Streptococcus agalactiae Is Required for Survival in Human Placental Macrophages and Full Virulence in a Model of Ascending Vaginal Infection during Pregnancy.

Streptococcus agalactiae, also known as group B Streptococcus (GBS), is a Gram-positive encapsulated bacterium that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract of 30 to 50% of humans. GBS causes invasive infection during pregnancy that can lead to chorioamnionitis, funisitis, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM), preterm birth, neonatal sepsis, and maternal and fetal demise. Upon infecting the host, GBS encounters sentinel innate immune cells, such as macrophages, within reproductive tissues.

Comparative Genomics of Listeria monocytogenes Isolates from Ruminant Listeriosis Cases in the Midwest United States.

Ruminants are a well-known reservoir for Listeria monocytogenes. In addition to asymptomatic carriage of the pathogen, ruminants can also acquire listeriosis and develop clinical manifestations in the form of neurologic or fetal infections, similar to those occurring in humans. Genomic characterization of ruminant listeriosis cases in Europe have identified lineage 1 and 2 strains associated with infection, as well as clonal complexes (CCs) that are commonly isolated from human cases of listeriosis; however, there is little information on the diversity of L.

Variants Enable Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis at Acidic pH by Selectively Promoting Glycerol Uptake.

In defined media supplemented with single carbon sources, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) exhibits carbon source specific growth restriction. When supplied with glycerol as the sole carbon source at pH 5.7, Mtb establishes a metabolically active state of nonreplicating persistence known as acid growth arrest.

Listeria monocytogenes Infection Alters the Content and Function of Extracellular Vesicles Produced by Trophoblast Stem Cells.

Placental immunity is critical for fetal health during pregnancy, as invading pathogens spread from the parental blood to the fetus through this organ. However, inflammatory responses in the placenta can adversely affect both the fetus and the pregnant person, and the balance between protective placental immune response and detrimental inflammation is poorly understood. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-enclosed vesicles that play a critical role in placental immunity.

Metabolic Strategies Shared by Basement Residents of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field.

Alkaline fluids venting from chimneys of the Lost City hydrothermal field flow from a potentially vast microbial habitat within the seafloor where energy and organic molecules are released by chemical reactions within rocks uplifted from Earth's mantle. In this study, we investigated hydrothermal fluids venting from Lost City chimneys as windows into subseafloor environments where the products of geochemical reactions, such as molecular hydrogen (H), formate, and methane, may be the only available sources of energy for biological activity. Our deep sequencing of metagenomes and metatranscriptomes from these hydrothermal fluids revealed a few key species of archaea and bacteria that are likely to play critical roles in the subseafloor microbial ecosystem.

Biofilm Formation and Structure in the Filamentous Fungus Fusarium graminearum, a Plant Pathogen.

Biofilms are protective structures for pathogens of plants and animals, in which cells are shielded from host defense responses and antimicrobial treatments. Although biofilms are well studied in bacterial pathogens, their development and structure in filamentous fungi, as well as their role in pathogenicity, are poorly understood. We show that the economically important plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum, a filamentous fungus, forms biofilms which adhere to polystyrene, a hydrophobic surface.

Host Range Expansion of Phage Sf6 Evolves through Point Mutations in the Tailspike.

The first critical step in a virus's infection cycle is attachment to its host. This interaction is precise enough to ensure the virus will be able to productively infect the cell, but some flexibility can be beneficial to enable coevolution and host range switching or expansion. Bacteriophage Sf6 utilizes a two-step process to recognize and attach to its host Shigella flexneri.

DciA Helicase Operators Exhibit Diversity across Bacterial Phyla.

A fundamental requirement for life is the replication of an organism's DNA. Studies in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis have set the paradigm for DNA replication in bacteria. During replication initiation in E.

Detangling Seasonal Relationships of Fecal Contamination Sources and Correlates with Indicators in Michigan Watersheds.

Despite the widely acknowledged public health impacts of surface water fecal contamination, there is limited understanding of seasonal effects on (i) fate and transport processes and (ii) the mechanisms by which they contribute to water quality impairment. Quantifying relationships between land use, chemical parameters, and fecal bacterial concentrations in watersheds can help guide the monitoring and control of microbial water quality and explain seasonal differences. The goals of this study were to (i) identify seasonal differences in Escherichia coli and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron concentrations, (ii) evaluate environmental drivers influencing microbial contamination during baseflow, snowmelt, and summer rain seasons, and (iii) relate seasonal changes in B.

Reflections on Cyanobacterial Chromatic Acclimation: Exploring the Molecular Bases of Organismal Acclimation and Motivation for Rethinking the Promotion of Equity in STEM.

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms that exhibit characteristic acclimation and developmental responses to dynamic changes in the external light environment. Photomorphogenesis is the tuning of cellular physiology, development, morphology, and metabolism in response to external light cues. The tuning of photosynthetic pigmentation, carbon fixation capacity, and cellular and filament morphologies to changes in the prevalent wavelengths and abundance of light have been investigated to understand the regulation and fitness implications of different aspects of cyanobacterial photomorphogenesis.

Transcriptional Divergence Underpinning Sexual Development in the Fungal Class Sordariomycetes.

Gene expression divergence through evolutionary processes is thought to be important for achieving programmed development in multicellular organisms. To test this premise in filamentous fungi, we investigated transcriptional profiles of 3,942 single-copy orthologous genes (SCOGs) in five related sordariomycete species that have morphologically diverged in the formation of their flask-shaped perithecia. We compared expression of the SCOGs to inferred gene expression levels of the most recent common ancestor of the five species, ranking genes from their largest increases to smallest increases in expression during perithecial development in each of the five species.

