Project description:Genomic surveys of yeast hybrid species isolated from the wild and from human-related environment, aimed at the reconstruction of the natural evolution of Saccharomyces spp. evolution
Project description:Campylobacter spp. cause food-borne illnesses worldwide due to contaminated food and cross-contamination. This is at least partly the result of Campylobacter resistance in the food production chain, as modern food production facilitates the emergence and spread of resistance through intensive use of antimicrobials and international trade in raw materials and food products. The biofilm 'lifestyle' of Campylobacter contributes to this spread as it enables them to withstand stress in the environment both outside and inside the host. Campylobacter adhesion and biofilm formation has major implications for the food industry, where biofilms can be persistent sources of contamination. In our study, we described how the proteome of C. jejuni is affected by the deletion of the luxS gene on the planktonic cell type of C. jejuni, which is the first step of biofilm formation. In C. jejuni, the presence of the luxS gene has been associated with several phenotypes, including intercellular signalling, motility, biofilm formation, host colonisation, virulence, autoagglutination, cellular adherence and invasion, oxidative stress and chemotaxis. Deletion of the luxS gene is associated with a reduction or absence of the above properties compared to wild type (Elvers and Park, 2002; Guerry et al., 2006; He et al., 2008; Jeon et al., 2003; Quiñones et al., 2009; Plummer et al., 2011; Plummer, 2012; Reeser et al., 2007).
Project description:Anaerobic degradation (AD) of heterogeneous agricultural substrates is a complex process involving a diverse microbial community. While microbial community composition of a variety of biogas plants (BPs) is well described, little is known about metabolic processes and microbial interaction patterns. Here, we analyzed 16 large-scale BPs using metaproteomics. All metabolic steps of AD were observed in the metaproteome, and multivariate analyses indicated that they were shaped by temperature, pH, volatile fatty acid content and substrate types. Biogas plants can be subdivided into hydrogenotrophic, acetoclastic or a mixture of both methanogenic pathways based on their process parameters, taxonomic and functional metaproteome. Network analyses showed large differences in metabolic and microbial interaction patterns. Both, number of interactions and interaction partners were highly dependent on the prevalent methanogenic pathway for most species. Nevertheless, we observed a highly conserved metabolism of different abundant Pseudomonas spp. for all BPs indicating a key role during AD in carbohydrate hydrolysis irrespectively of variabilities in substrate input and process parameters. Thus, Pseudomonas spp. are of high importance for robust and versatile AD food webs, which highlight a large variety of downstream metabolic processes for their respective methanogenic pathways.
Project description:In this report, we have developed a rapid oligonucleotide microarray detection technique to identify the most common ten Legionella spp.. The sensitivity of the detection was at 1.0 ng with genomic DNA or 13 CFU/100 mL with Legionella cultures. The microarray detected seven air conditioner-condensed water samples with 100% accuracy, validating the technique as a promising method for applications in basic microbiology, clinical diagnosis, food safety, and epidemiological surveillance. The phylogenetic study based on the ITS has also revealed interestingly that the non-pathogenic L. fairfieldensis is the closest to L. pneumophila than the nine other pathogenic Legionella spp..
Project description:Innovative strategies for increasing the yield of rice, the staple food for more than half of the global population, are needed to keep pace with the expected worldwide population increase, and sustainably forefront the challenges posed by climate change. Traditionally, in Southern-East Asian countries, rice farming benefits from the use of Azolla spp., either as green manure or as co-cultivated plants, for the supply of nitrogen. Azolla spp. are ferns that, in virtue of their symbiosis with the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Trichormus azollae, fix atmospheric nitrogen and release it to the environment upon decomposition of their biomass. However, if and to what extent actively growing Azolla plants impact on the development of co-cultivated rice plantlets remains to be understood. To address this point here we employed an experimental model to follow the growth and development of roots and aerial organs of rice seedlings when co-cultivated with Azolla filiculoides. We show that actively growing A. filiculoides plants alter the architecture of the roots, the transcriptome of the roots, and the hormonal profiles of both roots and leaves.