Project description:The food-borne human pathogen Bacillus cereus is found in environments that often have a low pH, such as food and soil. The physiological response upon exposure to several levels of acidity were investigated of B. cereus model strain ATCC 10987, to elucidate the response of B. cereus to acid stress. pH 5.4, pH 5.0, pH 4.8 and pH 4.5 were selected to conduct microarray analyses, based on the differences in physiological response upon exposure to the acid conditions. The transcriptome data revealed response specific profiles. Showing mechanisms induced upon all the different acid down-shocks, such as nitrate reductase and energy production genes, and several genes specifically expressed differentially in mild or lethal levels of acidity, such as F1F0-ATPase and cydAB. Furthermore, mechanisms involved in oxidative stress response were found highly up-regulated in response to both mild and lethal acid stress. The induction of oxidative stress related genes may be a response to the formation of reactive oxygen species by a perturbation of the electron transport chain. Therefore, the formation of hydroxyl radicals and/ or peroxynitrite was monitored upon exposure to the different levels of acidity with a fluorescent probe in a flow cytometer. The formation of these oxidative compounds was shown to be specific for lethal pHs and a model to relate radical formation with the observed transcriptome profiles was proposed.
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:The genomes of two Bacillus cereus strains (ATCC 10987 and ATCC 14579) have been sequenced. Here, we report the specificities of type II/III restriction (R) and modification (M) enzymes. Found in the ATCC 10987 strain, BceSI is a restriction endonuclease (REase) with the recognition and cut site CGAAG 24-25/27-28. BceSII is an isoschizomer of AvaII (G/GWCC). BceSIII cleaves at ACGGC 12/14. The BceSIII C terminus resembles the catalytic domains of AlwI, MlyI, and Nt.BstNBI. BceSIV is composed of two subunits and cleaves on both sides of GCWGC. BceSIV activity is strongly stimulated by the addition of cofactor ATP or GTP. The large subunit (R1) of BceSIV contains conserved motifs of NTPases and DNA helicases. The R1 subunit has no endonuclease activity by itself; it strongly stimulates REase activity when in complex with the R2 subunit. BceSIV was demonstrated to hydrolyze GTP and ATP in vitro. BceSIV is similar to CglI (GCSGC), and homologs of R1 are found in 11 sequenced bacterial genomes, where they are paired with specificity subunits. In addition, homologs of the BceSIV R1-R2 fusion are found in many sequenced microbial genomes. An orphan methylase, M.BceSV, was found to modify GCNGC, GGCC, CCGG, GGNNCC, and GCGC sites. A ParB-methylase fusion protein appears to nick DNA nonspecifically. The ATCC 14579 genome encodes an active enzyme Bce14579I (GCWGC). BceSIV and Bce14579I belong to the phospholipase D (PLD) family of endonucleases that are widely distributed among Bacteria and Archaea. A survey of type II and III restriction-modification (R-M) system genes is presented from sequenced B. cereus, Bacillus anthracis, and Bacillus thuringiensis strains.
Project description:The food-borne human pathogen Bacillus cereus is found in environments that often have a low pH, such as food and soil. The physiological response upon exposure to several levels of acidity were investigated of B. cereus model strain ATCC 10987, to elucidate the response of B. cereus to acid stress. pH 5.4, pH 5.0, pH 4.8 and pH 4.5 were selected to conduct microarray analyses, based on the differences in physiological response upon exposure to the acid conditions. The transcriptome data revealed response specific profiles. Showing mechanisms induced upon all the different acid down-shocks, such as nitrate reductase and energy production genes, and several genes specifically expressed differentially in mild or lethal levels of acidity, such as F1F0-ATPase and cydAB. Furthermore, mechanisms involved in oxidative stress response were found highly up-regulated in response to both mild and lethal acid stress. The induction of oxidative stress related genes may be a response to the formation of reactive oxygen species by a perturbation of the electron transport chain. Therefore, the formation of hydroxyl radicals and/ or peroxynitrite was monitored upon exposure to the different levels of acidity with a fluorescent probe in a flow cytometer. The formation of these oxidative compounds was shown to be specific for lethal pHs and a model to relate radical formation with the observed transcriptome profiles was proposed. Per acid down-shock three exposure times (i.e., 10, 30 and 60 min) were each compared with non-exposed cells (i.e., t0). In total 4 different acid down-shocks were applied, pH 5.4, pH 5.0, pH 4.8 and pH 4.5. The experiments were performed in duplicate and the duplicate samples were hybridised with a dye-swap.
Project description:We sequenced the complete genome of Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987, a non-lethal dairy isolate in the same genetic subgroup as Bacillus anthracis. Comparison of the chromosomes demonstrated that B.cereus ATCC 10987 was more similar to B.anthracis Ames than B.cereus ATCC 14579, while containing a number of unique metabolic capabilities such as urease and xylose utilization and lacking the ability to utilize nitrate and nitrite. Additionally, genetic mechanisms for variation of capsule carbohydrate and flagella surface structures were identified. Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987 contains a single large plasmid (pBc10987), of approximately 208 kb, that is similar in gene content and organization to B.anthracis pXO1 but is lacking the pathogenicity-associated island containing the anthrax lethal and edema toxin complex genes. The chromosomal similarity of B.cereus ATCC 10987 to B.anthracis Ames, as well as the fact that it contains a large pXO1-like plasmid, may make it a possible model for studying B.anthracis plasmid biology and regulatory cross-talk.
Project description:In this study we compared the transcriptomic profiles of cells grown in BHI, BHI supplemented with FeCl3, BHI supplemented with iron scavenger Bipyridine and both iron and the scavenger.