Tag Archives: E. coli

Fungal chitin treatment reestablishes the anaerobic bacteria and decreases the intestinal inflammation in mice

The gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota acts a natural barrier to colonization and proliferation of opportunistic pathogens, thereby decreasing the risk of intestinal infection and disease. Deregulation of the dynamic crosstalk between the microbiota, intestinal epithelial cells and immune

Stress induced Eh jumps are caused by sulfide efflux from Escherichia coli cells

It was previously established that in aerobic cultures of a number of bacteria subjected to stress, there is a sharp change in the redox potential (Eh) of the medium to reductive (negative) values. Eh jumps were detected

Novel biophysical assay reveals that bacterial cell wall maintaining proteins change interaction conformation based on activity

Bacterial infections are increasingly difficult to treat with antibiotics due to antibiotic resistance. Knowledge on how of bacteria multiply needs to be profoundly expanded as a requirement for the development of new methods for the discovery of

Can the chloroplast division machinery be evolutionarily dated back to bacteria?

The chloroplast, known to have originated around a billion years ago, is now one of the most recognizable characteristics of the plant cell. After the engulfment of the ancient cyanobacterium by the eukaryotic host cell, the former

Dual functionality of a graft starch flocculant: flocculation and antibacterial performance in water treatment

Water treatment agents, including coagulants / flocculants, bacteriostatic / bactericidal agents, scale inhibitors, etc., play very important roles in the field of water treatment. However, traditional water treatment agents usually possess single functionality only, causing a wide

The distressful life of FtsZ-deprived bacteria

Failure to assemble a division septum occurs in Escherichia coli cells when their supply of FtsZ is blocked. FtsZ, ancestor of eukaryotic Tubulin, is the main component of the divisome, the molecular machinery that drives septation in

Non-destructive inspection of metabolic status in bacteria using luciferase reporter

Bacteria are able to utilize various carbon sources, and change the intracellular metabolic fluxes depending on the availability. Whereas much effort has been taken to understand the underlying mechanisms, most parts of them are still elusive and

Rapid monitoring of bacterial growth and antibiotic susceptibility with quantum semiconductor biochips

Public Health authorities sound the alarm over the increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics and project a dark picture back to the pre-antibiotic era. One avenue of solutions proposed is to identify the spectrum of susceptibility to antibiotics

How bacteria swim

Bacteria are the smallest free-living (self-replicating) organisms. Most swim in aqueous media by rotating flagella, long thin filaments driven at their base by rotary motors. In most cases, the filaments are helical and extend out into the

Stopping the spread of diarrheal disease through the environment

More than half a million children die every year from diarrheal diseases. Most of these diseases are caused by pathogens, or “germs”. In my paper Environmental Transmission of Diarrheal Pathogens in Low and Middle Income Countries published

Flocculation/sterilization dual-function starch-based water treatment agents

Recently, multi-function water treatment agents have attracted much attention. Traditional water treatment agents usually possess single functionality, resulting in production of a wide variety of agents at high doses, complicated devices, and fussy operations in practical applications.

Psoriasis, more than a skin disease? The involvement of gut microbes

Psoriasis, is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with a high prevalence, of which the exact cause is unknown. Genetic, immunologic and environmental factors all are involved. Psoriasis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease, including Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis,

Two kinds of novel osmoregulation pathways in Escherichia coli

To cope with severe environmental changes, cell is equipped with various stress response pathways. Osmotic upshift (hyperosmotic shock) triggers water efflux from bacterial cell, and the resulting cell shrinkage is sensed by osmosensors embedded in the cytoplasmic

Channels in artificial membranes

Proteins come in a variety of shapes and sizes but two major classes exist: soluble proteins and those reside in membranes. 20-30% of all the proteins found in cells are membrane proteins. Many membrane proteins such as

Rapid and extremely reliable detection extended-spectrum ß-lactamases-producing Enterobacteriaceae

Resistance to antibiotics is becoming a worldwide issue mostly related to resistance observed in gram negative bacterial species such as in Enterobacteriaceae (Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae) that are the most important source of hospital – and

The autonomous glycosylation of Giant, but sweet, viruses

The most of proteins carry sugars on them, which significantly modify their properties such as biological activity, solubility and resistance to protein-degrading enzymes. The sugars on proteins drive several fundamental biological mechanisms, such as hormones response, immune

Genes regulating Wolbachia cell division

Bacterial infection underlies many devastating diseases, yet bacteria also play a central role in the maintenance of human health and well-being.  From aiding in host food digestion and limiting unfavorable bacterial growth to causing paralysis or even

Plasmid-mediated carbapenem and colistin resistance in E. coli – toward a dead end

The increasing trend in antibiotic resistance continues to threaten global health. Presently, multidrug resistance (MDR) in gram-negative rods is frequently observed not only with the occurrence of extended-spectrum ß – lactamase but also with producers of enzymes

Escherichia coli K-12 as a model to understand gene regulation

Escherichia coli K-12, a bacterium of the normal flora of humans, represents one of the most important model organisms in biology. This microorganism has been completely sequenced at DNA level, and contains 4319 genes. An important element

Exploiting an ‘Achilles heel’ of DNA replication to arrest viral proliferation

In order to proliferate all organisms need to replicate their genomes. In most, this is achieved by a process named DNA replication by which a parental DNA gives rise to two faithful copies of itself. For this