172 results match your criteria: "Laboratoire de Microbiologie de l'Université Libre de Bruxelles[Affiliation]"

Immune evasion strategies of Brucella, the etiologic agent of brucellosis, a global zoonosis, remain partially understood. The omentum, a tertiary lymphoid organ part of visceral adipose tissue, has never been explored as a Brucella reservoir. We report that B.

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Formation and breakage of disulfide bridges strongly impacts folding and activity of proteins. Thioredoxin 1 (TrxA) is a small, conserved enzyme that reduces disulfide bonds in the bacterial cytosol. In this study, we provide an example of the emergence of a chaperone role for TrxA, which is independent of redox catalysis.

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Genome-wide analysis of Brucella melitensis growth in spleen of infected mice allows rational selection of new vaccine candidates.

PLoS Pathog

August 2024

Unité de Recherche en Biologie des Microorganismes (URBM)-Laboratoire d'Immunologie et de Microbiologie, NARILIS, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium.

Live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) whose virulence would be controlled at the tissue level could be a crucial tool to effectively fight intracellular bacterial pathogens, because they would optimize the induction of protective immune memory while avoiding the long-term persistence of vaccine strains in the host. Rational development of these new LAVs implies developing an exhaustive map of the bacterial virulence genes according to the host organs implicated. We report here the use of transposon sequencing to compare the bacterial genes involved in the multiplication of Brucella melitensis, a major causative agent of brucellosis, in the lungs and spleens of C57BL/6 infected mice.

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Nowadays, natural resources like lignocellulosic biomass are gaining more and more attention. This study was conducted to analyse chemical composition of dried and ground samples (500 μm) of various Algerian bioresources including alfa stems (AS), dry palms (DP), olive pomace (OP), pinecones (PC), and tomato waste (TW). AS exhibited the lowest lignin content (3.

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High NaCl concentrations induce the resistance to thermal denaturation of an extremely halotolerant (salt-activated) β-mannanase from Bacillus velezensis H1.

World J Microbiol Biotechnol

September 2023

Laboratoire de Mycologie, de Biotechnologie et de l'Activité Microbienne (LaMyBAM), Département de Biologie Appliquée, FSNV, Université des Frères Mentouri, Constantine 1, Constantine, 25017, Algeria.

β-mannanase catalyzes the hydrolysis of mannans β-1,4-mannosidic linkages to produce industrially relevant oligosaccharides. These enzymes have numerous important applications in the detergent, food, and feed industries, particularly those that are resistant to harsh environmental conditions such as salts and heat. While, moderately salt-tolerant β-mannanases are already reported, existence of a high halotolerant β-mannanase is still elusive.

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right hand abscess and monoarthritis following a rat bite.

IDCases

December 2022

Infectious Diseases Department, Brugmann University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

is a zoonotic agent associated with rat bites. We present a patient with cellulitis, subcutaneous abscess, and septic mono-arthritis after a rat bite of the right hand. The patient had no systemic features of rat bite fever (RBF).

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Laccase production by fungal growth on agrifood waste is still poorly studied. Trametes versicolor K1 isolated from palm bark produced a yellow non glycosylated laccase from tomato waste based medium (TMT) and a blue glycosylated laccase on glucose medium (GLU). Lignocellulosic biomass, such as pinecones (PIN), palm leaves (PLM), olive pomace (OLV), and alfa stems (ALF) have also been used as growth medium for T.

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Production of a halotolerant endo-1,4-β-glucanase by a newly isolated Bacillus velezensis H1 on olive mill wastes without pretreatment: purification and characterization of the enzyme.

Arch Microbiol

October 2022

Laboratoire de Mycologie, de Biotechnologie Et de L'Activité Microbienne (LaMyBAM), Département de Biologie Appliquée, FSNV, Université Frères Mentouri, Constantine 1, 25017, Constantine, Algeria.

Facing the critical issue of high production costs for cellulase, numerous studies have focused on improving the efficiency of cellulase production by potential cellulolytic microorganisms using agricultural wastes as substrates, extremophilic cellulases, in particular, are crucial in the biorefinery process because they can maintain activity under harsh environmental conditions. This study aims to investigate the ability of a potential carboxymethylcellulose-hydrolyzing bacterial strain H1, isolated from an Algerian saline soil and identified as Bacillus velezensis, to use untreated olive mill wastes as a substrate for the production of an endo-1,4-β-glucanase. The enzyme was purified 44.

