Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a promising tool with which to fight rising antibiotic resistance. However, pathogenic bacteria are equipped with several AMP defense mechanisms, whose contributions to AMP resistance are often poorly defined. Here, we evaluate the genetic determinants of resistance to an insect AMP, cecropin B, in the opportunistic pathogen Enterobacter cloacae. Single-cell analysis of E. cloacae's response to cecropin revealed marked heterogeneity in cell survival, phenotypically reminiscent of heteroresistance (the ability of a subpopulation to grow in the presence of supra-MIC concentration of antimicrobial). The magnitude of this response was highly dependent on initial E. cloacae inoculum. We identified 3 genetic factors which collectively contribute to E. cloacae resistance in response to the AMP cecropin: The PhoPQ-two-component system, OmpT-mediated proteolytic cleavage of cecropin, and Rcs-mediated membrane stress response. Altogether, our data suggest that multiple, independent mechanisms contribute to AMP resistance in E. cloacae.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012488 | DOI Listing |
Acta Psychol (Amst)
January 2025
Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, United States.
Terror Management Theory (TMT) holds that mortal threats bolster people's desire to support their worldviews, which may contribute to increased outgroup bias. In 2020, two events likely increased mortality salience and death anxiety: COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that followed George Floyd's murder. We used Project Implicit data to investigate their impact on implicit anti-Black bias, controlling for demographic variables.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Cell Rep
January 2025
Department of Biophysics, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics, University of Calcutta, 92, APC Road, Kolkata, 700 009, India.
Melatonin increases Pb tolerance in P. ovata seedlings via the regulation of growth and stress-related phytohormones, ROS scavenging and genes responsible for melatonin synthesis, metal chelation, and stress defense. Lead (Pb) is a highly toxic heavy metal that accumulates in plants through soil and air contamination and impairs its plant growth and development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrobiol Spectr
January 2025
Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Unlabelled: The intestine is home to a complex immune system that is engaged in mutualistic interactions with the microbiome that maintain intestinal homeostasis. A variety of immune-derived anti-inflammatory mediators have been uncovered and shown to be critical for maintaining these beneficial immune-microbiome relationships. Notably, the gut microbiome actively invokes the induction of anti-inflammatory pathways that limit the development of microbiome-targeted inflammatory immune responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleic Acids Res
January 2025
School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea.
Genome-wide identification of binding profiles for DNA-binding proteins from the limited number of intracellular pathogens in infection studies is crucial for understanding virulence and cellular processes but remains challenging, as the current ChIP-exo is designed for high-input bacterial cells (>1010). Here, we developed an optimized ChIP-mini method, a low-input ChIP-exo utilizing a 5,000-fold reduced number of initial bacterial cells and an analysis pipeline, to identify genome-wide binding dynamics of DNA-binding proteins in host-infected pathogens. Applying ChIP-mini to intracellular Salmonella Typhimurium, we identified 642 and 1,837 binding sites of H-NS and RpoD, respectively, elucidating changes in their binding position and binding intensity during infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleic Acids Res
January 2025
Department of Genome Sciences, University of Virginia, PO Box 800717, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
Many transcription factors (TFs) have been shown to bind to super-enhancers, forming transcriptional condensates to activate transcription in various cellular systems. However, the genomic and epigenomic determinants of phase-separated transcriptional condensate formation remain poorly understood. Questions regarding which TFs tend to associate with transcriptional condensates and what factors influence their association are largely unanswered.
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