Project description:This study aimed to model formamide-based melting for the optimization of the sensitivity and specifcity of oligonucleotide probes in dignostic high-density microarrays. Formamide melting profiles of DNA oligonucleotides were obtained with a high-density microarray targeting 16S rRNA genes of Escherichia coli and Rhodobacter sphaeroides. One or two mismatched versions of perfect match probes were included on the array to systematically analyze the effect of formamide on mismatch stability and mismatch discrimination. A thermodynamics-based mathematical model of formamide denaturation was developed to predict the formamide melting profiles with sufficient accuracy to help with oligonucleotide design in microbial ecology applications. 16S rRNA sequences with GenBank accession codes U00006 ( E. coli ) and X53853 (R. sphaeroides) were used for probe design. The following oligonucleotide probe sets were used for the systematic analysis of the effect of formamide on probe-target hybrids (parenthetic information gives set name followed by the number of probes): 22-mer perfect match probes tiling the 16S rRNA gene of E. coli (TileE, n=1521), perfect match E.coli probes of variable length between 18 and 26 mers (Length, n=1045), E. coli probes with central single mismatches (OneM, n=1563), E. coli probes with single positional mismatches (PosM, n=4092), E. coli probes with single deletion mismatches (Gap, n=248), E. coli probes with single insertion mismatches (Insertion, n=248), E. coli probes with two separate mismatches (TwoM, n=1674), E. coli probes with central tandem mismatches (Tandem, n=558), and 22-mer perfect match probes tiling the 16S rRNA gene of R. sphaeroides. Also, a probe with no match to 16S rRNA genes was used as a background control. On the array, regular probes were replicated three times and the Nonsense probe ten times. See the manuscript of Yilmaz et al. for details.
Project description:Despite the global importance of forests, it is virtually unknown how their soil microbial communities adapt at the phylogenetic and functional level to long term metal pollution. Studying twelve sites located along two distinct gradients of metal pollution in Southern Poland revealed that both community composition (via MiSeq Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes) and functional gene potential (using GeoChip 4.2) were highly similar across the gradients despite drastically diverging metal contamination levels. Metal pollution level significantly impacted microbial community structure (p = 0.037), but not bacterial taxon richness. Metal pollution altered the relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa, including Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria. Also, a group of metal resistance genes showed significant correlations with metal concentrations in soil, although no clear impact of metal pollution levels on overall functional diversity and structure of microbial communities was observed. While screens of phylogenetic marker genes, such as 16S rRNA, provided only limited insight into resilience mechanisms, analysis of specific functional genes, e.g. involved in metal resistance, appeared to be a more promising strategy. This study showed that the effect of metal pollution on soil microbial communities was not straightforward, but could be filtered out from natural variation and habitat factors by multivariate statistical analysis and spatial sampling involving separate pollution gradients. 12 samples were collected from two long-term polluted areas (Olkusz and Miasteczko M-EM-^ZlM-DM-^Eskie) in Southern Poland. In the study presented here, a consecutively operated, well-defined cohort of 50 NSCLC cases, followed up more than five years, was used to acquire expression profiles of a total of 8,644 unique genes, leading to the successful construction of supervised
Project description:Preservation of indigenous gastrointestinal microbiota is deemed to be critical for successful captive breeding of endangered wild animals, yet its biology is poorly understood. Here, we investigated cecal bacterial communities in wild Japanese rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta japonica) and compared them with those in Svalbard rock ptarmigans (L. m. hyperborea) in captivity. Ultra-deep sequencing of 16S rRNA gene indicated that the community structure of cecal microbiota in wild rock ptarmigans was remarkably different from that in captive Svalbard rock ptarmigans. Fundamental differences between bacterial communities in the two groups of birds were detected at the phylum level. Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Synergistetes were the major phyla detected in wild Japanese rock ptarmigans, whereas Firmicutes alone occupied more than 80% of abundance in captive Svalbard rock ptarmigans. Furthermore, unclassified genera of Coriobacteriaceae, Synergistaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Actinomycetaceae, Veillonellaceae and Clostridiales were the major taxa detected in wild individuals, whereas in zoo-reared birds, major genera were Ruminococcus, Blautia, Faecalibacterium and Akkermansia. Zoo-reared birds seemed to lack almost all rock ptarmigan-specific bacteria in their intestine, which may explain the relatively high rate of pathogenic infections affecting them. We show evidence that preservation and reconstitution of indigenous cecal microflora are critical for successful ex situ conservation and future re-introduction plan for the Japanese rock ptarmigan.
Project description:We know relatively little of the distribution of microbial communities generally. Significant work has examined a range of bacterial communities, but the distribution of microbial eukaryotes is less well characterized. Humans have an ancient association with grape vines (Vitis vinifera) and have been making wine since the dawn of civilization, and fungi drive this natural process. While the molecular biology of certain fungi naturally associated with vines and wines is well characterized, complementary investigations into the ecology of fungi associated with fruiting plants is largely lacking. DNA sequencing technologies allow the direct estimation of microbial diversity from a given sample, avoiding culture-based biases. Here, we use deep community pyrosequencing approaches, targeted at the 26S rRNA gene, to examine the richness and composition of fungal communities associated with grapevines and test for geographical community structure among four major regions in New Zealand (NZ). We find over 200 taxa using this approach, which is 10-fold more than previously recovered using culture-based methods. Our analyses allow us to reject the null hypothesis of homogeneity in fungal species richness and community composition across NZ and reveal significant differences between major areas.
