DOCSLIB.ORG

New Hope in War Against Cystic Fibrosis • Chinese Man With

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
New Hope in War Against Cystic Fibrosis • Chinese Man With www.asiabiotech.com Research News Australia Korea Australia Finds New Chinese Man with Hope in Treating Cystic Transplanted Hands Cuts Fibrosis His Birthday Cake Australian researchers have found a way of A young man, who has fully recovered after receiving preventing the stubborn bacterial biofilms that clog an allogeneic transplant of two hands, has recently marked the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis and eventually his 20th birthday in a hospital in Harbin, the capital city cause their deaths. They hope their research will of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. improve the survival rates of people with this Mr. Gao Liang, the patient, cut the cake with his new common genetic disease and also improve infection hands and handed out pieces to doctors and nurses in the control in hospitals. Faculty of Clinical Medicine of Harbin Medical University, About 2500 Australians have cystic fibrosis, a where he received the transplant in January last year. disease characterized by a build up of thick mucus in the lungs and pancreas leading to breathing Dr. Zhang Xinying said that it is no mean feat for Mr. difficulties and nutritional problems. Gao to cut the cake with his hands, adding that it proves that the functions of his hands have virtually recovered. The lungs of most victims also become infected with the bacteria pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Mr. Gao said that he can now brush his teeth, wash persistent and chronic infection causing his face, comb his hair and put on his clothes with his inflammation and damage to lung tissue. But new hands. He said that he is happy and even won in an researchers from Brisbane’s Institute of Molecular arm wrestling bout at his party. Bioscience have found that the severity of these Severe frostbite caused him to lose his hands and legs. bacterial infections can be reduced or even prevented He had artificial legs fitted in another hospital. According by using an enzyme that breaks down DNA. to medical records, Mr. Gao’s case is the fourth successful Dr. John Mattick, co-director of the institute, one in the world and the second in Asia. said, “During lung infection pseudomonas aeruginosa creates a biofilm, a soup rich in proteins, Compared with heart transplants and other single complex sugars and DNA. This biofilm plays a vital organ transplants, hand transplants are much more role in establishing bacterial colonies that are also complicated, involving even more systems and tissues such resistant to antibiotics and the host’s immune as skin, tendons, blood vessels, nerves and bone marrow. response.” He said, “Scientists have known for a These lead to very low success rate of such trasplantation. while that the biofilm of this pathogen has a high The development of advanced medical technology DNA content. Our research showed that treating the biofilm with an enzyme called dnaseI, which breaks to reforge human limbs and reduce immunological down DNA into its component molecules, destroys rejection has made hand transplants a reality. the biofilm and restricts the establishment of One year of close observation showed that Mr. Gao infectious colonies.” suffers no side effects from the medicines he took to prevent Dr. Cynthia Whitchurch, a molecular biologist immunological rejection, and the nerves of his hand grow at the institute, said that pseudomonas infections by 3 mm daily. Mr. Gao now takes a much smaller dose caused the death of about 95 percent of people with of medicine compared with other people who have cystic fibrosis. Ideally, the DNA-destroying enzyme transplanted hands. would be used to prevent pseudomonas infections occurring. To date, ten similar operations have been completed But, so far, research has been done only in test in the world, seven of which are performed by Chinese tubes and clinical trials are still some way off. Dr. doctors. Among the total population of 1.3 billion, China Whitchurch said that the DNA-destroying enzyme currently has more than 8.5 million people with deformed could also have other applications. limbs. 