Project description:Enterocin AS-48 is produced by Enterococcus faecalis S48 to compete with other bacteria in their environment. Due to its activity against various Gram positive and some Gram negative bacteria it has clear potential for use as a food preservative. Here, we studied the effect of enterocin AS-48 challenges on vegetative cells of Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 by use of transcriptome analysis.
Project description:Enterocin AS-48 is produced by Enterococcus faecalis S48 to compete with other bacteria in their environment. Due to its activity against various Gram positive and some Gram negative bacteria it has clear potential for use as a food preservative. Here, we studied the effect of enterocin AS-48 challenges on vegetative cells of Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 by use of transcriptome analysis. Control: Wild type against Target: Enterocin AS-48 challenge A supplementary file containing processed data of all samples combined is linked below. Mn column is the lowess normalized LN (Target/Control).
Project description:The Bacillus cereus group consists of eight very closely related species and comprises both harmless and human pathogenic species. Yet, methods to rapidly and accurately distinguish these species are currently lacking as we demonstrate that classical matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) biotyping did not achieve reliable identification of each type strain. We assigned type strain-specific diagnostic peptides to the B. cereus group based on comparisons of their proteome profiles. The number of diagnostic peptides varies remarkably in type strain-dependent manner. The state of the art of the reference database is crucial in the process of validating candidate diagnostic peptides and may lead to a noteworthy reduction of verified diagnostic peptides as putative diagnostic peptides might be found in other species as well.
Project description:The Bacillus cereus-group (B. cereus sensu lato) includes common, usually avirulent species, often considered contaminants of patient samples in routine microbiological diagnostics, as well as the highly virulent B. anthracis. Here we describe 16 isolates from 15 patients, identified as B. cereus-group using a MALDI-TOF MS standard database. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis identified five of the isolates as B. anthracis species not carrying the typical virulence plasmids pXO1 and pXO2, four isolates as B. paranthracis, three as B. cereus sensu stricto, two as B. thuringiensis, one as B. mobilis, and one isolate represents a previously undefined species of Bacillus (B. basilensis sp. nov.). More detailed analysis using alternative MALDI-TOF MS databases, biochemical phenotyping, and diagnostic PCRs, gave further conflicting species results. These cases highlight the difficulties in identifying avirulent B. anthracis within the B. cereus-group using standard methods. WGS and alternative MALDI-TOF MS databases offer more accurate species identification, but so far are not routinely applied. We discuss the diagnostic resolution and discrepancies of various identification methods.
Project description:Members of the Bacillus cereus group can adapt to a wide range of environmental challenges. In bacteria, these challenges are often translated into a transcriptional response via the cognate response regulators (RRs) of specialized two-component systems (TCSs). We have previously developed a phylogenetic footprinting approach that was successfully implemented to predict specific binding sites (operators) and target genes for the RRs of B. cereus and related species. In this study, this footprinting approach was integrated with transcriptome analyses of two B. cereus TCS deletion mutants, involving the TCSs YvrHG and YufLM. Comparison of mutant versus wild-type transcriptomes revealed that the respective TCSs were significantly active during the exponential growth phase in rich medium and that the footprinting-based predictions were accurate for the two TCSs. Moreover, the predicted specific operators were used in combination with the transcriptome data to guide the identification of more extended TCS regulons. This revealed new roles for the respective TCSs, including the participation in an intricate transcriptional network involved in antibiotic resistance, including the confirmed resistance to oxolinic acid (YvrHG) and the confirmed uptake and metabolism of fumarate and the repression of fermentative pathways (YufLM).
