Articles

A newly identified linear epitope on non-RBD region of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein improves the serological detection rate of COVID-19 patients

Serological test is helpful in confirming and tracking infectious diseases in large population with the advantage of fast and convenience. Using the specific epitope peptides identified from the whole antigen ...

Authors: Yunwen Zhang, Zhengrong Yang, Sicheng Tian, Baisheng Li, Tiejian Feng, Jianfan He, Min Jiang, Xiujuan Tang, Shujiang Mei, Hao Li, Yifan Zhong, Guilian Li, Mingyuan Tang, Sijing Liu, Tian Tang, Chuan Wang…

Application of machine learning in bacteriophage research

Phages are one of the key components in the structure, dynamics, and interactions of microbial communities in different bins. It has a clear impact on human health and the food industry. Bacteriophage characte...

Authors: Yousef Nami, Nazila Imeni and Bahman Panahi

Regulation of virulence and β-lactamase gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus isolates: cooperation of two-component systems in bloodstream superbugs

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-bloodstream infections (BSI) are predominantly seen in the hospital or healthcare-associated host. Nevertheless, the interactions of virulence factor (VFs) regul...

Authors: Sanaz Dehbashi, Hamed Tahmasebi, Behrouz Zeyni and Mohammad Reza Arabestani

A synbiotic intervention modulates meta-omics signatures of gut redox potential and acidity in elective caesarean born infants

The compromised gut microbiome that results from C-section birth has been hypothesized as a risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases (NCD). In a double-blind randomized controlled study, 15...

Authors: Christophe Lay, Collins Wenhan Chu, Rikky Wenang Purbojati, Enzo Acerbi, Daniela I. Drautz-Moses, Paola Florez de Sessions, Song Jie, Eliza Ho, Yee Jiun Kok, Xuezhi Bi, Shuwen Chen, Shi Ya Mak, Mei Chien Chua, Anne E. N. Goh, Wen Chin Chiang, Rajeshwar Rao…

Chitin-rich heteroglycan from Sporothrix schenckii sensu stricto potentiates fungal clearance in a mouse model of sporotrichosis and promotes macrophages phagocytosis

Fungal cell wall polysaccharides maintain the integrity of fungi and interact with host immune cells. The immunomodulation of fungal polysaccharides has been demonstrated in previous studies. However, the effe...

Authors: Lilin Huang, Jing Zhang, Weian Du, Zixian Liang, Meirong Li, Rong Wu, Sanmei Chen, Xuchu Hu and Huaiqiu Huang

A new, reliable, and high-throughput strategy to screen bacteria for antagonistic activity against Staphylococcus aureus

Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones have emerged globally over the last few decades. Probiotics have been actively studied as an alternative to antibiotics to prevent and treat S. aureus infections,...

Authors: Soyoun Park, Adam Classen, Hanny Maeva Gohou, Roberto Maldonado, Emily Kretschmann, Chloe Duvernay, Geun-Joong Kim and Jennifer Ronholm

Network-based analysis of virulence factors for uncovering Aeromonas veronii pathogenesis

Aeromonas veronii is a bacterial pathogen in aquaculture, which produces virulence factors to enable it colonize and evade host immune defense. Given that experimental verification of virulence factors is time-co...

Authors: Hong Li, Xiang Ma, Yanqiong Tang, Dan Wang, Ziding Zhang and Zhu Liu

Tyrosinase and laccase-producing Bacillus aryabhattai TFG5 and its role in the polymerization of phenols

Tyrosinases and laccases are oxidoreductase enzymes that are used widely in the food, feed, textile, and biofuel industries. The rapidly growing industrial demand for bacterial oxido-reductases has encouraged ...

Authors: Iniyakumar Muniraj, Syed Shameer and Sivakumar Uthandi

Isolation and characterization of lytic phage TUN1 specific for Klebsiella pneumoniae K64 clinical isolates from Tunisia

Multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae spp. (kp) are emerging agents of severe infections of the respiratory, urinary tract and wounds that can progress to fatal septicemia. The use of bacteriophages is curren...

Authors: Simone Eckstein, Jana Stender, Sonia Mzoughi, Kilian Vogele, Jana Kühn, Daniela Friese, Christina Bugert, Susann Handrick, Mustapha Ferjani, Roman Wölfel, Andrew Millard, Mohamed Ben Moussa and Joachim J. Bugert

Prevalence and molecular characteristics of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Hainan, China: from 2014 to 2019

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) has become the major concern in global tuberculosis control due to its limited therapy options and high mortality. Ho...

