KleTy: integrated typing scheme for core genome and plasmids reveals repeated emergence of multi-drug resistant epidemic lineages in Klebsiella worldwide.

Background: Clinically important lineages in Klebsiella, especially those expressing multi-drug resistance (MDR), pose severe threats to public health worldwide. They arose from the co-evolution of the vertically inherited core genome and horizontal gene transfers by plasmids, which has not been systematically explored.

Methods: We designed KleTy, which consists of dedicated typing schemes for both the core genome and plasmids in Klebsiella.

Side Chain-Modified Benzothiazinone Derivatives with Anti-Mycobacterial Activity.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading infectious disease with serious antibiotic resistance. The benzothiazinone (BTZ) scaffold PBTZ169 kills (Mtb) through the inhibition of the essential cell wall enzyme decaprenylphosphoryl-β-D-ribose 2'-oxidase (DprE1). PBTZ169 shows anti-TB potential in animal models and pilot clinical tests.

Single Escherichia coli bacteria detection using a chemiluminescence digital microwell array chip.

Rapid and sensitive Escherichia coli (E. coli) detection is important in determining environmental contamination, food contamination, as well as bacterial infection. Conventional methods based on bacterial culture suffer from long testing time (24 h), whereas novel nucleic acid-based and immunolabelling approaches are hindered by complicated operation, the need of complex and costly equipment, and the lack of differentiation of live and dead bacteria.

A broadly applicable, stress-mediated bacterial death pathway regulated by the phosphotransferase system (PTS) and the cAMP-Crp cascade.

Recent work indicates that killing of bacteria by diverse antimicrobial classes can involve reactive oxygen species (ROS), as if a common, self-destructive response to antibiotics occurs. However, the ROS-bacterial death theory has been challenged. To better understand stress-mediated bacterial death, we enriched spontaneous antideath mutants of Escherichia coli that survive treatment by diverse bactericidal agents that include antibiotics, disinfectants, and environmental stressors, without a priori consideration of ROS.

Rapid and dynamic detection of antimicrobial treatment response using spectral amplitude modulation in MZO nanostructure-modified quartz crystal microbalance.

We report a dynamic and rapid detection of the response of S. epidermidis to various antimicrobial treatments utilizing the real-time spectral amplitude modulations of the magnesium zinc oxide nanostructure-modified quartz crystal microbalance (MZO-QCM) biosensor. The sensor consists of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) with magnesium zinc oxide (MZO) nanostructures grown directly on the sensing electrode using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

Early stage detection of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm formation using MgZnO dual-gate TFT biosensor.

Early stage detection of biofilm formation is an important aspect of microbial research because once formed, biofilms show serious tolerance to antibiotics in contrast to the free-floating bacteria, which significantly increases the difficulty for clinical treatment of bacterial infections. The early stage detection technology is desired to improve the efficiency of medical treatments. In this work, we present a biosensor consisting of a magnesium zinc oxide (MZO) dual gate thin-film transistor (DGTFT) as the actuator and an MZO nanostructure (MZO) array coated conducting pad as the extended sensing gate for the early stage detection of Staphylococcus epidermidis (S.

Reactive oxygen species play a dominant role in all pathways of rapid quinolone-mediated killing.

Background: Quinolones have been thought to rapidly kill bacteria in two ways: (i) quinolone-topoisomerase-DNA lesions stimulate the accumulation of toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS); and (ii) the lesions directly cause lethal DNA breaks. Traditional killing assays may have underestimated the ROS contribution by overlooking the possibility that ROS continue to accumulate and kill cells on drug-free agar after quinolone removal.

Methods: Quinolone-induced, ROS-mediated killing of Escherichia coli was measured by plating post-treatment samples on agar with/without anti-ROS agents.

Post-stress bacterial cell death mediated by reactive oxygen species.

Antimicrobial efficacy, which is central to many aspects of medicine, is being rapidly eroded by bacterial resistance. Since new resistance can be induced by antimicrobial action, highly lethal agents that rapidly reduce bacterial burden during infection should help restrict the emergence of resistance. To improve lethal activity, recent work has focused on toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) as part of the bactericidal activity of diverse antimicrobials.

The Efficacy and Safety of the Chinese Herbal Formula, JTTZ, for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes with Obesity and Hyperlipidemia: A Multicenter Randomized, Positive-Controlled, Open-Label Clinical Trial.

Background And Aim: Studies have shown an increasing number of type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with concomitant obesity and hyperlipidemia syndromes, resulting from relevant metabolic disorders. However, there are few medications and therapies, which can thoroughly address these issues. Therefore, the current study evaluated the efficacy and safety of using JTTZ, a Chinese herbal formula, to treat T2D with obesity and hyperlipidemia.

Suppression of Reactive Oxygen Species Accumulation Accounts for Paradoxical Bacterial Survival at High Quinolone Concentration.

When bacterial cells are exposed to increasing concentrations of quinolone-class antibacterials, survival drops, reaches a minimum, and then recovers, sometimes to 100%. Despite decades of study, events underlying this paradoxical high-concentration survival remain obscure. Since reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been implicated in antimicrobial lethality, conditions generating paradoxical survival were examined for diminished ROS accumulation.

Contribution of reactive oxygen species to thymineless death in Escherichia coli.

