Evolution of bacterial transcription factors: how proteins take on new tasks, but do not always stop doing the old ones

Many bacterial transcription factors do not behave as per the textbook operon model. We draw on whole genome work, as well as reported diversity across different bacteria, to argue that transcription factors may have evolved from nucleoid-associated proteins. This view would explain a large amount of recent data gleaned from high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic analyses.

BT-benzo-29 inhibits bacterial cell proliferation by perturbing FtsZ assembly

We have identified a potent antibacterial agent N-(4-sec-butylphenyl)-2-(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-benzod]imidazole-4-carboxa mide (BT-benzo-29) from a library of benzimidazole derivatives that stalled bacterial division by inhibiting FtsZ assembly. A short (5 min) exposure of BT-benzo-29 disassembled the cytokinetic Z-ring in Bacillus subtilis cells without affecting the cell length and nucleoids. BT-benzo-29 also perturbed the localization of early and late division proteins such as FtsA, ZapA and SepF at the mid-cell. Further, BT-benzo-29 bound to FtsZ with a dissociation constant of 24 +/- 3 m and inhibited the assembly and GTPase activity of purified FtsZ. A docking analysis suggested that BT-benzo-29 may bind to FtsZ at the C-terminal domain near the T7 loop. BT-benzo-29 displayed significantly weaker inhibitory effects on the assembly and GTPase activity of two mutants (L272A and V275A) of FtsZ supporting the prediction of the docking analysis. Further, BT-benzo-29 did not appear to inhibit DNA duplication and nucleoid segregation and it did not perturb the membrane potential of B. subtilis cells. The results suggested that BT-benzo-29 exerts its potent antibacterial activity by inhibiting FtsZ assembly. Interestingly, BT-benzo-29 did not affect the membrane integrity of mammalian red blood cells. BT-benzo-29 bound to tubulin with a much weaker affinity than FtsZ and exerted significantly weaker effects on mammalian cells than on the bacterial cells indicating that the compound may have a strong antibacterial potential.

Systematic Analysis of Mycobacterial Acylation Reveals First Example of Acylation-mediated Regulation of Enzyme Activity of a Bacterial Phosphatase

Protein lysine acetylation is known to regulate multiple aspects of bacterial metabolism. However, its presence in mycobacterial signal transduction and virulence-associated proteins has not been studied. In this study, analysis of mycobacterial proteins from different cellular fractions indicated dynamic and widespread occurrence of lysine acetylation. Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins regulating diverse physiological processes were then selected and expressed in the surrogate host Mycobacterium smegmatis. The purified proteins were analyzed for the presence of lysine acetylation, leading to the identification of 24 acetylated proteins. In addition, novel lysine succinylation and propionylation events were found to co-occur with acetylation on several proteins. Protein-tyrosine phosphatase B (PtpB), a secretory phosphatase that regulates phosphorylation of host proteins and plays a critical role in Mycobacterium infection, is modified by acetylation and succinylation at Lys-224. This residue is situated in a lid region that covers the enzyme's active site. Consequently, acetylation and succinylation negatively regulate the activity of PtpB.

A Bacterial Foraging Optimization and Learning Automata Based Feature Selection for Motor Imagery EEG Classification

Selection of relevant features is an open problem in Brain-computer interfacing (BCI) research. Sometimes, features extracted from brain signals are high dimensional which in turn affects the accuracy of the classifier. Selection of the most relevant features improves the performance of the classifier and reduces the computational cost of the system. In this study, we have used a combination of Bacterial Foraging Optimization and Learning Automata to determine the best subset of features from a given motor imagery electroencephalography (EEG) based BCI dataset. Here, we have employed Discrete Wavelet Transform to obtain a high dimensional feature set and classified it by Distance Likelihood Ratio Test. Our proposed feature selector produced an accuracy of 80.291% in 216 seconds.

Multiple oligomeric structures of a bacterial small heat shock protein

Small heat shock proteins are ubiquitous molecular chaperones that form the first line of defence against the detrimental effects of cellular stress. Under conditions of stress they undergo drastic conformational rearrangements in order to bind to misfolded substrate proteins and prevent cellular protein aggregation. Owing to the dynamic nature of small heat shock protein oligomers, elucidating the structural basis of chaperone action and oligomerization still remains a challenge. In order to understand the organization of sHSP oligomers, we have determined crystal structures of a small heat shock protein from Salmonella typhimurium in a dimeric form and two higher oligomeric forms: an 18-mer and a 24-mer. Though the core dimer structure is conserved in all the forms, structural heterogeneity arises due to variation in the terminal regions.

