Conventional plastics and bioplastics are known to accumulate in aquatic ecosystems, emerging as new surfaces for biofilm formation and gene exchanges. On the contrary, the fate of non-conventional bioplastics in the marine environment is still unclear. In this study we have measured by means of crystal violet test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) the ability of two model bacteria, Vibrio harveyi

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), particularly lactobacilli, are major components of the vaginal microbiota. Lactobacilli are facultative anaerobes forming a critical line of defense against pathogenic microorganisms, including those forming biofilms, such as Candida spp. This study aimed to investigate the anti-adhesion capabilities of vaginal Lactobacillus isolates against biofilms formed by pathogenic

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections represent an important health problem that has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a research priority. A complex regulatory network called the quorum sensing (QS) regulates several P. aeruginosa virulence-related traits, including production of elastase, rhamnolipids and pyocyanin. The avirulent P. aeruginosa strain ATCC 9027 belongs to clade 3, which

Quorum sensing is a mechanism of genetic control allowing single cell organisms to coordinate phenotypic response(s) across a local population and is often critical for ecosystem function. Although quorum sensing has been extensively studied in bacteria comparatively less is known about this mechanism in Archaea. Given the growing significance of Archaea in both natural and anthropogenic settings,

Preservation of cheese microbiota biodiversity is central to the sensory quality of traditional and PDO cheeses. Lyophilized commercial selected starters, being advantageous in terms of cells concentration, are supplanting natural cultures causing important loss of microbial biodiversity in the dairy environment. Biodiversity could be recovered using natural starter cultures, however their cells concentration

A Gram-stain-negative and flagellated bacterial strain, SHSM-M6T, was isolated from salt marsh from Yellow Sea, Republic of Korea. Neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SHSM-M6T belongs to the genus Shewanella. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values between strain SHSM-M6T and the type strains of Shewanella species were less than 98.0%. The ANI and dDDH

Organic acids such as monocarboxylic acids, dicarboxylic acids or even more complex molecules such as sugar acids, have displayed great applicability in the industry as these compounds are used as platform chemicals for polymer, food, agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors. Chemical synthesis of these compounds from petroleum derivatives is currently their major source of production. However, increasing

This study aimed to assess the microbiological quality of natural mineral waters commercialized in 20 L returnable packs in Brazil by investigating bacteria and virus's presence in packs with different time of manufacturing (Tm). With this purpose 99 water samples from 33 lots (n = 3/batch) of 15 brands, obtained from packs with three intervals of Tm were analyzed. Total coliforms (16.2%), Pseudomonas

To better understand the relationship between the response to acid mine drainage (AMD) stress of tolerant plants and changes in root-related bacterial communities. In this study, reed stems were planted in AMD-polluted and unpolluted soils, and high-throughput sequencing was conducted to analyze the bacterial community composition in the soil, rhizosphere, rhizoplane and endosphere. The results showed

Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) is an etiological cause of cholera implicated in several pandemics. Antibacterial activity of plant extracts has been established. However, these extracts exhibit activity at a concentration which may alter organoleptic attributes of water and food, hence limiting their application. In this light, there is need to device ways of reducing plant extracts effective levels

Campylobacter is a leading causative pathogen of acute bacterial gastroenteritis among humans. Contaminated chicken products are regarded as major sources of human infection. The flagellar capping protein (FliD), which plays important roles in colonization and adhesion to the mucosal surface of chicken caeca, is conserved among Campylobacter jejuni strains. In this study, the recombinant C. jejuni

Bacterial communication system known as quorum-sensing (QS) is a pivotal system for bacterial survival, adaptation and pathogenesis. Members in the multicellular community may synthesize or acquire a signaling molecule in order to elicit downstream cellular processes. Roles of indole and derivatives, a new class of quorum-sensing signal molecules, in various bacterial physiologies and virulence have

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) is a key soil functional group, with an important potential to increase crop productivity and sustainable agriculture including food security. However, there is clear evidence that land uses, crop rotations and soil features affect the AMF diversity and their community functioning in many agroecosystems. So far, the information related to AMF biodiversity in ecosystems

A Gram stain-negative, aerobic, motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated CAU 1509T, was isolated from marine sediment, and its taxonomic position was determined using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain CAU 1509T formed a distinct lineage within the genus Sinimarinibacterium with the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Sinimarinibacterium

A novel approach was developed to extract the extracellular DNA (eDNA), i.e. the free DNA outside the microbial cell, compared to the intracellular DNA (iDNA). The two DNA fractions were investigated in seven long-ripened cheeses. Among different buffer solutions tested, EDTA 0.5 M at pH 8 enabled a mild homogenization of cheese samples and the highest eDNA recovery. The extraction protocol was tested

Proteinase PrtP (EC:3.4.21.96) is a cell envelope proteinase (CEP) highly expressed in the probiotic strain Lactobacillus paracasei BL312(VSL#3) that accounts for its anti-inflammatory properties. The main aim of this work is to understand differences in CEP expression between this strain and L. paracasei BL23. Hence, differences in the regulation by amino acid sources of four proteinase related genes

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a gastrointestinal disease. The link between gut microbiota and the inflammatory response in the gut has been recently established. Restoration of gut microbiota suppresses inflammatory signaling. Kuijieling (KJL) decoction, an experimental Chinese medicine formula could ameliorate the symptom of colitis. However, the involvement of gut microbiota in its curative effect remains

A novel proteobacterial bacterium, designated strain CAU 1489T, was isolated from Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. Cells were strictly anaerobic, Gram stain-negative, cream-pigmented, non-spore-forming, motile and short rod-shaped. Strain CAU 1489T exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (98.2%) to Nitratireductor mangrovi SY7T. Multilocus sequence analysis of 16S rRNA and four housekeeping

A novel alphaproteobacterium, designated as KMU-115T, was isolated from seawater collected on the coast of Chuam Beach, Republic of Korea, and subjected to a polyphasic characterization. The cells were pale apricot-colored, strictly aerobic, Gram-staining-negative, rod-shaped, non-motile and chemoorganoheterotrophic. The novel isolate grew at NaCl concentrations of 0–7%, pH 6.0–9.5 and 10–45°C. A phylogenetic

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.), among the main crops belonging to the Solanaceae family, are attacked by several pathogens. Among them Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici and Rhizoctonia solani are very common and cause significant losses. Four plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, Azospirillum brasilense, Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, Herbaspirillum

Histidine biosynthesis is one of the most characterized metabolic routes for its antiquity and its central role in cellular metabolism; indeed, it represents a cross-road between nitrogen metabolism and de novo synthesis of purines. This interconnection is due to the activity of imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase, a heterodimeric enzyme constituted by the products of two his genes, hisH and hisF

The genus Clostridium consists of a diverse group of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. The non-pathogenic clostridia contain several solventogenic members of industrial importance, such as Clostridium acetobutylicum or C. beijerinckii. In the process of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation, these strains are used in large scale fermentation plants since almost 100 years. Soon after establishment

Education for the general public about antibiotic resistance is advocated as a key component of our response to this crisis. Since this is a multidisciplinary problem encompassing natural, medical and social sciences, it is an educational challenge as both students and lecturers will have vastly different backgrounds in the topics. Here we describe an online multidisciplinary course on antibiotic resistance

This study investigated the genetic basis of multidrug resistance in two strains of Achromobacter xylosoxidans isolated from patients attending a hospital in Thailand in 2012. These isolates were highly resistant to cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, co-trimoxazole and carbapenems. Whole genome sequencing revealed that the two isolates were not clonally related and identified a carbapenem

Acid stress is an environmental problem for plants and fresh water cyanobacteria like the filamentous, heterocyst forming species Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 (hereafter Anabaena sp.). Heterocyst differentiation, cell-cell communication, and nitrogen fixation has been deeply studied in this model organism, but little is known about the cellular response of Anabaena sp. to decreased pH values, causing acid

The main transcriptional regulator of leucine biosynthesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the transcription factor Leu3. It has previously been reported that Leu3 always binds to its target genes but requires activation to induce their expression. In a recent large-scale study of high-resolution transcription factor binding site identification, we showed that Leu3 has divergent binding sites

Autotrophic microorganisms catalyze the entry of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; = CO2 + HCO3− + CO32−) into the biological component of the global carbon cycle, despite dramatic differences in DIC abundance and composition in their sometimes extreme environments. ‘Cyanobacteria’ are known to have CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) to facilitate growth under low CO2 conditions. These CCMs consist

The present work studied the fermentative potential and carbon metabolism of an indigenous yeast isolated from Lebanese apples for cider production. The indigenous yeast strain was isolated from a spontaneous fermented juice of the Lebanese apple variety ‘Ace spur’. The sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) domain of ribosomal DNA identified the isolated yeast strain as a member of the

This minireview considers the disruption of the host-microbiota harmless symbiosis in the subgingival niche. The establishment of a chronic infection by subversion of a commensal microbiota results from a complex and multiparametric sequence of events. This review narrows down to the interplay between oxygen, iron and sulfide that can result in a vicious cycle that would favour peroxigenic and glutathione

In this work, the gene of conjugated linoleic acids hydrase (CLA-HY) was cloned from the L. plantarum p-8, and the protein of CLA-HY was expressed in the E. coli BL21. GC-MS was employed to verify that the purified CLA-HY can convert Linoleic Acid (LA) into 10-hydroxy-cis-12-octadecenoic acid (10-HOE) in the presence of FAD. And the optimal pH and temperature for maximizing CLA-HY catalytic activity

