2021 Molecular Basis of Infectious Diseases (MBID) Research Retreat Schedule & Abstract Booklet January 8, 2021, 10 AM Sponsors The Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School The Molecular Basis of Infectious Diseases (MBID) Training Program Organizing Committee Theresa M. Koehler, Ph.D., Professor & Chair, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School Michael Lorenz, Ph.D., Professor, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School Heidi B. Kaplan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School Shelby Simar, MBID Fellow, UTHealth School of Public Health/Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences Ahn Kim Trinh Nguyen, MBID Fellow, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School 0 Suhyeorn Jane Park, MBID Fellow, Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, Baylor College of Medicine 8:45 AM Career Development Panel Jennifer Dale, Ph.D. Research Scientist, Minnesota Department of Health Ph.D. with Theresa Koehler, MDAnderson UTHealth Graduate School Alejandra King, Ph.D. Manager, Strategic Alliances, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Ph.D. with Ambro van Hoof, MDAnderson UTHealth Graduate School Fahd Majiduddin, Ph.D. Associate Director - Patent Counsel, Teva Pharmaceuticals Ph.D. with Timothy Palzkill, Baylor College of Medicine MDAnderson UTHealth Graduate School Shrenik Mehta, Ph.D. Scientist, Genentech Ph.D. with Timothy Palzkill, Baylor College of Medicine MDAnderson UTHealth Graduate School Elke Saile, Ph.D. Microbiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Postdoc with Theresa Koehler, McGovern Medical School 10:00 Welcome Theresa Koehler, Ph.D. 10:15 Keynote 1 Alina Baum, Ph.D. Senior Staff Scientist, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals “Development of REGN-COV2 antibody combination for COVID-19” 11:15 Session 1 Kathryn Patras, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine “Group B Streptococcus and the vaginal microenvironment” Kathryn Brink Graduate Student, Rice University “High-throughput identification of human antimicrobial peptide activators of Salmonella PhoQ” 1 Alexandra Powell Graduate Student, Texas A&M HSC “Classical complement pathway evasion in Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia miyamotoi, and tick-borne relapsing fever Borrelia” John Taylor Graduate Student, Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences & Technology “The Type VII secretion system is a virulence determinant of Streptococcus gallolyticus subspecies gallolyticus” 12:15 PM Lunch Break 12:45 Poster Session, Zoom Breakout Rooms 2:00 Keynote 2 Scott C. Weaver, M.S., Ph.D. John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Human Infections and Immunity Chair, Department of Microbiology & Immunology Director, Institute for Human Infections & Immunity Scientific Director, Galveston National Laboratory Professor, Microbiology & Immunology and Pathology, UTMB Health “Mechanisms of urban arbovirus emergence” 3:00 Session 2 Christian Perez, Ph.D. Associate Professor, McGovern Medical School, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics “Mammalian host colonization by the fungus Candida albicans” Justin Clark, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Baylor College of Medicine “Comparative pathogenomics of Escherichia coli to identify vaccine targets from the virulome” Max Odem, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow, McGovern Medical School, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics “A high-throughput, open-source pipeline/workflow for the measurement and analysis of gut motility in larval zebrafish” Austen Terwilliger, Ph.D. Laboratory Director, Baylor College of Medicine, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics “Wastewater trends of SARS-COV-2 as a predictive measure of clinical trends for a major metropolis” 4:00 Awards and Closing Remarks 2 BREAKOUT ROOM/ POSTER TITLE PRESENTER GS1 - Carter, Hannah Cytotoxic effects of atypical enteroaggregative E. coli suggests an adherence- independent mechanism of disease GS2 - Corsi, Ileana AtxA-controlled small RNAs of Bacillus anthracis virulence plasmid pXO1 regulate gene expression in trans GS3 - Cristy, Shane Virulence and biofilm formation in Candida albicans are inhibited by short peptide subunits of EntV GS4 - Ewan, Jellisa Investigating the uncharted functions of Dcp2 decapping enzyme GS5 - Flores, Erika Zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model host to study the role of mucin sulfation in adherent-invasive E. coli infection GS6 - Jelinski, Joseph Best 3 out of 5: Progress towards a heme-based vaccine for anthrax GS7 - Kang, Alex An in vitro cell culture model for siderophore-mediated virulence GS8 - Martinez, Melissa Characterizing the antagonistic interaction between Candida albicans and Enterococcus faecalis GS9 - Nguyen, April Dynamics of Enterococcus faecalis cardiolipin