Publications by authors named "Leonid Valentovich"

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a biophysical technique used for non-destructive biochemical profiling of biological samples. It can provide comprehensive information about the total cellular biochemical profile of microbial cells. In this study, FTIR spectroscopy was used to perform biochemical characterization of twenty-nine bacterial strains isolated from the Antarctic meltwater ponds.

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Lactococcus phages that belong to the genus Ceduovirus are among the three most frequently isolated phage groups infecting Lactococcus lactis starter strains in dairy plants. In this study, we characterized virulent Lactococcus phage BIM BV-114 isolated from industrial cheese brine in Belarus and identified as Ceduovirus. The bacteriophage demonstrated a relatively short lytic cycle (latent period of 23 ± 5 min, lysis time of 90 ± 5 min), high thermal stability (inactivation after 7 min at 95 °C in skimmed milk) and tolerance to UV radiation (inactivation time - 15 min), indicating adaptation for better persistence in dairy facilities.

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The CRISPR/Cas9 systems have been developed as tools for genetic engineering and metabolic engineering in various organisms. In this review, various aspects of CRISPR/Cas9 in , from basic principles to practical applications, have been summarized. First, a comprehensive review has been conducted on the history of CRISPR/Cas9, successful cases of gene disruptions, and efficiencies of multiple DNA fragment insertions.

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Temperature significantly impacts bacterial physiology, metabolism and cell chemistry. In this study, we analysed lipids and the total cellular biochemical profile of 74 fast-growing Antarctic bacteria grown at different temperatures. Fatty acid diversity and temperature-induced alterations aligned with bacterial classification-Gram-groups, phylum, genus and species.

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A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, amylolytic bacterial strain, designated as bsSlp3-1, was isolated from the Slepian water system, a freshwater reservoir. Strain bsSlp3-1 was found to be aerobic, oxidase-positive and catalase-negative, grew at 5-37 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 5.0-9.

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In this study, for the first time, we report the identification and characterization of culturable fast-growing bacteria isolated from the sea-affected temporary meltwater ponds (MPs) in the East Antarctica area of the Vecherny region (-67.656317, 46.175058) of the Thala Hills Oasis, Enderby Land.

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Background: Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been implemented worldwide to curb COVID-19 spread. Belarus is a rare case of a country with a relatively modern healthcare system, where highly limited NPIs have been enacted. Thus, investigation of Belarusian COVID-19 dynamics is essential for the local and global assessment of the impact of NPI strategies.

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16S rRNA gene is frequently used for the identification of prokaryotic organisms and for phylogeny inference. Several specialized public databases exist that contain complete and partial sequences of 16S rRNA genes. In this paper, we present RiboGrove: the first publicly available database that comprises only full-length sequences of 16S rRNA genes originating from completely assembled prokaryotic genomes deposited in RefSeq.

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The type III secretion system (T3SS) is a needle-like structure found in Gram-negative pathogens that directly delivers virulence factors like toxins and effector molecules into eukaryotic cells. The T3SS is classified into different families according to the type of effector and host. Of these, the Ysc family T3SS, found in species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, confers high virulence to bacteria against eukaryotic hosts.

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Phytopathogenic pseudomonads are widespread in the world and cause a wide range of plant diseases. In this work, we describe the phage Pf-10, which is a part of the biopesticide "Multiphage" used for bacterial diseases of agricultural crops caused by . The Pf-10 chromosome is a dsDNA molecule with two direct terminal repeats (DTRs).

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Pseudomonas syringae BIM B-268 is the strain used for testing of the efficiency of Multiphage, a bacteriophage-based biopesticide produced in Belarus. The genome sequence of this strain consists of a single circular chromosome harboring the genes encoding the ice nucleation protein, syringopeptin biosynthesis, and types III and VI secretion systems.

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Since the emergence of COVID-19, a series of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) has been implemented by governments and public health authorities world-wide to control and curb the ongoing pandemic spread. From that perspective, Belarus is one of a few countries with a relatively modern healthcare system, where much narrower NPIs have been put in place. Given the uniqueness of this Belarusian experience, the understanding its COVID-19 epidemiological dynamics is essential not only for the local assessment, but also for a better insight into the impact of different NPI strategies globally.

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Snow microorganisms play a significant role in climate change and affecting the snow melting rate in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. While research on algae inhabiting green and red snow has been performed extensively, bacteria dwelling in this biotope have been studied to a much lesser extent. In this study, we performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of two green snow samples collected from the coastal area of the eastern part of Antarctica and conducted genotypic and phenotypic profiling of 45 fast-growing bacteria isolated from these samples.

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The strain BS3701 was isolated from soil contaminated with coke by-product waste (Moscow Region, Russian Federation). It is capable of degrading crude oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The BS3701 genome consists of a 6,337,358-bp circular chromosome and two circular plasmids (pBS1141 with 107,388 bp and pBS1142 with 54,501 bp).

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Contemporary sequencing technologies, Oxford Nanopore in particular, provide a way to sequence multiple samples during single run using molecular barcodes. Specific circumstances, however, can make barcoding undesirable or unaffordable. Here, we introduce Barapost: a command-line toolkit that demultiplexes long nucleotide sequences relying on taxonomic annotation instead of barcoding.

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Fire blight, caused by plant pathogenic bacterium Erwinia amylovora, is one of the most important diseases of Rosaceae plants. Due to the lack of effective control measures, fire blight infections pose a recurrent threat on agricultural production worldwide. Recently, bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages, have been proposed as environmentally friendly natural antimicrobial agents for fire blight control.

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sp. strain 135 is a promising dibenzothiophene-desulfurizing and hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium. It can utilize dibenzothiophene as the sole sulfur source.

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X5 is a psychrotrophic (cold-adapted) hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium, as it showed effective -alkane destruction at low positive temperatures. Here, the genome of strain X5 was completely sequenced; it consists of a 6,472,161-bp circular chromosome (62.25% GC content) and a 526,979-bp linear plasmid, pRhX5-526k (62.

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A thermotolerant bacterial strain 1D isolated from refinery oil-contaminated soil was identified as Gordonia sp. based on the analysis of 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequences. The strain was found to utilize crude oil, diesel fuel, and a wide spectrum of alkanes at temperatures up to 50 °C.

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Erwinia amylovora is a Gram-negative plant pathogenic bacteria causing fire blight disease in many Rosaceae species. A novel E. amylovora bacteriophage, phiEa2809, was isolated from symptomless apple leaf sample collected in Belarus.

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We report the annotated genome sequence of the enterobacterial plant pathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum strain 21A, isolated in Belarus from potato stem with blackleg symptoms.

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