Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
R. Z. Moger-Reischer, J. I. Glass, K. S. Wise, L. Sun, D. M. C. Bittencourt, B. K. Lehmkuhl, D. R. Schoolmaster Jr, M. Lynch, J. T. Lennon
Summary: In this study, we compared an engineered minimal cell with a non-minimal cell to investigate their evolutionary responses. We found that the minimal cell evolved faster and regained fitness deficits through generations, but its size remained constant while the non-minimal cell increased in size. The study provides insights into the adaptation and evolution of small genome organisms.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lorenzo Olivi, Mareike Berger, Ramon N. P. Creyghton, Nicola De Franceschi, Cees Dekker, Bela M. Mulder, Nico J. Claassens, Pieter Rein ten Wolde, John van der Oost
Summary: Recent developments in synthetic biology may bring the generation of a synthetic cell within reach, with a key feature being a functional cell cycle. While progress has been made in establishing individual machineries, integrating and controlling them in a synthetic cell cycle is still a challenge to be addressed. This Perspective discusses potential paths towards achieving an integrated synthetic cell cycle.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Niti Sarat, Amrita Salim, Sanjay Pal, Suja Subhash, Megha Prasad, Bipin G. Nair, Ajith Madhavan
Summary: Wastewater malodour has severe implications on sanitation, health, and hygiene. Bacteriophage-based methodology shows promise in efficient odour-abatement. This study demonstrates the potential of phages in reducing malodour and methanethiol production in wastewater.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
Amira Samir Salem, Geoffrey R. Tompkins, Peter R. Cathro
Summary: This study compared the alkaline tolerance and biofilm-forming capabilities of different strains of Enterococcus faecalis in different environments when supplied with glucose or glycerol as fermentable supplements. The results showed that elevated alkalinity increased the lag phase and doubling time, while biofilm formation and metabolic activity varied among strains. In general, biofilm formation was enhanced with glucose and at pH 8, and glycerol increased the metabolic activity of biofilms at pH 11. Overall, glycerol was found to be an alternative energy source that increased the metabolic activity of E. faecalis under alkaline treatment conditions in nutrient-deprived environments.
JOURNAL OF ENDODONTICS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Nicola Bellotto, Jaime Agudo-Canalejo, Remy Colin, Ramin Golestanian, Gabriele Malengo, Victor Sourjik
Summary: In this study, we investigated the mobility of proteins in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. We found that protein mobility in the bacterial cell can be well described by Brownian diffusion, with limitations imposed by macromolecular crowding and the confined geometry of the cell. The size dependence of protein diffusion is influenced by the shape of the protein, and pronounced subdiffusion and hindered mobility are observed for proteins with extensive interactions within the cytoplasm. Additionally, changes in cytoplasmic viscosity affect protein diffusion rates in various conditions.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Filip Husnik
Summary: A recent study identifies host-derived cell-division proteins that are directed to the cell envelope of a bacterial endosymbiont in unicellular eukaryotes, highlighting their role in symbiotic cell division.
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Lucia Baldauf, Lennard van Buren, Federico Fanalista, Gijsje Hendrika Koenderink
Summary: One of the major challenges of bottom-up synthetic biology is rebuilding a minimal cell division machinery. The reconstitution of the actin division machinery helps in understanding the physical and molecular mechanisms of cytokinesis in animal cells and thus our own cells.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Mohammadali Khan Mirzaei, Li Deng
Summary: Microbes, especially bacteria and their viruses or phages, play a critical role in regulating various functions important to human health. Advances in single-cell technologies, culturomics, and synthetic biology provide exciting opportunities to create precise tools for manipulating these microbes safely, and to study specific phages-bacteria interactions within the body.
MICROBIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ryan L. Clark, Bryce M. Connors, David M. Stevenson, Susan E. Hromada, Joshua J. Hamilton, Daniel Amador-Noguez, Ophelia S. Venturelli
Summary: The study uses a model-guided approach to design diverse synthetic human gut communities for the production of the health-relevant metabolite butyrate. The model accurately predicts community assembly and metabolic functions.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Tae Seok Moon
Summary: This opinion article discusses the future directions and visions of developing microbial consortia as biomanufacturing hosts to address global problems.
TRENDS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
U. S. Jayapiriya, Shuhei Inoue, Sanket Goel
Summary: In this work, a simple vacuum filtration technique is used to fabricate thin and conductive electrodes for MiBFC application. The fully paper-based MiBFC is integrated into a compact micro device with 3D printed components, which is novel.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Alejandro Rodriguez-Gijon, Julia K. Nuy, Maliheh Mehrshad, Moritz Buck, Frederik Schulz, Tanja Woyke, Sarahi L. Garcia
Summary: Our understanding of the size of genomes in Archaea and Bacteria has been biased due to the dominance of cultivated microorganisms in laboratory settings. However, the recent efforts to study uncultivated microorganisms through the cataloging of Earth's microbiomes allow us to revise our perspective on genome size distribution. In our meta-analysis, we found that aquatic and host-associated microbial genomes have the smallest estimated sizes, followed by terrestrial microbial genomes and genomes from isolated microorganisms. The study also highlights the similarities in genome size between metagenomic assembled genomes and isolate genomes.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Sonja Blasche, Yongkyu Kim, Ruben A. T. Mars, Daniel Machado, Maria Maansson, Eleni Kafkia, Alessio Milanese, Georg Zeller, Bas Teusink, Jens Nielsen, Vladimir Benes, Rute Neves, Uwe Sauer, Kiran Raosaheb Patil
Summary: This study explores how kefir achieves stable coexistence through spatial and temporal orchestration of species and metabolite dynamics. The kefir grains remain unchanged in composition during milk fermentation, while the milk is colonized in a sequential manner by different microorganisms.
NATURE MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Anna M. Wagner, Hiromune Eto, Anton Joseph, Shunshi Kohyama, Tamas Haraszti, Ricardo A. Zamora, Mariia Vorobii, Marina Giannotti, Petra Schwille, Cesar Rodriguez-Emmenegger
Summary: This study demonstrates the reconstitution of a bacterial divisome in fully synthetic dendrimersomes, showing that the interaction between biological machinery and synthetic membranes can be tailored to reproduce its dynamic behavior. This breakthrough is important for engineering synthetic cells with biological elements from the bottom-up.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Felix Barber, Jiseon Min, Andrew W. Murray, Ariel Amir
Summary: This passage discusses the effects of diverse cell growth morphologies and lifecycles on the growth rate of microbial populations. It predicts that asymmetric cell division, cell size regulation, and single-cell stochasticity can impact population growth rate. The study finds that asymmetric division can enhance growth rate for cells with strong size control, although additional constraints on cell growth and division may also come into play.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
