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University
Shawnee State University
Major
Biomedical Sciences
Presentation Types
Oral Group Presentation
Keywords:
Staphylococcus, Environment, ELISA, Virulence Factors
Abstract
We are interested in studying microorganisms, as humans are constantly interacting with microbes. Understanding their characteristics is applicable to everyday scenarios such as food consumption. In Fall 2020, we planned to characterize virulence factors of Group A Streptococcus strains isolated from Shawnee State students by previous researchers. It was later determined that the samples from this project were contaminated and contained no Streptococcal cells. This spring, we started a new project intending to study resistance of dermal Staphylococcus to alcohol-based hand sanitizers. However, reading current literature revealed that Staphylococcus species do not acquire resistance to alcohol-based solutions, but change expression levels of some virulence factors. Our research was shifted to quantifying virulence factor expression, due to environmental factors such as alcohol and/or heat exposure. Experiments will now be focused on growing successive generations that have undergone exposure and performing ELISA and Western Blots to obtain virulence factor expression data.
Human Subjects
no
IRB Approval
no
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr. Eugene Burns
Faculty Mentor Academic Department
Natural Sciences
Recommended Citation
Blaine, Isaac C. and Hensley, Jacob A., "Finding A Research Topic: Staphylococcal Response To Stress" (2021). Celebration of Scholarship. 3.
https://digitalcommons.shawnee.edu/cos/2021/day2/3
Finding A Research Topic: Staphylococcal Response To Stress
We are interested in studying microorganisms, as humans are constantly interacting with microbes. Understanding their characteristics is applicable to everyday scenarios such as food consumption. In Fall 2020, we planned to characterize virulence factors of Group A Streptococcus strains isolated from Shawnee State students by previous researchers. It was later determined that the samples from this project were contaminated and contained no Streptococcal cells. This spring, we started a new project intending to study resistance of dermal Staphylococcus to alcohol-based hand sanitizers. However, reading current literature revealed that Staphylococcus species do not acquire resistance to alcohol-based solutions, but change expression levels of some virulence factors. Our research was shifted to quantifying virulence factor expression, due to environmental factors such as alcohol and/or heat exposure. Experiments will now be focused on growing successive generations that have undergone exposure and performing ELISA and Western Blots to obtain virulence factor expression data.