Project description:The study aimed to investigate the effect of pH on Bacillus subtilis secretome into cell-free supernatant which is used as plant growth biostimulant
Project description:Metals at high concentrations can exert toxic effects on microorganisms. It has been widely reported that lowering environmental pH reduces effects of cadmium toxicity in bacteria. Understanding the effects of pH-mediated cadmium toxicity on bacteria would be useful for minimizing cadmium toxicity in the environment and gaining insight into the interactions between organic and inorganic components of life. Growth curve analysis confirmed that cadmium was less toxic to Escherichia coli at pH 5 than at pH 7 in M9 minimal salts medium. To better understand the cellular mechanisms by which lowering pH decreases cadmium toxicity, we used DNA microarrays to characterize global gene expression patterns in E. coli in response to cadmium exposure at moderately acidic (5) and neutral (7) values of pH. Higher expression of several stress response genes including hdeA, otsA, and yjbJ at pH 5 after only 5 minutes was observed and may suggest that acidic pH more rapidly induces genes that confer cadmium resistance. Genes involved in transport were more highly expressed at pH 7 than at pH 5 in the presence of cadmium. Of the genes that showed an interaction between pH and cadmium effects, 46% encoded hypothetical proteins, which may have novel functions involved in mitigating cadmium toxicity.
Project description:In this study, AC2P20 was prioritized for continued study to test the hypothesis that it was targeting Mtb pathways associated with pH-driven adaptation. RNAseq transcriptional profiling studies showed AC2P20 modulates expression of genes associated with redox-homeostasis. Gene enrichment analysis revealed that the AC2P20 transcriptional profile had significant overlap with a previously characterized pH-selective inhibitor, AC2P36. Like AC2P36, we show that AC2P20 kills Mtb by selectively depleting free thiols at acidic pH. Mass spectrometry studies show the formation of a disulfide bond between AC2P20 and reduced glutathione, supporting a mechanism where AC2P20 is able to deplete intracellular thiols and dysregulate redox homeostasis.
Project description:We aim to compare the genomic discrepancies across de novo Ph+ ALL, Ph+ MPAL and Ph+ AML, three diseases characterized by the occurrence of BCR-ABL1 transcripts but showing varied immunophenotypes. The data we are now submitting is the genomic copy number variants of these three groups. The following is the abstract with associated manuscript. The chromosome abnormality of Philadelphia (Ph) is typically seen in de novo acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It has also been identified in mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the revisions to World Health Organization classification of myeloid neoplasms and actue leukemia. The discrepancies between these patients and potential mechanisms underlying differentiation fate of the leukemia cells remain poorly defined. We evaluated the clinical, genomic and transcriptomic features of Ph+ ALL, Ph+ MPAL and Ph+ AML by taking advantage of high-density genomic analysis, including next-generation sequencing array comparative genomic hybridization and gene expression profiling for transcriptomic analysis. Our results showed that the three cohorts demonstrated diversified clinical features. Ph+ ALL had the best response to induction therapy, with a complete remission (CR) rate of 93.5 and molecular response of 43.5%. Ph+ MPAL had a 90.0% CR rate but only 5.9% of molecular response. The CR rate of Ph+ AML was only 68.8%. Ph+ ALL was characterized by loss and mutations of B-cell development gene IKZF1 and PAX5, and frequent histone H3K36 trimethyltransferase SETD2 mutations. SETD2 mutations were detected in 11.3% of Ph+ ALL patients and predicted higher relapse rate. Ph+ MPAL and Ph+ AML featured high frequency of RUNX1 mutations. Further studies showed RUNX1-R177X mutation inhibited 32D cell differentiation induced by G-Csf, and cooperated with BCR-ABL1 to lead to myeloid differentiation arrest of human cord blood CD34+ cells. It is therefore presumed that these additional mutations work in synergy with BCR-ABL1 fusion gene to facilitate the development of Ph-positive acute leukemia in different immunophenotypic classifications.
