Date of Award

5-2001

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. Brad Goodner

Abstract

The current efforts underway to sequence the genome of Agrobacterium tumefaciens have led to the discovery of a large region of DNA (52kb) with a strong homology to several polyketide synthetase genes. This was a matter of great interest to the Agrobacterium project; no current literature documents the production of a polyketide or non:iibosomal peptide from Agrobacterium. Furthermore, the multi-domain enzymes coded by these polyketide synthetase genes in other bacterial species are responsible for synthesizing several toxins, many which act as antibiotic agents {8, 9, 12, 16). This was also of great interest, since Agrobacterium is not known to produce any toxins, and also because several of these toxins produced in other species are useful antibiotic agents in humans. The hypothesis that Agrobacterium produces such a compound is not surprising; Agrobacterium is a well-known plant pathogen and opportunistic human pathogen and lives in the soil where it must compete with various other microbes. This project was designed to confirm that Agrobacterium produces a polyketide or non-ribosomal peptide, and to determine, if possible, its structure and function.

Download

Included in

Biology Commons

Share

COinS