Bacillus anthracis is a bacterium that causes severe disease mainly in ruminants, but can affect any mammal, including humans. A popular method for the detection of this organism is susceptibility of the bacterial isolate to g bacteriophage. However, to date no study on the resistance of a wide variety of B. anthracis isolates has been conducted. The following study examines the rate of resistance of a wide range of B. anthracis isolates to g phage as well as another phage specific for B. anthracis known as Cherry phage. We also compared susceptibility to phage with another detection method, susceptibility to penicillin, to determine any association between the two. The origin of the resistant isolates was examined to determine associations between resistance and isolate origin. Finally, the gross structure and resistant rates of the two phages were compared to determine any relation between the two viruses. We found that B. anthracis showed 20% resistance to g phage, which we propose is too high to continue its use as a reliable diagnostic tool. No association was found between resistance to penicillin and resistance to phage. No association was found between isolate origin and resistance. No conclusions could be drawn as to the relationship between the two phages.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-0410103-122444 |
| Date | 14 April 2003 |
| Creators | Fulmer, Preston A |
| Contributors | Martin Hugh-Jones, James Miller, Richard Corstvet |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0410103-122444/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University Libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. |
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