The most important oenological characteristics of high-quality sparkling wines are high content of acidity and low pH. Racemes are late-maturing grapes of Grillo variety characterized by low pH and high content of tartaric and malic acids and, due to their intrinsic characteristics, might represent an interesting technological solution to increase acid quality of base sparkling wine. To this purpose

Wetlands have been proposed as a sink for pollutants such as heavy metals. Wetland plants play a significant role in the phytoremediation of heavy metals. Here, we isolated and characterized three novel nickel (Ni)-resistant endophytic bacteria (NiEB) from the wetland plant Tamarix chinensis. The NiEB were identified as Stenotrophomonas sp. S20, Pseudomonas sp. P21 and Sphingobium sp. S42. All isolates

In recent years, names of ∼170 new genera and ∼1,020 new species were added annually to the list of prokaryotic names with standing in the nomenclature. These names were formed in accordance with the Rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Most of these names are not very interesting as specific epithets and word elements from existing names are repeatedly recycled. The rules

Viruses, especially bacteriophages are thought to have important functions in the deep-sea ecosystem, but little is known about the induction mechanism of benthic phages towards environmental change. Our prior work characterized a cold-active filamentous phage SW1 which infects the deep-sea bacterium Shewanella piezotolerans WP3; however, the underlying mechanism of this putative thermo-regulated genetic

Food safety is always a global issue, due to the increased dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and food poisoning related to foodborne bacterial pathogens. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk of potential foodborne bacteria of beef and mutton at retail stores. A total of 134 samples were collected from 24 local markets in Beijing, including raw and cooked beef or mutton, as well

In vitro gut fermentation models were firstly introduced in nutrition and applied microbiology research back in the nineties. These models have improved greatly during time, mainly over the resemblance to the complexity of digestion stages, the replication of experimental conditions, the multitude of ecological parameters to assay. The state of the science is that the most competitive models shall

Streptococcus gordonii is a commensal colonizer of oral cavity that initiates the formation of dental plaque. Oxyresveratrol is a natural purification from plants with antibacterial effects on various oral bacteria including Streptococcus mutans. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of oxyresveratrol on S. gordonii. The basic viability, biofilm formation and cell aggregation of S. gordonii

In the above article, author Marius Ortjohann's name was initially misspelt as ‘Orthjohann.’ This has now been corrected.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen that is able to produce several virulence factors such as pyocyanin, rhamnolipids and elastase. In the clinical reference strain PAO1, synthesis of these virulence factors is regulated transcriptionally by quorum sensing (QS) and post-transcriptionally by the Rsm system. Herein, we investigated the role of these systems in the control of the

Patents for microbiology and biotechnology are generally for a process (for example DNA cloning; Cohen and Boyer 1980; and polymerase chain reaction, PCR; Mullis 1987) and not for the microbe itself. The patent for oil degrading bacteria (Chakrabarty 1981) was different in that it covered the modified microbial cell itself, a Pseudomonas strain with laboratory-assembled plasmids that encoded the bacterial

After brewing roasted coffee spent coffee grounds (SCG) are generated being one of the daily wastes emerging in dominant countries with high rate and big quantity. E. coli BW25113 wild type strain, mutants with defects in hydrogen (H2) producing/oxidizing four hydrogenases (Hyd) (ΔhyaB ΔhybC, ΔhycE, ΔhyfG) and septuple mutant (ΔhyaB ΔhybC ΔhycA ΔfdoG ΔldhA ΔfrdC ΔaceE) were investigated by measuring

Microbial metabarcoding is the standard approach to assess communities' diversity. However reports are often limited to simple OTU abundances for each phylum, giving rather one-dimensional views of microbial assemblages, overlooking other accessible aspects. The first is masked by databases incompleteness; OTU picking involves clustering at 97% (near-species) sequence identity, but different OTUs regularly

Fresh fruits are a potential source of many different pathogens, including bacteria, enteric viruses and protozoa that may pose serious health risks. The consumption of raspberries has been widely associated with large foodborne outbreaks and because of the low concentration at which most of these pathogens are found, sensitive and accurate detection methods are required. Methods that would allow for

Phylogenetically diverse rhizobial strains endemic to Tunisia were isolated from symbiotic nodules of Lotus creticus, growing on different arid extremophile geographical regions of Tunisia, and speciated using multiloci-phylogenetic analysis as Neorhizobium huautlense (LCK33, LCK35, LCO42 and LCO49), Ensifer numidicus (LCD22, LCD25, LCK22 and LCK25), Ensifer meliloti (LCK8, LCK9 and LCK12), and Mesorhizobium

Lineage-specific genes (LSGs) are defined as genes with sequences that are not significantly similar to those in any other lineage. LSGs have been proposed, and sometimes shown, to have significant effects in the evolution of biological function. In this study, two sets of Hanseniaspora spp. LSGs were identified by comparing the sequences of the Kloeckera apiculata genome and of 80 other yeast genomes

