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MODELING REORGANIZATION OF PCF10-INDUCED COMPLEX STRUCTURES IN ENTEROCOCCUS FAECALIS UNDER ERYTHROMYCIN TREATMENT
Shoraka, Madison
Shoraka, Madison
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Thesis/Dissertation
Date
2025-06
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Mathematics
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https://doi.org/10.34944/qzye-ej57
Abstract
A biofilm is a community of microorganisms adhered to a surface, bound together by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). They are ubiquitous in nature and develop on a range of surfaces including living tissue. Biofilms themselves typically do not negatively affect their host, but under certain conditions they can retain pathogenic features and cause a wide range of illnesses including persistent or chronic infections. In this dissertation, we look at the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis. E. faecalis is a gram-positive, commensal bacterium commonly found in the human gastrointestinal tract. Generally, commensal E. faecalis does not negatively impact human health, but pathogenic features can be acquired by this bacterium by way of mobile genetic elements such as plasmids. When E. faecalis with the pCF10 plasmid forms a biofilm it constructs raised complex structures with variable cellular packing above the rigid base. Under treatment by erythromycin, E. faecalis OG1RF(pCF10) is shown to undertake a remodeling process where aggregated regions of the complex structures increase, and the total bacterial population doubles. In this dissertation, we present a series of models developed to capture the multi-scale effects driving this biofilm restructuring, employing both individual-based and continuum-based frameworks to uncover the underlying biological mechanisms of this process.
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