More is better: Lymph node harvesting in colorectal cancer.

Introduction: We sought to determine if lymph node harvesting and survival for CRC were comparable between laparoscopic and open resections in a community hospital setting.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients at two community hospitals who underwent open or laparoscopic resection for CRC between January 2008 and September 2013 was performed.

Results: Three hundred seventy-one patients had open and 110 had laparoscopic resections.

Characterization of the sporulation initiation pathway of Clostridium difficile and its role in toxin production.

Clostridium difficile is responsible for significant mortality and morbidity in the hospitalized elderly. C. difficile spores are infectious and are a major factor contributing to nosocomial transmission.

Efficacy of hospital cleaning agents and germicides against epidemic Clostridium difficile strains.

Objective: To compare the effects of hospital cleaning agents and germicides on the survival of epidemic Clostridium difficile strains.

Methods: We compared the activity of and effects of exposure to 5 cleaning agents and/or germicides (3 containing chlorine, 1 containing only detergent, and 1 containing hydrogen peroxide) on vegetative and spore forms of epidemic and non-epidemic C. difficile strains (3 of each).

Structural analysis of divalent metals binding to the Bacillus subtilis response regulator Spo0F: the possibility for in vitro metalloregulation in the initiation of sporulation.

The presence of a divalent metal ion in a negatively charged aspartic acid pocket is essential for phosphorylation of response regulator proteins. Here, we present metal binding studies of the Bacillus subtilis response regulator Spo0F using NMR and microESI-MS. NMR studies show that the divalent metals Ca(2+), Mg(2+) and Mn(2+) primarily bind, as expected, in the Asp pocket phosphorylation site.

Sec-dependent protein translocation across biological membranes: evolutionary conservation of an essential protein transport pathway (review).

All living organisms, no matter how simple or complex, possess the ability to translocate proteins across biological membranes and into different cellular compartments. Although a range of membrane transport processes exist, the major pathway used to translocate proteins across the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane or the eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum membrane is conserved and is known as the Sec or Sec61 pathway, respectively. Over the past two decades the Sec and Sec61 pathways have been studied extensively and are well characterised at the genetic and biochemical levels.

Molecular insights into the initiation of sporulation in Gram-positive bacteria: new technologies for an old phenomenon.

The last decade has witnessed extensive, and widespread, changes in scientific technologies that have impacted significantly upon the study of the life sciences. Arguably, the biggest advances in our comprehension of simple and complex biological processes have come as a consequence of obtaining the complete DNA sequence of organisms. It is likely that we will become accustomed to hearing of quantum leaps in the study and understanding of the biology of higher eukaryotes in the coming years, now that (near) complete genome sequences are available for man, mouse and rat.

Evolution of signalling in the sporulation phosphorelay.

Two-component and phosphorelay signal transduction systems are believed to function as environ-mental sensors that programme gene expression to the composition of the ecological niche in which a microbe normally resides. The question of how evolutionarily related bacteria that occupy different environments change their signal transduction pathways to adapt to such environments was asked of the sporulation phosphorelay of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus halodurans, Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus stearothermophilus. Comparison of the primary amino acid sequence of phosphorelay proteins with the known structural and interactive properties of the B.

Two-component and phosphorelay signal-transduction systems as therapeutic targets.

Two-component and phosphorelay signal-transduction systems of pathogenic bacteria control the expression of genes encoding virulence factors and essential functions. Recent systematic gene inactivation studies have confirmed the integral role of two-component systems in the pathogenesis of diseases caused by several microorganisms and highlighted the validity of using these systems as targets for therapeutic intervention. Structural studies of signal-transduction proteins have recently revealed common features that may allow rational drug design for therapeutic intervention.

Virulence- and antibiotic resistance-associated two-component signal transduction systems of Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria as targets for antimicrobial therapy.

Two-component signal transduction systems are central elements of the virulence and antibiotic resistance responses of opportunistic bacterial pathogens. These systems allow the bacterium to sense and respond to signals emanating from the host environment and to modulate the repertoire of genes expressed to allow invasion and growth in the host. The integral role of two-component systems in virulence and antibiotic sensitivity, and the existence of essential two-component systems in several pathogenic bacteria, suggests that these systems may be novel targets for antimicrobial intervention.

Optimization of the cell wall microenvironment allows increased production of recombinant Bacillus anthracis protective antigen from B. subtilis.

The stability of heterologous proteins secreted by gram-positive bacteria is greatly influenced by the microenvironment on the trans side of the cytoplasmic membrane, and secreted heterologous proteins are susceptible to rapid degradation by host cell proteases. In Bacillus subtilis, degradation occurs either as the proteins emerge from the presecretory translocase and prior to folding into their native conformation or after the native conformation has been reached. The former process generally involves membrane- and/or cell wall-bound proteases, while the latter involves proteases that are released into the culture medium.

Cell-associated degradation affects the yield of secreted engineered and heterologous proteins in the Bacillus subtilis expression system.

A series of chimeric alpha-amylase genes derived from amyL, which encodes the liquefying alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis, were constructed in vitro using gene splicing techniques. The gene constructs were cloned in Bacillus subtilis, where their ability to direct the synthesis and secretion of active alpha-amylase was determined. Detectable alpha-amylase activity was observed for some, but not all, of the chimeric proteins.