Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Chemistry

Major Professor

Shawn R. Campagna

Committee Members

Shawn Campagna, Thanh Do, Joshua Baccile

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a global zoonotic disease which is significant yet quite underrecognized. It is caused by Leptospira, which is transpired to humans from animals. There is no definitive identification of Leptospira infection in human. The objective of this study was to investigate the metabolites of Leptospira in vitro to create a metabolomic profile of the pathogenic bacteria. The metabolomic profile from the pellet, supernatant, and the control media allowed the development of an intracellular and extracellular metabolomic signature. The unique metabolomic signatures will further enable searches for biomarkers that will be significant for identification of leptospirosis in human. These results reveal distinct temperature-media interactions affecting both cellular composition and secreted factors, with significant differences observed in growth yield and metabolite secretion profiles. These findings provide new insights into the environmental adaptability of leptospira and offer guidance for optimizing laboratory cultivation and downstream analyses.

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