Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Biology

Supervisor

Topp, Edward

2nd Supervisor

Bernards, Mark

Co-Supervisor

Abstract

Sulfonamide antibiotics are frequently released into the environment due to their widespread use in livestock production, imposing a potential selection pressure for the development and dissemination of sulfonamide resistance. Recently, a sulfonamide-degrading bacterium Microbacterium sp. Strain C448 was discovered, whose activity has the potential to be used as a sulfonamide removal strategy from agricultural soils. This research gains insight into the sulfonamide biodegradation pathway by 1) evaluating the nutritional regulation of sulfamethazine biodegradation and 2) undertaking a comparative proteomic analysis of cells grown in the presence and in the absence of sulfamethazine. The nutritional analyses revealed that increasing amounts of methionine decreased sulfamethazine degradation, whereas sucrose, NH4Cl and glutamate stimulated sulfamethazine degradation. Additionally, several proteins putatively involved in the degradation pathway were identified as candidates for further analysis. An understanding of how nutrient availability influences sulfonamide degradation could help maximize potential remediation of sulfonamides by Microbacterium C448

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