This dissertation details the investigation of an alternate pathway to
isoprenoids that occurs in plants and microorganisms, the non-mevalonate
pathway. This exploration of the pathway focuses on the second step, the
conversion of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate (DXP) to 2-C-methylerythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) by the enzyme DXP isomeroreductase (DXR). These studies led to an appreciation...
This dissertation describes studies of isoprenoid biosynthesis in the
phytoflagellate Euglena gracilis. Elucidation of a novel isoprerioid pathway, the 2-Cmethyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, in addition to the generally known
mevalonate (MVA) pathway, led to extensive exploration of the distribution of both pathways in a variety of organisms. To date, photosynthetic eukaryotes...
The discovery of the methylerythritol phosphate pathway (the MEP pathway) as an alternate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis in some organisms including most bacteria, malarial parasites and plants, but not in animals, has stimulated extensive studies in this area. Research has revealed the potential of finding novel antibacterials, antimalarial drugs, and...
In recent years, the methyl erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway to isoprenoids has been the subject of intensive research. The interest is because isoprenoids have important roles in many cellular processes essential for the survival of several pathogenic organisms, making the inhibition of this pathway an attractive target for the drug...
The isoprenoid pathway is one of the major biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites. Isoprenoids with a C₂₀ skeleton are known as diterpenoids and are derived from the common precursor, geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP). This dissertation describes approaches to discover the diterpene synthase enzymes which provide the backbone structures for pleuromutilin and...
Coibamide A is a highly methylated cyclic depsipeptide isolated from Panamanian marine filamentous cyanobacteria as part of an International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) program based in Panama. This structurally unique agent exhibits potent cancer cell toxicity with an unprecedented selectivity profile in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) 60 cell line...
We consider development of sand ripples in shallow water flows which do not reach an equilibrium height but have a time-varying ripple height that slowly reaches a maximum value and then is quickly destroyed by the fluid. A simple scenario to explain the time periodic behavior of the sand ripples...
The purpose of this paper was to study the relationship of a
high school family life course to post high school problems and
marriage role expectations. The specific objective of the study was
to determine whether or not there is a relationship between participation
in a high school family life...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between
physiological maturation and the intrapersonal relations of adolescent
girls. The Interpersonal Check List provided the measure of
self concept and ideal self concept for each subject.
Subjects were 48 early-maturing and 48 late-maturing girls
representing the four levels of...
The primary purpose of this study was to replicate a study of
Abel and Sahinkaya which investigated the emergence of race and sex
preferences of upper middle socioeconomic status Caucasian
children. This study provided a good match with respect to socioeconomic
status, race, and sex; however, the number of subjects...