Authors: Lin Liu, Xiujuan Zhao, Xingyong Wu, Sijing Li, Biao Liu, Mamy Jayne Nelly Rajaofera, Yingfei Zeng, Sufang Dong, Zheng Bei, Hua Pei and Qianfeng Xia

Ecological strategies of biological and chemical control agents on wildfire disease of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

To investigate the ecological effects of chemical and biological control methods on tobacco wildfire disease, a plot field experiment was conducted to compare the control efficiency and mechanisms of a chemica...

Authors: Tianbo Liu, Yabing Gu, Zhicheng Zhou, Zhenghua Liu, Huaqun Yin, Chong Qin, Tuyong Yi and Jiemeng Tao

Characterization of a bacterial strain Lactobacillus paracasei LP10266 recovered from an endocarditis patient in Shandong, China

Lactobacilli are often recognized as beneficial partners in human microbial environments. However, lactobacilli also cause diseases in human, e.g. infective endocarditis (IE), septicaemia, rheumatic vascular d...

Authors: Qi Tang, Yingying Hao, Lu Wang, Chao Lu, Ming Li, Zaifeng Si, Xiaoben Wu and Zhiming Lu

Antioxidant activity of Lactobacillus plantarum NJAU-01 in an animal model of aging

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) can cause serious damage to the human body and may cause various chronic diseases. Studies have found that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have antioxidant and anti-aging eff...

Authors: Qingfeng Ge, Bo Yang, Rui Liu, Donglei Jiang, Hai Yu, Mangang Wu and Wangang Zhang

Microbiome recovery in adult females with uncomplicated urinary tract infections in a randomised phase 2A trial of the novel antibiotic gepotidacin (GSK2140944)

With increasing concerns about the impact of frequent antibiotic usage on the human microbiome, it is important to characterize the potential for such effects in early antibiotic drug development clinical tria...

Authors: Andrea Nuzzo, Stephanie Van Horn, Christopher Traini, Caroline R. Perry, Etienne F. Dumont, Nicole E. Scangarella-Oman, David F. Gardiner and James R. Brown

Aspergillus flavus induced oxidative stress and immunosuppressive activity in Spodoptera litura as well as safety for mammals

In the last few decades, considerable attention has been paid to entomopathogenic fungi as biocontrol agents, however little is known about their mode of action and safety. This study aimed to investigate the ...

Authors: Mandeep Kaur, Pooja Chadha, Sanehdeep Kaur and Amarjeet Kaur

The bacterial community composition and its environmental drivers in the rivers around eutrophic Chaohu Lake, China

Bacterial community play a key role in environmental and ecological processes in river ecosystems. Rivers are used as receiving body for treated and untreated urban wastewaters that brings high loads of sewage...

Authors: Keqiang Shao, Xin Yao, Zhaoshi Wu, Xingyu Jiang, Yang Hu, Xiangming Tang, Qiujin Xu and Guang Gao

Endogenous bacteria inhabiting the Ophiocordyceps highlandensis during fruiting body development

The genus Ophiocordyceps, which includes Ophiocordyceps sinensis, has been demonstrated to be one of the most valuable medicinal taxa. The low rate of larval infection and slow development that characterize the c...

Authors: Chengpeng Li, Dexiang Tang, Yuanbing Wang, Qi Fan, Xiaomei Zhang, Xiaolong Cui and Hong Yu

Genome analysis to decipher syntrophy in the bacterial consortium ‘SCP’ for azo dye degradation

A bacterial consortium SCP comprising three bacterial members, viz. Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila APG1, Pseudomonas stutzeri APG2 and Cellulomonas sp. APG4 was developed for degradation of the mono-azo dye, Rea...

Authors: Sandhya Nanjani, Dhiraj Paul and Hareshkumar Keharia

Increased whiB7 expression and antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium chelonae carrying two prophages

The global rise in the incidence of non-tuberculosis mycobacterial infections is of increasing concern due their high levels of intrinsic antibiotic resistance. Although integrated viral genomes, called propha...

Authors: Jaycee Cushman, Emma Freeman, Sarah McCallister, Anna Schumann, Keith W. Hutchison and Sally D. Molloy

A rapid and efficient method for the extraction and identification of menaquinones from Actinomycetes in wet biomass

Menaquinones are constituents of prokaryote cell membranes where they play important functions during electron transport. Menaquinone profiles are strongly recommended for species classification when proposing...