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Nitrogen catabolite repression (NCR) is a major transcriptional control pathway governing nitrogen use in yeast, with several hundred of target genes identified to date. Early and extensive studies on NCR led to the identification of the 4 GATA zinc finger transcription factors, but the primary mechanism initiating NCR is still unclear up till now. To identify novel players of NCR, we have undertaken a genetic screen in an NCR-relieved gdh1Δ mutant, which led to the identification of four genes directly linked to protein ubiquitylation.

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Genome-wide analysis of Brucella melitensis genes required throughout intranasal infection in mice.

PLoS Pathog

June 2022

Unité de Recherche en Biologie des Microorganismes (URBM)-Laboratoire d'Immunologie et de Microbiologie, NARILIS, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium.

Article Synopsis
  • * A study using transposon sequencing revealed that out of 3369 genes in B. melitensis, 861 are crucial for growth in rich media, and 186 are essential for survival in macrophages, highlighting key genes involved in infection.
  • * The research showed varied gene requirements for survival in the lungs compared to macrophages, influenced by the immune status of the host, with specific genes related to metabolism and immune response being critical for infection in different environments.
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Enzymes from halophilic fungi offer interesting biotechnological applications, which lead us to explore novel producing strains. 23 fungi were isolated from Algerian saline soil. Among the three strains presenting laccase activities, one exhibited the high decolourising capacity of olive mill wastewaters.

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Novel role of UHRF1 in the epigenetic repression of the latent HIV-1.

EBioMedicine

May 2022

Service of Molecular Virology, Department of Molecular Biology (DBM), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Gosselies 6041, Belgium. Electronic address:

Background: The multiplicity, heterogeneity, and dynamic nature of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) latency mechanisms are reflected in the current lack of functional cure for HIV-1. Accordingly, all classes of latency-reversing agents (LRAs) have been reported to present variable ex vivo potencies. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the potency variability of one LRA: the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-AzadC).

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Article Synopsis
  • Lots of bacteria called Enterobacterales are becoming harder to treat because they resist medicine that usually works on them, especially for urinary tract infections (UTIs).
  • Scientists studied samples from 2017 to 2018 in France to see how many of these bacteria were resistant to different antibiotics.
  • They found that while some medicines had high resistance rates, others, like fosfomycin and nitrofurantoin, still worked well against most strains, even the resistant ones.
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The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was first identified in November 2021 in Botswana and South Africa. It has since spread to many countries and is expected to rapidly become dominant worldwide. The lineage is characterized by the presence of around 32 mutations in spike-located mostly in the N-terminal domain and the receptor-binding domain-that may enhance viral fitness and enable antibody evasion.

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Biology and evolution of bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems.

Nat Rev Microbiol

June 2022

Cellular and Molecular Microbiology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Gosselies, Belgium.

Toxin-antitoxin systems are widespread in bacterial genomes. They are usually composed of two elements: a toxin that inhibits an essential cellular process and an antitoxin that counteracts its cognate toxin. In the past decade, a number of new toxin-antitoxin systems have been described, bringing new growth inhibition mechanisms to light as well as novel modes of antitoxicity.

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Transposable Prophages in Leptospira: An Ancient, Now Diverse, Group Predominant in Causative Agents of Weil's Disease.

Int J Mol Sci

December 2021

Microbiologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Université Libre de Bruxelles, IBMM-DBM, 12 Rue des Professeurs Jeneer et Brachet, B-6041 Gosselies, Belgium.

The virome associated with the corkscrew shaped bacterium Leptospira, responsible for Weil's disease, is scarcely known, and genetic tools available for these bacteria remain limited. To reduce these two issues, potential transposable prophages were searched in genomes. The 236 predicted transposable prophages were particularly abundant in the most pathogenic leptospiral clade, being potentially involved in the acquisition of virulent traits.

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Metabarcoding analysis and fermentation performance of the dominant fungal microbiota associated with the Algerian traditional date product "Btana".

Int Microbiol

August 2021

FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Science, University of Liège, Quartier Vallée 2, Avenue de Cureghem, 10 4000, Liège, Belgium.

The study highlights the fungal diversity of the traditional Algerian date's product "Btana" prepared with direct Btana method (DBM) and undirect Btana method (UBM). Btana fungal populations were analyzed through 28S metabarcoding. Data treatment resulted in 122,997 reads representing three Phyla in which 76% reads (46 OTUs) belong to Ascomycota phylum.

