Development, characterization, and evaluation of a simple polymicrobial colony biofilm model for testing of antimicrobial wound dressings.

Unlabelled: Chronic wound infections are generally of polymicrobial nature with aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, as well as fungi frequently observed in them. Wound treatment involves a series of steps, including debridement of the wound, flushing, and often the use of multiple wound dressings many of which are antimicrobial. Yet, many wound dressings are tested versus single species of planktonic microbes, which fails to mirror the real-life presence of biofilms.

JMM Profile: Carbapenems: a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

Carbapenems are potent members of the β-lactam family that inhibit bacterial cell-wall biosynthesis inhibitors . They are highly effective against Gram-negative and Gram-positive drug-resistant infections . As such, carbapenems are typically reserved as an antibiotic of last resort.

NirA Is an Alternative Nitrite Reductase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Potential as an Antivirulence Target.

The opportunistic pathogen produces an arsenal of virulence factors causing a wide range of diseases in multiple hosts and is difficult to eradicate due to its intrinsic resistance to antibiotics. With the antibacterial pipeline drying up, antivirulence therapy has become an attractive alternative strategy to the traditional use of antibiotics to treat infections. To identify genes required for virulence in multiple hosts, a random library of Tn mutants in strain PAO1-L was previously screened for those showing pleiotropic effects in the production of virulence phenotypes.

Complete genomic characterization of two Escherichia coli lineages responsible for a cluster of carbapenem-resistant infections in a Chinese hospital.

Objectives: The increase in infections as a result of MDR strains of Escherichia coli is a global health crisis. The emergence of globally disseminated lineages of E. coli carrying ESBL genes has been well characterized.

Molecular coordination of cell division.

The bacterial cell wall is essential for viability, but despite its ability to withstand internal turgor must remain dynamic to permit growth and division. Peptidoglycan is the major cell wall structural polymer, whose synthesis requires multiple interacting components. The human pathogen is a prolate spheroid that divides in three orthogonal planes.

Molecular Bases Determining Daptomycin Resistance-Mediated Resensitization to β-Lactams (Seesaw Effect) in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Antimicrobial resistance is recognized as one of the principal threats to public health worldwide, yet the problem is increasing. Infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are among the most difficult to treat in clinical settings due to the resistance of MRSA to nearly all available antibiotics. The cyclic anionic lipopeptide antibiotic daptomycin (DAP) is the clinical mainstay of anti-MRSA therapy.