Publications by authors named "Eduardo H Morales"

Metal(loid) salts were used to treat infectious diseases in the past due to their exceptional biocidal properties at low concentrations. However, the mechanism of their toxicity has yet to be fully elucidated. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been linked to the toxicity of soft metal(loid)s such as Ag(I), Au(III), As(III), Cd(II), Hg(II), and Te(IV).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxidative stress is the main mechanism behind efficient disinfectants, causing damage in bacterial macromolecules. Importantly, bacteria activate resistance mechanisms in response to damage generated by oxidative stress. Strategies allowing pathogens to survive oxidative stress are highly conserved among microorganisms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The composition of the vaginal microbiome, including both the presence of pathogens involved in sexually transmitted infections (STI) as well as commensal microbiota, has been shown to have important associations for a woman's reproductive and general health. Currently, healthcare providers cannot offer comprehensive vaginal microbiome screening, but are limited to the detection of individual pathogens, such as high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV), the predominant cause of cervical cancer. There is no single test on the market that combines HPV, STI, and microbiome screening.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Salmonella Typhimurium is an intracellular pathogen that is capable of generating systemic fever in a murine model. Over the course of the infection, Salmonella faces different kinds of stressors, including harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS). Various defence mechanisms enable Salmonella to successfully complete the infective process in the presence of such stressors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The genus is a cosmopolitan and diverse group of aerobic, cold-adapted, Gram-negative bacteria exhibiting biotechnological potential for low-temperature applications including bioremediation. Here, we present the draft genome sequence of a bacterium from the genus isolated from a sediment sample from King George Island, Antarctica (3,490,622 bp; 18 scaffolds; G + C = 42.76%).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The metalloid tellurite is highly toxic to microorganisms. Several mechanisms of action have been proposed, including thiol depletion and generation of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, but none of them can fully explain its toxicity. Here we use a combination of directed evolution and chemical and biochemical approaches to demonstrate that tellurite inhibits heme biosynthesis, leading to the accumulation of intermediates of this pathway and hydroxyl radical.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The tellurium oxyanion tellurite (TeO3 (2-)) is extremely harmful for most organisms. It has been suggested that a potential bacterial tellurite resistance mechanism would consist of an enzymatic, NAD(P)H-dependent, reduction to the less toxic form elemental tellurium (Te(0)). To date, a number of enzymes such as catalase, type II NADH dehydrogenase and terminal oxidases from the electron transport chain, nitrate reductases, and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (E3), among others, have been shown to display tellurite-reducing activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

OmpD is the major Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) porin and mediates hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) influx. The results described herein extend this finding to hypochlorous acid (HOCl), another reactive oxygen species that is also part of the oxidative burst generated by the phagosome.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Salmonella Typhimurium is the etiological agent of gastroenteritis in humans and enteric fever in mice. Inside these hosts, Salmonella must overcome hostile conditions to develop a successful infection, a process in which the levels of porins may be critical. Herein, the role of the Salmonella Typhimurium porin OmpD in the infection process was assessed for adherence, invasion and proliferation in RAW264.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Efficient microbial conversion of lignocellulosic hydrolysates to biofuels is a key barrier to the economically viable deployment of lignocellulosic biofuels. A chief contributor to this barrier is the impact on microbial processes and energy metabolism of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors, including phenolic carboxylates, phenolic amides (for ammonia-pretreated biomass), phenolic aldehydes, and furfurals. To understand the bacterial pathways induced by inhibitors present in ammonia-pretreated biomass hydrolysates, which are less well studied than acid-pretreated biomass hydrolysates, we developed and exploited synthetic mimics of ammonia-pretreated corn stover hydrolysate (ACSH).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Typically, the expression of sRNAs is activated in response to environmental stimuli in order to regulate gene expression through post-transcriptional mechanisms. In the present work we show that the Salmonellatyphimurium paralogous sRNAs RyhB-1 and RyhB-2 are induced in response to the nitrosating agent S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). Inactivation of these sRNAs decreased S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As part of the response to specific stress conditions, bacteria express small molecules of non-coding RNA which maintain cellular homeostasis by regulating gene expression, commonly at the post-transcriptional level. Among these, in Salmonella enterica sv. Typhimurium, the paralog small non-coding RNAs RyhB-1 and RyhB-2 play an important role in iron homeostasis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) activates a response in Salmonella enterica, and the ArcAB two-component system is crucial for resisting ROS; however, the specific genes involved were not previously identified.* -
  • Researchers found that the ArcA regulator influences the expression of 292 genes in S. Typhimurium when exposed to H₂O₂, affecting various metabolic processes such as glutathione metabolism and transport systems.* -
  • The study highlights how the absence of ArcA during aerobic growth leads to increased ROS production and altered biochemical activities, ultimately impacting the cell's ability to maintain its redox state.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hypochlorous acid (HOCl) are reactive oxygen species that are part of the oxidative burst encountered by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) upon internalization by phagocytic cells. In order to survive, bacteria must sense these signals and modulate gene expression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF