponds at Governors State University play an important role in collecting and treating storm water runoff before leaving campus and entering Thorn Creek. Many chemical and physical factors influence the diversity of bacterial populations in freshwater ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to compare the interactions of various bacterial populations with chemical and physical factors from seasonal inputs and outputs of Governors State University retention ponds before being discharged into Thorn Creek. The retention ponds studied include the Café Settling pond, Café pond and Beaver pond. Water and sediment were collected from inputs and outputs every other …

Characterizing The Response Of Multidrug-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Species To The Application Of A Phage Cocktail, Steven Liu

Symposium

Project Summary: The application of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections is known as phage therapy, which takes advantage of bacteriophage’s natural ability to infect and lyse bacterial hosts. Phages have been shaped by billions of years of evolution to be highly specialized deliverers of bactericidal agents to the cytoplasm of their target bacteria. Ever since discovery of bacteriophages in 1915, phage therapy was recognized as a potentially powerful tool for eliminating bacterial infections. The effectiveness of phage therapy can be increased by creating a mixture of multiple phages to target a wider variety of bacterial strains. Furthermore, phage therapy has …

Characterization Of Ftsa-Ftsn Interaction During Escherichia Coli Cell Division, [email protected] K. Busiek

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Division of a bacterial cell into two equal daughter cells requires precise assembly and constriction of the division machinery, or divisome. The Escherichia coli divisome includes nearly a dozen essential cell division proteins that assemble at midcell between segregating sister chromosomes. FtsZ, a homolog of eukaryotic tubulin, is the first essential cell division protein to localize at midcell where it polymerizes into a ring-shaped scaffold (Z ring). Establishment of the Z ring is required for recruitment of downstream cell division proteins including FtsA, a cytoplasmic protein that tethers the Z ring to the inner membrane. Following localization of FtsA and …

Phanerochaete Chrysosporium Pretreatment Of Biomass To Enhance Solvent Production In Subsequent Bacterial Solid-Substrate Cultivation, Wanying Yao, Sue E. Nokes

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

This study investigated pretreatment of corn stover using solid substrate cultivation (SSC) of Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) to improve subsequent accessibility to cellulose. Thereafter, Clostridium thermocellum (C. thermocellum) was directly inoculated onto the pretreated biomass to accomplish hydrolysis, followed by solventogenesis by introducing Clostridium beijerinckii (C. beijerinckii).

An enzyme suite containing laccase, lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase activity was detected during the cultivation of P. chrysosporium on corn stover within 288 h at an initial moisture content 𝓌_H2O = 80% (mass of water/total mass). Incubation factors, such as substrate moisture content and cultivation …

Transcriptome Analysis Of Listeria Monocytogenes Exposed To Biocide Stress Reveals A Multi-System Response Involving Cell Wall Synthesis, Sugar Uptake, And Motility, Aidan Casey, Edward M. Fox, Stephan Schmitz-Esser, Aidan Coffey, Olivia Mcauliffe, Kieran Jordan

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Listeria monocytogenes is a virulent food-borne pathogen most often associated with the consumption of “ready-to-eat” foods. The organism is a common contaminant of food processing plants where it may persist for extended periods of time. A commonly used approach for the control of Listeria monocytogenes in the processing environment is the application of biocides such as quaternary ammonium compounds. In this study, the transcriptomic response of a persistent strain of L. monocytogenes (strain 6179) on exposure to a sub-lethal concentration of the quaternary ammonium compound benzethonium chloride (BZT) was assessed. Using RNA-Seq, gene expression levels were quantified by sequencing …

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 …

Listeria Monocytogenes Can Utilize Both M Cell Transcytosis And Inla-Mediated Uptake To Cross The Epithelial Barrier Of The Intestine During An Oral Infection Model Of Listeriosis, Hilary Denney

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

The invasive pathways, InlA- and InB-mediated uptake and M cell transcytosis, that Listeria monocytogenes uses to invade the intestine have mainly been studied using infection models that do not truly replicate what occurs during a natural infection. Recently, our lab has developed an oral infection model that is more physiolocally relevant to what occurs during food borne listeriosis. We have sought to evaluate the relative roles of the previously defined invasive pathways, in our oral model of infection. We have done this by utilizing an InlAmCG Lm strain that is able to bind murine E-cadherin, knockout Lm strains, ΔinlA Lm …

