Global transcriptomic analysis of Francisella tularensis SchuS4 differentially expressed genes in response to doxycycline or ciprofloxacin exposure.

Objective: As part of a research aiming at presenting an alternative approach for rapid determination of antimicrobial susceptibility by quantification of changes in expression levels of specific marker genes and gene sets, cultures of the virulent bacterial strain Francisella tularensis SchuS4 were grown in the presence of inhibitory/sub-inhibitory concentrations of either ciprofloxacin or doxycycline and their transcriptomic profiles were elucidated using differential expression analysis followed by functional annotation.

Data Description: RNA sequencing was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in response to exposure of F. tularensis SchuS4 to either ciprofloxacin or doxycycline, the antibiotics of choice for Tularemia therapy.

Inhalational Gentamicin Treatment Is Effective Against Pneumonic Plague in a Mouse Model.

Pneumonic plague is an infectious disease characterized by rapid and fulminant development of acute pneumonia and septicemia that results in death within days of exposure. The causative agent of pneumonic plague, , is a Tier-1 bio-threat agent. Parenteral antibiotic treatment is effective when given within a narrow therapeutic window after symptom onset.

Isolation of and from Blood Cultures by Plasma Purification and Immunomagnetic Separation Accelerates Antibiotic Susceptibility Determination.

The early symptoms of tularemia and plague, which are caused by and infection, respectively, are common to other illnesses, resulting in a low index of suspicion among clinicians. Moreover, because these diseases can be treated only with antibiotics, rapid isolation of the bacteria and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) are preferable. Blood cultures of patients may serve as a source for bacteria isolation.

A Rapid Molecular Test for Determining Yersinia pestis Susceptibility to Ciprofloxacin by the Quantification of Differentially Expressed Marker Genes.

Standard antimicrobial susceptibility tests used to determine bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics are growth dependent and time consuming. The long incubation time required for standard tests may render susceptibility results irrelevant, particularly for patients infected with lethal bacteria that are slow growing on agar but progress rapidly in vivo, such as Yersinia pestis. Here, we present an alternative approach for the rapid determination of antimicrobial susceptibility, based on the quantification of the changes in the expression levels of specific marker genes following exposure to growth-inhibiting concentrations of the antibiotic, using Y.

A rapid real-time quantitative PCR assay to determine the minimal inhibitory extracellular concentration of antibiotics against an intracellular Francisella tularensis Live Vaccine Strain.

Francisella tularensis is a highly virulent facultative intracellular bacterium. The lack of a safe and efficient vaccine makes antibiotics the preferred treatment. F.

Application of nanoparticles for the detection and sorting of pathogenic bacteria by flow-cytometry.

In this paper we will describe a new developed contribution of fluorescence nano-crystal (q-dots) as a fluorescence label for detecting pathogenic bacteria by flow cytometry (FCM) and the use of nano-magnetic particles to improve bacterial sorting by Flow cytometry cell sorting (FACS).FCM or FACS systems are based upon single cell detection by light scatter and Immunofluorescence labeling signals. The common FACS systems are based upon single or dual excitation as excitation source both for light scatter parameters and for several fluorescence detectors.

The interplay between components of the mitochondrial protein translocation motor studied using purified components.

The final step of protein translocation across the mitochondrial inner membrane is mediated by a translocation motor composed of 1) the matrix-localized, ATP-hydrolyzing, 70-kDa heat shock protein mHsp70; 2) its anchor to the import channel, Tim44; 3) the nucleotide exchange factor Mge1; and 4) a J-domain-containing complex of co-chaperones, Tim14/Pam18-Tim16/Pam16. Despite its essential role in the biogenesis of mitochondria, the mechanism by which the translocation motor functions is still largely unknown. The goal of this work was to carry out a structure-function analysis of the mitochondrial translocation motor utilizing purified components, with an emphasis on the formation of the Tim44-mHsp70 complex.