Project description:Bartonelloses are neglected emerging infectious diseases caused by facultatively intracellular bacteria transmitted between vertebrate hosts by various arthropod vectors. The highest diversity of Bartonella species has been identified in rodents. Within this study we focused on the edible dormouse (Glis glis), a rodent with unique life-history traits that often enters households and whose possible role in the epidemiology of Bartonella infections had been previously unknown. We identified and cultivated two distinct Bartonella sub(species) significantly diverging from previously described species, which were characterized using growth characteristics, biochemical tests, and various molecular techniques including also proteomics. Two novel (sub)species were described: Bartonella grahamii subsp. shimonis subsp. nov. and Bartonella gliris sp. nov.We sequenced two individual strains per each described (sub)species. During exploratory genomic analyses comparing two genotypes ultimately belonging to the same species, both factually and most importantly even spatiotemporally, we noticed unexpectedly significant structural variation between them. We found that most of the detected structural variants could be explained either by prophage excision or integration. Based on a detailed study of one such event, we argue that prophage deletion represents the most probable explanation of the observed phenomena.Moreover, in one strain of Bartonella grahamii subsp. shimonis subsp. nov. we identified a deletion related to Bartonella Adhesin A, a major pathogenicity factor that modulates bacteria-host interactions. Altogether, our results suggest that even a limited number of passages induced sufficient selective pressure to promote significant changes at the level of the genome.
Project description:Azole resistance was induced in vitro by growth of a susceptible C. parapsilosis isolate in the presence of voriconazole. Whole genome microarrays were used to compare the transcriptional response of the voriconizole-resistant and susceptible isolates.
Project description:Azole resistance was induced in vitro by growth of a susceptible C. parapsilosis isolate in the presence of posaconazole. Whole genome microarrays were used to compare the transcriptional response of the posaconazole-resistant and susceptible isolates.
Project description:Azole resistance was induced in vitro by growth of a susceptible C. parapsilosis isolate in the presence of fluconazole. Whole genome microarrays were used to compare the transcriptional response of the fluconazole-resistant and susceptible isolates.
Project description:The present study describes a novel mechanism of antifungal resistance affecting the susceptibility of both the azole and echinocandin antifungals in an azole-resistant isolate from a matched pair of C. parapsilosis isolates obtained from a patient with prosthetic valve endocarditis. Transcriptome analysis indicated differential expression of several genes in the resistant isolate including upregulation of ERG1, ERG2, ERG5, ERG6, ERG11, ERG24, ERG25, ERG27, DAP1 and UPC2, of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. Whole genome sequencing revealed a mutation in the ERG3 gene leading to a G111R amino acid substitution in the resistant isolate. Subsequent introduction of this allele in the native ERG3 locus in the susceptible isolate resulted in a fluconazole MIC of >64 mg/ml and a caspofungin MIC of 8 mg/ml. Corresponding allelic replacement of the wildtype allele for the mutant allele in the resistant isolate resulted in a drop in MIC to 1 mg/ml for both fluconazole and caspofungin. Sterol profiles indicated a loss of sterol demethylase activity as a result of this mutation. This work demonstrate that this G111R mutation is wholly responsible for the resistant phenotype in the C. parapsilosis resistant isolate and is the first report of this multidrug resistance mechanism.