Integrating Phage Therapy Into Western Medicine, Jacob B. Jaminet

Undergraduate Research Posters

The World Health Organization has described the rise of antibiotic use as a “global heath security emergency” (who.int). With the growing concern about antibiotic resistant bacteria, there has been an increased interest in bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are high-specific viruses that only infect bacteria. The use of bacteriophages medicinally to treat bacteria is called phage therapy. Research in phage therapy gained momentum until the introduction of antibiotics. While the USA and other Western countries accepted antibiotics, the Soviet Union and their satellite nations still continued to research phages. Since the funding for research was supplied by the Soviet military, the results of …

A Prospective Study Of Periodontal Disease And Risk Of Gastric And Duodenal Ulcer In Male Health Professionals, Matthew R. Boylan, Hamed Khalili, Edward S. Huang, Dominique S. Michaud, Jacques Izard, Kaumudi J. Joshipura, Andrew T. Chan

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Periodontal disease is characterized by microbial shifts within the oral cavity and chronic inflammation of the gingival tissue, and can lead to tooth loss. Several studies support an association between periodontal disease and risk of chronic systemic conditions, including vascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and cancer, including gastric adenocarcinoma. These associations may be mediated by systemic inflammation, the immune response to periodontal infection, or direct invasion by pathogens. Previous studies of periodontal disease and risk of peptic ulcer have been limited by cross-sectional design, diagnoses that were not confirmed by medical record review, and a lack of …

Microbicidal Effects Of Α- And Θ-Defensins Against Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Kenneth P. Tai, Karishma Kamdar, Jason Yamaki, Valerie V. Le, Dat Tran, Patti Tran, Michael E. Selsted, Andre J. Ouelette, Annie Wong-Beringer

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens threaten public health. Because many antibiotics target specific bacterial enzymes or reactions, corresponding genes may mutate under selection and lead to antibiotic resistance. Accordingly, antimicrobials that selectively target overall microbial cell integrity may offer alternative approaches to therapeutic design. Naturally occurring mammalian α- and θ-defensins are potent, non-toxic microbicides that may be useful for treating infections by antibiotic-resistant pathogens because certain defensin peptides disrupt bacterial, but not mammalian, cell membranes. To test this concept, clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), including vancomycin heteroresistant strains, and ciprofloxacin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Cip^R-PA) were tested for sensitivity to …

Modeling Fecal Bacteria In Oregon Coastal Streams Using Spatially Explicit Watershed Characteristics, Paul Bryce Pettus

Dissertations and Theses

Pathogens, such as Escherichia coli and fecal coliforms, are causing the majority of water quality impairments in U.S., making up ~87% of this grouping's violations. Predicting and characterizing source, transport processes, and microbial survival rates is extremely challenging, due to the dynamic nature of each of these components. This research built upon current analytical methods that are used as exploratory tools to predict pathogen indicator counts across regional scales. Using a series of non-parametric methodologies, with spatially explicit predictors, 6657 samples from non-estuarine lotic streams were analyzed to make generalized predictions of regional water quality. 532 frequently sampled sites in …

Regulation Of Hyaluronate Lyase (Hyla) Expression By Regr A Transcriptional Repressor In Streptococcus Pyogenes, Alexis A. Kordis

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Streptococcus pyogenes, group A streptococci (GAS), causes diseases ranging from asymptomatic to life threatening. Some strains of S. pyogenes produce extracellular hyaluronate lyase (HylA), a potential virulence factor. HylA is an enzyme that degrades hyaluronic acid, which is found in the extracellular matrix of human tissues. The breakdown of the host tissue contributes to the spread of infection. The hylA gene is not constitutively expressed in vitro, which implies regulation.

A proposed regulator of hyaluronate lyase expression is RegR, a LacI/GalR like protein. A vector containing disrupted regR was electro-transformed into S. pyogenes M-type 22 strain 10403. Growth characteristics …

Regulating Rsma Expression In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sean D. Stacey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacillus, commonly infects immunocompromised individuals and uses a variety of virulence factors to persist in these hosts. The posttranscriptional regulator, RsmA, plays a role in the expression of many virulence factors in P. aeruginosa. RsmA up regulates virulence factors used in colonizing hosts. However, regulation of rsmA is not well elucidated. Transposon mutagenesis was performed on P. aeruginosa containing a transcriptional rsmA-lacZ fusion to answer this question. Mutants were screened via β-galactosidase assay and transposon insertions identified via arbitrary PCR. A probable MFS transporter, we named mtpX, was one significant transposon mutant identified. …

Tigecycline Induction Of Phenol-Soluble Modulins By Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Strains, Jason Yamaki, Timothy Synold, Annie Wong-Beringer

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

We examined the effects of tigecycline on three types of exoproteins, α-type phenol-soluble modulins (PSMα1 to PSMα4), α-hemolysin, and protein A, in 13 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates compared to those of clindamycin and linezolid. Paradoxical increases in PSMαs occurred in 77% of the isolates with tigecycline at 1/4 and 1/8 MICs and clindamycin at 1/8 MIC compared to only 23% of the isolates with linezolid at 1/8 MIC. Induction was specific to PSMα₁ to PSMα₄, as protein A and α-hemolysin production was decreased under the same conditions by all of the antibiotics used.