Secondary Metabolism Gene Clusters Exhibit Increasingly Dynamic and Differential Expression during Asexual Growth, Conidiation, and Sexual Development in Neurospora crassa.

Secondary metabolite clusters (SMCs) encode the machinery for fungal toxin production. However, understanding their function and analyzing their products requires investigation of the developmental and environmental conditions in which they are expressed. Gene expression is often restricted to specific and unexamined stages of the life cycle.

The 27th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference in the Age of COVID.

Michigan State University was honored to host in-person the 27th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference from 17 to 19 September 2021 in East Lansing, MI. Here, we report the precautions that were used to host a safe, in-person meeting during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) pandemic and the research on microbial pathogenesis that was presented at the meeting. One of the most significant impacts of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic on the scientific community is the cancelation of many in-person scientific conferences.

Microbes and Climate Change: a Research Prospectus for the Future.

Climate change is the most serious challenge facing humanity. Microbes produce and consume three major greenhouse gases-carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide-and some microbes cause human, animal, and plant diseases that can be exacerbated by climate change. Hence, microbial research is needed to help ameliorate the warming trajectory and cascading effects resulting from heat, drought, and severe storms.

The RNA-Binding Protein ProQ Impacts Exopolysaccharide Biosynthesis and Second Messenger Cyclic di-GMP Signaling in the Fire Blight Pathogen Erwinia amylovora.

Erwinia amylovora is a plant-pathogenic bacterium that causes fire blight disease in many economically important plants, including apples and pears. This bacterium produces three exopolysaccharides (EPSs), amylovoran, levan, and cellulose, and forms biofilms in host plant vascular tissues, which are crucial for pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that ProQ, a conserved bacterial RNA chaperone, was required for the virulence of E.

Soil Origin and Plant Genotype Modulate Switchgrass Aboveground Productivity and Root Microbiome Assembly.

Switchgrass () is a model perennial grass for bioenergy production that can be productive in agricultural lands that are not suitable for food production. There is growing interest in whether its associated microbiome may be adaptive in low- or no-input cultivation systems. However, the relative impact of plant genotype and soil factors on plant microbiome and biomass are a challenge to decouple.

Abiotic Treatment to Common Bean Plants Results in an Altered Endophytic Seed Microbiome.

There has been a growing interest in the seed microbiome due to its important role as an end and starting point of plant microbiome assembly that can have consequences for plant health. However, the effect of abiotic conditions on the seed microbial community remains unknown. We performed a pilot study in a controlled growth chamber to investigate how the endophytic seed microbiome of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris [var.

Quorum-Sensing Master Regulator VfmE Is a c-di-GMP Effector That Controls Pectate Lyase Production in the Phytopathogen Dickeya dadantii.

Dickeya dadantii is a phytopathogenic bacterium that causes diseases on a wide range of host plants. The pathogen secretes pectate lyases (Pel) through the type II secretion system (T2SS) that degrades the cell wall in host plants. The virulence of is controlled by the second messenger cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP), and the homeostasis of c-di-GMP is maintained by a number of diguanylate cyclases and phosphodiesterases.

A Resourceful Race: Bacterial Scavenging of Host Sulfur Metabolism during Colonization.

Sulfur is a requirement for life. Therefore, both the host and colonizing bacteria must regulate sulfur metabolism in a coordinated fashion to meet cellular demands. The host environment is a rich source of organic and inorganic sulfur metabolites that are utilized in critical physiological processes such as redox homeostasis and cellular signaling.

Zymomonas mobilis ZM4 Utilizes an NADP-Dependent Acetaldehyde Dehydrogenase To Produce Acetate.

Zymomonas mobilis is a promising bacterial host for biofuel production, but further improvement has been hindered because some aspects of its metabolism remain poorly understood. For example, one of the main by-products generated by Z. mobilis is acetate, but the pathway for acetate production is unknown.

Conserved Proline Residues of Bacillus subtilis Intramembrane Metalloprotease SpoIVFB Are Important for Substrate Interaction and Cleavage.

Intramembrane metalloproteases (IMMPs) regulate diverse biological processes by cleaving membrane-associated substrates within the membrane or near its surface. SpoIVFB is an intramembrane metalloprotease of Bacillus subtilis that cleaves Pro-σ during endosporulation. Intramembrane metalloproteases have a broadly conserved NPDG motif, which in the structure of an archaeal enzyme is located in a short loop that interrupts a transmembrane segment facing the active site.

NrnA Is a Linear Dinucleotide Phosphodiesterase with Limited Function in Cyclic Dinucleotide Metabolism in Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes produces both c-di-AMP and c-di-GMP to mediate many important cellular processes, but the levels of both nucleotides must be regulated. c-di-AMP accumulation attenuates virulence and diminishes stress response, and c-di-GMP accumulation impairs bacterial motility. An important regulatory mechanism to maintain c-di-AMP and c-di-GMP homeostasis is to hydrolyze them to the linear dinucleotides pApA and pGpG, respectively, but the fates of these hydrolytic products have not been examined in L.

MetaFunPrimer: an Environment-Specific, High-Throughput Primer Design Tool for Improved Quantification of Target Genes.

Genes belonging to the same functional group may include numerous and variable gene sequences, making characterizing and quantifying difficult. Therefore, high-throughput design tools are needed to simultaneously create primers for improved quantification of target genes. We developed MetaFunPrimer, a bioinformatic pipeline, to design primers for numerous genes of interest.