Standard methods of measuring fecal pollution in water do not distinguish between human and non-human sources. Molecular technology enabled the development of host-specific markers that distinguish fecal sources. Human specific PCR primers, HF183F and HF134F, were designed based on phylogenetic analyses of partial 16S rRNA gene sequences from the Bacteroidales...
Crown gall disease is caused by the ubiquitous soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens which transfers a portion if DNA (T-DNA) into the plant cell. Preventing infection by using the biocontrol strain Agrobacterium radiobacter K84 is currently the only defense for crown gall. Two different resistance strategies were examined in this work....
Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that infect a variety of
eukaryotic hosts and affect normal host processes. Within host cells, their
developmental cycle takes place inside non-acidified vacuoles termed inclusions. An
inclusion membrane composed primarily of secreted chlamydial synthesized proteins
called Incs encloses the inclusion. At this location, Incs have...
The chemolithoautotrophic nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) participate in the
biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen by catalyzing and conserving energy from the
oxidation of nitrite (NO₂-) to nitrate (NO₃-) via a nitrite oxidoreductase (NXR). The
main objective of this work was to comparatively annotate and analyze the genome
sequences of Nitrobacter winogradskyi...
Cell-based biosensors are function-based detectors that use the physiological response of a living cell to sense biologically stimulating agents. This emerging technology extends the application of current detection methods by reporting on the toxicity of a sample and the potential to cause disease. Previously, Betta splendens erythrophores have been described...
The regulation of monooxygenase enzymes has been demonstrated in bacteria that grow on methane and long chain-length alkanes (>C10). Less is known about monooxygenase regulation in short chain alkane oxidizing bacteria that grow on intermediate chain-length alkanes C2-C10. This dissertation focuses on the regulation of butane monooxygenase (BMO) expression and...
Current detection methods for bacterial contamination rely on structure based detection of proteins and nucleic acids. While these methods are easy to use and reliable, they cannot evaluate the toxicity of a sample and the potential to cause disease. Previously, erythrophore cells derived from Betta splendens had been suggested as...
This book is based on a project to completely annotate what is known about the function of the ~150 genes encoded by the genome of the most commonly investigated baculovirus, AcMNPV. Once the annotation was completed (summarized in Chapter 11), the material was organized into a series of chapters integrating...
The immune toxicity of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has been studied for over 35 years, but only recently has the profound immune suppression associated with TCDD exposure been linked to induction of regulatory T cells (Tregs). The effects of TCDD are mediated through binding the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a ligand-activated transcription...