Article
Engineering, Chemical
Peng Zhang, Kui Zou, Li Yuan, Jing Liu, Bingzhi Liu, Tai-Ping Qing, Bo Feng
Summary: Alginate-based hydrogel adsorbents were developed for efficient removal of heavy metals from wastewater. The hydrogel beads prepared by blending bacterial alginate, polyvinyl alcohol, and chitosan exhibited excellent adsorption performance for Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cu(II). The addition of chitosan greatly improved the specific adsorption capacity for Cr(VI), and the hydrogels maintained a high adsorption capacity for heavy metals even after multiple cycles.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Kieran Elmes, Astra Heywood, Zhiyi Huang, Alex Gavryushkin
Summary: Large-scale genotype-phenotype screens provide valuable data for identifying molecular alterations associated with a phenotype. This study focuses on the importance of epistatic effects in association studies, and aims to develop a method that can consider three-way interactions. The proposed method, Pint, outperforms known methods in simulated data and demonstrates accuracy in antibiotic resistance testing and siRNA perturbation screens.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Xiaojie Cheng, Yu Peng, Shuxuan Li, Baowei Su
Summary: The study investigates a new RO membrane with a sodium alginate hydrogel interlayer on a polysulfone substrate, achieving high water permeance and salt rejection, offering potential for future high-performance RO membranes in brackish water desalination applications.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Aydin Cihanoglu, Jessica D. Schiffman, Sacide Alsoy Altinkaya
Summary: Ultrasound was used as a trigger to accelerate dopamine polymerization kinetics, significantly increasing the deposition rate of polydopamine coating on polymeric membranes.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Corinne Bure, Caroline Le Senechal, Luis Macias, Caroline Tokarski, Sebastien Vilain, Jennifer S. Brodbelt
Summary: Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) form the outermost layer of Gram-negative bacteria, playing a crucial role in bacterial infections. Understanding the structure of lipid A, which anchors LPS to the bacterial outer membrane, is important in elucidating LPS virulence and toxicity. Various successful strategies utilizing tandem mass spectrometry have been employed for the structural analysis of lipid A, revealing new acyl chain positional isomers in the lipid A profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Da-Qi Cao, Xiu-Zhen Sun, Wen-Yu Zhang, Yu-Ting Ji, Xiao-Xuan Yang, Xiao-Di Hao
Summary: In this study, it was found that using calcium ions for RSF in FO can effectively recover Ca-Alg as a recycled material. Water flux in FO significantly increased with the increase in calcium chloride concentration, while the concentration of SA had little influence on water flux in FO.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ehsan Zare Banadkoki, Iraj Rasooli, Tooba Ghazanfari, Seyed Davar Siadat, Mehdi Shafiee Ardestani, Parviz Owlia
Summary: This study evaluated the immunogenicity and efficacy of a vaccine consisting of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA-OMVs (PA-OMVs) conjugated with diphtheria toxoid (DT) in a mice model of burn wound infection. The results showed that the conjugated vaccine significantly increased specific antibodies titer and provided greater protective effectiveness against P. aeruginosa infection, as seen by lower bacterial loads, decreased inflammatory cell infiltration, and less tissue damage.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Manon F. Pritchard, Lydia C. Powell, Jennifer Y. M. Adams, Georgina Menzies, Saira Khan, Anne Tondervik, Havard Sletta, Olav Aarstad, Gudmund Skjak-Braek, Stephen Mckenna, Niklaas J. Buurma, Damian J. J. Farnell, Philip D. Rye, Katja E. Hill, David W. Thomas
Summary: Low molecular weight alginate oligosaccharides have antimicrobial activity against multi-drug resistant bacteria, and their effects are influenced by both Ca2+-dependent processes and electrostatic interactions.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Gaoshuang Zhang, Hanmin Zhang, Jiaheng Teng, Tianyu Gao, Xiaotong Xu, Lu Cai, Mengyang Lu
Summary: This study investigates gel fouling in forward osmosis process caused by three draw solutions from a thermodynamic perspective, finding that Mg2+/Ca2+ causes more serious fouling than Na+. Reverse-diffused Mg2+/Ca2+ induces the formation and cross-linking of long sodium alginate chains, leading to the need for higher driving force to overcome the chemical potential difference during FO process.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Soo-Kyoung Kim, Huy X. Ngo, Emily K. Dennis, Nishad Thamban Chandrika, Philip DeShong, Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova, Vincent T. Lee
Summary: Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis patients leads to excessive production of alginate, blocking the airways. Ebselen and its analogues were found to inhibit alginate production, suggesting a potential treatment option for patients infected with mucoid P. aeruginosa in the future.
