Taxonomic insights into the phylogeny of Bacillus badius and proposal for its reclassification to the genus Pseudobacillus as Pseudobacillus badius comb. nov. and reclassification of Bacillus wudalianchiensis Liu et al., 2017 as Pseudobacillus wudalianchiensis comb. nov.

The species Bacillus badius is one of the oldest members of the genus Bacillus isolated from faeces of children and was classified based on its ability to form endospores [8]. In 16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic analysis, Bacillus badius DSM 23 shared low similarity (93.0%) and distant relationship with B.

Functioning of Mycobacterial Heat Shock Repressors Requires the Master Virulence Regulator PhoP.

A hallmark feature of pathogenesis lies in the ability of the pathogen to survive within macrophages under a stressful environment. Thus, coordinated regulation of stress proteins is critically important for an effective adaptive response of , the failure of which results in elevated immune recognition of the tubercle bacilli with reduced survival during chronic infections. Here, we show that virulence regulator PhoP impacts the global regulation of heat shock proteins, which protect against stress generated by macrophages during infection.

Tridecaptin M, a New Variant Discovered in Mud Bacterium, Shows Activity against Colistin- and Extremely Drug-Resistant .

The World Health Organization has categorized the Gram-negative superbugs, which are inherently impervious to many antibiotics, as critical priority pathogens due to the lack of effective treatments. The breach in our last-resort antibiotic (i.e.

In Vitro Synthesis of Bioactive Glycovariants of Enterocin 96, an Antimicrobial Peptide from Enterococcus faecalis.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are novel agents for therapeutic application for their inherent broad spectrum of activities against bacteria, fungi, and viruses, as well as anti-inflammatory, anticancerous, and immunomodulatory activities. This chapter presents an enzymatic method to generate glycovariants of one such antimicrobial peptide, namely enterocin 96, using a bacterial protein O- and S-glycosyltransferase, in vitro.

ImmtorLig_DB: repertoire of virtually screened small molecules against immune receptors to bolster host immunity.

Host directed therapies to boost immunity against infection are gaining considerable impetus following the observation that use of antibiotics has become a continuous source for the emergence of drug resistant strains of pathogens. Receptors expressed by the cells of immune system play a cardinal role in initiating sequence of events necessary to ameliorate many morbid conditions. Although, ligands for the immune receptors are available; but their use is limited due to complex structure, synthesis and cost-effectiveness.

MtBrowse: An integrative genomics browser for human mitochondrial DNA.

The human mitochondrion is a unique semi-autonomous organelle with a genome of its own and also requires nuclear encoded components to carry out its functions. In addition to being the powerhouse of the cell, mitochondria plays a central role in several metabolic pathways. It is therefore challenging to delineate the cause-effect relationship in context of mitochondrial dysfunction.

Method for Studying the Effect of Gene Silencing on Bacterial Infection-induced ERK1/2 Signaling in Bone-marrow Derived Macrophages.

Macrophages are highly phagocytic cells that utilize various pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) to recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). These PAMPs can be present within the microbe, such as bacterial CpG DNA, and are recognized by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), a PRR present on the endosomal membrane of macrophages. PAMPs can also be present on the surface of microbes, such as Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which decorates the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria like and .

Synthesis and rheological characterization of a novel thermostable quick setting composite hydrogel of gellan and pullulan.

Hydrogels have found applications in diverse industrial sectors and majority of them are chemically modified. However, recently demand for stable biocompatible non-toxic hydrogels has increased significantly. The current study is focused on synthesizing a novel composite hydrogel using gellan and pullulan, two commercially available biologically safe polysaccharides, without any chemical modifications.

How to do business with lysosomes: Salmonella leads the way.

Pathogens have devised various strategies to alter the host endomembrane system towards building their replicative niche. This is aptly illustrated by Salmonella Typhimurium, whereby it remodels the host endolysosomal system to form a unique niche, also known as Salmonella-containing vacuole (SCV). Decades of research using in vitro cell-based infection studies have revealed intricate details of how Salmonella effectors target endocytic trafficking machinery of the host cell to acquire membrane and nutrients for bacterial replication.

Bonsai Gelsolin Survives Heat Induced Denaturation by Forming β-Amyloids which Leach Out Functional Monomer.

Here, we report that minimal functional gelsolin i.e. fragment 28-161 can display F-actin depolymerizing property even after heating the protein to 80 °C.

Taxonogenomics reveal multiple novel genomospecies associated with clinical isolates of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia has evolved as one of the leading multidrug-resistant pathogens responsible for a variety of nosocomial infections especially in highly debilitated patients. As information on the genomic and intraspecies diversity of this clinically important pathogen is limited, we sequenced the whole genome of 27 clinical isolates from hospitalized patients. Phylogenomic analysis along with the genomes of type strains suggested that the clinical isolates are distributed over the Stenotrophomonas maltophilia complex (Smc) within the genus Stenotrophomonas.

In Silico Tools and Databases for Designing Peptide-Based Vaccine and Drugs.

The prolonged conventional approaches of drug screening and vaccine designing prerequisite patience, vigorous effort, outrageous cost as well as additional manpower. Screening and experimentally validating thousands of molecules for a specific therapeutic property never proved to be an easy task. Similarly, traditional way of vaccination includes administration of either whole or attenuated pathogen, which raises toxicity and safety issues.