Nutrient starvation usually halts cell growth rather than causing death. Thymine starvation is exceptional, because it kills cells rapidly. This phenomenon, called thymineless death (TLD), underlies the action of several antibacterial, antimalarial, anticancer, and immunomodulatory agents.

Dimethyl Sulfoxide Protects Escherichia coli from Rapid Antimicrobial-Mediated Killing.

The contribution of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to antimicrobial lethality was examined by treating Escherichia coli with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an antioxidant solvent frequently used in antimicrobial studies. DMSO inhibited killing by ampicillin, kanamycin, and two quinolones and had little effect on MICs. DMSO-mediated protection correlated with decreased ROS accumulation and provided evidence for ROS-mediated programmed cell death.

Resveratrol Antagonizes Antimicrobial Lethality and Stimulates Recovery of Bacterial Mutants.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS; superoxide, peroxide, and hydroxyl radical) are thought to contribute to the rapid bactericidal activity of diverse antimicrobial agents. The possibility has been raised that consumption of antioxidants in food may interfere with the lethal action of antimicrobials. Whether nutritional supplements containing antioxidant activity are also likely to interfere with antimicrobial lethality is unknown.

[Effect of triptolide on the expression of RANTES in the renal tissue of diabetic nephropathy rats].

Objective: To investigate the effect of triptolide (TPL) on the renal tissue of diabetic rats and its possible mechanisms.

Methods: SD rats were randomly divided into the normal control group (as the normal group), the diabetic model group (the model group), the low dose TPL treatment group (the low dose TPL group, TPL 0.2 mg/kg by gastrogavage), the high dose TPL treatment group (the high dose TPL group, TPL 0.

Ribosomal elongation factor 4 promotes cell death associated with lethal stress.

Unlabelled: Ribosomal elongation factor 4 (EF4) is highly conserved among bacteria, mitochondria, and chloroplasts. However, the EF4-encoding gene, lepA, is nonessential and its deficiency shows no growth or fitness defect. In purified systems, EF4 back-translocates stalled, posttranslational ribosomes for efficient protein synthesis; consequently, EF4 has a protective role during moderate stress.

Moving forward with reactive oxygen species involvement in antimicrobial lethality.

Support for the contribution of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to antimicrobial lethality has been refined and strengthened. Killing by diverse antimicrobials is enhanced by defects in genes that protect against ROS, inhibited by compounds that block hydroxyl radical accumulation, and is associated with surges in intracellular ROS. Moreover, support has emerged for a genetic pathway that controls the level of ROS.

Induction of a laccase Lcc9 from Coprinopsis cinerea by fungal coculture and its application on indigo dye decolorization.

A fungal coculture system comprised of Coprinopsis cinerea Okayama 7 (#130) and Gongronella sp. w5 produced 900 times higher laccase activity than that in pure culture. A fungal laccase named Lcc9 was induced from C.

Chinese herbal medicine Tianqi reduces progression from impaired glucose tolerance to diabetes: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial.

Context: Living in a prediabetes state significantly increases a patient's risk for both diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Tianqi capsule, containing 10 Chinese herbal medicines, is used in China for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess whether Tianqi prevented T2DM in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) over the course of a 12-month treatment.

Phylogenetic analysis of bacterial community in the gut of American cockroach (Periplaneta americana).

Objective: The present study was to fully evaluate the intestinal bacterial community of Periplaneta americana, an important model to study insects.

Methods: We investigated the bacterial community of P. americana gut by culture-independent methods, involving constructing the 16S rRNA gene library and microbial diversity analysis.

Cyclic di-GMP mediates Mycobacterium tuberculosis dormancy and pathogenecity.

Dormancy of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is likely to be a major cause of extended chemotherapeutic regimens and wide prevalence of tuberculosis. The molecular mechanisms underlying M. tuberculosis dormancy are not well understood.

The LuxR family regulator Rv0195 modulates Mycobacterium tuberculosis dormancy and virulence.

Tuberculosis is a leading global killer that has not been effectively controlled to date. The ability of the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to become dormant is one of the major reasons for extended chemotherapeutic regimens and wide epidemicity. The underlying mechanisms of M.

Evidence for lignin oxidation by the giant panda fecal microbiome.

The digestion of lignin and lignin-related phenolic compounds from bamboo by giant pandas has puzzled scientists because of the lack of lignin-degrading genes in the genome of the bamboo-feeding animals. We constructed a 16S rRNA gene library from the microorganisms derived from the giant panda feces to identify the possibility for the presence of potential lignin-degrading bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the phylotypes of the intestinal bacteria were affiliated with the phyla Proteobacteria (53%) and Firmicutes (47%).

A new marine bacterial laccase with chloride-enhancing, alkaline-dependent activity and dye decolorization ability.

A bacterial laccase gene designated as lac21 was screened from a marine microbial metagenomic library of the South China Sea based on sequence screening strategy. The protein encoded by lac21 shared less than 40% sequence identities with all of the laccases found. Lac21, which was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, showed high activity toward syringaldazine at an optimum pH of 7.

A bacterial laccase from marine microbial metagenome exhibiting chloride tolerance and dye decolorization ability.

Laccases are blue multicopper oxidases with potential applications in environmental and industrial biotechnology. In this study, a new bacterial laccase gene of 1.32 kb was obtained from a marine microbial metagenome of the South China Sea by using a sequence screening strategy.