Search results for "microbiology"

The LuxR Regulators PcoR and RfiA Co-regulate Antimicrobial Peptide and Alginate Production in Pseudomonas corrugata

2018

Cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) are considered as some of the most important secondary metabolites in different plant-associated bacteria, thanks to their antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and surfactant properties. In this study, our aim was to investigate the role of the Quorum Sensing (QS) system, PcoI/PcoR, and the LuxR-type transcriptional regulator RfiA in CLP production in the phytopatogenic bacterium, Pseudomonas corrugata based on our previous work where we reported that the pcoR and rfiA mutants were devoid of the CLPs cormycin and corpeptin production. Due to the close genetic link between the QS system and the RfiA (rfiA is co-transcribed with pcoI), it was difficult to ascertain the specifi…

Linking Only Aedes aegypti with Zika Virus Has World-Wide Public Health Implications

2017

Flor Yeast Diversity and Dynamics in Biologically Aged Wines

2018

International audience; Wine biological aging is characterized by the development of yeast strains that form a biofilm on the wine surface after alcoholic fermentation. These yeasts, known as flor yeasts, form a velum that protects the wine from oxidation during aging. Thirty-nine velums aged from 1 to 6 years were sampled from "Vin jaune" from two different cellars. We show for the first time that these velums possess various aspects in term of color and surface aspects. Surprisingly, the heterogeneous velums are mostly composed of one species, S. cerevisiae. Scanning electron microscope observations of these velums revealed unprecedented biofilm structures and various yeast morphologies f…

Assessment of ISO Method 15216 to Quantify Hepatitis E Virus in Bottled Water

2020

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the causative agents of water-borne human viral hepatitis and considered in Europe an emerging zoonotic pathogen. Analysis of bottled water through a standard method validated for HEV can contribute towards the risk management of this hazard. Putting some recent reports by the European Food Safety Authority in place, this study aimed to assess the performance of the concentration and extraction procedures described in ISO 15216-1:2017 for norovirus and hepatitis A virus on HEV detection. Following the ISO recommendation, the bottled water samples were spiked using serially diluted HEV fecal suspensions together with mengovirus as process control and concent…

Multi-virion infectious units arise from free viral particles in an enveloped virus

2017

Many animal viruses are enveloped in a lipid bilayer uptaken from cellular membranes. Since viral surface proteins bind to these membranes to initiate infection, we hypothesized that free virions may also be capable of interacting with the envelopes of other virions extracellularly. Here, we demonstrate this hypothesis in the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a prototypic negative-strand RNA virus composed by an internal ribonucleocapsid, a matrix protein, and an external envelope1. Using microscopy, dynamic light scattering, differential centrifugation, and flow cytometry, we show that free viral particles can spontaneously aggregate into multi-virion infectious units. We also show that, f…

Viability RT-qPCR to Distinguish Between HEV and HAV With Intact and Altered Capsids

2018

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging pathogen showing a considerable increase in the number of reported cases in Europe mainly related to the ingestion of contaminated food. As with other relevant viral foodborne pathogens, real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the gold standard for HEV detection in clinical, food, and environmental samples, but these procedures cannot discriminate between inactivated and potentially infectious viruses. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a viability PCR method to discriminate between native, heat-, and high-pressure processing (HPP)-treated HEV using the hepatitis A virus (HAV) as a cultivable surrogate. To thi…

Collective Infectious Units in Viruses

2017

Increasing evidence indicates that viruses do not simply propagate as independent virions among cells, organs, and hosts. Instead, viral spread is often mediated by structures that simultaneously transport groups of viral genomes, such as polyploid virions, aggregates of virions, virion-containing proteinaceous structures, secreted lipid vesicles, and virus-induced cell-cell contacts. These structures increase the multiplicity of infection, independently of viral population density and transmission bottlenecks. Collective infectious units may contribute to the maintenance of viral genetic diversity, and could have implications for the evolution of social-like virus-virus interactions. These…

2020

Coxsackievirus B (CVB) enteroviruses are common pathogens that can cause acute and chronic myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, aseptic meningitis, and they are hypothesized to be a causal factor in type 1 diabetes. The licensed enterovirus vaccines and those currently in clinical development are traditional inactivated or live attenuated vaccines. Even though these vaccines work well in the prevention of enterovirus diseases, new vaccine technologies, like virus-like particles (VLPs), can offer important advantages in the manufacturing and epitope engineering. We have previously produced VLPs for CVB3 and CVB1 in insect cells. Here, we describe the production of CVB3-VLPs with enhanced pro…

Use of autochthonous yeasts and bacteria in order to control Brettanomyces bruxellensis in wine

2017

Biocontrol strategies for the limitation of undesired microbial developments in foods and beverages represent a keystone toward the goal of more sustainable food systems. Brettanomyces bruxellensis is a wine spoilage microorganism that produces several compounds that are detrimental for the organoleptic quality of the wine, including some classes of volatile phenols. To control the proliferation of this yeast, sulfur dioxide is commonly employed, but the efficiency of this compound depends on the B. bruxellensis strain; and it is subject to wine composition and may induce the entrance in a viable, but nonculturable state of yeasts. Moreover, it can also elicit allergic reactions in humans. …

Wine microbiome : A dynamic world of microbial interactions

2015

International audience; Most fermented products are generated by a mixture of microbes. These microbial consortia perform various biological activities responsible for the nutritional, hygienic, and aromatic qualities of the product. Wine is no exception. Substantial yeast and bacterial biodiversity is observed on grapes, and in both must and wine. The diverse microorganisms present interact throughout the winemaking process. The interactions modulate the hygienic and sensorial properties of the wine. Many studies have been conducted to elucidate the nature of these interactions, with the aim of establishing better control of the two fermentations occurring during wine processing. However, …