An effective COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy intervention focused on the relative risks of vaccination and infection.

We designed the Relative Risk Tool (RRT) to help people assess the relative risks associated with COVID-19 vaccination and infection. In May 2022 (N = 400) and November 2022 (N = 615), U.S.

Biological Ice-Nucleating Particles Deposited Year-Round in Subtropical Precipitation.

Airborne bacteria that nucleate ice at relatively warm temperatures (>-10°C) can interact with cloud water droplets, affecting the formation of ice in clouds and the residency time of the cells in the atmosphere. We sampled 65 precipitation events in southeastern Louisiana over 2 years to examine the effect of season, meteorological conditions, storm type, and ecoregion source on the concentration and type of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) deposited. INPs sensitive to heat treatment were inferred to be biological in origin, and the highest concentrations of biological INPs (∼16,000 INPs liter active at ≥-10°C) were observed in snow and sleet samples from wintertime nimbostratus clouds with cloud top temperatures as warm as -7°C.

Xenopus laevis zygote arrest 2 (zar2) encodes a zinc finger RNA-binding protein that binds to the translational control sequence in the maternal Wee1 mRNA and regulates translation.

Zygote arrest (Zar) proteins are crucial for early embryonic development, but their molecular mechanism of action is unknown. The Translational Control Sequence (TCS) in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the maternal mRNA, Wee1, mediates translational repression in immature Xenopus oocytes and translational activation in mature oocytes, but the protein that binds to the TCS and mediates translational control is not known. Here we show that Xenopus laevis Zar2 (encoded by zar2) binds to the TCS in maternal Wee1 mRNA and represses translation in immature oocytes.

A noncanonical bromodomain in the AAA ATPase protein Yta7 directs chromosomal positioning and barrier chromatin activity.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Yta7 is a barrier active protein that modulates transcriptional states at the silent mating locus, HMR. Additionally, Yta7 regulates histone gene transcription and has overlapping functions with known histone chaperones. This study focused on deciphering the functional role of the noncanonical Yta7 bromodomain.

Resistance to colistin in Acinetobacter baumannii associated with mutations in the PmrAB two-component system.

The mechanism of colistin resistance (Col(r)) in Acinetobacter baumannii was studied by selecting in vitro Col(r) derivatives of the multidrug-resistant A. baumannii isolate AB0057 and the drug-susceptible strain ATCC 17978, using escalating concentrations of colistin in liquid culture. DNA sequencing identified mutations in genes encoding the two-component system proteins PmrA and/or PmrB in each strain and in a Col(r) clinical isolate.

An ENU-induced recessive mutation in Mpl leads to thrombocytopenia with overdominance.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the causative mutation in the thrombocytopenic mouse strain HLB219 that was generated at the Jackson Laboratory as part of a large-scale N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis screen.

Materials And Methods: The HLB219 mutation was identified by interval mapping of F2 mice generated from intercross breeding of HLB219 to both BALB/cByJ (BALB) and 129/SvImJ (129/Sv). Mpl was identified as a candidate gene and sequenced.

Comparative genome sequence analysis of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

The recent emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in Acinetobacter baumannii has raised concern in health care settings worldwide. In order to understand the repertoire of resistance determinants and their organization and origins, we compared the genome sequences of three MDR and three drug-susceptible A. baumannii isolates.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Yta7 regulates histone gene expression.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Yta7 protein is a component of a nucleosome bound protein complex that maintains distinct transcriptional zones of chromatin. We previously found that one protein copurifying with Yta7 is the yFACT member Spt16. Epistasis analyses revealed a link between Yta7, Spt16, and other previously identified members of the histone regulatory pathway.

A Dam methylation mutant of Klebsiella pneumoniae is partially attenuated.

In Klebsiella pneumoniae, a chromosomal insertion mutation was constructed in the dam gene, which encodes DNA adenine methylase (Dam), resulting in a mutant unable to methylate specific nucleotides. In some bacteria, the Dam methylase has been shown to play an important role in virulence gene regulation as well as in methyl-directed mismatch repair and the regulation of replication initiation. Disruption of the normal Dam function by either eliminating or greatly increasing expression in several organisms has been shown to cause attenuation of virulence in murine models of infection.

Yng1 PHD finger binding to H3 trimethylated at K4 promotes NuA3 HAT activity at K14 of H3 and transcription at a subset of targeted ORFs.

Posttranslational histone modifications participate in modulating the structure and function of chromatin. Promoters of transcribed genes are enriched with K4 trimethylation and hyperacetylation on the N-terminal tail of histone H3. Recently, PHD finger proteins, like Yng1 in the NuA3 HAT complex, were shown to interact with H3K4me3, indicating a biochemical link between K4 methylation and hyperacetylation.

Klebsiella pneumoniae type 3 fimbria-mediated immunity to infection in the murine model of respiratory disease.

Type 3 fimbriae are expressed by most strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae and facilitate adherence to the basement membrane of human respiratory tissues. The ability of these appendages to stimulate a protective immune response in vivo has not been investigated. A murine model of acute pneumonia was used to determine whether the production of type 3 fimbria-specific antibodies correlated with protection against infection by K.

Biofilm formation in vitro and virulence in vivo of mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

One of the early stages of Klebsiella pneumoniae airway infections may involve biofilm formation. Bacterial biofilm formation is frequently investigated using in vitro techniques that facilitate identification and analysis of individual genes. We investigated the correlation between K.