Project description:A common bacterial strategy for monitoring environmental challenges is to use two-component systems, which consist of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) and a response regulator (RR). In the food-borne pathogen Bacillus cereus, the alternative sigma factor ÏB is activated by the RR RsbY. Here we present strong indications that the PP2C-type phosphatase RsbY receives its input from the multi-sensor hybrid kinase BC1008 (renamed RsbK). Genome analyses revealed that, across bacilli, rsbY and rsbK are located in a conserved gene cluster. A B. cereus rsbK deletion strain was shown to be incapable of inducing ÏB upon stress conditions and was impaired in its heat adaptive response. Comparison of the wild-type and rsbK mutant transcriptomes upon heat shock revealed that RsbK was primarily involved in the activation of the ÏB-mediated stress response. Truncation of the RsbK RR receiver domain demonstrated the importance of this domain for ÏB induction upon stress. The domain architecture of RsbK suggests that in the B. cereus group and in other bacilli, environmental and intracellular stress signalling routes are combined into one single protein. This strategy is markedly different from the ÏB activation pathway in other low-GC Grampositives. Two different comparisons were performed (both in duplo and Cy5-Cy3 dye-swapped): (1) B. cereus WT 30°C versus B. cereus WT 42°C (10 min heat shock) (2) B. cereus WT 42°C versus B. cereus FM1404 42°C Data from comparisons (2) were subsequently compared with transcriptome data obtained previously by Van Schaik et al., 2007
Project description:The alternative sigma factor sigmaB has an important role in the acquisition of stress-resistance in many gram-positive bacteria. In the foodborne pathogen Bacillus cereus sigmaB is activated strongly upon a heat shock and other stress conditions. Here we describe the identification of the set of sigmaB-regulated genes in B. cereus by DNA microarray analysis of the transcriptome upon a mild heat shock. A total of 24 genes could be identified as being sigmaB-dependent as witnessed by (i) significantly lower expression-levels of these genes in mutants deleted for sigB and rsbY (encoding the alternative sigma factor sigmaB and a PP2C phosphatase that acts as a crucial positive regulator of sigmaB-activity, respectively) than in the parental strain B. cereus ATCC 14579, and (ii) increased expression of these genes upon a heat shock. Newly identified members of the sigmaB-regulon of B. cereus include an ECF-sigma factor (sigmaZ), a histidine kinase and two genes that have predicted functions in spore germination. Our data indicate that the sigmaB-regulon of B. cereus is considerably smaller than that of other gram-positive bacteria. This appears to be in line with phylogenetic analyses of sigmaB in which sigmaB in the B. cereus group was suggested to be close to the ancestral form of sigmaB in gram-positive bacteria. Keywords: stress response, comparative genomics
Project description:Bacillus cereus is the second leading cause of collective food poisoning in France. B. cereus is also associated with severe clinical infections leading to patient death in 10% of the cases. The emergence of B. cereus as a foodborne and opportunistic pathogen has intensified the need to distinguish strains of public health concern. In this work, by performing a screen on a large collection of B. cereus strains of varying pathogenic potential, we identified genetic determinants capable of discriminating B. cereus strains inducing negative clinical outcomes. The combination of 4 biomarkers is sufficient to accurately discern clinical strains from harmless strains. Three of the biomarkers are located on the chromosome, with a fourth one identifying a plasmid carried by most pathogenic strains. A 50 kbp region of this plasmid promotes the virulence potential of these strains and could thus be defined as a new pathogenicity island of B. cereus. These new findings help in the understanding of B. cereus pathogenic potential and complexity and may provide tools for a better assessment of the risks associated with B. cereus contamination to improve patient health and food safety.
Project description:A common bacterial strategy for monitoring environmental challenges is to use two-component systems, which consist of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) and a response regulator (RR). In the food-borne pathogen Bacillus cereus, the alternative sigma factor σB is activated by the RR RsbY. Here we present strong indications that the PP2C-type phosphatase RsbY receives its input from the multi-sensor hybrid kinase BC1008 (renamed RsbK). Genome analyses revealed that, across bacilli, rsbY and rsbK are located in a conserved gene cluster. A B. cereus rsbK deletion strain was shown to be incapable of inducing σB upon stress conditions and was impaired in its heat adaptive response. Comparison of the wild-type and rsbK mutant transcriptomes upon heat shock revealed that RsbK was primarily involved in the activation of the σB-mediated stress response. Truncation of the RsbK RR receiver domain demonstrated the importance of this domain for σB induction upon stress. The domain architecture of RsbK suggests that in the B. cereus group and in other bacilli, environmental and intracellular stress signalling routes are combined into one single protein. This strategy is markedly different from the σB activation pathway in other low-GC Grampositives.