Evaluating the biocontrol potential of Canadian strain Bacillus velezensis 1B-23 via its surfactin production at various pHs and temperatures.

Background: Microorganisms, including Bacillus species are used to help control plant pathogens, thereby reducing reliance on synthetic pesticides in agriculture. Bacillus velezensis strain 1B-23 has been shown to reduce symptoms of bacterial disease caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis in greenhouse-grown tomatoes, with in vitro studies implicating the lipopeptide surfactin as a key antimicrobial.

Characterization and genomic analysis of a diesel-degrading bacterium, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus CA16, isolated from Canadian soil.

Background: With the high demand for diesel across the world, environmental decontamination from its improper usage, storage and accidental spills becomes necessary. One highly environmentally friendly and cost-effective decontamination method is to utilize diesel-degrading microbes as a means for bioremediation. Here, we present a newly isolated and identified strain of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus ('CA16') as a candidate for the bioremediation of diesel-contaminated areas.

Characterization and complete genome analysis of the surfactin-producing, plant-protecting bacterium Bacillus velezensis 9D-6.

Background: Bacillus velezensis is an endospore-forming, free-living soil bacterium with potential as a biopesticide against a broad spectrum of microbial pathogens of plants. Its potential for commercial development is enhanced by rapid replication and resistance to adverse environmental conditions, typical of Bacillus species. However, the use of beneficial microbes against phytopathogens has not gained dominance due to limitations that may be overcome with new biopesticidal strains and/or new biological knowledge.

Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. michiganensis: bacterial canker of tomato, molecular interactions and disease management.

Bacterial canker disease is considered to be one of the most destructive diseases of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and is caused by the seed-borne Gram-positive bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. michiganensis (Cmm). This vascular pathogen generally invades and proliferates in the xylem through natural openings or wounds, causing wilt and canker symptoms.

A Plant-Produced Candidate Subunit Vaccine Reduces Shedding of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in Ruminants.

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) are commonly present in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle and cause serious infectious disease in humans. Immunizing cattle against EHEC is a promising strategy to decrease the risk of food contamination; however, veterinary vaccines against EHEC such as Econiche have not been widely adopted by the agricultural industry, and have been discontinued, prompting the need for more cost-effective EHEC vaccines. The objective of this project is to develop a platform to produce plant-made antigens for oral vaccination of ruminants against EHEC.

A Hydroponic Co-cultivation System for Simultaneous and Systematic Analysis of Plant/Microbe Molecular Interactions and Signaling.

An experimental design mimicking natural plant-microbe interactions is very important to delineate the complex plant-microbe signaling processes. Arabidopsis thaliana-Agrobacterium tumefaciens provides an excellent model system to study bacterial pathogenesis and plant interactions. Previous studies of plant-Agrobacterium interactions have largely relied on plant cell suspension cultures, the artificial wounding of plants, or the artificial induction of microbial virulence factors or plant defenses by synthetic chemicals.

Corrigendum: Co-expression with the Type 3 Secretion Chaperone CesT from Enterohemorrhagic Increases Accumulation of Recombinant Tir in Plant Chloroplasts.

[This corrects the article on p. 283 in vol. 8, PMID: 28321227.

Co-expression with the Type 3 Secretion Chaperone CesT from Enterohemorrhagic Increases Accumulation of Recombinant Tir in Plant Chloroplasts.

Type 3 secretion systems (T3SSs) are utilized by pathogenic to infect their hosts and many proteins from these systems are affected by chaperones specific to T3SS-containing bacteria. Toward developing a recombinant vaccine against enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC), we expressed recombinant T3SS and related proteins from predominant EHEC serotypes in chloroplasts. were transiently transformed to express chloroplast-targeted Tir, NleA, and EspD from the EHEC serotype O157:H7; a fusion of EspA proteins from serotypes O157:H7 and O26:H11; and a fusion of epitopes of Tir (Tir-ep) from serotypes O157:H7, O26:H11, O45:H2, and O111:H8.

Current knowledge and perspectives of Paenibacillus: a review.

Isolated from a wide range of sources, the genus Paenibacillus comprises bacterial species relevant to humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Many Paenibacillus species can promote crop growth directly via biological nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, production of the phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and release of siderophores that enable iron acquisition. They can also offer protection against insect herbivores and phytopathogens, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and viruses.

Isolation, identification and characterization of Paenibacillus polymyxa CR1 with potentials for biopesticide, biofertilization, biomass degradation and biofuel production.

Background: Paenibacillus polymyxa is a plant-growth promoting rhizobacterium that could be exploited as an environmentally friendlier alternative to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Various strains have been isolated that can benefit agriculture through antimicrobial activity, nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, plant hormone production, or lignocellulose degradation. However, no single strain has yet been identified in which all of these advantageous traits have been confirmed.

Comparative analysis of lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase activity on coniferous and deciduous wood using ToF-SIMS.

White-rot fungi are distinguished by their ability to efficiently degrade lignin via lignin-modifying type II peroxidases, including manganese peroxidase (MnP) and lignin peroxidase (LiP). In the present study, time-of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was used to evaluate lignin modification in three coniferous and three deciduous wood preparations following treatment with commercial preparations of LiP and MnP from two different white-rot fungi. Percent modification of lignin was calculated as a loss of intact methoxylated lignin over nonfunctionalized aromatic rings, which is consistent with oxidative cleavage of methoxy moieties within the lignin structure.

