Article
Microbiology
Julian Schwanbeck, Ines Oehmig, Uwe Gross, Wolfgang Bohne
Summary: This study systematically investigated the effect of various amino acids and carbohydrates on the swimming velocity of Clostridioides difficile. It was found that proline and cysteine are the most important amino acids for powering swimming motility, while glycine is not critical. Additionally, a maximal swimming motility can be achieved with only four compounds, including specific amino acids and interchangeable carbohydrate sources.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paul J. Hensbergen, Arnoud H. de Ru, Annemieke H. Friggen, Jeroen Corver, Wiep Klaas Smits, Peter A. van Veelen
Summary: In this study, we demonstrate that a commonly used enrichment strategy can reliably identify peptides carrying a type A glycan modification and discovered a rare modification structure. These findings can be used to advance the understanding of biosynthesis models for this modification.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark A. B. Kreutzberger, Virginija Cvirkaite-Krupovic, Ying Liu, Diana P. Baquero, Junfeng Liu, Ravi R. Sonani, Chris R. Calladine, Fengbin Wang, Mart Krupovic, Edward H. Egelman
Summary: Flagellar motility has independently evolved three times in bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. The supercoiled flagellar filaments in bacteria and archaea are composed of single proteins, while in eukaryotes, the flagellum contains hundreds of proteins. We used cryo-electron microscopy to determine the atomic structure of two additional archaeal type IV pili and reanalyzed previous structures to uncover the evolutionary link between the flagellar system and type IV pili in archaea. This study provides important insights into the evolution and function of flagellar systems.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
David M. Hershey, Aretha Fiebig, Sean Crosson
Summary: In this study, genes required for Caulobacter crescentus to activate surface attachment in response to signals from flagellum were identified. The genes involved in transmitting information from the flagellum are grouped into two pathways, one controlling the bacterium's morphogenesis program and the other required for flagellar motility. The results support a model where a developmental and a mechanical signaling pathway operate in parallel downstream of the flagellum and converge to regulate adhesion.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sudarshan Gadadhar, Gonzalo Alvarez Viar, Jan Niklas Hansen, An Gong, Aleksandr Kostarev, Come Ialy-Radio, Sophie Leboucher, Marjorie Whitfield, Ahmed Ziyyat, Aminata Toure, Luis Alvarez, Gaia Pigino, Carsten Janke
Summary: This study demonstrates the importance of tubulin glycylation for controlled flagellar beating, directional sperm swimming, and male fertility by utilizing a mouse model lacking this modification. The lack of glycylation led to abnormal dynein arm conformations in sperm axonemes, resulting in subfertility in male mice due to aberrant beat patterns of sperm flagella.
Review
Microbiology
Remy Colin, Bin Ni, Leanid Laganenka, Victor Sourjik
Summary: Swimming bacteria can follow gradients of nutrients and signaling molecules for optimal growth, with chemotaxis enhancing efficiency in environmental colonization. The balance between individual and collective behaviors is crucial, with multiple roles of motility and chemotaxis in bacterial swarming, biofilm formation, and interactions with hosts.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Sebastian Suerbaum, Nina Coombs, Lubna Patel, Dimitri Pscheniza, Katharina Rox, Christine Falk, Achim D. Gruber, Olivia Kershaw, Patrick Chhatwal, Mark Broenstrup, Ursula Bilitewski, Christine Josenhans
Summary: This study developed a novel screening system for inhibitors of H. pylori motility and flagellar assembly, and identified numerous novel antibacterial and anti-motility compounds (antimotilins). One of the antimotilin compounds showed good efficacy in reducing bacterial colonization in a mouse model, indicating its potential as a therapy against H. pylori infection.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Dario Cortese, Kirsty Y. Wan
Summary: This study demonstrates that the rolling motion of the biflagellate Chlamydomonas reinhardtii during swimming is derived from a nonplanar flagellar beat pattern, and a 3D model is constructed to explain this phenomenon. It is found that helical swimming requires further symmetry breaking between the two flagella, which is crucial for phototactic responses.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mark A. B. Kreutzberger, Ravi R. Sonani, Junfeng Liu, Sharanya Chatterjee, Fengbin Wang, Amanda L. Sebastian, Priyanka Biswas, Cheryl Ewing, Weili Zheng, Frederic Poly, Gad Frankel, B. F. Luisi, Chris R. Calladine, Mart Krupovic, Birgit E. Scharf, Edward H. Egelman
Summary: This study investigates the supercoiling structures of bacterial and archaeal flagellar filaments, revealing the atomic structures that enable stable supercoiling under torsional stress. The results suggest the significance of convergent evolution in microbial locomotion.
