Targeting the Impossible: A Review of New Strategies against Endospores.

Endospore-forming bacteria are ubiquitous, and their endospores can be present in food, in domestic animals, and on contaminated surfaces. Many spore-forming bacteria have been used in biotechnological applications, while others are human pathogens responsible for a wide range of critical clinical infections. Due to their resistant properties, it is challenging to eliminate spores and avoid the reactivation of latent spores that may lead to active infections.

Virulence and Resistance Determinants of Uropathogenic Strains Isolated from Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women from Two States in Mexico.

Background/purpose: Uropathogenic (UPEC) is the main cause of urinary tract infection (UTI) and it is known that pregnant women have a higher risk for UTI. UPEC has a variety of virulence and antibiotic resistance factors that facilitate its pathogenic success and it is crucial to know which are the susceptibility patterns, Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase (ESBL) production, virulence genes, pathogenicity islands (PAI), phylogenetic groups and serotypes among strains isolated from pregnant and non-pregnant women.

Methods: One hundred fifty UPEC strains were isolated from pregnant and non-pregnant women from two different Mexican states (Sonora and Puebla).

Comparative genomics of a subset of Adherent/Invasive Escherichia coli strains isolated from individuals without inflammatory bowel disease.

There is increased evidence demonstrating the association between Crohn's Disease (CD), a type of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and non-diarrheagenic Adherent/Invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) isolates. AIEC strains are phenotypically characterized by their adhesion, invasion and intra-macrophage survival capabilities. In the present study, the genomes of five AIEC strains isolated from individuals without IBD (four from healthy donors and one from peritoneal liquid) were sequenced and compared with AIEC prototype strains (LF82 and NRG857c), and with extra-intestinal uropathogenic strain (UPEC CFT073).

Adherent/invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) isolates from asymptomatic people: new E. coli ST131 O25:H4/H30-Rx virotypes.

Background: The widespread Escherichia coli clone ST131 implicated in multidrug-resistant infections has been recently reported, the majority belonging to O25:H4 serotype and classified into five main virotypes in accordance with the virulence genes carried.

Methods: Pathogenicity Islands I and II (PAI-I and PAI-II) were determined using conventional PCR protocols from a set of four E. coli CTX ST131 O25:H4/H30-Rx strains collected from healthy donors' stool.

Flagellar expression in clinical isolates of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae.

Purpose: Haemophilus influenzae is a commensal organism found in the upper respiratory tract of humans. When H. influenzae becomes a pathogen, these bacteria can move out of their commensal niche and cause multiple respiratory tract diseases such as otitis media, sinusitis, conjunctivitis and bronchitis in children, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults.

First evidence of polar flagella in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from a patient with neonatal sepsis.

The genus Klebsiella belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, and is currently considered to be non-motile and non-flagellated. In the present work, 25 Klebsiella strains isolated from nosocomial infections were assessed for motility under different growth conditions. One Klebsiella isolate, KpBUAP021, demonstrated a swim-like motility phenotype.

BfpI, BfpJ, and BfpK Minor Pilins Are Important for the Function and Biogenesis of Bundle-Forming Pili Expressed by Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Unlabelled: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) remains a significant cause of infant diarrheal illness and associated morbidity and mortality in developing countries. EPEC strains are characterized by their ability to colonize the small intestines of their hosts by a multistep program involving initial loose attachment to intestinal epithelial cells followed by an intimate adhesion phase. The initial loose interaction of typical EPEC with host intestinal cells is mediated by bundle-forming pili (BFP).

Structural and evolutionary analyses show unique stabilization strategies in the type IV pili of Clostridium difficile.

Type IV pili are produced by many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and are important for processes as diverse as twitching motility, biofilm formation, cellular adhesion, and horizontal gene transfer. However, many Gram-positive species, including Clostridium difficile, also produce type IV pili. Here, we identify the major subunit of the type IV pili of C.

Structure of Clostridium difficile PilJ exhibits unprecedented divergence from known type IV pilins.

Type IV pili are produced by many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and are important for processes as diverse as twitching motility, cellular adhesion, and colonization. Recently, there has been an increased appreciation of the ability of Gram-positive species, including Clostridium difficile, to produce Type IV pili. Here we report the first three-dimensional structure of a Gram-positive Type IV pilin, PilJ, demonstrate its incorporation into Type IV pili, and offer insights into how the Type IV pili of C.

Regulatory control of the Escherichia coli O157:H7 lpf1 operon by H-NS and Ler.

Long polar fimbriae 1 (Lpf1) of Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a tightly regulated adhesin, with H-NS silencing the transcriptional expression of the lpf1 operon while Ler (locus of enterocyte effacement-encoded regulator) acts as an antisilencer. We mapped the minimal regulatory region of lpf1 required for H-NS- and Ler-mediated regulation and found that it is 79% AT rich. Three putative sites for H-NS binding were identified.

Ler and H-NS, regulators controlling expression of the long polar fimbriae of Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) serotype O157:H7 colonizes the human intestine and is responsible for diarrheal outbreaks worldwide. Previously we showed that EHEC produces long polar fimbriae (LPF) and that maximum expression is observed during the exponential phase of growth at 37 degrees C and pH 6.5.