Nutrient acquisition is critical to survival and infection by the opportunistic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This pathogen expresses a number of virulence factors that are a part of the starvation response and are important in host-pathogen interactions. Additionally, P. aeruginosa is resistant to a large number of antibiotics and has become difficult to treat once it has colonized a tissue. New pharmaceutical treatments are sought while the metabolism of this organism must be fully understood to select new targets for therapy. The leucine- responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) could be a promising target for treatment. The ortholog in Escherichia coli is a global regulator of metabolism and regulates many genes related to amino acid degradation, transport and synthesis. There are structural and functional similarities that indicate that Lrp in both species plays a similar role. In this study, the role of Lrp in P. aeruginosa was investigated using a microbial and molecular approach to determine if Lrp regulates more genes than the published single operon, dadRAX. The results of this study suggest that Lrp plays a role in regulating important virulence factors and growth patterns in both nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor media, and thus may act as a global regulator in the metabolism of P. aeruginosa.
","abstract_html":"<p>Nutrient acquisition is critical to survival and infection by the opportunistic bacterium <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em>. This pathogen expresses a number of virulence factors that are a part of the starvation response and are important in host-pathogen interactions. Additionally, <em>P. aeruginosa</em> is resistant to a large number of antibiotics and has become difficult to treat once it has colonized a tissue. New pharmaceutical treatments are sought while the metabolism of this organism must be fully understood to select new targets for therapy. The leucine- responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) could be a promising target for treatment. The ortholog in <em>Escherichia coli</em> is a global regulator of metabolism and regulates many genes related to amino acid degradation, transport and synthesis. There are structural and functional similarities that indicate that Lrp in both species plays a similar role. In this study, the role of Lrp in <em>P. aeruginosa</em> was investigated using a microbial and molecular approach to determine if Lrp regulates more genes than the published single operon, <em>dadRAX</em>. The results of this study suggest that Lrp plays a role in regulating important virulence factors and growth patterns in both nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor media, and thus may act as a global regulator in the metabolism of <em>P. aeruginosa</em>.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Larson, Stephanie D."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Melanie Griffin","Dr. Donald McGarey","Dr. Carol Chrestensen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-07-25T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-07-25T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z","subjects":["nutrient acquisition","pseudomonas aeruginosa","pathogens","leucine-responsive regulatory protein","escherichia coli","Biology","Integrative Biology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/1","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Melanie Griffin","Dr. Donald McGarey","Dr. Carol Chrestensen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Larson, Stephanie D."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-09-04T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["nutrient acquisition","pseudomonas aeruginosa","pathogens","leucine-responsive regulatory protein","escherichia coli","Biology","Integrative Biology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/1"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Nutrient acquisition is critical to survival and infection by the opportunistic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This pathogen expresses a number of virulence factors that are a part of the starvation response and are important in host-pathogen interactions. Additionally, P. aeruginosa is resistant to a large number of antibiotics and has become difficult to treat once it has colonized a tissue. New pharmaceutical treatments are sought while the metabolism of this organism must be fully understood to select new targets for therapy. The leucine- responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) could be a promising target for treatment. The ortholog in Escherichia coli is a global regulator of metabolism and regulates many genes related to amino acid degradation, transport and synthesis. There are structural and functional similarities that indicate that Lrp in both species plays a similar role. In this study, the role of Lrp in P. aeruginosa was investigated using a microbial and molecular approach to determine if Lrp regulates more genes than the published single operon, dadRAX. The results of this study suggest that Lrp plays a role in regulating important virulence factors and growth patterns in both nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor media, and thus may act as a global regulator in the metabolism of P. aeruginosa.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Phenotypic Analysis of the Regulatory Role of the Leucine-Responsive Regulatory Protein (LrpPA) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Melanie Griffin","Dr. Donald McGarey","Dr. Carol Chrestensen"],"dc:creator":["Larson, Stephanie D."],"dc:date.available":["2014-09-04T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Nutrient acquisition is critical to survival and infection by the opportunistic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This pathogen expresses a number of virulence factors that are a part of the starvation response and are important in host-pathogen interactions. Additionally, P. aeruginosa is resistant to a large number of antibiotics and has become difficult to treat once it has colonized a tissue. New pharmaceutical treatments are sought while the metabolism of this organism must be fully understood to select new targets for therapy. The leucine- responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) could be a promising target for treatment. The ortholog in Escherichia coli is a global regulator of metabolism and regulates many genes related to amino acid degradation, transport and synthesis. There are structural and functional similarities that indicate that Lrp in both species plays a similar role. In this study, the role of Lrp in P. aeruginosa was investigated using a microbial and molecular approach to determine if Lrp regulates more genes than the published single operon, dadRAX. The results of this study suggest that Lrp plays a role in regulating important virulence factors and growth patterns in both nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor media, and thus may act as a global regulator in the metabolism of P. aeruginosa.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/1"],"dc:subject":["nutrient acquisition","pseudomonas aeruginosa","pathogens","leucine-responsive regulatory protein","escherichia coli","Biology","Integrative Biology"],"dc:title":["Phenotypic Analysis of the Regulatory Role of the Leucine-Responsive Regulatory Protein (LrpPA) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z"}