Article
Biology
Ashwin Nandagiri, Avinash Satish Gaikwad, David L. Potter, Reza Nosrati, Julio Soria, Moira K. O'Bryan, Sameer Jadhav, Ranganathan Prabhakar
Summary: The study investigated the energetics of flagella or cilia in mouse sperm. It found that a large portion of the mechanical power exerted by the dynein motors is dissipated internally, rather than in the aqueous medium outside. Additionally, the net power input from the dynein motors in sperm from Crisp2-knockout mice is significantly smaller than in wildtype samples.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Benjamin Russell, Ariel Rogers, Ryan Yoder, Matthew Kurilich, Venkata Rao Krishnamurthi, Jingyi Chen, Yong Wang
Summary: Silver (Ag) in different forms has gained attention for its antimicrobial activities, especially as bacteria become more resistant to antibiotics. However, the mechanism of how Ag affects bacterial motility is not fully understood. In this study, we found that Ag+ ions significantly inhibited the motility of E. coli bacteria and increased the tumbling/pausing frequency. Using the hidden Markov model (HMM), we analyzed the results and found that Ag+ ions decreased the bacterial tumbling/pausing-to-running transition rate. This work provides new quantitative understanding of Ag-based antimicrobial agents in bacterial motility.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kogiku Shiba, Kazuo Inaba
Summary: Flagellar motility in sperm is activated and regulated by factors related to the eggs at fertilization. In this study, the researchers focused on the role of soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) in the regulation of flagellar motility in Ciona sperm chemotaxis. The results showed that sAC plays a key role in sperm chemotaxis by regulating the clearance of intracellular calcium ions ([Ca2+]i) and modulating Ca2+-dependent flagellar waveform conversion.
Article
Microbiology
Qun Han, Shao-Feng Wang, Xin-Xin Qian, Lu Guo, Yi-Feng Shi, Rui He, Jun-Hua Yuan, Yan-Jie Hou, De-Feng Li
Summary: In E. coli and related species, the flagellar brake protein YcgR responds to increased levels of c-di-GMP and regulates bacterial swimming by decreasing flagellar rotation speed and biasing rotation direction. The target proteins involved and the role of motor proteins in this regulation are still unclear. This study found that YcgR interacts with both MotA and FliG, with enhanced affinities upon c-di-GMP binding. Furthermore, specific residues in YcgR were found to be necessary for binding to FliG. Mutations in these binding residues restored flagellar rotation speed and bias in wild-type cells. Thus, c-di-GMP-activated YcgR regulates flagellar rotation speed and direction through interactions with motor proteins MotA and FliG.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Sushant Powar, Farin Yazdan Parast, Ashwin Nandagiri, Avinash S. Gaikwad, David L. Potter, Moira K. O'Bryan, Ranganathan Prabhakar, Julio Soria, Reza Nosrati
Summary: This study introduces an automated platform that uses thin-lens approximation and high-speed dark field microscopy to reconstruct sperm flagellar waveform in 3D, enabling analysis of sperm swimming behavior. The study found that head-tethered mouse sperm exhibit a rolling beating behavior in 3D, and discovered the properties of their flagellar waveform.
Article
Microbiology
Antai Tao, Guangzhe Liu, Rongjing Zhang, Junhua Yuan
Summary: The cytoplasmic ring of the bacterial flagellar motor controls the rotation direction and undergoes adaptive remodeling. By measuring the copy numbers of FliM molecules in different rotating motors, it was found that there are more FliM molecules than previously estimated, suggesting a new mechanism of C-ring adaptation. All of the FliM molecules in the C-ring are involved in chemotaxis signaling transduction.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kimberlynn McDonald, Justin B. Renaud, Frances R. Pick, J. David Miller, Mark W. Sumarah, David R. McMullin
Summary: Cyanobacteria produce structurally diverse bioactive metabolites, including cyanopeptolins, which are a large group of cyanopeptides. This study used diagnostic fragmentation filtering (DFF) to investigate cyanopeptolin diversity from Microcystis strains and bloom samples collected from Canadian lakes, detecting 48 different cyanopeptolins. DFF is a rapid and easy-to-perform metabolomics strategy for inferring structural features and prioritizing new compounds for further study.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Serine Ramlawi, Sawsan Abusharkh, Alexa Carroll, David R. McMullin, Tyler J. Avis
Summary: This study demonstrates that Arthrobacter humicola and Arthrobacter psychrophenolicus strains can effectively inhibit the growth of various plant pathogens and have some inhibitory effects on black mold disease. Among them, the strain of A. psychrophenolicus shows strong inhibitory effects and exhibits antifungal activity under different experimental conditions.
JOURNAL OF BASIC MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Kimberlynn McDonald, Hans J. Langenbahn, J. David Miller, David R. McMullin
Summary: Research has found that coffee silverskin can be safely used as a component in value-added products, providing fiber, antioxidants, and caffeine, with minimal impact on dietary oxidized phytosterols.
JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Yanwen Shao, Hosahalli S. Ramaswamy, Jeff Bussey, Richard Harris, John W. Austin
Summary: The study found that high-pressure high-temperature treatment can effectively kill Clostridium botulinum spores, with destruction rates increasing with higher pressures and temperatures. Thermal inactivation was identified as the main mode of spore destruction at temperatures exceeding 120 degrees Celsius.
LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mika Gallati, Bryant Point, Christopher W. Reid
Summary: Peptidoglycan in bacterial cell wall is a unique macromolecular structure that shapes bacteria and protects them from the environment. Understanding how PG degradation influences biosynthesis and cell wall assembly is essential.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Brad A. Haubrich, Saman Nayyab, Mika Gallati, Jazmeen Hernandez, Caroline Williams, Andrew Whitman, Tahl Zimmerman, Qiong Li, Yuxing Chen, Cong-Zhao Zhou, Amit Basu, Christopher W. Reid
Summary: Despite the renewed interest in the field of chemical biology, the development of methods to study peptidoglycan metabolism lags behind glycobiology. In this study, a panel of diamides were screened against Streptococcus pneumoniae and masarimycin was identified as an inhibitor of bacterial growth. The mode-of-action of masarimycin involves perturbation of peptidoglycan degradation and it interacts indirectly with LytB. Furthermore, the treatment with masarimycin led to the overexpression of moonlighting proteins and exhibited an antagonistic relationship with fosfomycin, a cell wall targeting antibiotic.
Article
Microbiology
Brigitte Cadieux, Opeyemi U. Lawal, Jean-Guillaume Emond-Rheault, Julie Jeukens, Luca Freschi, Irena Kukavica-Ibrulj, Roger C. Levesque, John W. Austin, Lawrence Goodridge
Summary: Clostridium botulinum is a pathogen responsible for severe food-borne intoxication. This study reports the draft genome sequences of two C. botulinum strains and reveals the presence of multiple similar mobile genetic elements.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2022)
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Fabrizio Anniballi, Theresa J. J. Smith, John W. W. Austin
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Caitlyn R. Witkowski, Qin Leng, Christopher W. Reid, Liang Feng, Hong Yang
Summary: Through decay experiments on leaves, researchers found that polysaccharides undergo microbial degradation and cell collapse on extremely short timescales, while the stable carbon isotopic composition and n-alkanes remain virtually unchanged. These findings suggest that rapid burial and tissue stabilization are crucial for pristine fossil formation, and polysaccharides play a key role in maintaining the structure of fossil leaves.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Nadia Assal, Ryan Boone, Richard A. Harris, Michelle Gabriel, Michael Sasges, Brian Petri, Hosahalli Ramaswamy, John W. Austin
Summary: This study found that 254 nm UV radiation (UV-C) can effectively kill spores of Clostridium botulinum, with doses required for log reduction ranging from 2.87 to 6.15 mJ/cm2. Additionally, it was discovered that C. sporogenes spores have higher resistance than the C. botulinum strains. This study lays the foundation for using UV-C technology to inactivate C. botulinum spores in beverages or other liquids.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Mycology
Joey. B. B. Tanney, Jordan Di Stefano, J. David Miller, David. R. R. McMullin
Summary: Endophytes isolated from healthy Picea needles in the Acadian forest of Canada have revealed a complex diversity and natural products. New species and compounds have been discovered, including chlorinated and non-chlorinated resorcylic acid lactones and polyketides. These endophytes continue to be an important source for new fungi and their chemical ecologies.
MYCOLOGICAL PROGRESS
(2023)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Kimberlynn McDonald, Natasha DesRochers, Justin B. Renaud, Mark W. Sumarah, David R. McMullin
Summary: Cyanobacterial blooms that release biologically active metabolites into the environment are increasing in frequency due to the degradation of freshwater ecosystems. Microcystins, a group of cyanopeptides, are extensively studied and included in water quality risk management frameworks. However, data on the abundance, distribution, and biological activities of non-microcystin cyanopeptides are limited.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Richard A. Harris, Madeleine Blondin-Brosseau, Christine Levesque, Pat E. Rasmussen, Suzanne Beauchemin, John W. Austin
Summary: Analyzing vacuum cleaner dust samples from Canadian households revealed no positive results for Clostridium botulinum spores. The most common anaerobic bacteria identified were of the genus Clostridium, with the most common species being Clostridium perfringens. Dust samples containing different types of C. botulinum spores successfully produced positive reactions during testing.
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND INFECTION
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Richard A. Harris, Christine Tchao, Natalie Prystajecky, Kelly Weedmark, Yassen Tcholakov, Manon Lefebvre, John W. Austin
Summary: From 2006 to 2021, there were 55 laboratory-confirmed outbreaks of foodborne botulism in Canada, involving 67 cases. Indigenous communities accounted for 46% of all cases, a decrease from 85% during 1990-2005. The majority of cases were caused by botulinum neurotoxin type E, with types A, B, F, and AB also occurring. Increased clinician awareness can improve diagnosis of foodborne botulism.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Richard Harris, Forest Dussault, Annika Flint, John W. Austin, Kelly Weedmark
Summary: This report details the complete genome of Clostridium botulinum CJ0611A1, a strain isolated from carrot juice in Canada and linked to a 2006 international foodborne botulism outbreak. The strain encodes a full-length bont/A1 gene and a truncated bont/B gene.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2021)
