Global transcriptional response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to UVA radiation.

Ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation is the major fraction of UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Its harmful effects on microorganisms, due mainly to oxidative damage, have been exploited for development of natural solar and commercial UVA-based disinfection methods. In this work, the global transcriptional response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exposed to ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation was analyzed.

Effects of temperature up-shift and UV-A radiation on fatty acids content and expression of desaturase genes in cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa: stress tolerance and acclimation responses.

Temperature up-shift and UV-A radiation effects on growth, lipid damage, fatty acid (FA) composition and expression of desaturase genes desA and desB were investigated in the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa. Although UV-A damaging effect has been well documented, reports on the interactive effects of UV radiation exposure and warming on cyanobacteria are scarce. Temperature and UV-A doses were selected based on the physiological responses previously obtained by studies with the same M.

Role of Pel and Psl polysaccharides in the response of to environmental challenges: oxidative stress agents (UVA, HO, sodium hypochlorite) and its competitor .

is a versatile bacterium capable of adapting to a wide range of stress factors, including solar UVA radiation (400-315 nm). High UVA doses produce lethal effects due to the action of reactive oxygen species. Sublethal UVA doses also induces oxidative damage, but, in addition, it triggers a variety of adaptive responses, including the overexpression of and genes in .

UVA as environmental signal for alginate production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: role of this polysaccharide in the protection of planktonic cells and biofilms against lethal UVA doses.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an extremely versatile microorganism that survives in a wide variety of niches. It is capable to respond rapidly to changes in the environment by producing secondary metabolites and virulence factors, including alginate. Alginate is an extracellular polysaccharide that protects the bacteria from antibiotics and oxidative agents, and enhances cell adhesion to solid surfaces in the process of biofilm formation.

Homeophasic Adaptation in Response to UVA Radiation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Changes of Membrane Fatty Acid Composition and Induction of desA and desB Expression.

In bacteria, exposure to changes in environmental conditions can alter membrane fluidity, thereby affecting its essential functions in cell physiology. To adapt to these changes, bacteria maintain appropriate fluidity by varying the composition of the fatty acids of membrane phospholipids, a phenomenon known as homeophasic adaptation. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, this response is achieved mainly by two mechanisms of fatty acid desaturation: the FabA-FabB and DesA-DesB systems.

Determination of Antibacterial Activity of Film Coatings Against Four Clinically Relevant Bacterial Strains.

Antibacterial coatings have currently gained great importance in biomedical technology investigations. Because of the spatial arrangement of the film coatings, evaluation of antibacterial activity presents a new challenge regarding traditional bacterial counting methods. In this protocol, four clinically relevant pathogens, , and were incubated on titania mesostructured thin film coatings for 24 h.

Evaluation of Viable Cells in Biofilmsby Colony Count and Live/Dead Staining.

is a human pathogen capable to form robust biofilms. biofilms represent a serious problem because of the adverse effects on human health and industry, from sanitary and economic points of view. Typical strategies to break down biofilms have been long used, such as the use of disinfectants or antibiotics, but also, according to their high resistance to standard antimicrobial approaches, alternative strategies employing photocatalysis or control of biofilm formation by modifying surfaces, have been proposed.

Effect of temperature on microcystin-LR removal and lysis activity on Microcystis aeruginosa (cyanobacteria) by an indigenous bacterium belonging to the genus Achromobacter.

Microcystis is a frequent cyanobacterium bloom-forming with cosmopolitan distribution which can produce a hepatotoxin group called microcystins (MCs). These MCs are resistant to the traditional processes employed in the water treatment plants and they are often detected after conventional treatments. Because of this, the bio-removal studies have obtained a great interest in the last decades.

Role of quorum sensing in UVA-induced biofilm formation in .

, a versatile bacterium present in terrestrial and aquatic environments and a relevant opportunistic human pathogen, is largely known for the production of robust biofilms. The unique properties of these structures complicate biofilm eradication, because they make the biofilms very resistant to diverse antibacterial agents. Biofilm development and establishment is a complex process regulated by multiple regulatory genetic systems, among them is quorum sensing (QS), a mechanism employed by bacteria to regulate gene transcription in response to population density.

Antibiofilm effect of mesoporous titania coatings on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.

Activation of photocatalytic titania by ultraviolet-A (UVA) radiation has been proposed as a good approach for combating bacteria. Titania powder, in solution or immobilized on a surface, has excellent UVA-assisted killing properties on several microorganisms. However, these properties could not be demonstrated in biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a resistant opportunistic human pathogen that can cause severe complications in patients who are immunocompromised or have burn wounds or cystic fibrosis.

Response to lethal UVA radiation in the Antarctic bacterium Pseudomonas extremaustralis: polyhydroxybutyrate and cold adaptation as protective factors.

