Search results for "Bacteriology"
showing 10 items of 114 documents
A self-inducible heterologous protein expression system in Escherichia coli
2016
AbstractEscherichia coli is an important experimental, medical and industrial cell factory for recombinant protein production. The inducible lac promoter is one of the most commonly used promoters for heterologous protein expression in E. coli. Isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG) is currently the most efficient molecular inducer for regulating this promoter’s transcriptional activity. However, limitations have been observed in large-scale and microplate production, including toxicity, cost and culture monitoring. Here, we report the novel SILEX (Self-InducibLe Expression) system, which is a convenient, cost-effective alternative that does not require cell density monitoring or IPTG inducti…
Detection and Characterization of Wolbachia Infections in Natural Populations of Aphids: Is the Hidden Diversity Fully Unraveled?
2011
Copyright © 2011 Augustinos et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Aphids are a serious threat to agriculture, despite being a rather small group of insects. The about 4,000 species worldwide engage in highly interesting and complex relationships with their microbial fauna. One of the key symbionts in arthropods is Wolbachia, an a-Proteobacterium implicated in many important biological processes and believed to be a potential tool for biological control. Aphids were thought not to harbour W…
Evolutionary Changes after Translational Challenges Imposed by Horizontal Gene Transfer
2019
International audience; Genes acquired by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) may provide the recipient organism with potentially new functions, but proper expression level and integration of the transferred genes in the novel environment are not granted. Notably, transferred genes can differ from the receiving genome in codon usage preferences, leading to impaired translation and reduced functionality. Here, we characterize the genomic and proteomic changes undergone during experimental evolution of Escherichia coli after HGT of three synonymous versions, presenting very different codon usage preference, of an antibiotic resistance gene. The experimental evolution was conducted with and without…
Genomic characterization of a local epidemic Pseudomonas aeruginosa reveals specific features of the widespread clone ST395
2017
International audience; Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous opportunistic pathogen with several clones being frequently associated with outbreaks in hospital settings. ST395 is among these so-called 'international' clones. We aimed here to define the biological features that could have helped the implantation and spread of the clone ST395 in hospital settings. The complete genome of a multidrug resistant index isolate (DHS01) of a large hospital outbreak was analysed. We identified DHS01-specific genetic elements, among which were identified those shared with a panel of six independent ST395 isolates responsible for outbreaks in other hospitals. DHS01 has the fifth largest chromosome of …
Constitutive activation of MexT by amino acid substitutions results in MexEF-OprN overproduction in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
2018
ABSTRACT When overproduced, the multidrug efflux system MexEF-OprN increases the resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to fluoroquinolones, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim. In this work, we demonstrate that gain-of-function mutations in the regulatory gene mexT result in oligomerization of the LysR regulator MexT, constitutive upregulation of the efflux pump, and increased resistance in clinical isolates.
Role of AxyZ Transcriptional Regulator in Overproduction of AxyXY-OprZ Multidrug Efflux System in Achromobacter Species Mutants Selected by Tobramycin
2017
ABSTRACT AxyXY-OprZ is an RND-type efflux system that confers innate aminoglycoside resistance to Achromobacter spp. We investigated here a putative TetR family transcriptional regulator encoded by the axyZ gene located upstream of axyXY-oprZ . An in-frame axyZ gene deletion assay led to increased MICs of antibiotic substrates of the efflux system, including aminoglycosides, cefepime, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and erythromycin, indicating that the product of axyZ negatively regulates expression of axyXY-oprZ . Moreover, we identified an amino acid substitution at position 29 of AxyZ (V29G) in a clinical Achromobacter strain that occurred during the course of chronic respiratory tract…
[How some commensal bacteria would exacerbate colorectal carcinogenesis?].
2016
International audience; The gut microbiota maintains a relationship with its host with strong mutual benefits. Changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota have been detected in colorectal cancer patients to the extent that it is now considered as a real contributing factor in this pathology. In this review, we focus on three commensal bacterial species, namely Bacteroides fragilis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Escherichia coli, which seem to emerge as pathogens and to contribute to colorectal carcinogenesis through their inflammatory and oncogenic properties.; Le microbiote intestinal entretient une relation mutualiste forte avec l’hôte. Depuis la mise en évidence de modificatio…
Recommendations for enterovirus diagnostics and characterisation within and beyond Europe
2018
Enteroviruses (EV) can cause severe neurological and respiratory infections, and occasionally lead to devastating outbreaks as previously demonstrated with EV-A71 and EV-D68 in Europe. However, these infections are still often underdiagnosed and EV typing data is not currently collected at European level. In order to improve EV diagnostics, collate data on severe EV infections and monitor the circulation of EV types, we have established European non-polio enterovirus network (ENPEN). First task of this cross-border network has been to ensure prompt and adequate diagnosis of these infections in Europe, and hence we present recommendations for non-polio EV detection and typing based on the co…
High prevalence and moderate diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the U-bends of high-risk units in hospital
2017
The presence of P. aeruginosa in water supply is clearly identified as a risk factor for P. aeruginosa infection in critical care units, even if routes of transmission are often unclear and remain a matter of debate. We determined here the frequency of U-bends contaminated with P. aeruginosa in high-risk units and described the population structure of this opportunistic pathogen in a non-outbreak situation. Eighty-seven U-bends from sinks of rooms in five wards were sampled 3 times and P. aeruginosa was detected in 121 of the 261 (46.4%) U-bend samples. We genotyped 123 P. aeruginosa isolates with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing and found 41 pulsotypes distri…
Development of a database for the rapid and accurate routine identification of Achromobacter species by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-t…
2019
International audience; Objectives: Achromobacter spp. are emerging pathogens in respiratory samples from cystic fibrosis patients. The current reference methods (nrdA-sequencing or multilocus sequence typing) can identify 18 species which are often misidentified by conventional techniques as A. xylosoxidans. A few studies have suggested that matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) provides accurate identification of the genus but not of species. The aims of this study were (a) to generate a database for MALDI-TOF/MS Bruker including the 18 species, (b) to evaluate the suitability of the database for routine laboratory identification, and …