Publication Date
2020
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Duvall, Melvin R.
Second Advisor
Yin, Yanbin
Degree Name
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)
Legacy Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Carbohydrates are immensely important biomolecule found in all organisms on earth, serving roles in structure, energy storage, protection and/or cell signaling. Carbohydrates are composed of an immense diversity of linkages, monosaccharide moieties and substitutions making them likely the most diverse biomolecule on earth, as well as the most abundant, being synthesized by plants and algae. Carbohydrates are synthesized and degraded by all organisms on earth through the expression of carbohydrate active enzymes, or ‘CAZymes’. In bacteria, CAZymes have been characterized to cluster in with transporters, regulators and/or other genes in so-called ‘polysaccharide utilization loci’, or PULs, to degrade carbohydrate substrates from plant and algal tissues. PULs are increasingly being shown to be important mechanisms of polysaccharide degradation by microbes in mammalian guts (i.e. gut microbiome) and can subsequently influence host health outcomes. The goals of this dissertation are to i) perform a literature review on experimentally characterized PULs in bacteria that act on different carbohydrate substrates, as well as review the current state of bioinformatic tools for CAZyme and PUL research, ii) develop a new bioinformatic tool for PUL research, dbCAN-PUL, that seeks to improve upon existing resources as well as drive research forward for PUL discovery in understudied taxa, and iii) investigate CAZymes and other genes that may drive pathogenesis in a newly sequenced strain of Clostridium perfringens.
Recommended Citation
Ausland, Catherine Ann, "Wading in a Glycan Sea: investigations of, and Developing Bioinformatic tools for, Carbohydrate Active Enzymes and Gene Clusters in Prokaryotes" (2020). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 6828.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/6828
Extent
234 pages
Language
eng
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
Included in
Bioinformatics Commons, Genetics Commons, Microbiology Commons
