A tactile response in Staphylococcus aureus.

It is well established that bacteria are able to respond to temporal gradients (e.g., by chemotaxis).

Magnetosome vesicles are present before magnetite formation, and MamA is required for their activation.

Bacterial magnetosomes are intracellular compartments that house highly ordered magnetite crystals. By using Magnetospirillum sp. AMB-1 as a model system, we show that magnetosome vesicles exist in the absence of magnetite, biomineralization of magnetite proceeds simultaneously in multiple vesicles, and biomineralization proceeds from the same location in each vesicle.

Regioselective silylation of sugars through palladium nanoparticle-catalyzed silane alcoholysis.

Palladium(0)-catalyzed silane alcoholysis was applied to sugars for the first time using tert-butyldimethylsilane (TBDMS-H) and Ph(3)SiH as the silanes. The catalyst is a colloidal solution of Pd(0) generated in situ from PdX(2) (X = Cl(-), OAc(-)) and TBDMS-H in N,N-dimethylacetamide. The colloid has been characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy and consists of catalytically highly active nanoparticles of approximately 2 nm diameter.

The influence of A-band and B-band lipopolysaccharide on the surface characteristics and adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to surfaces.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 possesses two distinct lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-polysaccharide species, A- and B-band LPS, the relative expression of which appears to be under environmental control. In an attempt to identify the influence these LPS types have on surface characteristics and adhesion, we examined the surface hydrophobicity and surface charge of P. aeruginosa PAO1 (O5 serotype) and its isogenic LPS derivatives which possessed A+B-, A-B+ and A-B- LPS.