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Article Synopsis
  • The immune response is crucial for fighting infections but can also cause harmful inflammation, making regulation essential, particularly in diseases like trypanosomosis.
  • The anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) plays a vital role in controlling the immune response, and its absence leads to severe outcomes in infection models.
  • Research using IL-10 reporter mice reveals that multiple immune cells contribute to IL-10 production during trypanosomosis, with T cells being crucial for regulating inflammation and ensuring survival.
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Targeted deep sequencing reveals clonal and subclonal mutational signatures in Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and defines an unfavorable indolent subtype.

Leukemia

March 2021

Service d'Hématologie Adultes, Hôpital Universitaire Necker-Enfants Malades, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris Descartes, 149-161 rue de Sèvres, 75015, Paris, France.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) carries a poor prognosis even in indolent subtypes. We performed targeted deep sequencing combined with mapping of HTLV-1 proviral integration sites of 61 ATL patients of African and Caribbean origin. This revealed mutations mainly affecting TCR/NF-kB (74%), T-cell trafficking (46%), immune escape (29%), and cell cycle (26%) related pathways, consistent with the genomic landscape previously reported in a large Japanese cohort.

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Inactivation of the Gene of Induces Biofilm Formation and Affects Bacterial Pathogenicity.

Microorganisms

June 2020

Laboratoire de Bactériologie Moléculaire, Faculté de Médecine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik, 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.

Biofilm formation is a significant cause for the environmental persistence of foodborne pathogens. This phenomenon remains misunderstood in whose pathogenicity is mainly associated with the virulence plasmid pWR100. Sequence analysis of the latter predicts a putative lipopolysaccharides (LPS) glycosyltransferase (Gtr) encoded by , which is the second gene of the locus.

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The Variety in the Common Theme of Translation Inhibition by Type II Toxin-Antitoxin Systems.

Front Genet

April 2020

Cellular and Molecular Microbiology, Faculté des Sciences, Université libre de Bruxelles, Gosselies, Belgium.

Type II Toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules are bacterial operons that encode a toxic protein and its antidote, which form a self-regulating genetic system. Antitoxins put a halter on toxins in many ways that distinguish different types of TA modules. In type II TA modules, toxin and antitoxin are proteins that form a complex which physically sequesters the toxin, thereby preventing its toxic activity.

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The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria is a major public health concern. This study sought to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of clinical isolates of ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, at University Hospital of Tizi-Ouzou.  Antibiotic susceptibility testing of the strains was carried out by the disc diffusion method, the ESBL production was screening by the Double Disc Synergy Test and  confirmed by the Phenotypic Confirmatory Disc Diffusion Test.

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Neurosyphilis cerebrospinal fluid findings in patients with ocular syphilis.

Ocul Immunol Inflamm

January 2021

Ophthalmology, CHU Saint-Pierre and Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

: To evaluate neurosyphilis cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings and initial ophthalmic manifestations in patients with syphilitic uveitis.: We retrospectively reviewed the records of CSF analysis of 14 patients with syphilitic uveitis with treponemal analysis - chemiluminescent immunoassay and TPHA- and non-treponemal analysis - Rapid Plasma Reagin test - RPR.: 86% were males and 43% HIV+.

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Route of Infection Strongly Impacts the Host-Pathogen Relationship.

Front Immunol

October 2020

Unité de Recherche en Biologie des Microorganismes, Laboratoire d'Immunologie et de Microbiologie, NARILIS, Université de Namur, Namur, Belgium.

Live attenuated vaccines play a key role in the control of many human and animal pathogens. Their rational development is usually helped by identification of the reservoir of infection, the lymphoid subpopulations associated with protective immunity as well as the virulence genes involved in pathogen persistence. Here, we compared the course of infection in C57BL/6 mice infected via intraperitoneal (i.

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The leading cause of cystic fibrosis (CF) is the deletion of phenylalanine 508 (F508del) in the first nucleotide-binding domain (NBD1) of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). The mutation affects the thermodynamic stability of the domain and the integrity of the interface between NBD1 and the transmembrane domain leading to its clearance by the quality control system. Here, we develop nanobodies targeting NBD1 of human CFTR and demonstrate their ability to stabilize both isolated NBD1 and full-length protein.

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