Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

PLoS One 2019 15;14(3):e0213853. Epub 2019 Mar 15.

Cellular Microbiology and Physics of Infection Group-Lille Centre for Infection and Immunity, CNRS UMR8204, INSERM U1019, Lille University Hospital Centre, University of Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.

In the last 20 years, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as a ubiquitous technique in biological research, allowing the analysis of biological samples under near-physiological conditions from single molecules to living cells. Despite its growing use, the low process throughput remains a major drawback. Here, we propose a solution validated on a device allowing a fully automated, multi-sample analysis. Read More

J Microbiol Methods 2019 Mar 9;159:148-156. Epub 2019 Mar 9.

Chemical and Veterinary Investigations Office Stuttgart (CVUAS), Schaflandstr. 3/3, 70736 Fellbach, Germany.

Analyses of short subunit gene sequences have been established for taxonomic classification and identification of bacteria and fungi. To produce partial bacterial ribosomal 16S rRNA and rpoB and fungal ribosomal ITS/LSU gene sequences for DNA sequencing, real-time PCR assays supplemented with the nucleic acid stain SYBR Green were created. Generation of PCR products was monitored based on amplification and melting curves. Read More

J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 2019 Mar 7;28(5):236-239. Epub 2019 Mar 7.

University of Texas Health Science Center, McGovern Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.

The low permeability of porin channels is the possible reason for Gram-negative bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The adaptive accumulation of lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis induces conformational changes of OmpF porin that may hinder the transport of antibiotics through this channel. The present study was aimed to test whether the changes in LPE content affect the resistance of bacteria to ampicillin. Read More

Mycology 2019 Mar 25;10(1):32-39. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.

, also known as , is a medicinal polypore used for millennia () to contrast several diseases, particularly the pulmonary ones. A rich literature has dealt with its ethno-mycological aspects, but isolation and chemical characterisation of single compounds has only recently significantly developed, as well as tests for bioactivity. According to several reports there is evidence of a broad-spectrum antibacterial and antiviral activity by , including pathogens like and , as well as virus. Read More

Microbiol Resour Announc 2019 Feb 14;8(7). Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, closely related to Yersinia pestis, is a human pathogen and model organism for studying bacterial pathogenesis. To aid in genomic analysis and understanding bacterial virulence, we sequenced and assembled the complete genome of the human pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis IP2666pIB1. Read More

mSystems 2019 Jan-Feb;4(1). Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, USA.

Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, emerged as a fleaborne pathogen only within the last 6,000 years. Just five simple genetic changes in the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis progenitor, which served to eliminate toxicity to fleas and to enhance survival and biofilm formation in the flea digestive tract, were key to the transition to the arthropodborne transmission route. To gain a deeper understanding of the genetic basis for the development of a transmissible biofilm infection in the flea foregut, we evaluated additional gene differences and performed transcriptional profiling of Y. Read More

Microbiol Res 2019 Mar 6;220:32-41. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China. Electronic address:

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a versatile molecular machinery widely distributed in Gram-negative bacteria. The activity of the T6SS is tightly regulated by various mechanisms, including quorum sensing (QS), iron concentration, and transcriptional regulators. Here we demonstrated that the stringent response regulator, RelA, contributes to bacterial resistance to multiple environmental stresses in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Read More

Klin Lab Diagn 2018 ;63(9):564-567

Somov Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, 690087, Vladivostok, Russia.

The interest in the problem of enterоpathogenic yersinioses in the world is associated with the ubiquitous distribution of these infections and the clinical significance of their pathogenic agents, Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis. In spite of the novel diagnostic tools, microbiological cultivation on nutrient media still remains the main method of their verification. Read More

Eur J Microbiol Immunol (Bp) 2018 Dec 28;8(4):101-106. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Experimental Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.

Adaptive immunity is essentially required to control acute infection with enteropathogenic (Yptb). We have recently demonstrated that Yptb can directly modulate naïve CD4 T cell differentiation. However, whether fully differentiated forkhead box protein P3 (Foxp3) regulatory T cells (Tregs), fundamental key players to maintain immune homeostasis, are targeted by Yptb remains elusive. Read More

Biol Cell 2019 Mar 8;111(3):67-77. Epub 2019 Feb 8.

Cellular Microbiology and Physics of Infection Group, Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, CNRS UMR8204, INSERM U1019, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille regional Univ. Hosp. Centr., Lille Univ., Lille, F-59019, France.

Background: Bacterial invasion covers two steps: adhesion and entry per se. The cell signalling response is triggered upon pathogen interaction at the cell surface. This response continues when the pathogen is internalised. Read More

J Med Microbiol 2019 Feb 16;68(2):143-147. Epub 2019 Jan 16.

1​Department of Pediatrics, Kawasaki Medical School, Japan.