Aquaculture plays an important role in human nutrition and economic development but is often expanded to the detriment of the natural environment. Several research projects, aimed at cultivating microalgae in aquaculture wastewaters (AWWs) to reduce organic loads and minerals, along with the production of microalgal cell mass and metabolic products, are underway. Microalgal cell mass is of high nutritional

Bile salts, including sodium deoxycholate (DOC), are secreted into the intestine to aid fat digestion and contribute to antimicrobial protection. Gram-negative pathogens such as Escherichia coli, however, are highly resistant to DOC, using multiple mechanisms of which the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB-TolC is the dominant one. Given that TolC-mediated efflux masks the interaction of DOC with potential

Diversity studies of endophytic assemblages are emerging challenges, which unveils novel phenotypes producing interesting chemical entities and a better understanding of their ecological significance. In the present investigation, we selected an extremely complex and unique environment supporting unexplored endophytes, 'Macroalgae of Kerala Coast, India'. Unlike terrestrial flora and mangroves, reports

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the main models to study social behaviors in bacteria since it synthesizes several exoproducts, including exoproteases and siderophores and release them to the environment. Exoproteases and siderophores are public goods that can be utilized by the individuals that produce them but also by non-producers, that are considered social cheaters. Molecularly exoprotease cheaters

Lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum, has been applied, for centuries, for food and drink fermentations. Given the benefits associated with fermented products, Lb. plantarum strains have captured considerable industrial and scientific interest, so that they are included as fundamental components of functional foods. Indeed, some strains are marketed as probiotics. In the present study, food

Pseudomonas putida and closely-related species such as Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas brassicacearum have been reported as potential biocontrol agents and plant growth-promoters. Recently, we have described the biocontrol activity of P. putida B2017 against several phytopathogens of agricultural relevance. In this study, its ability to produce potential antibiotic / toxic metabolites was assessed

A Gram-stain-negative bacterial strain, JBTF-M27T, was isolated from a tidal flat from Yellow Sea, Republic of Korea. Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain JBTF-M27T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of Sulfitobacter species. Strain JBTF-M27T exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (98.8%) to the type strain of S. porphyrae

Previously we showed that contamination of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells by Mycoplasma hyorhinis strains NDMh and MCLD leads to increased levels of calpastatin (the endogenous, specific inhibitor of the Ca2+-dependent protease calpain), resulting in inhibition of calpain activation. We have found that the increased calpastatin level is promoted by the lipoprotein fraction (MhLpp) of the mycoplasmal membrane

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide composed of two α-glucose molecules and synthesized by an enzyme complex containing four subunits TPS1 (EC 2.4.1.15), TPS2 (EC 3.1.3.12), TPS3, and TSL1. First reports about trehalose classified this sugar as an energy reserve compound like glycogen. However, lately, trehalose is known to assist yeast cells during heat, osmotic, and starvation stresses. In Saccharomyces

The main hypothesis of this work was to evaluate the presence of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) intrinsically resistant to plant essential oils in sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and laurel (Laurus nobilis), for future applications in functional cheese production by addition of aromatic herbs. The effect of the drying process on the viability of LAB was evaluated with three biomass densities (3, 4 and 5 kg/m2)

Fire blight, caused by plant pathogenic bacterium Erwinia amylovora, is one of the most important diseases of Rosaceae plants. Due to the lack of effective control measures, fire blight infections pose a recurrent threat on agricultural production worldwide. Recently, bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages, have been proposed as environmentally friendly natural antimicrobial agents for fire blight control

This manuscript has been amended to correct Fig. 3. In the initial publication although the images were labeled accurately, the figure should have included microscopy images of the complemented P. chlororaphis PA23anr mutant, ANR (ANR), and should not have contained the P. chlororaphis PA23phzR strain, phzR. The author apologises for this mistake and any confusion it has caused.

Soil inhabiting true branching heterocytous cyanobacterium strain SNS 3 with T-type branching was collected from the campus of Banaras Hindu University, India and characterized using the polyphasic approach. Morphological observations showed the presence of akinetes (in chain), hormogonia and monocytes. Physiological characterization of strain SNS 3 showed high content of carotenoid in comparison to

Aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria of the Alphaproteobacteria have been found to express a novel ribosomally synthesized post-translationally modified polypeptide (RiPP) termed methanobactin (MB). The primary function of MB in these microbes appears to be for copper uptake, but MB has been shown to have multiple capabilities, including oxidase, superoxide dismutase and hydrogen peroxide reductase activities

The European Culture Collections' Organisation presents two new model documents for Material Deposit Agreement (MDA) and Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) designed to enable microbial culture collection leaders to draft appropriate agreement documents for, respectively, deposit and supply of materials from a public collection. These tools provide guidance to collections seeking to draft an MDA and