ATTENTION: The software behind KU ScholarWorks is being upgraded to a new version. Starting July 15th, users will not be able to log in to the system, add items, nor make any changes until the new version is in place at the end of July. Searching for articles and opening files will continue to work while the system is being updated. If you have any questions, please contact Marianne Reed at mreed@ku.edu .

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.advisorRay, Christian
dc.contributor.authorMcElfresh, GW
dc.date.accessioned2023-07-04T21:42:12Z
dc.date.available2023-07-04T21:42:12Z
dc.date.issued2020-08-31
dc.date.submitted2020
dc.identifier.otherhttp://dissertations.umi.com/ku:17267
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1808/34563
dc.description.abstractUnderstanding the relationship between signaling and its corresponding cellular response is critical to combating stress responses, especially responses related antibiotic resistance and non-genetic phenotypic transitions to antibiotic tolerance. However, bacterial signal responses are notoriously noisy and difficult to predict. This work first develops a multiscale cell cycle-aware signal modeling framework to explore the energetics and dynamics of the phosphate starvation stress response two-component system, PhoBR, to better understand the relationship between stress response proteins and the bounds of cellular memory in stress response. I found that the transcription factor responsible for stress response remains nominally “active” for 2-4 generations after the stress response is relieved due to sequestration effects, with differential memory in offspring cells dictated by stochastic protein inheritance. Next, I studied a novel antibiotic persister phenotype that arises in non-canonical conditions. This phenotype exhibited a previously unknown stress response that resulted in growth arrest, granting it antibiotic tolerance. The tolerance seems to be imparted by a global stress response arising from toxic excessive lactose import, seemingly opposite of the starvation response that induces canonical persister cell formation. Finally, I improved the PhoBR stress response model to measure stochastic fluctuations of proteins within the two-component system to identify the principles of signal fluctuations and how they drive variability in the bacterial cell cycle (i.e., growth rate). The downstream regulon of the PhoB response regulator is the main driver of the growth rate, but the transcriptionally active dimerized PhoB acts as the link between fast molecular fluctuations and slower gene expression fluctuations within the system. Finally, I present a vision for future developments of this style of modeling to include spatial information.
dc.format.extent95 pages
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of Kansas
dc.rightsCopyright held by the author.
dc.subjectBioinformatics
dc.subjectMicrobiology
dc.subjectcell modeling
dc.subjecte coli
dc.subjectmultiscale
dc.subjectpersistence
dc.subjectstress response
dc.subjectTwo-component systems
dc.titleMultiscale analyses of cellular signaling and regulation in response to multiple stress conditions
dc.typeDissertation
dc.contributor.cmtememberVakser, Ilya
dc.contributor.cmtememberSlusky, Joanna
dc.contributor.cmtememberMiao, Yinglong
dc.contributor.cmtememberChandler, Josephine
dc.contributor.cmtememberRay, Christian
dc.thesis.degreeDisciplineBiochemistry & Molecular Biology
dc.thesis.degreeLevelPh.D.
dc.identifier.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1948-7571en_US
dc.rights.accessrightsopenAccess


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record