154 APBN • Vol. 6 • No. 5 • 2002 v6n5-pt2 154 3/7/02, 11:10 AM Research News publication in the journal Science. Dr. Rod Wing, China Reveals Rice director of the Clemson University Genomics Institute Genome Sequence and the former US representative to the IRGSP, said, “Rice is the rosetta stone for cereals. The world Marking a milestone in plant-genomics research, population will double in 50 years. We have to know scientists in China have made public a sequence of a everything we can about the most important food crop widely grown rice strain that has never before been in the world. Knowing this sequence now will accelerate sequenced. The results of the indica strain sequence everything. Understanding indica together with the was presented to the 10th Annual Plant, Animal & anticipated public release of japonica will also allow Microbe Genomes Conference held in Beijing by the research not possible with only one genome alone.” Beijing Genomic Institute (BGI). Dr. Ed Kaleikau, director of the plants division at the US Department of Agriculture, said, “Rice is a model The sequencing effort of the indica strain for all cereal plants. Its sequencing will lead to the yielded 386 million base pairs in a six-fold identification of genes not only important in rice but in coverage, and an initial analysis showed that other cereals. Eventually it will lead to a better the genome contains approximately 60 000 understanding of rice and all cereal crops including to 65 000 genes. wheat, barely and corn. For important plants, this could be compared to the sequencing of the human genome. The Oryza sativa indica strain, which accounts for A better understanding of plant biology is now available the majority of rice grown in China, has never before for the second largest plant kingdom.” been sequenced. Preliminary results of the BGI project, begun in May 2000 and completed in October 2001, was published in the Chinese Science Bulletin when its draft was complete. However, the extent of the work remained virtually unknown outside a cadre of Chinese genomics researchers until the team presented their Shanghai Cancer Survey findings during the conference. Seeks Effective Treatments According to Dr. Jun Yu, a member of the team, BGI researchers sequenced the indica strain using a A large-scale survey among cancer sufferers is to whole genome shotgun approach. The effort yielded be carried out in Shanghai as medical chiefs seek more 386 million base pairs in a six-fold coverage, and an effective treatments for the debilitating disease. Starting initial analysis by BGI researchers showed that the in March, the survey will be conducted among 10 000 genome contains approximately 60 000 to 65 000 cancer patients in Shanghai and its neighboring cities. genes. Currently, the organizers, Shanghai Cancer The effort, which independent researchers are only Recovery Club, Shanghai University of Traditional now beginning to analyze, is the first rice genome to be Chinese Medicine and Shanghai Green Valley released to the public. Last January, Syngenta and Corporation, are enrolling volunteers and patients Myriad Genetics announced the draft sequencing of the willing to participate in the survey. japonica strain, but the companies have yet to release Dr. Yuan Zhengping, director of the club, said, “The those data. survey will follow each participating patient for a year. An international public consortium, the Such a large-scale survey is unprecedented in China.” International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), The survey will be composed of questions on non- is set to finish its own sequence of the japonica genome medical methods (such as physical training and by the end of 2002. The IRGSP, which includes the US, attitudes) in determining their contribution to the Japan, and China, is performing the sequence using the recovery of cancer patients. Other questions will center BAC by BAC approach which when compared with around the importance of social support and family whole-genome shotgun sequencing is more time- care, and the relationship between C-type character intensive. (reserved, unwilling to vent their unhappiness) and The Chinese sequencing data are under review for cancer cells. APBN • Vol. 6 • No.5 • 2002 155 v6n5-pt2 155 3/7/02, 11:10 AM www.asiabiotech.com Research News Statistics show that the incidence of cancer in was reduced, the authors suggest that the immune Shanghai is among the highest in China. systems of the mice may not be able to fight off infection. Every year, 43 000 local residents fall victim to the The authors caution that the factors affecting clone disease, of whom 34 000 resulted in death. And this longevity are many and subtle, including genetic figure is continuing to rise. Research has found that the background and