Publications by authors named "Naomi Ward"

A novel Gram-stain-positive, black-pigmented bacterium, designated as WL48A , was isolated from the surface of badland sedimentary rock in the Red Desert of Wyoming and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Good growth occurred at 28-32 °C, pH 7-9, and NaCl less than 1% (w/v). Colonies, growing well on International Streptomyces Project media (ISP) 3 and ISP 7, were black and adhering to the agar.

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Purpose: Hirschsprung disease is a neurointestinal disease that occurs due to failure of enteric neural crest-derived cells to complete their rostrocaudal migration along the gut mesenchyme, resulting in aganglionosis along variable lengths of the distal bowel. Despite the effective surgery that removes the aganglionic segment, children with Hirschsprung disease remain at high risk for developing a potentially life-threatening enterocolitis (Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis). Although the etiology of this enterocolitis remains poorly understood, several recent studies in both mouse models and in human subjects suggest potential involvement of gastrointestinal microbiota in the underlying pathogenesis of Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis.

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Purpose: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a preventable range of neurocognitive disorders associated with the biological mother's consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. However, on average, 45% of Australian women continue to consume alcohol during pregnancy resulting in a high rate of alcohol-exposed pregnancies and risk of FASD. This level of exposure is higher than the estimated global average of alcohol-exposed pregnancies (9.

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Sterols and hopanoids are chemically and structurally related lipids mostly found in eukaryotic and bacterial cell membranes. Few bacterial species have been reported to produce sterols and this anomaly had originally been ascribed to lateral gene transfer (LGT) from eukaryotes. In addition, the functions of sterols in these bacteria are unknown and the functional overlap between sterols and hopanoids is still unclear.

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Murine models have become essential tools for understanding the complex interactions between gut microbes, their hosts, and disease. While many intra-facility factors are known to influence the structure of mouse microbiomes, the contribution of inter-facility variation to mouse microbiome composition, especially in the context of disease, remains under-investigated. We replicated microbiome experiments using identical mouse lines housed in two separate animal facilities and report drastic differences in composition of microbiomes based upon animal facility of origin.

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Many nurses have limited experience with ostomy management. We sought to provide a standardized approach to ostomy education and management to support nurses in early identification of stomal and peristomal complications, pouching problems, and provide standardized solutions for managing ostomy care in general while improving utilization of formulary products. This article describes development and testing of an ostomy algorithm tool.

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Objectives: There is evidence that symptoms of maldigestion or malabsorption in autistic individuals are related to changes in the indigenous microbiota. Analysis of colonic bacteria has revealed microbial dysbiosis in children with autism; however, characteristics of the duodenal microbiome are not well described. In the present study the microbiome of the duodenal mucosa of subjects with autism was evaluated for dysbiosis, bacteria overgrowth, and microbiota associated with carbohydrate digestion.

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Background: The interplay between host genetics, immunity, and microbiota is central to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. Previous population-based studies suggested a link between antibiotic use and increased inflammatory bowel disease risk, but the mechanisms are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term effects of antibiotic administration on microbiota composition, innate immunity, and susceptibility to colitis, as well as the mechanism by which antibiotics alter host colitogenicity.

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The relationship between the host and its microbiota is challenging to understand because both microbial communities and their environments are highly variable. We have developed a set of techniques based on population dynamics and information theory to address this challenge. These methods identify additional bacterial taxa associated with pediatric Crohn disease and can detect significant changes in microbial communities with fewer samples than previous statistical approaches required.

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Unlabelled: Planctomycete bacteria possess many unusual cellular properties, contributing to a cell plan long considered to be unique among the bacteria. However, data from recent studies are more consistent with a modified Gram-negative cell plan. A key feature of the Gram-negative plan is the presence of an outer membrane (OM), for which lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a signature molecule.