Authors: Fuquan Xie, Shengxiang Pei, Xihuang Lin, Yun Tian and Gaiyun Zhang

SaQuant: a real-time PCR assay for quantitative assessment of Staphylococcus aureus

Molecular assays are important tools for pathogen detection but need to be periodically re-evaluated with the discovery of additional genetic diversity that may cause assays to exclude target taxa or include n...

Authors: Colin Wood, Jason Sahl, Sara Maltinsky, Briana Coyne, Benjamin Russakoff, David Panisello Yagüe, Jolene Bowers and Talima Pearson

Structural insights into acyl-ACP selective recognition by the Aeromonas hydrophila AHL synthase AhyI

Aeromonas hydrophila is a gram-negative bacterium and the major causative agent of the fish disease motile aeromonad septicemia (MAS). It uses N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum sensing signals to coordinate ...

Authors: Lei Jin, Jingjiao Bao, Yu Chen, Wenge Yang and Wenyi Du

SpoVG is an important regulator of sporulation and affects biofilm formation by regulating Spo0A transcription in Bacillus cereus 0–9

Bacillus cereus 0–9, a Gram-positive, endospore-forming bacterium isolated from healthy wheat roots in our previous research, is considered to be an effective biocontrol strain against several soil-borne plant di...

Authors: Qiubin Huang, Zhen Zhang, Qing Liu, Fengying Liu, Yupeng Liu, Juanmei Zhang and Gang Wang

WeFaceNano: a user-friendly pipeline for complete ONT sequence assembly and detection of antibiotic resistance in multi-plasmid bacterial isolates

Bacterial plasmids often carry antibiotic resistance genes and are a significant factor in the spread of antibiotic resistance. The ability to completely assemble plasmid sequences would facilitate the localiz...

Authors: Astrid P. Heikema, Rick Jansen, Saskia D. Hiltemann, John P. Hays and Andrew P. Stubbs

Patterns of yeast diversity distribution and its drivers in rhizosphere soil of Hami melon orchards in different regions of Xinjiang

The unique climatic conditions of the Xinjiang region nurture rich melon and fruit resources, the melon and fruit sugar sources provide sufficient nutrients for the survival of yeast, and the diverse habitats ...

Authors: ShanShan Zhu, YongHui Lei, Chong Wang, YuMei Wei, ChunCheng Wang and YanFei Sun

Lactic acid bacteria that activate immune gene expression in Caenorhabditis elegans can antagonise Campylobacter jejuni infection in nematodes, chickens and mice

Campylobacter jejuni is the major micro-bacillary pathogen responsible for human coloenteritis. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been shown to protect against Campylobacter infection. However, LAB with a good abil...

Authors: Xing Jin, Yufeng He, Yonghua Zhou, Xiaohua Chen, Yuan-kun Lee, Jianxin Zhao, Hao Zhang, Wei Chen and Gang Wang

Reproducible and accessible analysis of transposon insertion sequencing in Galaxy for qualitative essentiality analyses

Significant progress has been made in advancing and standardizing tools for human genomic and biomedical research. Yet, the field of next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis for microorganisms (including mult...

Authors: Delphine Larivière, Laura Wickham, Kenneth Keiler and Anton Nekrutenko

A high-throughput screening assay based on automated microscopy for monitoring antibiotic susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis phenotypes

Efficient high-throughput drug screening assays are necessary to enable the discovery of new anti-mycobacterial drugs. The purpose of our work was to develop and validate an assay based on live-cell imaging wh...

Authors: Sadaf Kalsum, Blanka Andersson, Jyotirmoy Das, Thomas Schön and Maria Lerm

Effects of S24–7 on the weight of progeny rats after exposure to ceftriaxone sodium during pregnancy

Antibiotic exposure during pregnancy will adversely affect the growth of offspring; however, this remains controversial and the mechanism is poorly understood. To study this phenomenon, we added ceftriaxone so...

Authors: Xin Yang, Ting Tang, Jing Wen, Mengchun Li, Jie Chen, Tingyu Li, Ying Dai and Qian Cheng

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG modifies the metabolome of pathobionts in gnotobiotic mice

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) is the most widely used probiotic, but the mechanisms underlying its beneficial effects remain unresolved. Previous studies typically inoculated LGG in hosts with established gut ...

