Polymicrobial Interactions: Enterobacter's Inhibition of Candida Albicans
Faculty Mentor
Sean Fox
Mentor Home Department
Health Sciences
Short Abstract
Antibiotic resistance has progressively become more and more of a concern as increasingly larger numbers of antibiotics are being produced and prescribed by healthcare providers. Thus, polymicrobial interactions among resistant microbes are being analyzed to innovate new treatment routes for infectious illnesses via manipulation of natural competition between microbes. While many are optimistic about these analytical studies regarding polymicrobial interactions, the effectiveness of eradicating infectious illnesses within clinics remains a mystery. This study involves two microbes: Enterobacter cloacae—a Gram-negative bacteria—and Candida albicans—an opportunistic fungus. Both microbes are found in various regions throughout the human body, including the gastrointestinal tract as well as sensitive mucosal regions. Our laboratory has observed that E. cloacae and C. albicans have an affinity to binding to each other in-vitro which is concerning due to the frequent and significant threat of their corresponding co-systemic infections in-vivo. The eventual outcome of this microbial relationship is the death of the fungal cell caused by the bacterium. The goal of this study is to find construct mutant strain, through transposon mutagenesis, of E. cloacae that will effectively inhibit or limit the attachment to C. albicans. A specific mutant strain of E. cloacae, P5-A5, was constructed and sequenced to identify the gene responsible for this interaction. This mutant was able to replicate and grow normally but was inhibited in the ability to attach to C. albicans hyphae and reduced ability to kill the fungal cells. Microscopic analysis of the mutant E. cloacae demonstrated that the bacteria were no longer attached along the hyphae of Candida when compared to wild-type E. cloacae. These findings support the importance of understanding polymicrobial interactions to not only understand the pathogenesis of dual species infections, but also could provide key areas to explore for new therapeutics for antimicrobial resistant infections.
Category
Science, Technology and Engineering
Start Date
5-4-2024 11:30 AM
End Date
5-4-2024 12:30 PM
Location
D.P. Culp Center Room 219
Polymicrobial Interactions: Enterobacter's Inhibition of Candida Albicans
D.P. Culp Center Room 219
Antibiotic resistance has progressively become more and more of a concern as increasingly larger numbers of antibiotics are being produced and prescribed by healthcare providers. Thus, polymicrobial interactions among resistant microbes are being analyzed to innovate new treatment routes for infectious illnesses via manipulation of natural competition between microbes. While many are optimistic about these analytical studies regarding polymicrobial interactions, the effectiveness of eradicating infectious illnesses within clinics remains a mystery. This study involves two microbes: Enterobacter cloacae—a Gram-negative bacteria—and Candida albicans—an opportunistic fungus. Both microbes are found in various regions throughout the human body, including the gastrointestinal tract as well as sensitive mucosal regions. Our laboratory has observed that E. cloacae and C. albicans have an affinity to binding to each other in-vitro which is concerning due to the frequent and significant threat of their corresponding co-systemic infections in-vivo. The eventual outcome of this microbial relationship is the death of the fungal cell caused by the bacterium. The goal of this study is to find construct mutant strain, through transposon mutagenesis, of E. cloacae that will effectively inhibit or limit the attachment to C. albicans. A specific mutant strain of E. cloacae, P5-A5, was constructed and sequenced to identify the gene responsible for this interaction. This mutant was able to replicate and grow normally but was inhibited in the ability to attach to C. albicans hyphae and reduced ability to kill the fungal cells. Microscopic analysis of the mutant E. cloacae demonstrated that the bacteria were no longer attached along the hyphae of Candida when compared to wild-type E. cloacae. These findings support the importance of understanding polymicrobial interactions to not only understand the pathogenesis of dual species infections, but also could provide key areas to explore for new therapeutics for antimicrobial resistant infections.