the type of cell from which the nucleus majority of Chinese cancer patients survive during is taken — the so-called donor cell. operations, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Instead, they Dr. Ogura said, “There may be reprogramming error succumb while recuperating after routine hospital which may have unpredictable effects in the long run.” treatment. Dr. Yuan said, ‘’How to help them better Reprogramming error is thought to occur when a cell recover after receiving routine treatment in hospital is already assigned to a bodily task — in this case in the of vital importance to cancer patients.” testis — is “reset” in preparation for cloning and development into an embryo. Japan “This study reinforces the opinion expressed by many that clones are not entirely normal and that we should be careful about how we use this technology,” said Dr. David Solter, a biologist at the Max Planck Tokyo Scientists Find Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, Germany, who Cloned Mice Have Shorter is not involved in the Japanese study.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chpc Controls Twitching Motility-Mediated Expansion Of
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/825596; this version posted October 31, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 ChpC controls twitching motility-mediated expansion of 2 Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in response to serum albumin, 3 mucin and oligopeptides 4 Laura M. Nolan1,2, Laura C. McCaughey1,3, Jessica Merjane1, Lynne Turnbull1, Cynthia B. 5 Whitchurch1,4* 6 1 The ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, 7 Australia. 8 2 Current address: National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, SW3 9 6LR, UK. 10 3 Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, 11 UK. 12 4 Current address: Microbes in the Food Chain Programme, Quadram Institute Bioscience 13 and School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, 14 Norwich, NR4 7UQ, UK 15 16 *Correspondence to: 17 [email protected] 18 19 Keywords: Chemosensory, type IV pili, T4P, 3'-5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate, 20 environmental signals 21 22 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/825596; this version posted October 31, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 Abstract 2 Twitching motility-mediated biofilm expansion occurs via coordinated, multi-cellular 3 collective behaviour to allow bacteria to actively expand across surfaces. Type-IV pili (T4P) 4 are cell-associated virulence factors which mediate this expansion via rounds of extension, 5 surface attachment and retraction.
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Biochemist the Magazine of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc
    ISSN 1443-0193 Australian Biochemist The Magazine of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc. Volume 47 AUGUST 2016 No.2 SHOWCASE ON RESEARCH Protein Misfolding and Proteostasis THIS ISSUE INCLUDES Showcase on Research Regular Departments A Short History of Amyloid SDS (Students) Page Molecular Chaperones: The Cutting Edge Guardians of the Proteome Off the Beaten Track When Proteostasis Goes Bad: Intellectual Property Protein Aggregation in the Cell Our Sustaining Members Extracellular Chaperones and Forthcoming Meetings Proteostasis Directory INSIDE ComBio2016 International Speaker Profiles Vol 47 No 2 August 2016 AUSTRALIAN BIOCHEMIST Page 1 ‘OSE’ Fill-in Puzzle We have another competition for the readers of the Australian Biochemist. All correct entries received by the Editor (email [email protected]) before 3 October 2016 will enter the draw to receive a gift voucher. With thanks to Rebecca Lew. The purpOSE is to choOSE from thOSE words listed and transpOSE them into the grid. So, clOSE your door, repOSE in a chair, and diagnOSE the answers – you don’t want to lOSE! 6 letters 8 letters ALDOSE FRUCTOSE FUCOSE FURANOSE HEXOSE PYRANOSE KETOSE RIBOSE 9 letters XYLOSE CELLULOSE GALACTOSE 7 letters RAFFINOSE AMYLOSE TREHALOSE GLUCOSE LACTOSE 11 letters MALTOSE DEOXYRIBOSE PENTOSE Australian Biochemist – Editor Chu Kong Liew, Editorial Officer Liana Friedman © 2016 Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc. All rights reserved. Page 2 AUSTRALIAN BIOCHEMIST Vol 47 No 2 August 2016 SHOWCASE ON RESEARCH EDITORIAL Molecular Origami: the Importance of Managing Protein Folding In my humble opinion, the most important biological transcription, RNA processing and transport, translation, molecule is the protein.
