Publications by authors named "Teik-Min Chong"

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is considered a prominent phytopathogen, though most isolates are nonpathogenic. Agrobacteria can inhabit plant tissues interacting with other microorganisms. Yeasts are likewise part of these communities.

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Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) represent an urgent threat to human health. Here we report the application of several complementary whole-genome sequencing (WGS) technologies to characterise a hospital outbreak of bla carbapenemase-producing E. hormaechei.

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Background: Schistosoma haematobium causes urogenital schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease affecting >100 million people worldwide. Chronic infection with this parasitic trematode can lead to urogenital conditions including female genital schistosomiasis and bladder cancer. At the molecular level, little is known about this blood fluke and the pathogenesis of the disease that it causes.

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Recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTIs) are extremely common, with ~ 25% of all women experiencing a recurrence within 1 year of their original infection. Escherichia coli ST131 is a globally dominant multidrug resistant clone associated with high rates of rUTI. Here, we show the dynamics of an ST131 population over a 5-year period from one elderly woman with rUTI since the 1970s.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Alteromonas stellipolaris strains PQQ-42 and PQQ-44, isolated from a fish hatchery, exhibit strong quorum quenching activity and can decrease Vibrio-induced mortality in corals.
  • Both strains possess genes that allow them to degrade AHL quorum sensing signals, with PQQ-42 producing more exopolysaccharides (EPS) than PQQ-44, which contains fucose that has potential biotechnological applications.
  • Genome analysis revealed the presence of a new NRPS cluster in PQQ-42, signifying the potential for both strains to synthesize valuable bioactive compounds.
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Curli are bacterial surface-associated amyloid fibers that bind to the dye Congo red (CR) and facilitate uropathogenic (UPEC) biofilm formation and protection against host innate defenses. Here we sequenced the genome of the curli-producing UPEC pyelonephritis strain MS7163 and showed it belongs to the highly virulent O45:K1:H7 neonatal meningitis-associated clone. MS7163 produced curli at human physiological temperature, and this correlated with biofilm growth, resistance of sessile cells to the human cationic peptide cathelicidin, and enhanced colonization of the mouse bladder.

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species are emerging bacterial pathogens of Here, we announce the complete genome sequences of two strains, D s0432-1 and PPO 9019. Strain PPO 9019 represents the first described member of the genus with an extrachromosomal genetic element.

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spp. are bacterial pathogens causing soft-rot and blackleg diseases on a wide range of ornamental plants and crops. In this paper, we announce the PacBio complete genome sequences of the plant pathogens RNS 08.

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Strain CCMM B554, also known as FSM-MA, is a soil dwelling and nodule forming, nitrogen-fixing bacterium isolated from the nodules of the legume L. in the Maamora Forest, Morocco. The strain forms effective nitrogen fixing nodules on species of the , and genera and is exceptional because it is a highly effective symbiotic partner of the two most widely used accessions, A17 and R108, of the model legume Gaertn.

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Objectives: Polymyxins remain one of the last-resort drugs to treat infections caused by MDR Gram-negative pathogens. Here, we determined the mechanisms by which chromosomally encoded resistance to colistin and polymyxin B can arise in the MDR uropathogenic Escherichia coli ST131 reference strain EC958.

Methods: Two complementary approaches, saturated transposon mutagenesis and spontaneous mutation induction with high concentrations of colistin and polymyxin B, were employed to select for mutations associated with resistance to polymyxins.

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Uropathogenic (UPEC) is a major cause of urinary tract and bloodstream infections and possesses an array of virulence factors for colonization, survival, and persistence. One such factor is the polysaccharide K capsule. Among the different K capsule types, the K1 serotype is strongly associated with UPEC infection.

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sp. TN58, isolated from a Tunisian soil sample, produces several natural products, including acyl alpha-l-rhamnopyranosides. It possesses a 7.

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Root exudates are chemical compounds that are released from living plant roots and provide significant energy, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus sources for microbes inhabiting the rhizosphere. The exudates shape the microflora associated with the plant, as well as influences the plant health and productivity. Therefore, a better understanding of the trophic link that is established between the plant and the associated bacteria is necessary.

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Several species of the genus provoke soft rot and blackleg diseases on a wide range of plants and crops. has been identified as the causative agent of diseases outbreaks on potato culture in Europe for the last decade. Here, we report the complete genome of the IPO 2222.

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Plasmids of incompatibility group A/C (IncA/C) are becoming increasingly prevalent within pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae They are associated with the dissemination of multiple clinically relevant resistance genes, including bla and bla Current typing methods for IncA/C plasmids offer limited resolution. In this study, we present the complete sequence of a bla-positive IncA/C plasmid, pMS6198A, isolated from a multidrug-resistant uropathogenic Escherichia coli strain. Hypersaturated transposon mutagenesis, coupled with transposon-directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS), was employed to identify conserved genetic elements required for replication and maintenance of pMS6198A.

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Trace metals are required in many cellular processes in bacteria but also induce toxic effects to cells when present in excess. As such, various forms of adaptive responses towards extracellular trace metal ions are essential for the survival and fitness of bacteria in their environment. A soil Pseudomonas putida, strain S13.

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Pectobacterium wasabiae was originally isolated from Japanese horseradish (Eutrema wasabi), but recently some Pectobacterium isolates collected from potato plants and tubers displaying blackleg and soft rot symptoms were also assigned to P. wasabiae. Here, combining genomic and phenotypical data, we re-evaluated their taxonomic position.

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Pseudomonas lini strain ZBG1 was isolated from the soil of vineyard in Zellenberg, France and the draft genome was reported in this study. Bioinformatics analyses of the genome revealed presence of genes encoding tartaric and malic acid utilization as well as copper resistance that correspond to the adaptation this strain in vineyard soil environment.

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We performed whole genome sequencing on a clinical multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strain 223/14. Investigation into its draft genome revealed the presence of KPC-6 variant, suggesting carbapenemase is present in this isolate. We found a plasmid-borne KPC gene (882 bp) inserted between two transposase genes in the genome of K.

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Stenotrophomonas maltophilia ZBG7B was isolated from vineyard soil of Zellenberg, France. Here, we present the draft genome sequence of this bacterial strain, which has facilitated the prediction of function for several genes encoding biotechnologically important enzymes, such as xylosidase, xylanase, laccase, and chitinase.

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Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease that affects more than 200 million people worldwide. The main disease-causing agents, Schistosoma japonicum, S. mansoni and S.

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Unlabelled: Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is a clone of uropathogenic E. coli that has emerged rapidly and disseminated globally in both clinical and community settings. Members of the ST131 lineage from across the globe have been comprehensively characterized in terms of antibiotic resistance, virulence potential, and pathogenicity, but to date nothing is known about the methylome of these important human pathogens.

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Carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) pose an urgent risk to global human health. CRE that are non-susceptible to all commercially available antibiotics threaten to return us to the pre-antibiotic era. Using Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT) sequencing we determined the complete genome of a pandrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate, representing the first complete genome sequence of CRE resistant to all commercially available antibiotics.

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Background: Dickeya solani is an emerging pathogen that causes soft rot and blackleg diseases in several crops including Solanum tuberosum, but little is known about its genomic diversity and evolution.

Results: We combined Illumina and PacBio technologies to complete the genome sequence of D. solani strain 3337 that was used as a reference to compare with 19 other genomes (including that of the type strain IPO2222(T)) which were generated by Illumina technology.

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