Margaret E. Teasdale

• Ph.D. Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Georgia Institute of Technology

Quorum sensing (QS) antagonists have been proposed as novel therapeutic agents to combat bacterial infections. We previously reported that the secondary metabolite 3-methyl-N-(2′-phenylethyl)-butyramide, produced by a marine bacterium identified as Halobacillus salinus, inhibits QS controlled phenotypes in multiple Gram-negative reporter strains. H...

Several groups of structurally-related compounds, comprised of either five or six-membered ring structures with attached lipophilic carbon chains and in some cases possessing halogen atoms, have been isolated from various marine algae and filamentous cyanobacteria. The related compounds considered in the present work include the coibacins, laurenci...

Bioassay-guided fractionation of extracts from a Fijian red alga in the genus Callophycus resulted in the isolation of five new compounds of the diterpene-benzoate class. Bromophycoic acids A-E (1-5) were characterized by NMR and mass spectroscopic analyses and represent two novel carbon skeletons, one with an unusual proposed biosynthesis. These c...

Honaucins A-C were isolated from the cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya crossbyana which was found overgrowing corals on the Hawaiian coast. Honaucin A consists of (S)-3-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone and 4-chlorocrotonic acid, which are connected via an ester linkage. Honaucin A and its two natural analogs exhibit potent inhibition of both bioluminescence, a qu...

A form of communication in bacteria called quorum sensing (QS) regulates both microbial biofilm development and pathogenesis. QS is a process by which bacteria take a census of their numbers and regulate specific phenotypic expression using small signaling molecules called autoinducers. Interference with QS has been identified as a potentially nove...

Inhibitors of bacterial quorum sensing have been proposed as potentially novel therapeutics for the treatment of certain bacterial diseases. We recently reported a marine Halobacillus salinus isolate that secretes secondary metabolites capable of quenching quorum sensing phenotypes in several Gram-negative reporter strains. To investigate how wides...

In this paper we describe the principles that have guided our design and the experience we have gained building multi-wire proportional chambers detectors for the ultra-cold neutron (UCN) source at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). Simple robust detectors with 50 cm(2) of active area have been designed. These have been used both in io...

Certain bacteria use cell-to-cell chemical communication to coordinate community-wide phenotypic expression, including swarming motility, antibiotic biosynthesis, and biofilm production. Here we present a marine gram-positive bacterium that secretes secondary metabolites capable of quenching quorum sensing-controlled behaviors in several gram-negat...

A Papua New Guinea field collection of the marine cyanobacterium Blennothrix cantharidosmum was investigated for its cytotoxic constituents. Bioassay-guided isolation defined the cytotoxic components as the known compounds lyngbyastatins 1 and 3. However, six new acyl proline derivatives, tumonoic acids D−I, plus the known tumonoic acid A were also...

Highly penetrating cosmic ray muons shower the Earth at the rate of 10,000 m À2 min À1 at sea level. In our previous work (Nature 422 (2003) 277; Rev. Sci. Instr. 74(10) (2003) 4294; Cosmic Ray Muon Radiography for Contraband Detection, in: Proceedings of AccApp'03, San Diego, CA, June 2003), we presented a novel muon radiography technique which ex...

We have proposed a new method for nuclear material contraband detection based on cosmic ray muon radiography. The method is safe, because it does not include the generation of any artificial radiation, but uses naturally produced high-energy muons. Results obtained with our prototype experiment, and from simulations demonstrate the feasibility of t...

We demonstrate that high-Z material can be detected and located in three dimensions using radiographs formed by cosmic-ray muons. Detection of high-Z material hidden inside large volume of ordinary cargo is an important and timely task given the danger associated with illegal transport of uranium and heavier elements. Existing radiography technique...

Natural background particles could be exploited to detect concealed nuclear materials.

Despite its enormous success, X-ray radiography has its limitations: an inability to penetrate dense objects, the need for multiple projections to resolve three-dimensional structure, and health risks from radiation. Here we show that natural background muons, which are generated by cosmic rays and are highly penetrating, can be used for radiograph...