Date of Award

4-2013

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. John R. Geiser

Second Advisor

Dr. Bruce Bejcek

Third Advisor

Dr. Pam Hoppe

Keywords

Yeast, suppression, yersisnia, mechanisms, model system

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Human pathogenic Yersinia use a type three secretion system to deliver various effector proteins into host cells. Once these effector proteins are within the cell, they elicit a cascade of events that disrupt the normal immune response. One of these effectors, YopT, is known to disrupt actin distribution but it is currently unknown what YopT targets within the host cell. To investigate the cellular targets of the YopT effector, we use a yeast model system and a dosage-dependent suppression screen. The dosage-dependent suppression screen isolated three plasmids able to suppress YopT induced lethality within yeast. One of them, 2T9, was chosen for further analysis. Through the creation of several subclones, we determined that the genomic region within 2T9 was not necessary for suppression. From data collected through Western blotting and immunofluorescence, it was concluded that YopT levels were significantly reduced when the suppressor plasmids were present. Though we were unable to determine how or why suppression was occurring in the 2T9 plasmid, this research has provided proof that the genomic insert within 2T9 in not a YopT cellular target.

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