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A number of bacteria belonging to the PVC (Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae) super-phylum contain unusual ribosome-bearing intracellular membranes. The evolutionary origins and functions of these membranes are unknown. Some proteins putatively associated with the presence of intracellular membranes in PVC bacteria contain signal peptides.

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Here, we present the complete 2,003,803-bp genome of a sulfate-reducing thermophilic bacterium, Thermodesulfovibrio yellowstonii strain DSM 11347(T).

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Here we present the draft genome of Synergistes jonesii 78-1, ATCC 49833, a member of the Synergistes phylum. This organism was isolated from the rumen of a Hawaiian goat and ferments pyridinediols. The assembly contains 2,747,397 bp in 61 contigs.

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The dogma of coupled transcription and translation in bacteria has been challenged by recent reports of spatial segregation of these processes within the relatively simple cellular organization of the model organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. The bacterial species Gemmata obscuriglobus possesses an extensive endomembrane system. The membranes generate a very convoluted intracellular architecture in which some of the cell's ribosomes appear to have less direct access to the cell's nucleoid(s) than others.

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Here we present the complete 1,424,912-bp genome sequence of Coprothermobacter proteolyticus DSM 5265, isolated from a thermophilic digester fermenting tannery wastes and cattle manure.

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Here, we present the complete genome of the extreme thermophile, Dictyoglomus thermophilum H-6-12 (phylum Dictyoglomi), which consists of 1,959,987 bp.

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Here we present the draft genome sequence of Chrysiogenes arsenatis strain DSM 11915, only the second genome sequence from the phylum Chrysiogenetes. This strictly anaerobic organism was isolated from arsenic-contaminated gold mine wastewater and respires arsenate or nitrate instead of oxygen. The assembly contains 2,824,977 bp in 22 scaffolds.

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The Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, Chlamydiae (PVC) super-phylum contains bacteria with either complex cellular organization or simple cell structure; it also includes organisms of different lifestyles (pathogens, mutualists, commensal, and free-living). Genome content evolution of this group has not been studied in a systematic fashion, which would reveal genes underlying the emergence of PVC-specific phenotypes. Here, we analyzed the evolutionary dynamics of 26 PVC genomes and several outgroup species.

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Pyrosequencing of plastid 23S rRNA genes was performed to determine the usefulness of this methodology for describing spatial and temporal patterns of algal diversity in two eutrophic lakes. The majority of the sequences were identified as known cyanobacteria or eukaryotic algae (> 70% of sequence reads), indicating this approach can specifically recover algal sequences from complex communities. Furthermore, estimated coverage of the data sets indicated that the majority of the 23S rRNA genetic diversity was recovered in these surveys.

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Our knowledge of pathogens and symbionts is heavily biased toward phyla containing species that are straightforward to isolate in pure culture. Novel bacterial phyla are often represented by a handful of strains, and the number of species interacting with eukaryotes is likely underestimated. Identification of predicted pathogenesis and symbiosis determinants such as the Type III Secretion System (T3SS) in the genomes of "free-living" bacteria suggests that these microbes participate in uncharacterized interactions with eukaryotes.

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Local associations between anammox bacteria and obligate aerobic bacteria in the genus Nitrosococcus appear to be significant for ammonia oxidation in oxygen minimum zones. The literature on the genus Nitrosococcus in the Chromatiaceae family of purple sulfur bacteria (Gammaproteobacteria, Chromatiales) contains reports on four described species, Nitrosococcus nitrosus, Nitrosococcus oceani, 'Nitrosococcus halophilus' and 'Nitrosomonas mobilis', of which only N. nitrosus and N.

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The Verrucomicrobia are a bacterial group of growing interest due to their environmental ubiquity as free-living and host-associated microbes. They also exhibit an unusual compartmentalized cell plan, shared with members of neighboring phyla that include the Planctomycete bacteria. However, Verrucomicrobia are currently difficult to study, due to a lack of available genetic tools that would permit robust testing of hypotheses formulated from ecological and genomic data.

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