Project description:The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an important component of the wine fermentation process and determines various attributes of the final product. However, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are also an integral part of the microflora of any fermenting must. Various wine microorganism engineering projects have been endeavoured in the past in order to change certain wine characteristics, namely aroma compound composition, ethanol concentration, levels of toxic/ allergenic compounds etc. Most of these projects focus on a specific gene or pathway, whereas our approach aims to understand the genetically complex traits responsible for these phenotypes in a systematic manner by implementing a transcriptomic analysis of yeast in mixed fermentations with the LAB O. oeni. Our aim is to investigate interactions between yeast and LAB on a gene expression level to identify targets for modification of yeast and O. oeni in a directed manner. Our goal was to identify the impact that the common wine microorganism O. oeni (malolactic bacteria) has on fermenting yeast cells on a gene expression level. To this end we co-inoculated the yeast and bacteria at the start of fermentation in a synthetic wine must, using yeast-only fermentations witout O. oeni as a control.
Project description:Biomineralization is a naturally occurred process, by which microorganism reduced mental ions to minerals. Bacteria-driven biomineralization is most applied in metal recycling or environmental governance, the biomineralized products are rarely used. This probably due to the attachments of microorganism derived components on minerals, such as proteins, which are treated as impurities and hard to remove. However, these microorganism generated molecules are potent in activation of immune systems, suggesting promising potentials of biomineralized products in developing immunotherapeutic strategies. In this research, we analyzed the protein components on DH5a Escherichia coli produced gold nanoparticles, to explored the generation process of gold nanoparticles in bacterial cells, as well as its immune adjuvant potentials.
Project description:The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an important component of the wine fermentation process and determines various attributes of the final product. However, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are also an integral part of the microflora of any fermenting must. Various wine microorganism engineering projects have been endeavoured in the past in order to change certain wine characteristics, namely aroma compound composition, ethanol concentration, levels of toxic/ allergenic compounds etc. Most of these projects focus on a specific gene or pathway, whereas our approach aims to understand the genetically complex traits responsible for these phenotypes in a systematic manner by implementing a transcriptomic analysis of yeast in mixed fermentations with the LAB O. oeni. Our aim is to investigate interactions between yeast and LAB on a gene expression level to identify targets for modification of yeast and O. oeni in a directed manner. Our goal was to identify the impact that the common wine microorganism O. oeni (malolactic bacteria) has on fermenting yeast cells on a gene expression level. To this end we co-inoculated the yeast and bacteria at the start of fermentation in a synthetic wine must, using yeast-only fermentations witout O. oeni as a control. Fermentations were carried out in synthetic wine must in triplicate for both the control S. cerevisiae VIN13 strain and the mixed fermentation of VIN13 and O. oeni (strain S5). Sampling of yeast for RNA extractions were performed at day 3 of fermentation, during the exponential growth phase of the yeast cells, and again at day 7 of fermentation, during the early stationary growth phase.
Project description:In a manner similar to ubiquitin, the prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein (Pup) has been shown to target proteins for degradation via the proteasome in mycobacteria. However, not all actinobacteria possessing the Pup protein also harbor a proteasome, suggesting fates for pupylated proteins other than degradation via a proteasome or degradation at all. In the present study we set out to study pupylation in the proteasome-lacking non-pathogenic model microorganism and biotechnological workhorse Corynebacterium glutamicum. A defined pup deletion mutant of C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 grew as the control indicating that pupylation seems to be dispensable under the conditions tested. By expression of homologous Pup carrying a poly-histidine tag in C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 we purified the first pupylome of a microorganism lacking a proteasome. Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT) unraveled 54 proteins being pupylated in this organism. Similar to mycobacteria, the majority of pupylated proteins in C. glutamicum can be classified as enzymes of the metabolism or as involved in translation. These results help to elucidate the common target pathways of pupylation in bacteria.
Project description:Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a commensal microorganism of the normal human nasopharyngeal flora, yet also an opportunistic pathogen of the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Changes in gene expression patterns in response to host microenvironments are likely critical for persistence. One such system of gene regulation is the ability to carefully regulate iron uptake. A central regulatory system that controls iron uptake, mediated by the ferric uptake regulator Fur, is present in multiple bacteria, including NTHi. To understand the regulation of iron homeostasis in NTHi, fur was deleted in the prototypic NTHi clinical isolate, 86-028NP. Using an NTHi-specific microarray, we identified genes whose expression was repressed or activated by Fur.
Project description:Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a commensal microorganism of the normal human nasopharyngeal flora, yet also an opportunistic pathogen of the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Changes in gene expression patterns in response to host microenvironments are likely critical for survival. One such system of gene regulation is the ability to carefully regulate iron uptake. A central regulatory system that controls iron uptake, mediated by the ferric uptake regulator Fur, is present in multiple bacteria, including NTHi. Previous work has identified a small RNA, HrrF, that is Fur-regulated in NTHi 86-028NPrpsL.To understand the contribution made by HrrF to gene regulation in NTHi, hrrF was deleted in the NTHi strain 86-028NPrpsL∆fur. Using RNA-Seq, we identified protein-encoding genes whose expression was repressed or activated by HrrF.
Project description:The objective of this study was to investigate which genes are important for Streptococcus pyogenes during intracellular survival in human macrophages. Streptococcus pyogenes is an important human pathogen, which has recently gained recognition as an intracellular microorganism during the course of severe invasive infections such as necrotizing fasciitis. Although the surface anchored M protein has been identified as a pivotal factor affecting phagosomal maturation and S. pyogenes survival within macrophages, the overall transcriptional profile required for the pathogen to adapt and persist intracellularly is yet unknown. To address this, gene expression profiles of S. pyogenes within human macrophages were determined and compared to those of extracellular bacteria using customized microarrays and real-time qRT-PCR. In order to model the early phase of infection involving adaptation to the intracellular compartment, samples were collected 2h post-infection and within 2 h post infection, the expression of 145 streptococcal genes was significantly altered in the intracellular environment. The majority of differentially regulated genes were associated with metabolic and energy-dependent processes. Key upregulated genes in early phase intracellular bacteria were ihk and irr, encoding a two-component gene regulatory system (TCS). We observed that an isogenic S. pyogenes mutant deficient in ihk/irr displayed significantly reduced bacterial counts as compared to wild-type bacteria following infection of macrophages. Comparison of gene expression of selected genes at 2h and 6h post-infection revealed a dramatic shift in response regulators over time with a down-regulation of ihk/irr genes concurrent with an upreguation of the well-studied covR/S two component regulator. In reinfection assays, intracellular bacteria from the 6h time point exhibited significantly greater survival within macrophages than did bacteria collected at the 2h time point. The findings illustrate how gene expression of S. pyogenes during the intracellular life cycle is fine-tuned by temporal expression of specific two-component systems.
Project description:Interventions: Case series:N/A
Primary outcome(s): Serum immune cytokines;Blood immune cells;SCFAs of bacterial metabolites;Gut microbial genomics;Metabolic function of intestinal microorganism
Study Design: Sequential