    [Show full text]
  • Quorum Sensing Is Not Required for Twitching Motility in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Scott A
    JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, July 2002, p. 3598–3604 Vol. 184, No. 13 0021-9193/02/$04.00ϩ0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.13.3598–3604.2002 Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Quorum Sensing Is Not Required for Twitching Motility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Scott A. Beatson,1,2† Cynthia B. Whitchurch,1‡ Annalese B. T. Semmler,1,2 and John S. Mattick1,2* ARC Special Research Centre for Functional and Applied Genomics, Institute for Molecular Bioscience,1 and Department of Biochemistry,2 University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia Downloaded from Received 15 October 2001/Accepted 11 April 2002 It has been reported that mutations in the quorum-sensing genes lasI and rhlI in Pseudomonas aeruginosa result in, among many other things, loss of twitching motility (A. Glessner, R. S. Smith, B. H. Iglewski, and J. B. Robinson, J. Bacteriol. 181:1623-1629, 1999). We constructed knockouts of lasI and rhlI and the corresponding regulatory genes lasR and rhlR and found no effect on twitching motility. However, twitching-defective variants accumulated during culturing of lasI and rhlI mutants. Further analysis showed that the stable twitching- defective variants of lasI and rhlI mutants had arisen as a consequence of secondary mutations in vfr and algR, http://jb.asm.org/ respectively, both of which encode key regulators affecting a variety of phenotypes, including twitching motility. In addition, when grown in shaking broth culture, lasI and rhlI mutants, but not the wild-type parent, also accumulated unstable variants that lacked both twitching motility and swimming motility and appeared to be identical in phenotype to the S1 and S2 variants that were recently reported to occur at high frequencies in P.
    [Show full text]
  • Chpc Controls Twitching Motility-­Mediated Expansion of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms in Response to Serum Albumin, Mucin and Oligopeptides
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Nolan et al., Microbiology 2020;166:669–678 DOI 10.1099/mic.0.000911 ChpC controls twitching motility- mediated expansion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in response to serum albumin, mucin and oligopeptides Laura M. Nolan1,2, Laura C. McCaughey1,3, Jessica Merjane1, Lynne Turnbull1 and Cynthia B. Whitchurch1,4,* Abstract Twitching motility- mediated biofilm expansion occurs via coordinated, multi- cellular collective behaviour to allow bacteria to actively expand across surfaces. Type- IV pili (T4P) are cell- associated virulence factors which mediate twitching motility via rounds of extension, surface attachment and retraction. The Chp chemosensory system is thought to respond to environmental signals to regulate the biogenesis, assembly and twitching motility function of T4P. In other well characterised chemosensory systems, methyl- accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs) feed environmental signals through a CheW adapter protein to the histidine kinase CheA to modulate motility. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa Chp system has an MCP PilJ and two CheW adapter proteins, PilI and ChpC, that likely interact with the histidine kinase ChpA to feed environmental signals into the system. In the current study we show that ChpC is involved in the response to host- derived signals serum albumin, mucin and oligopeptides. We demonstrate that these signals stimulate an increase in twitching motility, as well as in levels of 3′−5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and surface-assembled T4P. Interestingly, our data shows that changes in cAMP and surface piliation levels are independent of ChpC but that the twitching motility response to these environmental signals requires ChpC. Further- more, we show that protease activity is required for the twitching motility response of P.
    [Show full text]
  • Monday Afternoon, December 8, 2014
    Monday Afternoon, December 8, 2014 Biomaterial Interfaces informatics to explore the roles of eDNA during early biofilm development Room: Milo - Session BI-MoE and active biofilm expansion by P.aeruginosa. 6:40pm BI-MoE4 Towards a Scalable Biomimetic Antifouling Coating, Biofouling MaryNora Dickson, E. Liang, N. Vollereaux, CA. Choe, AF. Yee, Moderator: Lara Gamble, University of Washington, USA University of California, Irvine It has been found that the nanopillars on cicada wings are inherently antibacterial, irrespective of surface chemistry (Ivanova et al., Small, 2012). 5:40pm BI-MoE1 In Situ Molecular Imaging of Hydrated Biofilm Thus, fabrication of devices presenting such nanostructures would obviate Using Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, Xiaoying Yu, the requirement for any special surface chemical modification. Nano- and M. Marshall, X. Hua, B. Liu, Z. Wang, Z. Zhu, A. Tucker, W. Chrisler, T. microstructured antibacterial surfaces have been previously proposed, Thevuthasam, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory including the Sharklet microstructured film (Chung et al.,2007), black One of the most important processes in nature involves bacteria forming silicon (Ivanova et al., 2013) and multi-scale wrinkled polymer films surface attached microbial communities or biofilms. Biofilms possess a (Freschauf et al., 2012); none of these approaches can be used on ordinary complex structure made of a highly-hydrated milieu containing bacterial polymer surfaces or easily scaled up. Thus, we endeavored to apply cells and self-generated extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). We industrial nanostructring techniques to generate biomimetic antibacterial report a unique approach of molecular imaging of biofilms in their native nanostructures at the surfaces of ordinary polymers: environments using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF- poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) polycarbonate (PC).
