Calcium signaling is an emerging mechanism by which bacteria respond to environmental cues. To measure the intracellular free-calcium concentration in bacterial cells, [Ca], a simple spectrofluorometric method based on the chemical probe Fura 2-acetoxy methyl ester (Fura 2-AM) is here presented using Pseudomonad bacterial cells. This is an alternative and quantitative method that can be completed in a short period of time with low costs, and it does not require the induction of heterologously expressed protein-based probes like Aequorin. Furthermore, it is possible to verify the properties of membrane channels involved in Ca entry from the extracellular matrix. This method is in particular valuable for measuring [Ca] in the range of 0.1-39.8 µM in small cells like those of prokaryotes.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.3949 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
December 2024
OMICS Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, University of North Bengal, Siliguri, West Bengal, 734013, India.
Cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, poses significant global concern. A strain of the genus Pseudomonas, CD3, demonstrating significant cadmium resistance (up to 3 mM CdCl.HO) was identified from a pool of 26 cadmium-resistant bacteria isolated from cadmium-contaminated soil samples from Malda, India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNPJ Biofilms Microbiomes
December 2024
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2200, Denmark.
The evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in biofilms, driven by mechanisms like oxidative stress, is a major challenge. This study investigates whether antioxidants (AOs) such as N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) and Edaravone (ED) can reduce AMR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms exposed to sub-inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin (CIP). In vitro experimental evolution studies were conducted using flow cells and glass beads biofilm models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
Conjugative plasmids promote the dissemination and evolution of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens. However, plasmid acquisition can produce physiological alterations in the bacterial host, leading to potential fitness costs that determine the clinical success of bacteria-plasmid associations. In this study, we use a transcriptomic approach to characterize the interactions between a globally disseminated carbapenem resistance plasmid, pOXA-48, and a diverse collection of multidrug resistant (MDR) enterobacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Department of Orthodontics, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China.
The potential for mitigating intestinal inflammation through the gut-bone axis in the treatment of osteoporosis is significant. While various gut-derived postbiotics or bacterial metabolites have been created as dietary supplements to prevent or reverse bone loss, their efficacy and safety still need improvement. Herein, a colon-targeted drug delivery system is developed using surface engineering of polyvinyl butyrate nanoparticles by shellac resin to achieve sustained release of postbiotics butyric acid at the colorectal site.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
The genomes of human gut bacteria in the genus Bacteroides include numerous operons for biosynthesis of diverse capsular polysaccharides (CPSs). The first two genes of each CPS operon encode a locus-specific paralog of transcription elongation factor NusG (called UpxY), which enhances transcript elongation, and a UpxZ protein that inhibits noncognate UpxYs. This process, together with promoter inversions, ensures that a single CPS operon is transcribed in most cells.
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