Off-campus ETSU users: To download "Campus Only" theses, please use the following link to log in to our proxy server with your ETSU username and password.

Non-ETSU users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this thesis through interlibrary loan.

Degree Name

MS (Master of Science)

Program

Biology

Date of Award

5-2018

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Michael Kruppa

Committee Members

Karl Joplin, Christopher Pritchett

Abstract

The morphogenesis of C. albicans is a major aspect of its virulence and is regulated by quorum sensing (QS) molecules they produce, as well as the presence of neighboring microbes.Two mutant transporters, SSU1 and CDR4, were characterized for their ability to form biofilms in the presence of cyclic-di-GMP and 3-oxo-12-homoserine lactone. While homoserine lactone showed a decrease in biofilm density of both mutants compared to the wild-type strain, wild-type and ssu1 biofilm densities increased considerably in the presence of cyclic-di-GMP while testing lower inocula. Additionally, it has been shown that C. albicans mutants lacking the hybrid histidine kinase, Chk1, are refractory to the effects of farnesol, a QS molecule that inhibits morphogenesis.We determined both CDR4 and SSU1 expression is reduced or highly repressed in the chk1, ypd1, and skn7 null strains. Our results suggest these two genes are downstream targets in a pathway regulated by Chk1p.

Document Type

Thesis - restricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

Share

COinS