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Environmental Microbiology | SpotlightFeedback Regulation between Aquatic Microorganisms and the Bloom-Forming Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosaWe measured the microbial community composition and metabolic responses of Microcystis aeruginosa in a microcosm coculture system receiving dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus (DIP) close to the average concentrations in Lake Taihu. In the coculture system, DIP is depleted and the growth and production of aquatic microorganisms can be stressed by a lack of DIP...
Environmental MicrobiologyAeromonas Isolates from Fish and Patients in Tainan City, Taiwan: Genotypic and Phenotypic CharacteristicsAeromonas species can cause severe infections in immunocompromised individuals upon exposure to virulent pathogens in the environment, but the characteristics of environmental Aeromonas species remain unclear. Our study showed that several pathogenic Aeromonas species possessing virulence traits and antimicrobial resistance similar to those of Aeromonas isolates causing clinical diseases were present...
Microbial Ecology | SpotlightDevelopment of Bacterial Therapeutics against the Bovine Respiratory Pathogen Mannheimia haemolyticaBovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a significant animal health issue impacting the beef industry. Current BRD prevention strategies rely mainly on metaphylactic use of antimicrobials when cattle enter feedlots. However, a recent increase in BRD-associated bacterial pathogens that are resistant to metaphylactic antimicrobials highlights a pressing need for the development of novel mitigation strategies. Based upon previous research...
BiotechnologyDiscovery and Characterization of Native Deinococcus radiodurans Promoters for Tunable Gene ExpressionThe tolerance of the extremophile, Deinococcus radiodurans, to numerous oxidative stresses makes it ideal for bioremediation applications, but many of the tools necessary for metabolic engineering are lacking in this organism compared to model bacteria. Although native and engineered promoters have been used to drive gene expression for protein production in...
Public and Environmental Health MicrobiologyViolet-Blue Light Arrays at 405 Nanometers Exert Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity for Photodisinfection of Monomicrobial Nosocomial BiofilmsThis study reports the efficacy of VBL and blue light (BL) and their antimicrobial activity against mature biofilms of a range of important nosocomial pathogens. While this study investigated the antibacterial activity of a range of wavelengths of between 375 and 450 nm and identified a specific wavelength region (∼405 nm) with increased antibacterial activity, decontamination was dependent on the bacterial species, strain, irradiation...
Environmental MicrobiologyGlucanase-Induced Stipe Wall Extension Shows Distinct Differences from Chitinase-Induced Stipe Wall Extension of Coprinopsis cinereaWe previously reported that the chitinase could induce stipe wall extension and was involved in stipe elongation growth of the mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea. In this study, we explored that β-1,3-glucanase also induced stipe cell wall extension. Interestingly, the extension profile and extended ultra-architecture of β-1,3-glucanase-reconstituted stipe wall were...
Environmental MicrobiologySurface Water Microbial Community Response to the Biocide 2,2-Dibromo-3-Nitrilopropionamide, Used in Unconventional Oil and Gas ExtractionUnconventional oil and gas activity can affect pH, total organic carbon, and microbial communities in surface water, altering their ability to respond to new environmental and/or anthropogenic perturbations. These findings demonstrate that 2,2-dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide (DBNPA), a common hydraulic fracturing (HF) biocide, affects microbial communities differently as a consequence of past HF exposure, persisting longer in HF-impacted...
Microbial Ecology | SpotlightNovel Probiotic Mechanisms of the Oral Bacterium Streptococcus sp. A12 as Explored with Functional GenomicsAdvances in defining the composition of health-associated biofilms have highlighted the important role of beneficial species in maintaining health. Comparatively little, however, has been done to address the genomic and physiological bases underlying the probiotic mechanisms of beneficial commensals. In this study, we explored the ability of a novel oral bacterial isolate, Streptococcus A12, to compete with the dental pathogen...
Genetics and Molecular BiologyDiguanylate Cyclases and Phosphodiesterases Required for Basal-Level c-di-GMP in Pseudomonas aeruginosa as Revealed by Systematic Phylogenetic and Transcriptomic AnalysesPseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause infections in animals, humans, and plants. The formation of biofilms by P. aeruginosa is the central mode of action to persist in hosts and evade immune and antibiotic attacks. Cyclic-di-GMP (c-di-GMP) is an important second...