    [Show full text]
  • Multiple Holins Contribute to Extracellular DNA Release in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Hynen et al., Microbiology 2021;167:000990 DOI 10.1099/mic.0.000990 OPEN ACCESS Multiple holins contribute to extracellular DNA release in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms Amelia L. Hynen1, James J. Lazenby1, George M. Savva2, Laura C. McCaughey1,3, Lynne Turnbull1, Laura M. Nolan4† and Cynthia B. Whitchurch1,2,5,*,† Abstract Bacterial biofilms are composed of aggregates of cells encased within a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). One key EPS component is extracellular DNA (eDNA), which acts as a ‘glue’, facilitating cell–cell and cell–substratum interac- tions. We have previously demonstrated that eDNA is produced in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms via explosive cell lysis. This phenomenon involves a subset of the bacterial population explosively lysing, due to peptidoglycan degradation by the endolysin Lys. Here we demonstrate that in P. aeruginosa three holins, AlpB, CidA and Hol, are involved in Lys-mediated eDNA release within both submerged (hydrated) and interstitial (actively expanding) biofilms, albeit to different extents, depending upon the type of biofilm and the stage of biofilm development. We also demonstrate that eDNA release events determine the sites at which cells begin to cluster to initiate microcolony formation during the early stages of submerged biofilm development. Furthermore, our results show that sustained release of eDNA is required for cell cluster consolidation and subsequent micro- colony development in submerged biofilms. Overall, this study adds to our understanding of how eDNA release is controlled temporally and spatially within P. aeruginosa biofilms. INTRODUCTION different stages of biofilm development. To develop means of The biofilm mode of growth, in which bacterial aggregates preventing biofilm formation and disrupting mature biofilms, are encased in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances the complex interplay between cells, matrix components and (EPS), confers many advantages to bacteria, including the environment needs to be fully elucidated.
    [Show full text]
  • This Is a Self-Archived Version of an Original Article. This Version May Differ from the Original in Pagination and Typographic Details
    This is a self-archived version of an original article. This version may differ from the original in pagination and typographic details. Author(s): Bandara, Chaturanga D.; Ballerin, Giulia; Leppänen, Miika; Tesfamichael, Tuquabo; Ostrikov, Kostya (Ken); Whitchurch, Cynthia B. Title: Resolving Bio-Nano Interactions of E.coli Bacteria-Dragonfly Wing Interface with Helium Ion and 3D-Structured Illumination Microscopy to Understand Bacterial Death on Nanotopography Year: 2020 Version: Accepted version (Final draft) Copyright: © 2020 American Chemical Society Rights: In Copyright Rights url: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en Please cite the original version: Bandara, C. D., Ballerin, G., Leppänen, M., Tesfamichael, T., Ostrikov, K. (., & Whitchurch, C. B. (2020). Resolving Bio-Nano Interactions of E.coli Bacteria-Dragonfly Wing Interface with Helium Ion and 3D-Structured Illumination Microscopy to Understand Bacterial Death on Nanotopography. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 6(7), 3925-3932. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b01973 Subscriber access provided by JYVASKYLAN UNIV Bio-interactions and Biocompatibility Resolving Bio-Nano Interactions of E.coli Bacteria-Dragonfly Wing Interface with Helium Ion and 3D-Structured Illumination Microscopy to Understand Bacterial Death on Nanotopography Chaturanga D Bandara, Giulia Ballerin, Miika Leppänen, Tuquabo Tesfamichael, Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov, and Cynthia B. Whitchurch ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/ acsbiomaterials.9b01973 • Publication Date (Web): 09 Jun 2020 Downloaded from pubs.acs.org on June 11, 2020 Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance.