synthase gene expression reveal compensatory roles in daptomycin resistance GS10 - Odo, Chioma Identifying molecular mechanisms underlying emergence of emm4 GAS GS11 - Park, Suhyeorn Discovery of inhibitors of the KPC-2 carbapenemase using a focused DNA-encoded library GS12 - Salazar, Keiko Pandemic ExPEC phage-resisters are predictable and attenuated GS13 - Simar, Shelby The role of the accessory genome in enterococcal bacteremia: Results from the vancomycin-resistant enterococcal bacteremia Outcomes Study (VENOUS) 3 GS14 - Skrobarczyk, Characterization and comparison of human and equine rotavirus isolates for Jill therapeutic development GS15 - Trinh Nguyen, Characterizing the role of intestinal epithelial extrusion and immune Anh surveillance during gastrointestinal infection using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model host GS16 - Zulk, Jacob Evaluating phage therapy for the treatment of urinary tract infection PD1 - Curtis, Michael Characterizing the roles of putative lipoproteins during tick-borne relapsing fever Borrelia vector competence PD2 - Guha, Shantanu Development of novel antifungals against Candida based on an antifungal peptide produced by E. faecalis PD3 - Sanchez, Belkys Development of bacteriophages with anti-biofilm properties as novel treatment for catheter-associated urinary tract infections S1 - Hunter, Robert The pathogenesis of tuberculosis: The Koch phenomenon reinstated S2 - Krishnavajhala, Diversity and distribution of the tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia Aparna turicatae S3 - Mehta, Heer Evolutionary leapfrogging leads to the failure of a promising antimicrobial strategy 4 CYTOTOXIC EFFECTS OF ATYPICAL ENTEROAGGREGATIVE E. COLI SUGGESTS AN ADHERENCE-INDEPENDENT MECHANISM OF DISEASE Hannah Carter*, Anubama Rajan, Lily Carlin, Pablo Okhuysen, Anthony Maresso (Breakout Room, GS1) *Graduate Student, Baylor College of Medicine/Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Cause of pediatric diarrhea in developing nations as well as infections in travelers and immunocompromised patients globally. These diverse pathogenic E. coli have been categorized into “pathotypes” based on disease presentation, adherence and aggregation patterns, and the presence of certain toxins. Yet, many E. coli strains meet the criteria for multiple pathotypes and some pathotypes, such as Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), are heterogeneous and fail to account for varying shades of pathogenicity. Molecular tools and new models, like human intestinal organoids (HIEs) allow the opportunity to re-define diarrheagenic E. coli in ways that are more clinically relevant. Typical EAEC is defined by a characteristic “stacked brick” aggregation pattern on Hep2 cells and the presence of a number of genes known to drive this phenotype. However, many E. coli have been found which demonstrate this adherence pattern but lack the genes known to facilitate it. These are termed atypical EAEC. Previous outbreaks and data from invertebrate models suggest that atypical EAEC can cause disease in humans, but their pathogenicity is still debated. Emerging data suggests that enteric pathogens are a larger problem in US clinical populations than previously thought. Thus, we isolated E. coli strains from stools of immunocompromised patients at M. D. Anderson with ongoing diarrhea which tested negative for other enteropathogens. Strains were pathotyped according to current standards and confirmed to be E. coli using MALDI TOF. Adherence ability and patterning were analyzed on colonoid HIE monolayers following a 6-hour infection. We have found that typical EAEC strains show far greater adherence and aggregation to human colonoids than atypical strains, but atypical EAEC strains have greater adherence and aggregation than protype strains of four other major pathotypes of diarrheagenic E. coli. Using whole genome sequencing, we’ve found that atypical EAEC strains indeed lack adhesions, toxins, and other virulence factors associated with typical EAEC. We have isolated several strains of atypical EAEC which are cytotoxic to HIEs and are currently investigating the mechanism of these cytotoxic effects. We hypothesize that these strains contain undescribed virulence factors which can elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms of atypical EAEC. 5 ATXA-CONTROLLED SMALL RNAS OF BACILLUS ANTHRACIS VIRULENCE PLASMID PXO1 REGULATE GENE EXPRESSION IN TRANS Ileana D. Corsi*, Soumita Dutta, Ambro van Hoof, Theresa M. Koehler (Breakout Room, GS2) *Graduate Student, McGovern Medical School/Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, MDAnderson UTHealth Graduate School Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are short transcripts that base-pair to mRNA targets or interact with regulatory proteins. sRNA function has been studied extensively in Gram- negative bacteria; comparatively less is known about sRNAs