16 Mar 2018 Abstracts

Oxidative Stress Crucial for the Development of Biofilms in Staphylococcus aureus

Hodd Gorman '18

Biofilms are aggregations of bacteria that form communities to increase survival by development of matrix, ability to obtain nutrients from greater variety of resources, and the expression antibiotic resistance genes. Biofilm-forming bacteria are implicated in a large portion of infections in various diseases including cystic fibrosis, diabetic wounds, and burn-related injuries. The hypothesis posed by Yin et al., (2017) was that serum from burn wounds will increase the bacterial growth and biofilm pathogenesis function due to elevated oxidative stress. To test the hypothesis, they isolated burn serum from rats and used the serum in various experiments including optical density, confocal laser microscopy, qRT-PCR, and biochemical analysis of the burn serum. The experiments were conducted in order to answer whether S. aureus will respond to burn serum, if visually the bacteria show signs of biofilm-formation, and lastly if antioxidants will have an effect on biofilm-formation. The important results of the experiments was that in the presence of burn serum, the researchers showed that S. aureus has dose-dependency on burn serum, and that the addition of antioxidants completely diminish the development of biofilms in burn serum. The result of antioxidants providing large reversal of formation of biofilms could alter the treatment of potential biofilm-related infections in burn wounds for patients globally.

Samantha J. Storrusten '18

The purpose of this study is to investigate the levels of human enteric viruses in wastewater and their connections to infections in a clinical setting. Human enteric viruses are the leading cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide and are resistant to their environment. These viruses reproduce in the gastrointestinal tract of the host and are present The goal of this research was to establish a clear and concise method to monitor the circulation of enteric viruses in the surrounding urban water areas of Clermont-Ferrand France. Environmental surveillance was used to track transmission within the population. A total of 54 sample were extracted every two weeks expanding over a one year period. The protocol used was a combination of tangential flow ultrafiltration and polyethylene glycol to establish various virus concentrations. The results of this study concluded that all wastewater samples collected showed contamination. An average approximately four to six viruses were found in both raw and treated water samples. The findings of this study show that by comparing wastewater and clinical specimen samples, it could provide a more efficient outlook on infections of the local community in addition to epidemiological support.