    [Show full text]
  • Characterisation of Explosive Cell Lysis in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
    Characterisation of explosive cell lysis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Thesis submitted to the University of Technology Sydney, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Amelia L. Hynen 2017 Certificate of Original Authorship I certify that the work in this Thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree nor has it been submitted as part of requirements for a degree except as fully acknowledged within the text. I also certify that the Thesis has been written by me. Any help that I have received in my research work and the preparation of the Thesis itself has been acknowledged. In addition, I certify that all information sources and literature used are indicated in the Thesis. This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Signature of Student: Date: ii Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank my supervisors Cynthia Whitchurch and Lynne Turnbull. Your support, encouragement and mentorship have made this Thesis possible. Thank you for always pushing me to be a better scientist. Your knowledge, passion and drive have made the past few years an incredible experience. Thank you for all your help, advice, and patience and it has been a privilege to learn from you and work with you. I would also like to thank Masanori Toyofuku, Scott Rice, Daniel Wozniak and Ariel Lindner for providing strains and plasmids used in this Thesis. Thanks to Nicola Petty for her wealth of knowledge on all things phage. Thanks to Raz Shimoni for performing BacFormatics analysis and for teaching me how to use the software.
    [Show full text]
  • Discovery, Characterization and In€Vivo Activity of Pyocin SD2, A
    Biochem. J. (2016) 473, 2345–2358 doi:10.1042/BCJ20160470 2345 Discovery, characterization and in vivo activity of pyocin SD2, a protein antibiotic from Pseudomonas aeruginosa Laura C. McCaughey*†‡1, Inokentijs Josts‡, Rhys Grinter‡, Paul White†, Olwyn Byron§, Nicholas P. Tucker||, Jacqueline M. Matthews¶, Colin Kleanthous†, Cynthia B. Whitchurch* and Daniel Walker‡1 *The Ithree Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia †Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, U.K. ‡Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, U.K. §School of Life Sciences, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, U.K. ||Strathclyde Institute for Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G4 0RE, U.K. ¶School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2008, Australia Downloaded from http://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article-pdf/473/15/2345/686889/bj4732345.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Increasing rates of antibiotic resistance among Gram-negative efficiently locate its outer membrane receptor FpvAI. This pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa means alternative strategy of utilizing both the CPA and a protein receptor for cell approaches to antibiotic development are urgently required. targeting is common among pyocins as we show that pyocins Pyocins, produced by P. aeruginosa for intraspecies competition, S2, S5 and SD3 also bind to the CPA. Additional data indicate a are highly potent protein antibiotics known to actively translocate key role for an unstructured N-terminal region of pyocin SD2 in across the outer membrane of P.
    [Show full text]
  • Microbial Biodeterioration and Biodegradation
    OFFICIALOFFICIAL JOURNALJOURNAL OFOF THETHE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY INC.INC. VolumeVolume 3939 NumberNumber 33 SeptemberSeptember 20182018 Microbial biodeteriorati on and biodegradati on A special issue in associati on with the Russian Microbiological Society The Australian Society for Microbiology Inc. OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY INC. 9/397 Smith Street Fitzroy, Vic. 3065 Tel: 1300 656 423 Volume 39 Number 3 September 2018 Fax: 03 9329 1777 Email: [email protected] www.theasm.org.au Contents ABN 24 065 463 274 Vertical Transmission 112 For Microbiology Australia correspondence, see address below. Dena Lyras 112 Editorial team Vertical Transmission from Russia 113 Prof. Ian Macreadie, Mrs Hayley Macreadie Elizaveta Bonch-Osmolovskaya 113 and Mrs Rebekah Clark Guest Editorial 115 Editorial. Board Dr Ipek Kurtböke (Chair) Dr Sam Manna Microbial. biodeterioration and biodegradation 115 Prof. Ross Barnard Dr John Merlino Ipek Kurtböke, Irina Ivshina and Linda L Blackall Prof. Mary Barton Prof. Wieland Meyer In Prof. Linda Blackall Mr Chris Owens Focus 117 Dr Chris Burke Prof. William Rawlinson Biodegradation of emerging pollutants: focus on pharmaceuticals 117 Dr Narelle Fegan Dr Paul Selleck