Project description:The diversity and environmental distribution of the nosZ gene, which encodes the enzyme responsible for the consumption of nitrous oxide, was investigated in marine and terrestrial environments using a functional gene microarray. The microbial communities represented by the nosZ gene probes showed strong biogeographical separation, with communities from surface ocean waters and agricultural soils significantly different from each other and from those in oceanic oxygen minimum zones. Atypical nosZ genes, usually associated with incomplete denitrification pathways, were detected in all the environments, including surface ocean waters. The abundance of nosZ genes, as estimated by quantitative PCR, was highest in the agricultural soils and lowest in surface ocean waters.
Project description:Analysis of proteins under the influence of the quorum sensing (QS) system in the nonpathogenic Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain 6N2, and the influence of the bacterial QS system in the proteome of the yeast Meyerozyma guilliermondii strain 6N.
Project description:Quorum sensing (QS) in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, the causal agent of citrus canker, is mediated by a diffusible signal factor (DSF). QS is required for the full virulence of X. axonopodis pv. citri in planta. Mutations in rpfF, rpfC and rpfG, the core genes of QS, decreased the production of extracellular proteases and bacterial motility. Comparison of the transcriptomes of QS mutants with that of the wild type stain revealed that QS temporally regulates the expression of a large set of genes, including genes involved in chemotaxis and flagellar biosynthesis, genes related to metabolism, genes encoding virulence traits such as type II secretion system substates, type III secretion system and effectors. Cross talk between the QS regulon and the HrpG regulon has also been identified by 62 common genes shared by both regulons. The temporal regulation of the QS regulon and cross talk with the HrpG regulon suggest the important role of QS in citrus canker infection, including attachment, invasion and growth in host apoplast.
Project description:QS-21 is a component of the Adjuvant System AS01 that is used in several vaccine candidates. QS-21 strongly potentiates both cellular and humoral immune responses to purified antigens, yet how it activates immune cells is largely unknown. Here, QS-21 (or DQ) directly activated human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) and promoted a pro-inflammatory transcriptional program.
Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common pathogen in the lungs of the cystic fibrosis patients. As infection develops the organism progressively adapts to its environment and its mode of pathogenesis alters, frequently including the loss of quorum sensing (QS) regulated virulence factors. We used microarrays to determine genomic differences by comparative genome hybridisation between two P. aeruginosa isolates from CF patients, one of which exhibited an active quorum sensing (QS) system (UUPA38) typical of early acute infection while the other was QS-compromised (UUPA85) typical of chronic CF-adapted infection.
Project description:In the context of the Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA) project, the quorum sensing system (QS) of R. rubrum S1H has been shown to rely on acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) as communication signals. In addition, previous studies in our lab have suggested that pigment content and photosynthetic membrane production could be under the control of QS. In the present study, the transcriptomic and proteomic profiles of a QS-deficient mutant (R. rubrum strain M68) that does not produce AHLs as the WT strain (R. rubrum S1H) were compared when cultivated in light anaerobic conditions using acetate as carbon source. Transcriptomic and proteomic approaches revealed that 330 genes and 217 proteins were differentially expressed in M68 compared to S1H, indicating that several operons were QS-regulated i.e. flagellar assembly, chemotaxis, photosynthesis, electron transport, stress proteins. These results showed the importance of a functional QS system in R. rubrum.
Project description:The mammary epithelial cell (MEC) system is a bi-layered ductal epithelial network consisting of luminal and basal cells, maintained by a lineage of stem and progenitor cell populations. Here, we used integrated single-cell transcriptomics and chromatin accessibility analysis to reconstruct the cell types of the mouse MEC system and their underlying gene regulatory features in an unbiased manner. We define differentiation states within the secretory type of luminal cells, which can be defined as a continuous spectrum of progenitor and mature secretory cells. By integrating single-cell transcriptomics and chromatin accessibility landscapes, we identified cis- and trans-regulatory elements that are differentially activated in the specific epithelial cell types and our newly defined luminal differentiation states. Our work provides an unprecedented resource to reveal cis/trans regulatory elements associated with MEC identity and differentiation that will serve as a valuable reference to determine how the chromatin accessibility landscape changes during breast cancer.
Project description:Clostridium perfringens encodes at least two different quorum sensing (QS) systems, the Agr-like and LuxS, and recent studies have highlighted their importance in the regulation of toxin production and virulence. The role of QS in the pathogenesis of necrotic enteritis (NE) in poultry and the regulation of NetB, the key toxin involved, has not yet been investigated. We have generated isogenic agrB-null and complemented strains from parent CP1, and demonstrated that the virulence of the agrB-null mutant was strongly attenuated in a chicken NE model system, and restored by complementation. The production of NetB, a key NE-associated toxin, was dramatically reduced in the agrB mutant at both the transcriptional and protein level, though not in a luxS mutant. Transwell assays confirmed that the Agr-like QS system controls NetB production through a diffusible signal. Global gene expression analysis of the agrB mutant identified additional genes modulated by Agr-like QS, including operons related to phospholipid metabolism and adherence, which may also play a role in NE pathogenesis. This study provides the first evidence that the Agr-like QS system is critical for NE pathogenesis, and identifies a number of Agr-regulated genes, most notably the NetB toxin, that are potentially involved in mediating its effects. The Agr-like QS system thus may serve as a target for developing novel interventions to prevent NE in chickens.
Project description:Novel anti-infective agents targeting Staphylococcus aureus and capable of increasing S. aureus susceptibility towards antibiotics are needed. One alternative approach is targeting the bacterial quorum sensing (QS) system. QS is a process by which bacteria produce and detect signal molecules and thereby coordinate their behaviour, virulence and biofilm formation in a cell-density-dependent manner. Hamamelitannin (HAM) was previously suggested to target the S. aureus QS system, thereby increasing the susceptibility of S. aureus biofilms towards vancomycin. However, mechanistic insights are still lacking. For this reason, we evaluated the effect of Hamamelitannin, vancomycin and combination treatment of Hamamelitannin and vancomycin on gene expression in S. aureus Mu50 biofilms.