Publications by authors named "Robert J Boissy"
Infect Immun
January 2015
Article Synopsis
- * Mutant strains lacking Aap produced significantly less biofilm under fluid shear conditions, indicating Aap's importance in biofilm development and infection establishment.
- * Experimental models showed that in the absence of Aap, there was a notable decrease in bacterial presence in catheters and blood, underscoring Aap's role in attachment and infection, particularly through the A domain of the protein.
Article Synopsis
- Inhalation of agricultural dust can lead to various inflammatory reactions and chronic respiratory diseases, largely due to microbial components in the dust.
- A study analyzed agricultural dust from swine facilities and grain elevators using metagenomic sequencing, revealing significant differences in microbial content, particularly with swine dust being rich in gram-positive bacteria.
- The findings indicate that swine confinement facility dust has a unique microbiota profile, dominated by certain bacterial genera, while grain elevator and pet-free household dusts show lower levels of mammalian origin microbes.
Article Synopsis
- Genetic information is crucially transmitted in cells, but mutations drive adaptation in evolution and disease, particularly in cancer where numerous genetic changes occur in diploid cells.
- Research shows that diploid yeast cells subjected to certain mutagens accumulate thousands of mutations, significantly more than haploid cells, likely due to uneven distribution of mutation rates and the survival of hypersensitive cells.
- The findings suggest that transient failures in mutation prevention processes can lead to bursts of mutability, offering insights into the rapid accumulation of mutations observed in both evolution and cancer development.
Article Synopsis
- The Nebraska Center for Staphylococcal Research has created a library of 1,952 transposon mutants of the CA-MRSA strain USA300, each with a unique mutation in a nonessential gene, enhancing research capabilities for studying Staphylococcus aureus.
- The library was tested for various phenotypic traits like hemolytic potential and protease production, revealing known and novel genes linked to these processes.
- This resource highlights the discovery of previously unrecognized gene functions and provides a basis for future antibacterial research against Staphylococcus aureus, a significant human pathogen.
Biol Direct
December 2012
Article Synopsis
- - Human breast cancer genomes show local clusters of mutations known as "kataegis," thought to be caused by specific proteins, but evidence directly linking these proteins to kataegis is not yet established.
- - Researchers sequenced genomes of yeast mutants that express a gene associated with hypermutation from sea lamprey to analyze the mutation patterns.
- - The findings suggest that increased activity of cytosine deaminases is a significant driver of kataegis events, indicating a conserved evolutionary mechanism across species.
PLoS Pathog
September 2010
Article Synopsis
- - This study investigates how horizontal gene transfer (HGT) influences the evolution of Streptococcus pneumoniae during chronic infections in a child, utilizing whole genome sequencing to analyze six bacterial isolates over seven months.
- - Researchers found that five of the isolates were closely related, with genetic variations mainly occurring within specific genomic regions, indicating evolution through homologous recombination.
- - The analysis identified a potential "donor" strain that contributed genomic segments to three related strains, demonstrating that one HGT event can lead to significant genetic changes across multiple parts of the genome.