ACS INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Baixing Chen, Luis Ponce Benavente, Marco Chitto, Jacek K. Wychowaniec, Virginia Post, Matteo D'Este, Caroline Constant, Stephan Zeiter, Wenli Feng, Mercedes Gonzalez Moreno, Andrej Trampuz, Jeroen Wagemans, Jolien Onsea, R. Geoff Richards, Rob Lavigne, T. Fintan Moriarty, Willem-Jan Metsemakers
Summary: The study aimed to develop a dual antibiotic-phage delivery system using a hydrogel and alginate microbeads to treat multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. The results showed that the combination of phages and meropenem had enhanced antibacterial activity against bacterial biofilms. The dual delivery system reduced the development of phage resistance and exposure to the immune system.
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lei Gao, Xinhua Qiao, Lixia Zhang, Yan Wang, Yi Wan, Chang Chen
Summary: The study found that nitric oxide can significantly reduce the expression of algU in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, thereby inhibiting the synthesis of alginate. This inhibitory effect was observed in nine clinical PA isolates, especially in mucoid strains.
NITRIC OXIDE-BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xiaorui Lou, Runhao Wang, Jiaqi Yan, Weiping Li, Ruihua Liu, Qionglin Zhang, Mark Bartlam
Summary: Chronic pulmonary infections in individuals with cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are promoted by alginate production from opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. SrfA is a novel stress response facilitator in P. aeruginosa, activated by cell wall stress, and interacts with high affinity with PA2559 and PA2560. Understanding the three-dimensional structure of SrfA provides insights into its role in response to cell wall stress.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Khalil Ur Rehman, A. U. Khan, Fazal Rehman, Wasfi Shatanawi
Summary: The thermal case study focuses on inspecting heat transfer aspects for radial stagnation point flow. A linear twisting cylinder is assumed for the heated viscous nanofluid, and the arrangement between torsionally rotating cylinders and radial stagnation point flow is investigated. The study articulates three possible parameters: the dimensionless torsion rate sigma, the volume fraction of nanoparticles phi, and the Wangs Reynolds number R. Numerical results of the governing flow field equations are obtained using the BVP-Midrch routine integrated with the Maple software. It is found that the axial wall stress is weakly dependent on sigma, weakly dependent on phi, and strongly dependent on R. The azimuthal wall stress is strongly dependent on R and shows a decreasing behavior, linearly increasing with sigma at the starting value of zero. The temperature gradient exhibits slight variation during positive iteration in torsional rate, and the heat flux at the surface has a direct relation to the volume fraction of nanoparticles.
