Essentiality of c-di-AMP in Bacillus subtilis: Bypassing mutations converge in potassium and glutamate homeostasis.

In order to adjust to changing environmental conditions, bacteria use nucleotide second messengers to transduce external signals and translate them into a specific cellular response. Cyclic di-adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) is the only known essential nucleotide second messenger. In addition to the well-established role of this second messenger in the control of potassium homeostasis, we observed that glutamate is as toxic as potassium for a c-di-AMP-free strain of the Gram-positive model bacterium Bacillus subtilis.

Double trouble: Bacillus depends on a functional Tat machinery to avoid severe oxidative stress and starvation upon entry into a NaCl-depleted environment.

The widely conserved twin-arginine translocases (Tat) allow the transport of fully folded cofactor-containing proteins across biological membranes. In doing so, these translocases serve different biological functions ranging from energy conversion to cell division. In the Gram-positive soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis, the Tat machinery is essential for effective growth in media lacking iron or NaCl.

Impact of high salinity and the compatible solute glycine betaine on gene expression of Bacillus subtilis.

The Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis is frequently exposed to hyperosmotic conditions. In addition to the induction of genes involved in the accumulation of compatible solutes, high salinity exerts widespread effects on B. subtilis physiology, including changes in cell wall metabolism, induction of an iron limitation response, reduced motility and suppression of sporulation.

Management of Osmoprotectant Uptake Hierarchy in via a SigB-Dependent Antisense RNA.

Under hyperosmotic conditions, bacteria accumulate compatible solutes through synthesis or import. imports a large set of osmostress protectants via five osmotically controlled transport systems (OpuA to OpuE). Biosynthesis of the particularly effective osmoprotectant glycine betaine requires the exogenous supply of choline.

Analyses of competent and non-competent subpopulations of Bacillus subtilis reveal yhfW, yhxC and ncRNAs as novel players in competence.

Upon competence-inducing nutrient-limited conditions, only part of the Bacillus subtilis population becomes competent. Here, we separated the two subpopulations by fluorescence-assisted cell sorting (FACS). Using RNA-seq, we confirmed the previously described ComK regulon.

Influence of soy isoflavones in breast cancer angiogenesis: a multiplex glass ELISA approach.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-angiogenic properties of soy isoflavones using two breast cancer cell lines, by measuring the concentration of 30 cytokines involved in angiogenesis using a multiplex glass slide ELISA-based array.

Methods: Estrogen-dependent MCF-7 cells and estrogen-independent MDA-MB-231 cells were exposed to genistein (Gen), daidzein (Dai) and a soy seed extract (Ext) for 72 hrs, at selected concentration levels. The conditioned medium was analyzed using a glass slide, multiplex sandwich ELISA-based platform with fluorescent detection which allowed the identification and the quantification of 30 angiogenesis-related cytokines.

Inhibition of Rho Activity Increases Expression of SaeRS-Dependent Virulence Factor Genes in Staphylococcus aureus, Showing a Link between Transcription Termination, Antibiotic Action, and Virulence.

causes various diseases ranging from skin and soft tissue infections to life-threatening infections. Adaptation to the different host niches is controlled by a complex network of transcriptional regulators. Global profiling of condition-dependent transcription revealed adaptation of HG001 at the levels of transcription initiation and termination.

Pneumococcal Metabolic Adaptation and Colonization Are Regulated by the Two-Component Regulatory System 08.

two-component regulatory systems (TCS) enable adaptation and ensure its maintenance in host environments. This study deciphers the impact of TCS08 on pneumococcal gene expression and its role in metabolic and pathophysiological processes. Transcriptome analysis and real-time PCR demonstrated a regulatory effect of TCS08 on genes involved mainly in environmental information processing, intermediary metabolism, and colonization by D39 and TIGR4.

Changes of DNA topology affect the global transcription landscape and allow rapid growth of a Bacillus subtilis mutant lacking carbon catabolite repression.

Bacteria are able to prioritize preferred carbon sources from complex mixtures. This is achieved by the regulatory phenomenon of carbon catabolite repression. To allow the simultaneous utilization of multiple carbon sources and to prevent the time-consuming adaptation to each individual nutrient in biotechnological applications, mutants lacking carbon catabolite repression can be used.

Large-scale reduction of the Bacillus subtilis genome: consequences for the transcriptional network, resource allocation, and metabolism.

Understanding cellular life requires a comprehensive knowledge of the essential cellular functions, the components involved, and their interactions. Minimized genomes are an important tool to gain this knowledge. We have constructed strains of the model bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, whose genomes have been reduced by ∼36%.

Second Messenger Signaling in Bacillus subtilis: Accumulation of Cyclic di-AMP Inhibits Biofilm Formation.

The Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis produces the essential second messenger signaling nucleotide cyclic di-AMP. In B. subtilis and other bacteria, c-di-AMP has been implicated in diverse functions such as control of metabolism, cell division and cell wall synthesis, and potassium transport.