Evolutionary convergence and divergence in archaeal chromosomal proteins and Chromo-like domains from bacteria and eukaryotes.

SH3-fold-β-barrel domains of the chromo-like superfamily recognize epigenetic marks in eukaryotic proteins. Their provenance has been placed either in archaea, based on apparent structural similarity to chromatin-compacting Sul7d and Cren7 proteins, or in bacteria based on the presence of sequence homologs. Using sequence and structural evidence we establish that the archaeal Cren7/Sul7 proteins emerged from a zinc ribbon (ZnR) ancestor.

Genome sequence and comparative analysis of Bacillus cereus BC04, reveals genetic diversity and alterations for antimicrobial resistance.

In this study, we delineated the genome sequence of a Bacillus cereus strain BC04 isolated from a stool sample in India. The draft genome is 5.1 Mb in size and consists of total 109 scaffolds, GC content is 35.

ARL11 regulates lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophage activation by promoting mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling.

DP-ibosylation factor-ike GTPase () is a cancer-predisposing gene that has remained functionally uncharacterized to date. In this study, we report that ARL11 is endogenously expressed in mouse and human macrophages and regulates their activation in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Accordingly, depletion of ARL11 impaired both LPS-stimulated pro-inflammatory cytokine production by macrophages and their ability to control intracellular replication of LPS-stimulated activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was substantially compromised in -silenced macrophages.

Biosynthetic Pathway and Genes of Chitin/Chitosan-Like Bioflocculant in the Genus Citrobacter.

Chitin/chitosan, one of the most abundant polysaccharides in nature, is industrially produced as a powder or flake form from the exoskeletons of crustaceans such as crabs and shrimps. Intriguingly, many bacterial strains in the genus secrete a soluble chitin/chitosan-like polysaccharide into the culture medium during growth in acetate. Because this polysaccharide shows strong flocculation activity for suspended solids in water, it can be used as a bioflocculant (BF).

Evolutionary relationship between the cysteine and histidine rich domains (CHORDs) and Btk-type zinc fingers.

Summary: Cysteine and histidine rich domains (CHORDs), implicated in immunity and disease resistance signaling in plants, and in development and signal transduction in muscles and tumorigenesis in animals, are seen to have a cylindrical three-dimensional structure stabilized by the tetrahedral chelation of two zinc ions. CHORDs are regarded as novel zinc-binding domains and classified independently in Pfam and ECOD. Our sequence and structure analysis reveals that both the zinc-binding sites in CHORD possess a zinc ribbon fold and are likely related to each other by duplication and circular permutation.

Glycine-rich loop encompassing active site at interface of hexameric M. tuberculosis Eis protein contributes to its structural stability and activity.

RvEis is a crucial thermostable hexameric aminoglycoside acetyltransferase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, overexpression of which confers Kanamycin resistance in clinical strains. The thermostability associated with hexameric RvEis is important for the enhanced intracellular survival of mycobacteria. However, the structural determinants responsible for its thermal stability remain unexplored.

Structural characterization of ribT from Bacillus subtilis reveals it as a GCN5-related N-acetyltransferase.

In bacteria, biosynthesis of riboflavin occurs through a series of enzymatic steps starting with one molecule of GTP and two molecules of ribulose-5-phosphate. In Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) the genes (ribD/G, ribE, ribA, ribH and ribT) which are involved in riboflavin biosynthesis are organized in an operon referred as rib operon.

Comparative Genomics of Myxobacterial Chemosensory Systems.

Chemosensory systems (CSS) are among the most complex organizations of proteins functioning cooperatively to regulate bacterial motility and other cellular activities. These systems have been studied extensively in bacteria, and usually, they are present as a single system. Eight CSS, the highest number in bacteria, have been reported in DK1622 and are involved in coordinating diverse functions.

Salmonella exploits the host endolysosomal tethering factor HOPS complex to promote its intravacuolar replication.

Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium extensively remodels the host late endocytic compartments to establish its vacuolar niche within the host cells conducive for its replication, also known as the Salmonella-containing vacuole (SCV). By maintaining a prolonged interaction with late endosomes and lysosomes of the host cells in the form of interconnected network of tubules (Salmonella-induced filaments or SIFs), Salmonella gains access to both membrane and fluid-phase cargo from these compartments. This is essential for maintaining SCV membrane integrity and for bacterial intravacuolar nutrition.

Cobalt and nickel impair DNA metabolism by the oxidative stress independent pathway.

The oxidative stress that evolves under cobalt and nickel exposure is thought to exert toxicity, though the exact routes of such metal poisoning remain ambiguous. We revisited the metal toxicity in Escherichia coli to show that cobalt and nickel exposure at levels as low as 0.5 and 1 mM, respectively, visibly inhibits growth.

A lipidated peptide of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resuscitates the protective efficacy of BCG vaccine by evoking memory T cell immunity.

Background: The current BCG vaccine induces only short-term protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), suggesting its failure to generate long-lasting memory T cells. Previously, we have demonstrated that a self-adjuvanting peptide of Mtb (L91), successfully generated enduring memory Th1 cells. Consequently, we investigated if L91 was able to recuperate BCG potency in perpetuating the generation of memory T cells and protection against Mtb infected mice.