Faculty Advisor
Buckholt, Michael Allan
Faculty Advisor
Politz, Samuel M.
Abstract
Candidiasis is a serious disease caused by Candida albicans that affects over four billion people a year. Of those infected, 32,000 of them develop systemic infections in the US with a 30%-60% fatality rate. This type of infection is especially prevalent in immune-compromised individuals such as HIV-infected, diabetes and cancer patients. In this study, we mutagenized Caenorhabditis elegans and exposed them to C. albicans in order to isolate mutants resistant to the yeast infection. After survival tests of mutant C. elegans on C. albicans-containing media, three putative resistant strains were isolated for future analysis. Further characterization of these mutants may identify genes required for sensitivity to C. albicans infections and be useful in the study and prevention of Candidiasis.
Publisher
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
April 2013
Major
Biology and Biotechnology
Major
Biochemistry
Project Type
Major Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
All authors have granted to WPI a nonexclusive royalty-free license to distribute copies of the work, subject to other agreements. Copyright is held by the author or authors, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
Accessibility
Unrestricted
Advisor Department
Biology and Biotechnology