CASE STUDIES IN THERMAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Ming-Jing Zhang, Shuai-Ting Yun, Xiao-Chen Wang, Li-Yang Peng, Chuan Dou, Yan-Xia Zhou
Summary: Signal peptides not only affect the folding of proteins but also have an impact on the enzymatic properties. In this study, the biochemical characterization of alginate lyase rALYI1 was conducted, revealing that the signal peptide influenced the enzyme's properties, especially in temperature and pH. Furthermore, rALYI1 exhibited the capability to remove biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, suggesting its potential as a method for inhibiting biofilm formation.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Sakthivel Ambreetha, Ponnusamy Marimuthu, Kalai Mathee, Dananjeyan Balachandar
Summary: This study investigated the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in edible vegetable plants and found that rhizospheric and endophytic P. aeruginosa strains are genetically and functionally analogous to clinical isolates. The genotypic and phenotypic traits did not correlate with plant sources or ecosystems. Edible plants were confirmed to be a potential source for human and animal transmission of P. aeruginosa.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Natalia Bourguignon, Vivek Kamat, Maximiliano Perez, Kalai Mathee, Betiana Lerner, Shekhar Bhansali
Summary: This study presents a Lab-On-Chip (LOC) device that closely mimics the real-life clinical biofilm status and allows for the attachment and immobilization of bacteria cells. The effectiveness of chitosan-coated silver nanoparticles (CSNP) in eradicating biofilms under continuous flow conditions was explored. The results show that CSNP had the most significant effect in reducing the biofilm.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yang Yang, Edo Bar-Zeev, Gideon Oron, Moshe Herzberg, Roy Bernstein
Summary: This study investigated biofouling in anaerobic membrane bioreactors and found that the membrane properties can affect biofilm formation and the anaerobic microbial population, but may not necessarily alleviate biofouling.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Sakthivel Ambreetha, Ponnusamy Marimuthu, Kalai Mathee, Dananjeyan Balachandar
Summary: This study found that Pseudomonas aeruginosa in edible plants exhibit virulence and pathogenicity. The agricultural strains showed higher and lower virulence against bacterial and fungal pathogens, respectively, compared to the clinical strains. Additionally, both clinical and agricultural strains antagonized plant pathogens. Therefore, these fungi can be used as simple eukaryotic model systems to test P. aeruginosa pathogenicity.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Capucine Baubin, Noya Ran, Hagar Siebner, Osnat Gillor
Summary: This study assessed the impact of rain on active bacterial communities in the Negev Desert's biological soil crust. The results showed that rain activated phototrophs and led to a dramatic shift in the bacterial community. Drying, on the other hand, delayed the decrease in bacterial activity.
Article
Virology
Janelle Nunez-Castilla, Vitalii Stebliankin, Prabin Baral, Christian A. Balbin, Masrur Sobhan, Trevor Cickovski, Ananda Mohan Mondal, Giri Narasimhan, Prem Chapagain, Kalai Mathee, Jessica Siltberg-Liberles
Summary: Molecular mimicry between viral antigens and host proteins can lead to autoimmunity and COVID-19 complications. By using computational methods, we identified molecular mimicry hotspots in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. Cross-reactivity between Spike and thrombopoietin may induce thrombocytopenia, while cross-reactivity with PRKG1 and tropomyosin may cause blood-clotting disorders and cardiac disease, respectively, in COVID-19 patients.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Punnag Saha, Dipro Bose, Vitalii Stebliankin, Trevor Cickovski, Ratanesh K. Seth, Dwayne E. Porter, Bryan W. Brooks, Kalai Mathee, Giri Narasimhan, Rita Colwell, Geoff Scott, Saurabh Chatterjee
Summary: The study reveals the connection between exposure to microcystin and alterations in the host gut microbiome, specifically the presence of antibiotic resistance genes. It also highlights the increased abundance of resistance genes linked to common antibiotics and their association with changes in immune markers. These findings are crucial for understanding treatment options with antibiotics in individuals exposed to microcystin in clinical settings.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Ashraf Al-Ashhab, Amer Sweity, Luna Al-Hadidi, Moshe Herzberg, Zeev Ronen