Effects Of Clostridium Difficile On The Human Immune Response, Mike Mcgovern

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that is rapidly becoming a large issue in the medical community due to its tendency to infect hospital patients and its resistance to antibiotics. By studying the way in which the pathogen interacts with the human immune system, it is possible to better understand how the body naturally fights off the disease. This knowledge can allow medical professionals to develop treatments that can help curtail the infection before serious symptoms occur. Working under a grant program alongside Professors Kirsten Hokeness and Chris Reid, I was able to research the effects that exposure to the C. …

A Guide To Enterotypes Across The Human Body: Meta- Analysis Of Microbial Community Structures In Human Microbiome Datasets, Omry Koren, Dan Knights, Antonio Gonzalez, Levi Waldron, Nicola Segata, Rob Knight, Curtis Huttenhower, Ruth E. Ley

Publications and Research

Recent analyses of human-associated bacterial diversity have categorized individuals into ‘enterotypes’ or clusters based on the abundances of key bacterial genera in the gut microbiota. There is a lack of consensus, however, on the analytical basis for enterotypes and on the interpretation of these results. We tested how the following factors influenced the detection of enterotypes: clustering methodology, distance metrics, OTU-picking approaches, sequencing depth, data type (whole genome shotgun (WGS) vs.16S rRNA gene sequence data), and 16S rRNA region. We included 16S rRNA gene sequences from the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) and from 16 additional studies and WGS sequences from …

Composition Of The Adult Digestive Tract Bacterial Microbiome Based On Seven Mouth Surfaces, Tonsils, Throat And Stool Samples, Nicola Segata, Susan Kinder Haake, Peter Mannon, Katherine P. Lemon, Levi Waldron, Dirk Gevers, Curtis Huttenhower, Jacques Izard

Publications and Research

Background: To understand the relationship between our bacterial microbiome and health, it is essential to define the microbiome in the absence of disease. The digestive tract includes diverse habitats and hosts the human body’s greatest bacterial density. We describe the bacterial community composition of ten digestive tract sites from more than 200 normal adults enrolled in the Human Microbiome Project, and metagenomically determined metabolic potentials of four representative sites.

Results: The microbiota of these diverse habitats formed four groups based on similar community compositions: buccal mucosa, keratinized gingiva, hard palate; saliva, tongue, tonsils, throat; sub- and supra-gingival plaques; and stool. …

Composition Of The Adult Digestive Tract Bacterial Microbiome Based On Seven Mouth Surfaces, Tonsils, Throat And Stool Samples, Nicola Segata, Susan Kinder Haake, Peter Mannon, Katherine P. Lemon, Levi Waldron, Dirk Gevers, Curtis Huttenhower, Jacques Izard

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background: To understand the relationship between our bacterial microbiome and health, it is essential to define the microbiome in the absence of disease. The digestive tract includes diverse habitats and hosts the human body’s greatest bacterial density. We describe the bacterial community composition of ten digestive tract sites from more than 200 normal adults enrolled in the Human Microbiome Project, and metagenomically determined metabolic potentials of four representative sites.

Results: The microbiota of these diverse habitats formed four groups based on similar community compositions: buccal mucosa, keratinized gingiva, hard palate; saliva, tongue, tonsils, throat; sub- and supra-gingival plaques; …

Modeling Of The Efficacy And Effectiveness Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 Pre-Harvest Interventions, Amanda R. Vogstad

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC O157) is one of the leading causes of hemolytic uremic syndrome in humans. Reducing the prevalence of STEC O157 in live cattle may reduce ground beef prevalence and subsequent human illness. Type III secreted protein vaccines (TTSP) reduce fecal shedding of STEC O157 in cattle. However, pre-harvest vaccines have yet to be adopted by the beef industry. The objectives of this thesis were to 1) conduct a meta-analysis to test factors effecting efficacy of a 3-dose regimen TTSP vaccine product, and 2) use stochastic simulation to model the usefulness of preharvest control measures. In …