Authors: Jinhee Kim, Iyshwarya Balasubramanian, Sheila Bandyopadhyay, Ian Nadler, Rajbir Singh, Danielle Harlan, Amanda Bumber, Yuling He, Lee J. Kerkhof, Nan Gao, Xiaoyang Su and Ronaldo P. Ferraris

Distribution of fluoroquinolone resistance determinants in Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates associated with bloodstream infections in China

The rate of fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance among carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is high. The present study aimed to investigate the distribution of fluoroquinolone resistance determinants in c...

Authors: Qing Zhan, Yanlei Xu, Bingjie Wang, Jingyi Yu, Xiaofei Shen, Li Liu, Xingwei Cao, Yinjuan Guo and Fangyou Yu

Human microbiota modulation via QseC sensor kinase mediated in the Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak strain infection in microbiome model

The intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in human health, adjusting its composition and the microbial metabolites protects the gut against invading microorganisms. Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) is an imp...

Authors: Tamara Renata Machado Ribeiro, Mateus Kawata Salgaço, Maria Angela Tallarico Adorno, Miriam Aparecida da Silva, Roxane Maria Fontes Piazza, Katia Sivieri and Cristiano Gallina Moreira

Short-term physical exercise impacts on the human holobiont obtained by a randomised intervention study

Human well-being has been linked to the composition and functional capacity of the intestinal microbiota. As regular exercise is known to improve human health, it is not surprising that exercise was previously...

Authors: Lucas Moitinho-Silva, Michelle Wegener, Sandra May, Florian Schrinner, Awais Akhtar, Teide J. Boysen, Eva Schaeffer, Clint Hansen, Timo Schmidt, Malte C. Rühlemann, Matthias Hübenthal, Philipp Rausch, Mustafa T. Kondakci, Walter Maetzler, Stephan Weidinger, Matthias Laudes…

Abundance alteration of nondominant species in fecal-associated microbiome of patients with SAPHO syndrome

SAPHO syndrome is a group of symptoms consisting of synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis and osteosis. There is no specific laboratory index assist in the diagnosis of SAPHO because of its highly heteroge...

Authors: Jianhua Zhen, Yuxiu Sun, Pengfei Zhao, Chen Li, Hesong Wang, Yini Li, Lu Zhao, Li Wang, Guangrui Huang and Anlong Xu

Antisense yycG modulates the susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus to hydrogen peroxide via the sarA

The infectious pathogen Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is primarily associated with osteomyelitis. Hydrogen peroxide drainage is an effective antimicrobial treatment that has been adopted to combat S. aureus i...

Authors: Shizhou Wu, Yunjie Liu, Lei Lei and Hui Zhang

Diversity and prevalence of ANTAR RNAs across actinobacteria

Computational approaches are often used to predict regulatory RNAs in bacteria, but their success is limited to RNAs that are highly conserved across phyla, in sequence and structure. The ANTAR regulatory syst...

Authors: Dolly Mehta and Arati Ramesh

Optimisation of sample storage and DNA extraction for human gut microbiota studies​

New developments in next-generation sequencing technologies and massive data received from this approach open wide prospects for personalised medicine and nutrition studies. Metagenomic analysis of the gut mic...

Authors: Jekaterina Kazantseva, Esther Malv, Aleksei Kaleda, Aili Kallastu and Anne Meikas

Distribution and Clonality of drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa

Studies have shown that drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) in South Africa (SA) is clonal and is caused mostly by transmission. Identifying transmission chains is important in controlling DR-TB. This study re...

Authors: Halima Said, John Ratabane, Linda Erasmus, Yasmin Gardee, Shaheed Omar, Andries Dreyer, Farzana Ismail, Zaheda Bhyat, Tiisetso Lebaka, Minty van der Meulen, Thabisile Gwala, Adeboye Adelekan, Karidia Diallo and Nazir Ismail

Potential of fecal microbiota for detection and postoperative surveillance of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers. In recent studies, the gut microbiota has been reported to be potentially involved in aggravating or favoring CRC development. However, little is know...

Authors: Qiulin Yao, Meifang Tang, Liuhong Zeng, Zhonghua Chu, Hui Sheng, Yuyu Zhang, Yuan Zhou, Hongyun Zhang, Huayan Jiang and Mingzhi Ye

Diversity and antibacterial activity of fungal endophytes from Eucalyptus exserta

Eucalyptus bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is an important eucalyptus disease. Endophytic fungi, an important source of natural active substances, provide a new breakthrough for the control of pla...

