Project Director

Harris, Bradley J.

Department Examiner

Giles, David; Danquah, Michael

Department

Dept. of Civil and Chemical Engineering

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Antibiotic-resistant pathogens represent an escalating threat to public health worldwide, substantially increasing the burden of healthcare and community-acquired infections. Several factors contribute to the emergence and spread of this threat, including but not limited to improper antibiotic use and prescriptions in health-care settings and the community, increasing global travel and migration from countries that have higher levels of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and a lack of new antibiotics under development. According to the World Health Organization, rising rates of resistance among Gram-negative bacteria (such as Vibrio cholerae) are of particular concern. These bacteria have evolved a number of endogenous membrane remodeling strategies to sense and adapt to their environment. However, another membrane remodeling strategy employed by these bacteria, the uptake and assimilation of exogenous long- chain fatty acids, remains largely unexplored. Here, we seek to address this knowledge gap by determining the extent to which phospholipid remodeling through uptake of exogenous PUFAs impacts antimicrobial resistance in V. cholerae. As expected, resistance to polymyxin B is substantially lower for mutants lacking the ability to modify LPS compared to the wild-type (El Tor) strain. More interestingly, PMB resistance varies when cells are grown in the presence of long-chain fatty acids. This difference is most noticeable for long-chain fatty acids abundant in the human intestines.

Acknowledgments

Dr. Bradley Harris, Ph.D Dr. David Giles, Ph.D, Konner Glass, Devin Martin

Degree

B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Date

5-2020

Subject

Antibiotics; Phospholibids; Vibrio cholerae

Keyword

Long-chain fatty acids; Vibrio cholerae

Discipline

Bacteriology | Pharmacology

Document Type

Theses

Extent

v, 25 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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