Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jianhua Yin, Dan Cheng, Yiling Zhu, Yanqun Liang, Zhiliang Yu
Summary: Developing novel antibiotics to treat infections caused by multi-drug-resistant bacteria is an urgent need. Whole-cell biosensors, which have been extensively studied for environmental monitoring, show promise for detecting cell envelope-acting antibiotics. In this study, a whole-cell biosensor was constructed using the sigma(M)-mediated regulatory system of Bacillus subtilis and successfully detected cell envelope-acting antibiotics with high sensitivity and specificity.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marta Cela, Anne Theobald-Dietrich, Joelle Rudinger-Thirion, Philippe Wolff, Renaud Geslain, Magali Frugier
Summary: The membrane protein tRip mediates the import of host tRNAs into the parasite, binding to a subset of human tRNAs with varying affinities. It is revealed that tRip does not bind specific tRNAs solely based on their primary sequence, suggesting post-transcriptional modifications play a role in modulating the host/parasite molecular complex formation. The study discusses the potential use of efficient tRip ligands for translating the parasite's genetic information.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Salem Al-Mosleh, Ajay Gopinathan, Christian D. Santangelo, Kerwyn Casey Huang, Enrique R. Rojas
Summary: The growth rate of bacteria can adapt to environmental fluctuations through the softening of the cell envelope. This adaptation is only sensitive to local information such as enzyme concentrations and cell envelope curvature. It was also found that the softening of the cell envelope does not occur above a certain magnitude of osmotic shock, and there is direct feedback between cell envelope curvature and envelope expansion.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Oscar Vargas-Rodriguez, Ahmed H. Badran, Kyle S. Hoffman, Manyun Chen, Ana Crnkovi, Yousong Ding, Jonathan R. Krieger, Eric Westhof, Dieter Soll, Sergey Melnikov
Summary: Misincorporation of amino acids due to mistranslation is an emerging paradigm in microbial studies, with many pathogens deliberately altering their genetic code to aid in invasion or immune evasion. This study identifies a unique tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair in plant pathogens that allows for the mistranslation of specific codons, leading to the creation of a hidden proteome diversity. This finding highlights the mechanism by which important plant pathogens can alter the identity of their sense codons for their benefit.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Florent Malard, Aonghus Lavelle, Giorgia Battipaglia, Beatrice Gaugler, Remy Dulery, Eolia Brissot, Clemence Mediavilla, Sarah Jegou, Nathalie Rolhion, Tounes Ledraa, Razan Mohty, Harry Sokol, Mohamad Mohty
Summary: In patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT), higher bacterial diversity is associated with improved overall survival and disease-free survival, while high relative abundance of Candida albicans may result in lower survival rates.
MUCOSAL IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Charlotte E. Melia, Jani R. Bolla, Stefan Katharios-Lanwermeyer, Daniel B. Mihaylov, Patrick C. Hoffmann, Jiandong Huo, Michael R. Wozny, Louis M. Elfari, Jan Bohning, Ashleigh N. Morgan, Charlie J. Hitchman, Raymond J. Owens, Carol Robinson, George A. O'Toole, Tanmay A. M. Bharat
Summary: Bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, form multicellular biofilm communities where cell-cell interactions are mediated by CdrA molecules tethering cells together through polysaccharide binding partners. Targeting functional CdrA molecules with nanobodies could inhibit bacterial biofilm formation or disrupt preexisting biofilms, showing promise in preventing or treating chronic bacterial infections.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Acoustics
Ziga Pandur, Matevz Dular, Rok Kostanjsek, David Stopar
Summary: This study systematically investigated the resistance of bacterial cells to ultrasonic irradiation by altering the material properties of E. coli cells. The results showed that peptidoglycan, a major component of the cell wall, was the most important determinant of bacterial resistance to sonolysis. Cells without peptidoglycan exhibited high sensitivity to sonolysis.
