Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2010

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Microbiology

Major Professor

Gary S. Sayler

Committee Members

Gladys Alexandre, Todd Reynolds, John Sanseverino, Erik Zinser

Abstract

AN ANALYSIS OF GLOBAL GENE EXPRESSION RESULTING FROM EXPOSURE TO ENERGETIC MATERIALS

A Dissertation

Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

VERNON LASHAWN MCINTOSH JR.

August 2010

Dedication

This dissertation is dedicated to my family. My mother and father Debra and Vernon McIntosh instilled in me the respect for academic excellence and the drive maximize my potential. Early on, my younger brother Kyle started showing signs of a shared interest in biology thus my desire to be a positive role model for him kept me motivated. Last but certainly not least, my loving wife and best friend Nichole has been there to offer love and support throughout my entire undergraduate and graduate degrees. It’s difficult to imagine making it this far without her (and that’s not just because she paid the bills).

Abstract

Characteristic transcriptional biomarkers have been identified for microbial cultures exposed to 2, 4, 6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2, 6-dinitrotoluene (DNT), or triacetone-triperoxide (TATP). This study describes the generation of expression profiles for exposure to each compound, the functional significance of each response, and the identification of the characteristic alterations in gene expression associated with exposure to each compound.

Expression profiles were generated from a total of three different candidate organisms: Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Pseudomonas putida. Common to all three organisms, TNT exposure resulted in increased expression of genes involved in toxin resistance and drug efflux systems. The S.cerevisiae and E.coli expression profiles were both characterized by increased expression of genes involved in iron-sulfur cluster assembly, sulfur containing amino acids, sulfate transport and assimilation and the metabolism of nitrogen compounds.

Only E.coli and Saccharomyces were used to generate DNT induced expression profiles; both profiles exhibited high degrees of similarity with each organism’s respective TNT profiles. This was especially true of the E.coli profile where 25 of the 30 alterations were also observed after exposure to TNT.

A computational discriminant functional analysis was performed to identify characteristic biomarkers for each exposure. For each compound a set of transcriptional biomarkers (10 or less) was developed. An additional set of biomarkers was developed encompassing both TNT and DNT exposure. These sets of genes serve as a transcriptional fingerprint for exposure to each respective compound. The sensitivity and specificity of each transcriptional fingerprint is sufficient to correctly identify exposure to energetic materials against a background of non-energetic compound exposures.

This study makes several novel contributions to the greater body of scientific knowledge:

• This is the first documented study of the interactions of TATP in any biological system.

• This is the first comprehensive gene expression study of the TNT response by P. putida, E.coli or E.coli.

• This is the first application of computational class prediction in the development of biomarkers for exposure to energetic materials

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS