Two strains of Escherichia coli were studied to determine the effect of constitutive expression of the SOS DNA damage repair response on the activity of ribonucleotide reductase. Activity of the reductase and cellular deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) pools were both determined before and after exposure of the cells to ultraviolet radiation....
There has been increased concern about radiation dose to the female breasts, with approximately 200,000 new breast cancers being diagnosed each year in the United States. The unprecedented increase in the use of radiologic exams on younger women has also raised some additional concerns about how procedures are performed. The...
This gamma irradiation study was conducted to establish an LD50 of the hop (Humulus lupulus L.) cultivar Cascade . The overall, long term goal is to generate replacement hop cultivars by inducing minor but significant DNA alterations with gamma radiation to improve agronomic quality without changing the brewing profile. The...
Peptide-phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PPMOs) are synthetic DNA mimics that bind and silence gene targets. Through designing PPMOs that silence essential or resistance genes in pathogens, these antisense oligomers could be utilized as novel antimicrobials. Towards this end, my thesis employed minimum inhibitory concentration assays (MICs) to identify PPMOs capable of...
My thesis explored the effects of and potential mediating mechanisms for an important environmental stressor, ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation. UVB radiation has negative effects on organisms in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. I used meta-analysis to quantify the effects of UVB radiation on a diversity of aquatic organisms (Chapter 2). UVB...
Iodoacetic acid and diphenylamine were used in this study to
elucidate the mechanisms of resistance of Micrococcus radiodurans
to radiation. This organism, a gram positive, non-spore forming,
salmon-pink, tetracoccus has a LD₅₀ of 213,000 R when grown in
the absence of radio-modifying agents.
M. radiodurans, when grown in media containing...
Quantity variations in pigments and lipid classes were determined
following γ-irradiation of Micrococcus radiodurans, Sarcina
lutea, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Pigmentation was determined by extraction with organic solvents
and measured as optical density at 475 mμ for M. radiodurans
and S. lutea, and 410 mμ for Ps. E aetuginosa. Pigments of...