The Antimicrobial Activity of a Carbon Monoxide Releasing Molecule (EBOR-CORM-1) Is Shaped by Intraspecific Variation within Populations.

Carbon monoxide releasing molecules (CORMs) have been suggested as a new synthetic class of antimicrobials to treat bacterial infections. Here we utilized a novel EBOR-CORM-1 ([NEt][MnBr(CO)]) capable of water-triggered CO-release, and tested its efficacy against a collection of clinical strains that differ in infection-related virulence traits. We found that while EBOR-CORM-1 was effective in clearing planktonic and biofilm cells of strain PAO1 in a concentration dependent manner, this effect was less clear and varied considerably between different cystic fibrosis (CF) lung isolates.

A rapid and massive gene expression shift marking adolescent transition in C. elegans.

Organismal development is the most dynamic period of the life cycle, yet we have only a rough understanding of the dynamics of gene expression during adolescent transition. Here we show that adolescence in Caenorhabditis elegans is characterized by a spectacular expression shift of conserved and highly polymorphic genes. Using a high resolution time series we found that in adolescent worms over 10,000 genes changed their expression.