Honors Program
Honors in Health Sciences: Human Health
Date of Award
5-2017
Thesis Professor(s)
Sean J. Fox
Thesis Professor Department
Health Sciences
Thesis Reader(s)
Allan Forsman, Anna Hiatt
Abstract
More so than ever, Multiple Drug Resistant (MDR) bacteria are on the rise due to overuse of antibiotics along with natural selection for adaptations that enhance drug-resistant properties. One particular bacterial family, Enterobacteriaceae, has been problematic, exhibiting several bacterial members that have developed a precipitous resistance to modern antibiotics and are also primary causative agents of nosocomial, or hospital acquired, infections. Citrobacter freundii (CF) and Enterobacter cloacae (ECL) are two species of the Enterobacteriaceae family causing significant medical concern due to their role in producing numerous opportunistic infections such as bacteremia, lower respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, and endocarditis. Adding to the difficulty of this situation is the ability of bacteria to produce biofilms. These biofilms are communities of bacteria that exhibit increased resistance to antibiotic treatment and eradication. Previous work in the laboratory of Dr. Fox at ETSU has identified an uncharacterized product secreted by Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP), another member of the Enterobacteriaceae family, which appears to have inhibitory effects toward CF and ECL. The current study was designed to characterize the effects this secreted product has on CF and ECL biofilms. Through a high throughput microtiter plate assay, the effects of this secreted product were examined on CF and ECL phases of biofilm attachment and maturation. Based on our findings, we have concluded that this secreted product can be categorized as a possible bacteriostatic agent against biofilm cell density, biofilm mass, and cell viability for both biofilm phases of attachment and maturation.
Publisher
East Tennessee State University
Document Type
Honors Thesis - Withheld
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hastings, Cody M., "Determination of the effects that a previously uncharacterized secreted product from Klebsiella pneumoniae has on Citrobacter freundii and Enterobacter cloacae biofilms" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 419. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/419
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
Bacteria Commons, Bacteriology Commons, Biological Phenomena, Cell Phenomena, and Immunity Commons, Cell and Developmental Biology Commons, Medical Cell Biology Commons, Medical Microbiology Commons, Microbial Physiology Commons, Pathogenic Microbiology Commons