Irina Ivshina, Elena Tyumina and Elena Vikhareva Dr Rebecca LeBard Dr Erin Shanahan Dr Gary Lum Dr David Smith New thermophilic prokaryotes with hydrolytic activities 122 Prof. Dena Lyras Ms Helen Smith Elizaveta Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Alexander Elcheninov, Ksenia Zayulina and Ilya Kublanov Subscription rates Microbiotechnologies for steroid production 126 Current subscription rates are available Marina Donova from the ASM Melbourne offi ce. Biocorrosion of materials and sick building syndrome 129 Editorial correspondence Olga Ilinskaya, Alina Bayazitova and Galina Yakovleva Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Self-Organization of Bacterial Biofilms Is Facilitated by Extracellular DNA
    1 Self-organization of bacterial biofilms is facilitated by extracellular DNA 2 Erin S. Gloaga,1, Lynne Turnbulla,1, Alan Huangb, Pascal Vallottonc, Huabin Wangd, Laura M. 3 Nolana, Lisa Millilie, Cameron Hunte, Jing Lua, Sarah R. Osvatha, Leigh G. Monahana, 4 Rosalia Cavalierea, Ian G. Charlesa, Matt P. Wandb, Michelle L. Geed, Ranganathan 5 Prabhakare and Cynthia B. Whitchurcha,2 6 aThe ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia. 7 bSchool of Mathematics, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia. 8 cCSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics, North Ryde, NSW, 1670, Australia. 9 dSchool of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. 10 eDepartment of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 11 3800, Australia. 12 1 These authors contributed equally to this worK. 13 2Correspondence to: Cynthia Whitchurch 14 PO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia 15 +61 2 9514 4144 16 [email protected] 17 18 Classification: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES: Microbiology 19 Keywords: twitching motility, eDNA, t4p, type IV pili, collective behaviour 20 1 1 Abstract 2 Twitching motility mediated biofilm expansion is a complex, multicellular behavior that 3 enables the active colonisation of surfaces by many species of bacteria. In this study we have 4 explored the emergence of intricate network patterns of interconnected trails that form in 5 actively expanding biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We have used high resolution 6 phase contrast time-lapse microscopy and developed sophisticated computer vision 7 algorithms to track and analyse individual cell movements during expansion of P. aeruginosa 8 biofilms. We have also used atomic force microscopy to examine the topography of the 9 substrate underneath the expanding biofilm.
    [Show full text]
  • Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Is Capable of Natural Transformation in Biofilms
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Nolan et al., Microbiology 2020;166:995–1003 DOI 10.1099/mic.0.000956 OPEN ACCESS Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of natural transformation in biofilms Laura M. Nolan1,2, Lynne Turnbull1, Marilyn Katrib1, Sarah R. Osvath1, Davide Losa1†, James J. Lazenby3 and Cynthia B. Whitchurch1,3,4,* Abstract Natural transformation is a mechanism that enables competent bacteria to acquire naked, exogenous DNA from the environ- ment. It is a key process that facilitates the dissemination of antibiotic resistance and virulence determinants throughout bacterial populations. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic Gram- negative pathogen that produces large quantities of extracellular DNA (eDNA) that is required for biofilm formation. P. aeruginosa has a remarkable level of genome plasticity and diversity that suggests a high degree of horizontal gene transfer and recombination but is thought to be incapable of natural transformation. Here we show that P. aeruginosa possesses homologues of all proteins known to be involved in natural trans- formation in other bacterial species. We found that P. aeruginosa in biofilms is competent for natural transformation of both genomic and plasmid DNA. Furthermore, we demonstrate that type- IV pili (T4P) facilitate but are not absolutely essential for natural transformation in P. aeruginosa. INTRODUCTION Extracellular DNA (eDNA) is present in significant quanti- The continued increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) ties in both clinical and environmental settings, and provides a vast reservoir of genetic material that can be sampled by levels is considered to be a significant global threat [1]. bacteria that are competent for natural transformation [6]. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a key source of bacterial In many naturally competent bacterial species type- IV pili genome variation and evolution and is largely responsible (T4P) are required for natural transformation [4].
    [Show full text]