Browsing Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Biotechnology) by Author "Faculty of Science"
Now showing items 1-18 of 18
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Characterisation of AtPNP-A - a novel arabidopsis thaliana gene with role in water and salt homeostasis
Bastian, René (University of the Western Cape, 2009)Plant natriuretic peptides (PNPs) are a novel class of extracellular, systemically mobile molecules that elicit a number of plant responses important in homeostasis and growth. Natriuretic peptides were first identified ... -
Characterisation of microbial communities associated with hypolithic environments in Antarctic Dry Valley soils
Khan, Nuraan (University of the Western Cape, 2008)The Eastern Antarctic Dry Valley region is a polar desert, where conditions of extreme aridity, high temperature fluctuations and high irradiation levels make it one of the most extreme environments on earth. Despite the ... -
Identification and characterisation of a novel gene, DWNN, isolated from promoter-trapped Chinese hamster ovary cells
Skepu, Amanda (University of the Western Cape, 2005)The process of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing involves the recognition and destruction of foreign antigens by cytotoxic T cells and is of crucial importance to the defence of the organism against viral infections. ... -
Identification of bacterial pathogenic gene classes subject to diversifying selection
Panji, Sumir (University of the Western Cape, 2009)Availability of genome sequences for numerous bacterial species comprising of different bacterial strains allows elucidation of species and strain specific adaptations that facilitate their survival in widely fluctuating ... -
Metagenomic approaches to gene discovery
Meyer, Quinton Christian (University of the Western Cape, 2006)The classical approach to gene discovery has been to culture micro-organisms demonstrating a specific enzyme activity and then to recover the gene of interest through shotgun cloning. The realization that these standard ... -
Microbial diversity and gene mining in Antarctic Dry Valley mineral soils
Smith, Jacques J. (University of the Western Cape, 2006)Soil communities are regarded as among the most complex and diverse assemblages of microorganisms with estimated bacterial numbers in the order of 109-1 cells.g. Studies on extreme soils however, have reported lower cell ... -
Mining a Chinese hyperthermophilic metagenome
Du Plessis, Morne Graham (University of the Western Cape, 2007)Metagenomic sequencing of environmental samples provide direct access to genomic information of organisms within the respective environments. This sequence information represents a significant resource for the identification ... -
Molecular Characterisation of the Brassinosteroid, Phytosulfokine and cGMP-dependent Responses in Arabidopsis thaliana
Kwezi, Lusisizwe (University of the Western Cape, 2010)In this thesis, we have firstly cloned and expressed the domains that harbours the putative catalytic GC domain in these receptor molecules and demonstrate that these molecules can convert GTP to cGMP in vitro. Secondly, ... -
Molecular detection and characterisation of RNA viruses of honeybees
Topley, Elize Lindsay (University of the Western Cape, 2009)Propagation methods for honeybee viruses have not changed since these viruses were discovered. There are no suitable cell lines or cell culture techniques available for honeybee viruses. Honeybee viruses have to be manually ... -
Molecular detection and genetic manipulation of the Black Queen Cell Virus
Benjeddou, Mongi (University of the Western Cape, 2002)The South African isolate of the Black Queen-Cell Virus (BQCV), a honeybee virus, was previously found to have an 8550 nucleotide genome excluding the poly(A) tail. Its genome contained two ORFs, a 5'-proximal ORF encoding ... -
Molecular detection and study of Campylobacter and related microorganisms
Hoosain, Nisreen (University of the Western Cape, 2010)Species of Campylobacter, Arcobacter and Helicobacter have been associated with various diseases in humans and animals; and chickens have been identified as a reservoir of these microorganisms. Two published techniques and ... -
Plant natriuretic peptides - elucidation of the mechanisms of action
Ruzvidzo, Oziniel (University of the Western Cape, 2009)Several lines of cellular and physiological evidence have suggested the presence of a novel class of systemically mobile plant molecules that are recognized by antibodies generated against vertebrate atrial natriuretic ... -
The relationship between structure and thermostability of a nitrile hydratase from Goebacillus pallidus RAPc8
Van Wyk, Jennifer Caroline (University of the Western Cape, 2008)Nitrile hydratases (NHases) are very important biocatalysts for the enzymatic conversion of nitriles to industrially important amides such as acrylamide and nicotinamide. An “ideal” NHase should fulfil several essential ... -
Saturation sequencing, characterisation and mapping of the NBS-LRR resistance gene family in apple, Malus x domestica (Borkh)
Mafofo, Joseph (University of the Western Cape, 2008)To date five classes of resistance proteins have been identified in plants and these include the intracellular protein kinases, receptor-like protein kinases with extracellular leucinerich repeat (LRR) domain, LRR proteins ... -
Structural characterisation of the interaction between RBBP6 and the multifunctional protein YB-1
Muleya, Victor (University of the Western Cape, 2010)As a means of further localising the interaction, truncated fragments derived from the C-terminal region of YB-1, were tested for their interaction with the RING finger domain of RBBP6 using three different assays: a ... -
Structure, enzymology and genetic engineering of Bacillus sp. RAPc8 nitrile hydratase
Tsekoa, Tsepo L. (University of the Western Cape, 2005)Microbial nitrile hydratases (NHases) are important industrial enzymes that catalyse the conversion of nitriles to the corresponding amides. A thermostable, cobalt-type Bacillus sp. RAPc8 NHase was previously cloned and ... -
Studies on the population genetics of Euphausiids: a comparison of patterns in plagic taxa displaying different distributions and life-histories
Harkins, Gordon W. (University of the Western Cape, 2006)The systematic and population genetic relationships were characterised for three ecologically related euphausiid species: Euphausia lucens, E. recurva and E. vallentini. These species have different geographical distributions ... -
Transcription regulation and candidate diagnostic markers of esophageal cancer
Essack, Magbubah (University of the Western Cape, 2009)Esophageal cancer (EC) ranks among the ten most frequent cancers worldwide. Mortality rates associated with EC are very similar to the incidence rates due to the relatively late stage of diagnosis and the poor efficacy of ...