Hopefully, all of you enjoyed your Spring Break. Now, back to business . . .
Mr. Zach Marinelli will present his seminar entitled "Identification of a putative metK selenite resistance gene in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia OR02“. Links to background papers are provided below.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00410.x/full
http://eps.cc.ysu.edu:2344/content/435/1/85
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteSo Zach's presentation was entitled "Identification of a putative metK selenite resistance gene in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia OR02". Selenite is a variant of the mineral gypsum and has a crystalline structure. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacillus that is an opportunistic pathogen. Seemingly unrelated, Zach's research has brought the two topics together in an interesting project. What did you find most interesting?
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI thought Zach's presentation was very interesting. He talked about different detoxification pathways via dissimilatory reduction and via dissimilarity and methylation pathway. It's fascinating how many pathways are there, and how each pathway has a specific function. I feel like this was pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteLike Jameaka said, Zach's presentation combined two unrelated topics into an interesting research project. Although I was not familiar with the different pathways presented, Zach did a good job explaining the background of his research.
Titin is the largest polypeptide and is found in high concentration in heart and skeletal muscle. It is encoded by TNN gene and expressed in multiple isoforms because of alternative splicing. Connecting the Z line to the M line in the sarcomere, it play an important role contraction of striated muscles and contributes to force transmission at the Z line and resting tension in the I band region. It is entirely responsible for passive force generated by muscles as it limits the range of motion of the sarcomere in tension. Besides, Titin helps in organizing of the thick and thin filaments during sarcomere assembly. It also contains protein kinase domains responsible for muscle gene expression. A case study cited by Dr walker was the rippling muscle, a malfunction associated with this particular Titin domain. In his presentation Dr Walker also used sequence homology the exists in the Titin polypeptide of different organisms including Clytia hemispaeric (jelly fish) and Dosophilia to advance an augment that Titin has been evolving for the past 4 million years.
ReplyDeleteQuestion:
How has alternative splicing and point mutation contributed in evolution of Titin polypeptide
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Zac's presentation included information on the reduction and methylation pathways that I don't remember from chemistry honestly, but overall it was interesting hearing about this bacteria that could be used in remediation. Now more research has been focusing on trying to find better ways to help clean the environment and or prevent any problems from occurring in the first place. I'm looking forward to what else this Stenotrophomonas maltophilia can do in the future.
ReplyDeleteYou're spot on. Toxic selenium derivatives have been shown to not only affect humans, but wildlife populations as well. In one study, selenite was shown to impair the growth of ducklings. Bacteria such as S02 could be used to remove the soluble toxic form from the environment completely, which could prevent the harm to further wildlife.
DeleteWhat interested me in zac’s presentation is the mechanism that the bacteria Stenotrophomonas maltophilia uses to tolerate high and toxic levels of heavy metals especially selenite which the bacteria converts to elemental selenium which is non-toxic. It appears to that the bacteria can be a good agent bio remediation of metal-pollutants in industrial sites. Not just that, the methods that Zac used to characterize and identify the selenite resistance may also be helpful in characterizing clinically important bacterial strain that utilizes the same mechanism to develop resistance to antibiotics
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