The case for plant-made veterinary immunotherapeutics.

The excessive use of antibiotics in food animal production has contributed to resistance in pathogenic bacteria, thereby triggering regulations and consumer demands to limit their use. Alternatives for disease control are therefore required that are cost-effective and compatible with intensive production. While vaccines are widely used and effective, they are available against a minority of animal diseases, and development of novel vaccines and other immunotherapeutics is therefore needed.

Predictors of postnatal mother-infant bonding: the role of antenatal bonding, maternal substance use and mental health.

The emotional bond that a mother feels towards her baby is critical to social, emotional and cognitive development. Maternal health and wellbeing through pregnancy and antenatal bonding also play a key role in determining bonding postnatally, but the extent to which these relationships may be disrupted by poor mental health or substance use is unclear. This study aimed to examine the extent to which mother-fetal bonding, substance use and mental health through pregnancy predicted postnatal mother-infant bonding at 8 weeks.

Bringing plant-based veterinary vaccines to market: Managing regulatory and commercial hurdles.

The production of recombinant vaccines in plants may help to reduce the burden of veterinary diseases, which cause major economic losses and in some cases can affect human health. While there is abundant research in this area, a knowledge gap exists between the ability to create and evaluate plant-based products in the laboratory, and the ability to take these products on a path to commercialization. The current report, arising from a workshop sponsored by an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Co-operative Research Programme, addresses this gap by providing guidance in planning for the commercialization of plant-made vaccines for animal use.

Comparative genomics of the white-rot fungi, Phanerochaete carnosa and P. chrysosporium, to elucidate the genetic basis of the distinct wood types they colonize.

Background: Softwood is the predominant form of land plant biomass in the Northern hemisphere, and is among the most recalcitrant biomass resources to bioprocess technologies. The white rot fungus, Phanerochaete carnosa, has been isolated almost exclusively from softwoods, while most other known white-rot species, including Phanerochaete chrysosporium, were mainly isolated from hardwoods. Accordingly, it is anticipated that P.

Expression and regulation of genes encoding lignocellulose-degrading activity in the genus Phanerochaete.

As white-rot basidiomycetes, Phanerochaete species are critical to the cycling of carbon sequestered as woody biomass, and are predicted to encode many enzymes that can be harnessed to promote the conversion of lignocellulose to sugars for fermentation to fuels and chemicals. Advances in genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic technologies have enabled detailed analyses of different Phanerochaete species and have revealed numerous enzyme families required for lignocellulose utilization, as well as insight into the regulation of corresponding genes. Recent studies of Phanerochaete are also exemplified by molecular analyses following cultivation on different wood preparations, and show substrate-dependent responses that were difficult to predict using model compounds or isolated plant polysaccharides.

Time-dependent profiles of transcripts encoding lignocellulose-modifying enzymes of the white rot fungus Phanerochaete carnosa grown on multiple wood substrates.

The abundances of nine transcripts predicted to encode lignocellulose-modifying enzymes were measured over the course of Phanerochaete carnosa cultivation on four wood species. Profiles were consistent with sequential decay; transcripts encoding lignin-degrading peroxidases featured a significant substrate-dependent response. The chitin synthase gene was identified as the optimal internal reference gene for transcript quantification.

Transcriptomic responses of the softwood-degrading white-rot fungus Phanerochaete carnosa during growth on coniferous and deciduous wood.

To identify enzymes that could be developed to reduce the recalcitrance of softwood resources, the transcriptomes of the softwood-degrading white-rot fungus Phanerochaete carnosa were evaluated after growth on lodgepole pine, white spruce, balsam fir, and sugar maple and compared to the transcriptome of P. carnosa after growth on liquid nutrient medium. One hundred fifty-two million paired-end reads were obtained, and 63% of these reads were mapped to 10,257 gene models from P.

Molecular evolution of SPARC: absence of the acidic module and expression in the endoderm of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis.

The matricellular glycoprotein SPARC is composed of three functional domains that are evolutionarily conserved in organisms ranging from nematodes to mammals: a Ca(2+)-binding glutamic acid-rich acidic domain at the N-terminus (domain I), a follistatin-like module (domain II), and an extracellular Ca(2+)-binding (EC) module that contains two EF-hands and two collagen-binding epitopes (domain III). We report that four SPARC orthologs (designated nvSPARC1-4) are expressed by the genome of the starlet anemone Nematostella vectensis, a diploblastic basal cnidarian composed of an ectoderm and endoderm separated by collagen-based mesoglea. We also report that domain I is absent from all N.

Explosion probability of unexploded ordnance: expert beliefs.

This article reports on a study to quantify expert beliefs about the explosion probability of unexploded ordnance (UXO). Some 1,976 sites at closed military bases in the United States are contaminated with UXO and are slated for cleanup, at an estimated cost of $15-140 billion. Because no available technology can guarantee 100% removal of UXO, information about explosion probability is needed to assess the residual risks of civilian reuse of closed military bases and to make decisions about how much to invest in cleanup.

Assessing sites contaminated with unexploded ordnance: statistical modeling of ordnance spatial distribution.

More than 40,000 km2 of former military land in the United States are contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO). Cleanup costs are estimated to total as much as 140 billion dollars. The amount of contaminated acreage and total costs are likely to increase as the U.