Pseudomonas extremaustralis is an Antarctic bacterium with high stress resistance, able to grow under cold conditions. It is capable to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) mainly as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and, to a lesser extent, medium-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mclPHAs). In this work, we analyzed the role of PHAs and cold adaptation in the survival of P.

Transforming an inert nanopolymer into broad-spectrum bactericidal by superstructure tuning.

Poloxamer block copolymers (also known as Pluronic®) are particularly useful for drug delivery and self-assembly techniques. These nanopolymers are generally considered to be biologically inert and they were used to generate only bacteria repellent surfaces but keeps bacteria alive and as a latent threat. However, the inherent capabilities of these nanopolymers to kill bacteria have been largely overlooked.

Exposure to low doses of UVA increases biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The establishment of bacterial biofilms on abiotic surfaces is a complex process regulated by multiple genetic regulators and environmental factors which are able to modulate the passage of planktonic cells to a sessile state. Solar ultraviolet-A radiation (UVA, 315-400) is one of the main environmental stress factors that bacteria must face at the Earth´s surface. The deleterious effects of UVA are mainly due to oxidative damage.

New envelope stress factors involved in σ activation and conditional lethality of rpoE mutations in Salmonella enterica.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) can cause food- and water-borne illness with diverse clinical manifestations. One key factor for S.

Detection of Catalase Activity by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (PAGE)in Cell Extracts from .

Bacteria in nature and as pathogens commonly face oxidative stress which causes damage to proteins, lipids and DNA. This damage is produced by the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (HO), singlet oxygen, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical. ROS are generated by antimicrobials, environmental factors (, ultraviolet radiation, osmotic stress), aerobic respiration, and host phagocytes during infective processes.

Antibiofilm effect of supramolecularly templated mesoporous silica coatings.

Bacteria attached to solid surfaces and encased in a self-synthesized matrix, so-called biofilms, are highly difficult to eradicate and present negative impact on industry and human health. The ability of supramolecularly templated mesoporous silica coatings to inhibit biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is shown here. Assays employing submerged and air-liquid interface biofilms demonstrated that mesoporous coatings with tuned pore size significantly reduce the number of attached bacteria and matrix production.

Exposure to low UVA doses increases KatA and KatB catalase activities, and confers cross-protection against subsequent oxidative injuries in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Solar UVA radiation is one of the main environmental stress factors for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Exposure to high UVA doses produces lethal effects by the action of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) it generates. P.

Role of the Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS) in sensitising Pseudomonas aeruginosa to UVA radiation.

One of the main stress factors that bacteria face in the environment is solar ultraviolet-A (UVA) radiation, which leads to lethal effects through oxidative damage. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of 2-heptyl-3-hydroxi-4-quinolone (the Pseudomonas quinolone signal or PQS) in the response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to UVA radiation. PQS is an intercellular quorum sensing signal associated to membrane vesicles which, among other functions, regulates genes related to iron acquisition, forms stable complexes with iron and participates in oxidative phenomena.

Protective role of extracellular catalase (KatA) against UVA radiation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.

One of the more stressful factors that Pseudomonas aeruginosa must face in nature is solar UVA radiation. In this study, the protective role of KatA catalase in both planktonic cells and biofilms of P. aeruginosa against UVA radiation was determined by using the wild-type (PAO1) and an isogenic catalase deficient strain (katA).

Protective effect of low UVA irradiation against the action of lethal UVA on Pseudomonas aeruginosa: role of the relA gene.

The exposure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells to very low UVA fluences induces a growth delay, a phenomenon proposed in Escherichia coli as an adaptive mechanism related to protection against lethal and mutagenic effects of UVA. This paper reports that the treatment with low UVA irradiation fluences protects P. aeruginosa PAO1 strain from a subsequent lethal exposure.

The relationship between carotenoids and sunlight response in members of the family Micrococcaceae.

The aim of this study was to compare the photoprotective effect of carotenoids in phylogentically related bacteria, which synthesize structurally different pigments. Two organisms were isolated from the same environment. Their 16S rDNA sequences and phenotypic characteristics identified them as members of the family Micrococcaceae.

Role of the quorum sensing mechanism in the response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to lethal and sublethal UVA irradiation.

The role of quorum sensing (QS) in the response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to UVA radiation was investigated in the PAO1 strain and derivatives defective in the synthesis of the QS signals 3OC12-HSL (lasI strain), C4-HSL (rhlI strain) or both (lasI rhlI strain). Cell viability measurements demonstrated that the double mutant was significantly more sensitive to UVA than single mutants, which in turn showed reduced cell survival with regard to the PAO1 strain. Irradiation under nitrogen atmosphere and chemiluminescence measurements indicated the oxidative nature of the UVA-induced damage.