Microorganisms assigned as Cronobacter are Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, bacteria widely distributed in nature, home environments, and hospitals. They can also be detected in foods, milk powder, and powdered infant formula (PIF). Additionally, as an opportunistic pathogen, Cronobacter may cause serious infections, sometimes leading to the death of neonates and infants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rapidly emerging phenomenon of antibiotic resistance threatens to substantially reduce the efficacy of available antibacterial therapies. Dissemination of resistance, even between phylogenetically distant bacterial species, is mediated mainly by mobile genetic elements, considered to be natural vectors of horizontal gene transfer. Transposable elements (TEs) play a major role in this process-due to their highly recombinogenic nature they can mobilize adjacent genes and can introduce them into the pool of mobile DNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPartitioning systems ensure the stable inheritance of bacterial low-copy-number replicons, such as chromosomes, chromids, and megaplasmids. These loci consist of two genes encoding partition proteins A and B, and at least one centromere-like sequence. In chromids and megaplasmids, partitioning systems are often located in the vicinity of replication systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacteria of the genus (phylum ) include both human and animal pathogens, as well as saprophytic strains. A common component of spp. genomes are plasmids, i.
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