MicrobiologyOpen

This study investigated whether microbial diversity increases with increasing age. The gut microbiota composition of daily exercising elderly individuals approached that of adults (18–60 years old), and regular exercise resulted in an increased relative abundance of bacterial functional pathways. We also showed that overweight elderly individuals had increased microbial diversity and significant changes in the microbial composition.

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing threat to human health. Alternative treatment options are needed. This study investigated the effect of permethrin and formaldehyde on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, in particular MRSA strains. While permethrin alone was not bactericidal, formaldehyde both in the presence and absence of permethrin was. This was at concentrations of formaldehyde and permethrin found in the anti-scabies permethrin cream and suggests a potential use of such creams for treating bacterial skin infections, particularly refractory impetigo.

This study aimed at investigating the impact of using inorganic (NH4Cl) and organic (yeast extract) as nitrogen sources on Haloferax mediterranei biomass formation, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) accumulation, PHA composition on the monomeric level, PHA molecular mass, and PHA properties (thermal and mechanical).

This study aimed to investigate the effects of an oral health optimized diet on the composition of the supragingival oral plaque in a randomized controlled trial. A diet low in carbohydrates, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, rich in vitamins C and D, and rich in fiber induces significantly lower counts of caries- and periodontitis-associated pathogens and thus, a favorable shift in the bacterial.

PBP2a confers resistance to β-lactam antibiotics in Staphylococcus aureus. We expressed the gene encoding PBP2a in a β-lactam sensitive strain of S. aureus. We found that the resistance level conferred by PBP2a varies considerably between β-lactams and between single cells in a population.

The prevalence of single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes encoding the subunits of the RNA polymerase can have a diverse impact on the transcriptional program of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus.

We report the identification and functional characterization of a novel NAD(P)⁺-dependent meso-DAPDH from Numidum massiliense (NmDAPDH). The known meso-DAPDHs use only NADP⁺ as a coenzyme, but NmDAPDH was able to use both NADP⁺ and NAD⁺ as coenzymes.

Two avian influenza A/H3N6 viruses were isolated from a wild bird in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi, China, in 2014. These Jiangxi H3N6 viruses are novel reassortants with genes most likely derived from Eurasian-originated H3Ny (N3, N6, N8), H5N6 viruses, and H9N2 viruses. We highlight the importance of routine surveillance in wild birds for a better early warning system of emerging reassortants with pandemic potential and consequently to avert the threat to public health.

Toxin B is a major virulence factor in Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). The second episode of CDI is categorized as either a relapse or a second new infection (reinfection). We hypothesize that relapses might be due to a mechanism that involves the enhancement of the toxicity of toxin B by proinflammatory cytokines on the enteric glial cell network.

This work describes the microbiome of the thermophilic fungus Pisolithus arhizus. Pisolithusarhizus creates an energy-rich island refugium habitat in a thermal soil desert that harbors microbial community that is distinct from parent soils and includes deeply diverging novel lineages. The results demonstrate that P. arhizus provides for interesting hypotheses regarding the evolution, origins, and functions of symbioses and novel microbes.

We showed that Acinetobacter baumannii had a strong biofilm formation ability. This ability was not clearly associated with antibiotic resistance and was inhibited by PAβN. The mechanisms of the effects of PAβN on A. baumannii biofilm formation and dispersion may be independent of the efflux pumps.

Previous work on antibiotic-tolerant persisters of pathogenic Escherichia coli highlighted the role of PasT, described as a toxin of a toxin–antitoxin system, in their resilience. Here, we show that PasT is not a toxin but rather the bacterial homolog of mitochondrial Coq10 that guides the electron carrier ubiquinone in respiratory electron transport. Consistently, pasT mutants of pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella Typhimurium show pleiotropic phenotypes of defective respiration including impaired persister formation that can largely be complemented by human Coq10.

This study aimed to determine the phylogenetic relationships between gum-producing Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus strains isolated from various locations in a sugarcane processing factory at times when sugars with a low- and high-dextran content were produced.

We collected horse, cow, and goat milk cheese samples produced via the same manufacturing process and under the same environmental conditions, and investigated the bacterial population size and community composition by real-time quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing. We found that the bacterial community of horse milk cheese had a significantly larger bacterial population size, greater species richness, and a more diverse composition than those of cow and goat milk cheeses. Horse milk cheese also had different starter lactic acid bacteria and secondary bacteria from cow and goat milk cheeses, this may be associated with the differences in the nutritional metabolism and flavor formation between horse milk cheese and cow and goat milk cheeses.

This study investigated the prevalence, serotype distribution, and antimicrobial susceptibility of nontyphoidal Salmonella among poultry farms in Ethiopia. Seventeen farms in Adama and Modjo towns (28.8%), 24 samples from poultry farms (2.9%), and 1/36 of stool samples from humans in contact with poultry (2.8%) were positive for Salmonella. Twenty (80%) and 19 (76%) of Salmonella isolates were resistant to streptomycin and tetracycline, respectively. Nineteen (76%) of the isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobials.

Marinomonas mediterranea synthesizes a glycine oxidase (GoxA) with sequence similarity to LodA, a previously described lysine-epsilon-oxidase. Both LodA and GoxA are quinoproteins, unlike other amino acid oxidases which are flavoproteins.

We show that Escherichia coli mutants deficient in the sulfurtransferase TusA or the cysteine desulfurase IscS are hypersensitive to the toxic effects of the adenine analog 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine (HAP). This sensitivity is similar to and epistatic with the HAP sensitivity of moa mutants, which defective in biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactor (Moco). Our results suggest that TusA and IscS are critical for the insertion of the dithiolene sulfurs in Moco that coordinate the molybdenum atom.