Date of Award
Spring 2021
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Department
Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Bert Ely
Second Advisor
Rekha Patel
Abstract
Caulobacter is a well-studied bacterial genus, but little is known about the plasmids that are found in some wild Caulobacter isolates. I identified nine plasmids from seven different Caulobacter strains and grouped them based on their size and the similarity of their repABC, parAB, and mobAB genes. Protein pathway analysis of the genes on the K31p1, and K31p2 plasmids showed many metabolic pathways that would enhance the metabolic versatility of the host strain. In contrast, the CB4 plasmid contained 21 heavy metal resistance genes organized into 9 operons. The majority of the CB4 heavy metal resistance genes code for genes that enhance copper resistance. Growth assays demonstrated increased copper resistance and quantitative PCR showed an increase in the expression of eight of the nine heavy metal operons when induced with copper.
Rights
© 2021, Taylor Howell Carter
Recommended Citation
Carter, T. H.(2021). Plasmids Bring Novel Functions to Caulobacter Genomes. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6390