Summary: This study investigates the biodegradability of three commercial antiscalants used in seawater desalination and their effects on microbial diversity. The results show that the polyphosphonate antiscalant is the least biodegradable and has the least impact on bacterial community composition.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Noya Ran, Revital Sharon-Gojman, Sara Larsson, Osnat Gillor, Meagan S. Mauter, Moshe Herzberg
Summary: Extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) can conform and orient on the surface according to the applied aquatic conditions. Changes in pH can alter the conformation and orientation of adsorbed EPS, leading to changes in membrane permeability. A hybrid sensor was used to test EPS layers and analyze their viscoelastic properties, hydrated thickness, and effect on ultrafiltration membrane pore diameter.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Ji Qin, Eric Ziemann, Edo Bar-Zeev, Sharon E. Bone, Yuanzhe Liang, Meagan S. Mauter, Moshe Herzberg, Roy Bernstein
Summary: Researchers have developed microporous membranes grafted with polyzwitterionic brushes that combine the characteristics of ultrafiltration membranes and microfiltration membranes, effectively removing bacteriophages from water. These membranes demonstrate high permeability and can achieve removal rates of up to 4.5 for T4 bacteriophages and 3.1 for NT1 bacteriophages, showing potential for advanced water treatment.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dipro Bose, Vitalli Stebliankin, Trevor Cickovski, Punnag Saha, Ayushi Trivedi, Subhajit Roy, Madhura More, Ashok Tuteja, Kalai Mathee, Giri Narasimhan, Saurabh Chatterjee
Summary: The pathophysiology of Gulf War Illness (GWI) is still unknown after three decades. The interaction between the host gut microbiome and inflammatory mediators, along with metabolic disorders like obesity, worsens the health of Gulf War (GW) Veterans. This study investigates how a Western diet affects the host metabolomic profile and the associated altered bacterial species using a five-month GWI model in mice and whole-genome sequencing. The findings highlight the significant alteration of beneficial bacterial species, changes in metabolites associated with various metabolic pathways, and novel associations between gut bacterial species and metabolites that could serve as biomarkers or therapeutic targets.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Infectious Diseases
Ravikanya Prapharsavat, Rattanasiri Kittikongnapang, Chokdee Smithkittipol, Warute Udomrat, Sukanya Numsawat, Anastasia Hernandez-Koutoucheva, Bhensri Naemiratch, Chalita Chomkatekaew, Chanaki Amaratunga, John Bleho, Kalai Mathee, Mira Leonie Schneiders, Napat Khirikoekkong, Nipaphan Kanthawang, Nithima Sumpradit, Rapee Suveeranont, Supa-at Asarath, Tassawan Poomchaichote, William Schilling, Xin Hui S. Chan, Anne Osterrieder, Phaik Yeong Cheah, Direk Limmathurotsakul
Summary: Non-academic partners played a vital role in successful public engagement activities on antimicrobial resistance. Through collaboration, we developed and launched an open-access web-based application, the 'antibiotic footprint calculator', in both Thai and English. The application focused on enhancing user experience, addressing antibiotic overuse and its impact, and promoting immediate action. During the 9-month period from Nov 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022, a total of 2554 players estimated their personal antibiotic footprint using the application.
JOURNAL OF ANTIMICROBIAL CHEMOTHERAPY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Noya Ran, Gil Sorek, Noa Stein, Revital Sharon-Gojman, Moshe Herzberg, Osnat Gillor
Summary: Biofouling is the main cause of membrane deterioration during water purification processes and has been extensively studied. However, the link between biofouling community structure and function has not been fully understood. This study provides a novel insight by suggesting that bacterial functions control biofouling traits on reverse osmosis membranes, regardless of the composition of the biofilm.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Sourav Das, Immanuel Meyer, Valliammai Alaguvel, Lusine Ghazaryan, Jun Murase, Nadav Shnerb, Osnat Gillor
Summary: Recycling of wastewater for agricultural irrigation is an important practice for sustainable reuse. However, it may introduce pathogens and antibiotic determinants. This study examines the predation dynamics of soil free-living amoeba on effluent-introduced bacteria and how environmental conditions affect predation efficiency.