Project description:Metals at high concentrations can exert toxic effects on microorganisms. It has been widely reported that lowering environmental pH reduces effects of cadmium toxicity in bacteria. Understanding the effects of pH-mediated cadmium toxicity on bacteria would be useful for minimizing cadmium toxicity in the environment and gaining insight into the interactions between organic and inorganic components of life. Growth curve analysis confirmed that cadmium was less toxic to Escherichia coli at pH 5 than at pH 7 in M9 minimal salts medium. To better understand the cellular mechanisms by which lowering pH decreases cadmium toxicity, we used DNA microarrays to characterize global gene expression patterns in E. coli in response to cadmium exposure at moderately acidic (5) and neutral (7) values of pH. Higher expression of several stress response genes including hdeA, otsA, and yjbJ at pH 5 after only 5 minutes was observed and may suggest that acidic pH more rapidly induces genes that confer cadmium resistance. Genes involved in transport were more highly expressed at pH 7 than at pH 5 in the presence of cadmium. Of the genes that showed an interaction between pH and cadmium effects, 46% encoded hypothetical proteins, which may have novel functions involved in mitigating cadmium toxicity. GROWTH CONDITIONS FOR MICROARRAY EXPERIMENTS: Two overnight cultures of E. coli K-12 were started in M9 medium. A 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask containing 100 mL of M9 medium was inoculated with 0.5 mL for each of the two overnight cultures, each of which was considered a biological replicate. The cultures were grown on a rotary shaker (200 rpm) at 37 °C until the contents of the flask reached an OD600 of 0.3 (mid-log phase of growth). Each culture was divided into four 25 mL aliquots, transferred to 50 mL conical tubes (Corning), and centrifuged at 2540 x g for 12 minutes. The supernatant was decanted, and the cells were resuspended in 25 mL of M9 medium at pH 7 or pH 5 in the presence or absence (two cultures of each) of 5.4 µM (1 µg/mL) total cadmium, added as CdCl2. The cultures were incubated at 25 °C for either 5 or 15 minutes with manual rotation of the flasks once per minute. After the appropriate amount of time, 15 mL of RNAProtect Bacteria Reagent (Qiagen) was added to each culture to immediately halt all metabolic processes. The solutions were vortexed, incubated at 25 °C for 5 minutes, and centrifuged for 12 minutes at 3750 x g. RNA was extracted from the cell pellets immediately following centrifugation. RNA EXTRACTION AND HYBRIDIZATION PROCEDURES: RNA was extracted and purified using a Masterpure RNA purification kit (Epicentre Technologies). The quantity and quality of the RNA samples were determined spectrophotometrically. Preparation of the cDNA, labeling with Cy3 and Cy5, and successive hybridizations were accomplished using a 3DNA Array 900MPX kit following the manufacturer’s protocols (Genisphere) with the following modifications. 3DNA reverse transcriptase enzyme (Genisphere # RT300320) rather than SuperScript II was added to 1 µg of RNA and 2 µL of a random primer (1 µg/µL). The final cDNA hybridization mix contained 29 µL 2X enhanced cDNA hybridization buffer rather than 2X SDS-based hybridization buffer or 2X formamide-based hybridization buffer. The cDNA mix was hybridized to a cDNA microarray printed by the Microarray and Proteomics Facility at the University of Alberta (Operon version 1.0 oligonucleotides). The arrays were scanned with a Versarray ChipReader (BioRad) with laser power at 75%, photomultiplier tube (PMT) sensitivity at 800 V, and detector gain at 1. DATA ANALYSIS: Each array directly compared transcription at pH 5 and pH 7 for a given cadmium treatment (0 or 5.4 µM cadmium) and exposure time. Dye swaps were performed for each biological replicate for each of the following treatments (8 total arrays): 5 minutes with cadmium exposure, 5 minutes without cadmium exposure, 15 minutes with cadmium exposure, and 15 minutes without cadmium exposure. The 0-minute exposure to cadmium treatment was obtained from the 5-minute microarray without cadmium exposure. Spot intensities and locations were determined using TIGR Spotfinder, Version 3.1.1. All subsequent analyses were performed using the ma-anova package in the open-source statistical software package, R (www.r-project.org), Version 2.4.1. The data were normalized using the regional lowess method. Following normalization the median expression values of genes represented in triplicate on each array were determined for each gene. A mixed model two-way ANOVA for the main fixed effects of pH, cadmium, and their interaction (array and spot were the random effects) were performed (using Type III F-tests) separately for each time point to identify genes for which pH and cadmium interacted to significantly affect expression (FDR-adjusted p ? 0.05).
Project description:Sourdough is a very competitive and challenging environment for microorganisms. Usually, a stable microbiota composed of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts comes to dominate this ecosystem. Although rich in carbohydrates, thus providing an ideal environment to grow, the low pH presents a particular challenge. The nature of the adaptation to this low pH was investigated for Lactobacillus plantarum IMDO 130201, an isolate from a laboratory wheat sourdough fermentation. Batch fermentations were carried out in wheat sourdough simulation medium, and total RNA was isolated from mid-exponential growth phase cultures, followed by differential gene expression analysis using a LAB functional gene microarray. At low pH values, an increased expression of genes involved in peptide and amino acid metabolism was observed as well as of genes involved in plantaricin production and lipoteichoic acid synthesis. The results highlight cellular mechanisms that allow L. plantarum to function at a low environmental pH.