University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Characterizing the higher order metabolism of oral streptococci

Jijakli, Kenan

Content Files
JIJAKLI-DISSERTATION-2021.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113271

Description

Title
Characterizing the higher order metabolism of oral streptococci
Author(s)
Jijakli, Kenan
Issue Date
2021-07-12
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Jensen, Paul A
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Jensen, Paul A
Committee Member(s)
  • Maslov, Sergei
  • Sirk, Shannon
  • Vanderpool, Cari
Department of Study
Bioengineering
Discipline
Bioengineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2022-01-12T22:54:09Z
Keyword(s)
oral streptococci, genpme-scale metabolic models, gene regulation, prediction
Abstract
The metabolism of microbial species is very diverse, displaying a wide range of capabilities. This diversity is often explainable by differences in the metabolic networks that underly microbial metabolism. However, closely related microbial species that have structurally conserved metabolic networks with relatively few differences still display diverse growth profiles under the same growth conditions. This diversity cannot be explained by metabolic capabilities given the similarity in metabolism across these closely related species. In this dissertation, I explore this phenomenon by comparing the growth fitness of a group of closely related oral streptococci using high throughput combinatorial growth experiments. I compare these experimental results to predictions from genome-scale metabolic models that I constructed for each species under study. These models capture the entire metabolism of a species and predict its metabolic capabilities. Disagreements between experimental results and model predictions point to differences in utilization of metabolism that can help explain diversity in growth phenotypes despite similarity in metabolic networks. I develop an algorithm that can analyze these differences and suggest gene suppressions that reconcile model predictions with experimental results, suggesting points of genetic or enzymatic regulation.
Graduation Semester
2021-08
Type of Resource
Thesis
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113271
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2021 Kenan Jijakli

Owning Collections

Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Bioengineering