Análisis de la contribución de los sistemas silvopastoriles a la conservación de la flora y fauna en tres comunidades de la reserva de biósfera Bosawás

El estudio se realizó en tres comunidades del Territorio Miskitu Indian Tasbaika Kum, Reserva de Biósfera BOSAWAS (Shiminka, Boca de Plis y Esperanza), para describir la interacción entre especies de flora y avifauna y su influencia en la conservación de estas especies en las áreas de pastoreo, a partir de tres criterios: 1) cuantificar flora y avifauna, 2) prácticas de manejo tradicional, 3) estimar beneficios económico generado por sistemas de pastoreo. Se establecieron tres puntos de conteo dentro de transeptos para avifauna, se estableció parcelas para muestreo de la vegetación en cada comunidad, se seleccionó una comunidad beneficiada por subproyectos del Proyecto Corazón (MARENA) y dos áreas clasificadas como bosque secundario. Para evaluar el beneficio económi co se aplicó entrevistas abiertas y estructuradas dirigida a propietarios de ganado, para documentar los principales beneficios tangibles e intangibles que la población obtiene de estos agrosistemas. El análisis de resultados se determinó en base a índices de diversidad, dominancia, equidad y similitud; tomando en cuenta la riqueza, abundancia y densidad de especies. Se encontró que para flora Shiminka obtuvo los mayores valores de dominancia lo que indica que se encuentran especies de mayor importancia, Esperanza tiene mayor equidad y diversidad, en Shiminka y Esperanza se necesitan mayores estudios, el análisis de Clúster arrojó que aunque existe alguna concordancia entre Boca de Plis y Shiminka, las tres difieren entre sí y el mismo resultado se encontró para la avifauna; y para fauna mayor equidad en Shiminka y Esperanza, mientras la más diversa resultó Esperanza. La similitud establece que Boca de Plis y Esperanza necesitan mayor intensidad de muestreo.

Modelling within-host spatiotemporal dynamics of invasive bacterial disease

Mechanistic determinants of bacterial growth, death, and spread within mammalian hosts cannot be fully resolved studying a single bacterial population. They are also currently poorly understood. Here, we report on the application of sophisticated experimental approaches to map spatiotemporal population dynamics of bacteria during an infection. We analyzed heterogeneous traits of simultaneous infections with tagged Salmonella enterica populations (wild-type isogenic tagged strains [WITS]) in wild-type and gene-targeted mice. WITS are phenotypically identical but can be distinguished and enumerated by quantitative PCR, making it possible, using probabilistic models, to estimate bacterial death rate based on the disappearance of strains through time. This multidisciplinary approach allowed us to establish the timing, relative occurrence, and immune control of key infection parameters in a true host-pathogen combination. Our analyses support a model in which shortly after infection, concomitant death and rapid bacterial replication lead to the establishment of independent bacterial subpopulations in different organs, a process controlled by host antimicrobial mechanisms. Later, decreased microbial mortality leads to an exponential increase in the number of bacteria that spread locally, with subsequent mixing of bacteria between organs via bacteraemia and further stochastic selection. This approach provides us with an unprecedented outlook on the pathogenesis of S. enterica infections, illustrating the complex spatial and stochastic effects that drive an infectious disease. The application of the novel method that we present in appropriate and diverse host-pathogen combinations, together with modelling of the data that result, will facilitate a comprehensive view of the spatial and stochastic nature of within-host dynamics. © 2008 Grant et al.

Bacterial growth rate and host factors as determinants of intracellular bacterial distributions in systemic Salmonella enterica infections.

Bacteria of the species Salmonella enterica cause a range of life-threatening diseases in humans and animals worldwide. The within-host quantitative, spatial, and temporal dynamics of S. enterica interactions are key to understanding how immunity acts on these infections and how bacteria evade immune surveillance. In this study, we test hypotheses generated from mathematical models of in vivo dynamics of Salmonella infections with experimental observation of bacteria at the single-cell level in infected mouse organs to improve our understanding of the dynamic interactions between host and bacterial mechanisms that determine net growth rates of S. enterica within the host. We show that both bacterial and host factors determine the numerical distributions of bacteria within host cells and thus the level of dispersiveness of the infection.

Probing biomolecular interaction forces using an anharmonic acoustic technique for selective detection of bacterial spores.