Project description:Investigation of the phylogenetic diversity of Acidobacteria taxa using PCR amplicons from positive control 16S rRNA templates and total genomic DNA extracted from soil and a soil clay fraction A ten chip study using PCR amplicons from cloned 16S rRNA genes and from diverse soil 16S rRNAs, with PCR primers specific to the Division Acidobacteria. Each chip measures the signal from 42,194 probes (in triplicate) targeting Acidobacteria division, subdivision, and subclades as well as other bacterial phyla. All samples except one (GSM464591) include 2.5 M betaine in the hybridization buffer. Pair files lost due to a computer crash.
Project description:Oomycetes from the genus Phytophthora are fungus-like plant pathogens that are devastating for agriculture and natural ecosystems. Due to particular physiological characteristics, no treatments against diseases caused by oomycetes are presently available. To develop such treatments, it appears essential to dissect the molecular mechanisms that determine the interaction between Phytophthora species and host plants. The present project is focused on the molecular mechanisms that underlie the compatible plant-oomycete interaction and plant disease.The laboratory developed a novel interaction system involving the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana and Phytophthora parasitica, a soil-borne pathogen infecting a wide host range, thus representing the majority of Phytophthora species. A characteristic feature of the compatible Arabidopsis/Phytophthora parasitica interaction is an extended biotrophic phase, before infection becomes necrotrophic. Because the initial biotrophic phase is extremely short on natural (e.g. solanaceous) hosts, the Arabidopsis system provides the opportunity to analyze, for both interaction partners, the molecular events that determine the initiation of infection and the switch to necrotrophy.The present project aims at analyzing the compatible interaction between A. thaliana roots and Phytophthora parasitica. The Affymetrix A. thaliana full genome chip will be used to characterize modulations of the transcriptome occurring over a period of 24h from the onset of plant root infection to the beginning of necrotrophy. Parallel to this study, a custom designed Phytophthora parasitica biochip will enable analyzing of Phytophthora parasitica gene expression during the same stages. The pathosystem involving A. thaliana and Phytophthora parasitica was described in Attard A, Gourgues M, Callemeyn-Torre N, Keller H. 2010. The New phytologist 187: 449–460. The protocol for recovery of RNA from purified appressoria was described in Kebdani N, Pieuchot L, Deleury E, Panabieres F, Le Berre JY, Gourgues M. 2010. New Phytol 185: 248–257. A series of 14 hybridizations corresponding to two biological replicates each corresponding to RNA extractions of the following biological conditions were used: 1-Vegetative mycelium (recovered from two samples of 4 day-old cultures in liquid V8 medium at 24°C), 2- Motile zoospores (recovered from 8 independent cultures), 3-Appressoria differentiated on onion epidermis (epidermis from 20 onion bulbs inoculated with zoospores collected from 8 independent Petri dishes); appressoria collected 3 hours after inoculation (24 °C), 5- Infection of A. thaliana roots by Phytophthora parasitica zoospores (samples recovered at 2.5, 6, 10.5 and 30 hours post inoculation; 5 inoculated plants for each sample).
Project description:Subinhibitory concentrations of the neuroleptic drug thioridazine (TDZ) are well-known to enhance the killing of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) by β-lactam antibiotics, however, the mechanism underlying the synergy between TDZ and β-lactams is not fully understood. In the present study we have examined the effect of a subinhibitory concentration of TDZ on antimicrobial resistance, the global transcriptome, and the cell wall composition of MRSA USA300. We show that TDZ is able to sensitize the bacteria to several classes of antimicrobials targeting the late stages of peptidoglycan synthesis. Furthermore, our microarray analysis demonstrates that TDZ modulates the expression of genes encoding membrane and surface proteins, transporters, and enzymes involved in amino acid biosynthesis. Interestingly, resemblance between the transcriptional profile of TDZ treatment and the transcriptomic response of S. aureus to known inhibitors of cell wall synthesis suggests that TDZ disturbs peptidoglycan biosynthesis at a stage that precedes transpeptidation. In support of this notion, dramatic changes in the muropeptide profile of USA300 were observed following growth in the presence of TDZ, indicating that TDZ can interfere with the formation of the pentaglycine branches. Strikingly, the addition of glycine to the growth medium relieved the effect of TDZ on the muropeptide profile. Furthermore, exogenous glycine offered a modest protective effect against TDZ-induced β-lactam sensitivity. We propose that TDZ exposure leads to a shortage of intracellular amino acids, including glycine, which is required for the production of normal peptidoglycan precursors with pentaglycine branches, the correct substrate of S. aureus penicillin-binding proteins. Collectively, this work demonstrates that TDZ has a major impact on the cell wall biosynthesis pathway in S. aureus and provides new insights into how MRSA may be sensitized towards β-lactam antibiotics. Staphylococcus aureus USA300 was grown to early exponential phase and treated with TDZ (16 µg/ml) alone or in combination with DCX (0.125 µg/ml) for 30 min. Changes in global gene expression were analyzed using the untreated culture as control. Hybridizations were performed in triplicate using RNA isolated from independent cultures.
Project description:To reconstruct the gene regulatory network of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, cells were treated with different drugs/perturbations or were challenged by gain or loss of function of candidate regulators, or a combination of both.