ULTRASONICS SONOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Silvia Acosta-Gutierrez, Igor V. Bodrenko, Matteo Ceccarelli
Summary: The lack of new drugs for Gram-negative pathogens is a global threat to modern medicine. The study found that porins play a key role in cell uptake, aiding in a better understanding of the molecular descriptors behind whole-cell accumulation and molecular uptake in Gram-negative bacteria.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Veronique Ongenae, Adam Sidi Mabrouk, Marjolein Crooijmans, Daniel Rozen, Ariane Briegel, Dennis Claessen
Summary: This article describes a novel mechanism by which bacteria can survive phage infection by transitioning into a cell-wall-deficient state. This cell wall deficiency state can remain viable under certain conditions and can revert back to the normal state. Phage infection reduces the production of progeny phages by the host, but does not always prevent infection.
Review
Microbiology
Zhihui Lyu, Cierra Wilson, Jiqiang Ling
Summary: Translational fidelity, the accuracy of protein synthesis, is crucial in all three domains of life. This article reviews how translational fidelity is affected by environmental stresses encountered by bacterial pathogens during host interactions, including oxidative stress, metabolic stresses, and antibiotics. The review discusses the types of translational errors and their impact on stress adaptation and fitness, as well as the roles of translational fidelity and underlying mechanisms in pathogen-host interactions. The studies covered in this review primarily focus on Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli, but other bacterial pathogens are also discussed.
Article
Chemistry, Organic
Mayuna Suenaga, Naoka Katayama, Kokoro Kitamura, Kenji Kai
Summary: Bacteria in the Pseudomonas protegens Cab57 strain have been found to produce bacterial polyynes, such as protegenin A, which can be converted into more complex polyynes, known as caryoynencins A-E, by introducing a cytochrome P450 gene from Burkholderia caryophylli. This study establishes a stable purification and structural determination method for various bacterial polyynes and highlights the potential of P. protegens Cab57 as an engineering host for producing biologically active polyynes.
JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Akiko Hisada, Erino Matsumoto, Ryo Hirano, Mami Konomi, Jacques Yaacoub Bou Khalil, Didier Raoult, Yusuke Ominami
Summary: Rapid determination of drug efficacy against bacterial pathogens is crucial for detecting potentially resistant bacteria and optimizing the use of antimicrobials. This study proposes a simplified method for assessing antimicrobial efficacy by detecting immediate damage to bacterial cells using tabletop SEM. The method involves staining unaffected bacterial cell envelopes and whole affected cells, with brighter images indicating lethal damage. By quantifying single-cell images based on brightness, the efficacy of antimicrobials in causing bacterial-cell-envelope damage can be determined.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Rajib Dey, Sudip Mukherjee, Riya Mukherjee, Jayanta Haldar
Summary: Gram-negative bacterial infections with significant antibiotic resistance can be effectively treated by combining obsolete antibiotics with non-antibiotic adjuvants that target bacterial membranes. The development of a small molecular adjuvant with moderate membrane perturbation in bacterial cells and no toxicity to mammalian cells enhances the internalization of antibiotics and inhibits the efflux machinery, revitalizing the efficacy of various classes of antibiotics. This combination therapy demonstrates potent bactericidal activity against biofilms and multi-drug resistant infections, with good biocompatibility and antibacterial efficacy. The study highlights the potential of this approach for treating multi-drug resistant infections.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Youngseon Park, Atsushi Taguchi, Vadim Baidin, Daniel Kahne, Suzanne Walker
Summary: The presence of peptidoglycan cell wall is vital for the survival of bacteria. A new class of PGTs called SEDS proteins, with FtsW as one of them, has been identified. FtsW is a potential target for novel antibiotics as it produces septal peptidoglycan during cell division in almost all bacteria. A TR-FRET assay was developed to monitor PGT activity and a compound that inhibits S. aureus FtsW was identified through screening a compound library.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Lindsey N. Miller, Marea J. Blake, Eleanor F. Page, Hannah B. Castillo, Tessa R. Calhoun
Summary: Using second harmonic generation, researchers found that the antibiotic daptomycin has similar binding affinities for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, with the presence of phosphate ions influencing its binding to specific bacteria. This discovery challenges previous understanding of daptomycin's mechanism of action and is expected to be significant for antibiotic mechanisms in vivo.
ACS INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)