Knockout of the trans-acting riboswitches in Listeria monocytogenes to disrupt downstream virulence factors

<p>Listeria Monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a ubiquitous bacterium that can be found in both soil and water. This opportunistic intercellular pathogen is often food-borne and can lead to serious illness or death of those that are immunocompromised. Current medical research into the practical use of this pathogen has revealed that the intercellular mechanisms can be exploited to produce a cancer vaccine. Currently L. monocytogenes is being studied as a viable candidate for various other cancer vaccines and therapies. The purpose of this study is to reduce the downstream virulence factors that heavily rely on upregulation of the prfA gene. In this paper the pIMC plasmid is used in an attempt to knock-out the untranslated region (UTR) of the prfA gene located on the LIPI-1 pathogenicity island of the L. monocytogenes.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biological Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Eastern Kentucky University

Year

2019

Author dc:creator

• Jackson, Robert

• Cancer Biology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2019 Robert Jackson

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/610

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1608