Project description:Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading bacterial cause for seafood-related gastroenteritis worldwide. As an intestinal pathogen, V. parahaemolyticus competes with other commensal bacteria for the same pool of nutrients. The major source of nutrition for intestinal bacteria is intestinal mucus. We wanted to determine the expression profile of wild-type V. parahaemolyticus in mouse intestinal mucus and then perform a differential expression analysis in a ∆rpoN deletion mutant.
Project description:Siderophores are specialized molecules with different chemical structures, produced by bacteria and fungi to scavenge iron from the environment, a crucial nutrient for their growth and metabolism. These iron-chelating compounds enable bacteria to overcome iron limitation, a key factor in microbial survival and pathogenesis. Catecholate-type siderophores are primarily produced by bacteria, while hydroxamates are predominantly produced by fungi. The capacity of nine hydroxamate-type siderophores produced by fungi to serve as siderophores for iron acquisition by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a human pathogen, has been investigated. Growth assays under iron limitation and 55Fe incorporation tests clearly highlighted that all nine siderophores promoted bacterial growth and facilitated iron transport. Additionally, the study aimed to identify the TonB-dependent transporters (TBDTs) responsible for iron import mediated by the tested siderophores. Mutant strains lacking genes encoding TBDTs were employed, revealing that iron is imported into P. aeruginosa cells solely by FpvB for the siderophores coprogen, triacetylfusarinine C, fusigen, ferrirhodin, and ferrirubin siderophores. Iron complexed by desferioxamine G is imported by two TBDTs, FpvB and FoxA. Ferricrocin-Fe and ferrichrycin-Fe complexes are imported by FpvB and FiuA. Lastly, rhodotorulic acid-Fe complexes are imported by FpvB, FiuA, and another unidentified TBDT. In conclusion, the data illustrate the effectiveness of hydroxamate-type siderophores in transporting iron into P. aeruginosa cells and provide insights into the intricate molecular mechanisms involved in iron acquisition, which have implications for understanding bacterial pathogenesis and developing potential therapeutic strategies.
Project description:Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading bacterial cause for seafood-related gastroenteritis worldwide. As an intestinal pathogen, V. parahaemolyticus competes with other commensal bacteria for the same pool of nutrients. The major source of nutrition for intestinal bacteria is intestinal mucus. We wanted to determine the expression profile of wild-type V. parahaemolyticus in mouse intestinal mucus and then perform a differential expression analysis in a ∆luxO deletion mutant, in which the high cell density quorum sensing regulator OpaR is constitutively expressed and low cell density regulator AphA is repressed.
Project description:We performed shallow whole genome sequencing (WGS) on circulating free (cf)DNA extracted from plasma or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and shallow WGS on the tissue DNA extracted from the biopsy in order to evaluate the correlation between the two biomaterials. After library construction and sequencing (Hiseq3000 or Ion Proton), copy number variations were called with WisecondorX.
Project description:To understand how cholera toxin (CT) produced by Vibrio cholerae modulates gene expression of this organism within the intestine, RNA-seq analysis was performed on two samples each of WT and the ∆ctx mutant bacteria harvested from either the infant rabbit ileum or the cecum one-day post-intragastric infection. We found that 243 genes that were significantly up-regulated in the WT compared to the ∆ctx mutant and these included 101 genes in ileum samples, 118 in the cecum samples, and 24 in both samples. We found that genes known to be induced under low-iron growth conditions were up-regulated in WT relative to the ∆ctx mutant in both the ileum and in the cecum, with a marked up-regulation in the ileum relative to the cecum. We also found that genes involved in TCA cycle metabolism, L-Lactate utilization, and LCFA utilization were significantly up-regulated in the WT in the ileum relative to the ∆ctx mutant during infection. We conclude that CT-induced disease creates an iron-depleted metabolic niche in the gut that modulates the transcriptional profile of this pathogen during infection.