Translation elongation factor EF-P alleviates ribosome stalling at polyproline stretches.

Translation elongation factor P (EF-P) is critical for virulence in bacteria. EF-P is present in all bacteria and orthologous to archaeal and eukaryotic initiation factor 5A, yet the biological function has so far remained enigmatic. Here, we demonstrate that EF-P is an elongation factor that enhances translation of polyproline-containing proteins: In the absence of EF-P, ribosomes stall at polyproline stretches, whereas the presence of EF-P alleviates the translational stalling.

Biocomputational prediction of non-coding RNAs in model cyanobacteria.

Background: In bacteria, non-coding RNAs (ncRNA) are crucial regulators of gene expression, controlling various stress responses, virulence, and motility. Previous work revealed a relatively high number of ncRNAs in some marine cyanobacteria. However, for efficient genetic and biochemical analysis it would be desirable to identify a set of ncRNA candidate genes in model cyanobacteria that are easy to manipulate and for which extended mutant, transcriptomic and proteomic data sets are available.

The environmental plasmid pQBR103 alters the single-cell Raman spectral profile of Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25.

Although plasmids are ubiquitous amongst phytosphere pseudomonads, the advantage and costs of plasmids for the bacterial host remain unclear. The application of single-cell Raman spectral analysis to plasmid-bacterial systems under different environmental conditions offers a new means of determining the impact of plasmids on host cell physiology, metabolic status, and response to stress.

Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 biofilm and planktonic cells have differentiable Raman spectral profiles.

Biofilms, and other bacterial aggregations, are of significance in both environmental microbiology and in plant and human pathogenesis. Comparative single-cell Raman spectral analysis can differentiate between planktonic bacteria and those recovered from biofilms and appears to offer a new means by which to investigate bacterial cell physiology, metabolic status, and stress under different environmental conditions.

Biofilm formation and cellulose expression among diverse environmental Pseudomonas isolates.

The ability to form biofilms is seen as an increasingly important colonization strategy among both pathogenic and environmental bacteria. A survey of 185 plant-associated, phytopathogenic, soil and river Pseudomonas isolates resulted in 76% producing biofilms at the air-liquid (A-L) interface after selection in static microcosms. Considerable variation in biofilm phenotype was observed, including waxy aggregations, viscous and floccular masses, and physically cohesive biofilms with continuously varying strengths over 1500-fold.