Receptor-based detection of pathogens often suffers from non-specific interactions, and as most detection techniques cannot distinguish between affinities of interactions, false positive responses remain a plaguing reality. Here, we report an anharmonic acoustic based method of detection that addresses the inherent weakness of current ligand dependant assays. Spores of Bacillus subtilis (Bacillus anthracis simulant) were immobilized on a thickness-shear mode AT-cut quartz crystal functionalized with anti-spore antibody and the sensor was driven by a pure sinusoidal oscillation at increasing amplitude. Biomolecular interaction forces between the coupled spores and the accelerating surface caused a nonlinear modulation of the acoustic response of the crystal. In particular, the deviation in the third harmonic of the transduced electrical response versus oscillation amplitude of the sensor (signal) was found to be significant. Signals from the specifically-bound spores were clearly distinguishable in shape from those of the physisorbed streptavidin-coated polystyrene microbeads. The analytical model presented here enables estimation of the biomolecular interaction forces from the measured response. Thus, probing biomolecular interaction forces using the described technique can quantitatively detect pathogens and distinguish specific from non-specific interactions, with potential applicability to rapid point-of-care detection. This also serves as a potential tool for rapid force-spectroscopy, affinity-based biomolecular screening and mapping of molecular interaction networks.

Identificación molecular de Burkholderia glumae, causante del añublo bacterial, en cinco zonas arroceras de Nicaragua

De octubre-diciembre 2012 se realizó el diagnóstico molecular de la bacteria causante del añublo bacterial (Burkholderia glumae) en cinco zonas arroceras de Nicaragua: Sébaco, Malacatoya, Boaco, León y Chinandega. Se colectaron 133 muestras en las zonas de estudio, con el fin de aislar e identificar las cepas de Burkholderia glumae. Todas las muestras fueron procesadas en el Centro de Biología Molecular de la Universidad Centroamericana. Se estandarizó y optimizó la prueba de PCR, para la identificación de la bacteria se amplificó un fragmento de 282 pares de bases de la región 16S de ADN ribosomal. 74% de las muestras resultaron positivas. La bacteria está presente en las zonas de estudio. Se realizaron aislamientos de colonias para su posterior identificación mediante la técnica de secuenciación. La cepa BGR1 está presente en las zonas evaluadas. Se requiere monitorear Burkholderia glumae en ambas épocas de siembra para llevar un registro de daños y la identificación de diferentes cepas.

Flora arvense y ruderal del pacífico y centro de Nicaragua

El texto “Flora Arvense y Ruderal del Pacífico y Centro de Nicaragua” intenta reivindicar éstas especies de plantas. En el pasado, estas especies han sido vilipendiadas al considerárseles perjudiciales en los ecosistemas agrícolas y en áreas aledañas a los mismos. El nombre que se ha usado en el pasado para estas plantas “Malezas” y/o “Malas hierbas”, considera el aspecto nocivo que algunas de estas especies tienen sobre los cultivos, sin considerar, que como componentes propios del ecosistema, se constituyen en elementos importantes que ayudan a la regulación y balance del mismo. El termino arvenses deriva del latín arvensis , que significa campo en el sentido agrícola. Por tanto, las plantas silvestres que crecen en los campos agrícolas se les conoce como plantas arvenses. El estudio de estas plantas ha estado orientado únicamente a evaluar el aspecto nocivo que algunas de éstas tienen sobre los cultivos. En consecuencia, los costos que implica la presencia de algunas han favorecido que el término “maleza” se aplique indiscriminadamente a la vegetación arvense o a todas las especies silvestres que crecen entre los cultivos, independientemente de lo nocivas que éstas sean. Por otra parte, al referirnos a estas plantas como arvenses, significa que la planta crece en forma silvestre en terrenos cultivados sin ninguna connotación respecto a nocividad o bondad de éstas para los agricultores.

Crimes contra a flora : análise sucinta

Consultora Legislativa - Área XI - Meio Ambiente e Direito Ambiental, Organização Territorial, Desenvolvimento Urbano e Regional. Apresenta Quadro comparativo entre os dispositivos do Decreto 6.514/2008 e da Lei de Crimes Ambientais (LCA) que têm a flora como bem tutelado.

Marine flora and fauna of the Eastern United States Anthozoa: Acitniaria, Corallimorpharia, Ceriantharia, and Zoanthidea

This key includes 60 species of sea anemones and their relatives in the orders Actiniaria, Corallimorpharia, Ceriantharia, and Zoanthidea. Species from the intertidal zone, continental slope, and deep sea are included over a geographic range from Atlantic Canada to approximately South Carolina. In addition to the illustrated key itself, characteristics of each species are summarized in tabular form, including morphology, distribution, and types and sizes of cnidae. Ecological and taxonomic information on each species are also included in an annotated species list. (PDF file contains 76 pages.)

Taxonomic and ecological survey of the flora of Calvert County, Maryland

Resulted from a occasional field trips on the Patuxent River, 1964-1968. Taxonomy and ecology survey following the quarter method (Cottam and Curtis, 1956) Includes: Literature review: Forests, soils, ecology; Materials and Methods: location, criteria, map of Calvert county; Results: descriptive, species of trees sampled; soils, ecology; discussion: vegetational, soils, ecology; Summary; Climate; Physical features of Calvert County; Botanical descriptions; Tables, Current checklist of vascular plants; selective bibliography