Publications by authors named "Nikhil P Krishnan"
A morbidostat is a bioreactor that uses antibiotics to control the growth of bacteria, making it well-suited for studying the evolution of antibiotic resistance. However, morbidostats are often too expensive to be used in educational settings. Here we present a low-cost morbidostat called the EVolutionary biorEactor (EVE) that can be built by students with minimal engineering and programming experience.
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- Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a hard-to-treat pathogen, particularly in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, and this study tracked multidrug-resistant strains over 17 months in a young CF patient who had a double lung transplant.* -
- Researchers analyzed 22 P. aeruginosa isolates using techniques such as whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, finding that most strains were resistant to numerous antibiotics and that mutations were accumulating over time, particularly in genes related to DNA repair.* -
- The study highlighted significant genetic diversity among the isolates and identified variations in gene expression related to antibiotic resistance, emphasizing the need for new clinical approaches rather than just relying on single pure cultures for analysis.*
The bacterial soluble lytic transglycosylase (LT) breaks down the peptidoglycan (PG) layer during processes such as cell division. We present here crystal structures of the soluble LT Cj0843 from Campylobacter jejuni with and without bulgecin A inhibitor in the active site. Cj0843 has a doughnut shape similar but not identical to that of E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins and carbapenems has rendered certain strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae the most problematic pathogens infecting patients in the hospital and community. This broad-spectrum resistance to β-lactamases emerges in part via the expression of KPC-2 and SHV-1 β-lactamases and variants thereof. KPC-2 carbapenemase is particularly worrisome, as the genetic determinant encoding this β-lactamase is rapidly spread via plasmids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFβ-Lactamase inhibition is an important clinical strategy in overcoming β-lactamase-mediated resistance to β-lactam antibiotics in Gram negative bacteria. A new β-lactamase inhibitor, avibactam, is entering the clinical arena and promising to be a major step forward in our antibiotic armamentarium. Avibactam has remarkable broad-spectrum activity in being able to inhibit classes A, C, and some class D β-lactamases.
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