Authors: Ziling Mao, Weihao Zhang, Chunyin Wu, Hao Feng, Yuanhang Peng, Hamza Shahid, Zining Cui, Ping Ding and Tijiang Shan

The metabolic profile of Bifidobacterium dentium reflects its status as a human gut commensal

Bifidobacteria are commensal microbes of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract. In this study, we aimed to identify the intestinal colonization mechanisms and key metabolic pathways implemented by Bifidobacterium ...

Authors: Melinda A. Engevik, Heather A. Danhof, Anne Hall, Kristen A. Engevik, Thomas D. Horvath, Sigmund J. Haidacher, Kathleen M. Hoch, Bradley T. Endres, Meghna Bajaj, Kevin W. Garey, Robert A. Britton, Jennifer K. Spinler, Anthony M. Haag and James Versalovic

Investigation of the invasion mechanism mediated by the outer membrane protein PagN of Salmonella Typhimurium

Salmonella can invade host cells via a type three secretion system called T3SS-1 and its outer membrane proteins, PagN and Rck. However, the mechanism of PagN-dependent invasion pathway used by Salmonella enteric...

Authors: Emilie Barilleau, Mégane Védrine, Michael Koczerka, Julien Burlaud-Gaillard, Florent Kempf, Olivier Grépinet, Isabelle Virlogeux-Payant, Philippe Velge and Agnès Wiedemann

Microbiome characterization of defensive tissues in the model anemone Exaiptasia diaphana

Coral reefs are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. This success relies on the coral’s association with a wide range of microorganisms, including dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodini...

Authors: Justin Maire, Linda L. Blackall and Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

Comprehensive analysis of gut microbiota of a healthy population and covariates affecting microbial variation in two large Japanese cohorts

Inter-individual variations in gut microbiota composition are observed even among healthy populations. The gut microbiota may exhibit a unique composition depending on the country of origin and race of individ...

Authors: Jonguk Park, Kumiko Kato, Haruka Murakami, Koji Hosomi, Kumpei Tanisawa, Takashi Nakagata, Harumi Ohno, Kana Konishi, Hitoshi Kawashima, Yi-An Chen, Attayeb Mohsen, Jin-zhong Xiao, Toshitaka Odamaki, Jun Kunisawa, Kenji Mizuguchi and Motohiko Miyachi

Correction to: Shifting the microbiome of a coral holobiont and improving host physiology by inoculation with a potentially beneficial bacterial consortium

Authors: Ying Zhang, Qingsong Yang, Juan Ling, Lijuan Long, Hui Huang, Jianping Yin, Meilin Wu, Xiaoyu Tang, Xiancheng Lin, Yanying Zhang and Junde Dong

The potential and effects of saline-alkali alfalfa microbiota under salt stress on the fermentation quality and microbial

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical compositions and microbial communities of salt-tolerant alfalfa silage. Salt-tolerant alfalfa was ensiled with no additive control, and cellulase for 30...

Authors: Duo Wen Sa, Qiang Lu, Zhen Wang, Gentu Ge, Lin Sun and Yushan Jia

Effectiveness of antibacterial agents against cell-invading bacteria such as Streptococcus pyogenes and Haemophilus influenzae

Recurrent tonsillitis is one of the most common otolaryngological disorders caused by cell-invading bacteria, such as Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes) and Haemophilus influenzae. The aim of this study was to ...

Authors: Hiroyuki Iuchi, Junichiro Ohori, Satoshi Kiyama, Naoko Imuta, Junichiro Nishi, Yuichi Kurono and Masaru Yamashita

Association of gestational diabetes mellitus with changes in gut microbiota composition at the species level

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a common endocrine disorder with rising prevalence in pregnancy, has been reported to be associated with alteration of gut microbiota in recent years. However, the role of ...

Authors: Fang Chen, Yu Gan, Yingtao Li, Wenzhi He, Weizhen Wu, Kejian Wang and Qing Li

Phenotypic changes in group B streptococci grown in the presence of the polyols, erythritol, sorbitol and mannitol

Group B streptococci (GBS) are important neonatal bacterial pathogens that can cause severe invasive disease in the newborn. It is thought that in many cases of invasive neonatal GBS disease, the bacteria asce...

Authors: Maram Hulbah, Matthew A. Croxen and Gregory J. Tyrrell

Diagnostic utility of GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay versus conventional methods for diagnosis of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (T.B) is one of the major infectious diseases in the developing countries. The diagnosis of extrapulmonary T.B (EPTB) remains problematic and emergence of resistant strains poses a significant thr...

Authors: Asmaa Mohammed Elbrolosy, Rana H. El Helbawy, Osama M. Mansour and Reda Abdel Latif