Background: Despite being a well-known but seldom encountered zoonotic pathogen, diagnosis of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is not necessarily easy. Infected patients occasionally present with various symptoms resembling Kawasaki disease; thus discriminating the two in the acute phase is challenging. In addition to bacterial culture and serology, novel detection methods based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) are reported in the literature. Read More

Infect Immun 2019 Mar 21;87(3). Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA

Pathogenic species deliver Yop effector proteins through a type III secretion system into host cells. Among these effectors, YopE and YopT are Rho-modifying toxins, which function to modulate host cell physiology and evade immune responses. YopE is a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) while YopT is a protease, and they inhibit RhoA by different modes of action. Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018 27;8:416. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

is a bacterium that not only survives, but also thrives, proliferates, and remains infective at cold-storage temperatures, making it an adept foodborne pathogen. We analyzed the differences in gene expression between IP32953 grown at 3 and 28°C to investigate which genes were significantly more expressed at low temperature at different phases of growth. We isolated and sequenced the RNA from six distinct corresponding growth points at both temperatures to also outline the expression patterns of the differentially expressed genes. Read More

Virulence 2019 Dec;10(1):37-57

a Department of Molecular Biology , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden.

The Gram-negative enteropathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis possesses a number of regulatory systems that detect cell envelope damage caused by noxious extracytoplasmic stresses. The CpxA sensor kinase and CpxR response regulator two-component regulatory system is one such pathway. Active Cpx signalling upregulates various factors designed to repair and restore cell envelope integrity. Read More

Virulence 2019 Dec;10(1):10-25

a Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå Centre for Microbial Research UCMR , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden.

Type III secretion systems (T3SSs) are tightly regulated key virulence mechanisms shared by many Gram-negative pathogens. YopN, one of the substrates, is also crucial in regulation of expression, secretion and activation of the T3SS of pathogenic Yersinia species. Interestingly, YopN itself is also targeted into host cells but so far no activity or direct role for YopN inside host cells has been described. Read More

Vaccine 2019 Jan 19;37(1):123-129. Epub 2018 Nov 19.

Unité de Recherche Yersinia, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Electronic address:

Immunization with the live-attenuated Yersinia pseudotuberculosis VTnF1 strain producing a Yersinia pestis F1 pseudocapsule efficiently protects mice against bubonic and pneumonic plague. In clinical trials, demonstration of a plague vaccine's efficacy in humans will not be feasible, and correlates of protection will be needed to bridge the immune response of protected animals to that of vaccinated humans. Using serum transfer and vaccination of antibody-deficient µMT mice, we established that both humoral and cellular responses elicited by VTnF1 independently conferred protection against bubonic plague. Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018 25;8:378. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

Department of Molecular Infection Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.

The genus includes three human pathogenic species, , the causative agent of the bubonic and pneumonic plague, and enteric pathogens and that cause a number of gut-associated diseases. Over the past years a large repertoire of RNA-based regulatory systems has been discovered in these pathogens using different RNA-seq based approaches. Among them are several conserved or species-specific RNA-binding proteins, regulatory and sensory RNAs as well as various RNA-degrading enzymes. Read More

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018 11 31;115(46):E10888-E10897. Epub 2018 Oct 31.

Department of Immunology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111;

Cell death and inflammation are intimately linked during infection. Pathogenic inhibits the MAP kinase TGFβ-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) via the effector YopJ, thereby silencing cytokine expression while activating caspase-8-mediated cell death. Here, using in corroboration with costimulation of lipopolysaccharide and (5Z)-7-Oxozeaenol, a small-molecule inhibitor of TAK1, we show that caspase-8 activation during TAK1 inhibition results in cleavage of both gasdermin D (GSDMD) and gasdermin E (GSDME) in murine macrophages, resulting in pyroptosis. Read More

J Comp Pathol 2018 Oct 11;164:27-31. Epub 2018 Sep 11.

Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, UK.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica are ubiquitous pathogens with wildlife and domestic animal reservoirs. Outbreaks of 'non-plague' yersiniosis in man and non-human primates are reported frequently (including zoological specimens and research breeding colonies) and are usually characterized by enteritis, mesenteric lymphadenitis and occasionally organ abscessation. In people, non-septic reactive arthritis is a common sequela to yersiniosis. Read More

Infect Immun 2019 Jan 19;87(1). Epub 2018 Dec 19.

Department of Clinical Immunology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Sciences and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China

is a Gram-negative enteropathogen and causes gastrointestinal infections. It disseminates from gut to mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), spleen, and liver of infected humans and animals. Although the molecular mechanisms for dissemination and infection are unclear, many Gram-negative enteropathogens presumably invade the small intestine via Peyer's patches to initiate dissemination. Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018 21;8:336. Epub 2018 Sep 21.

UMR1149 INSERM, Research Centre on Inflammation, Université Paris Diderot-Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris, France.

are common contaminants of food products, but their prevalence in the human gut is poorly documented. have been implicated in Crohn's Disease (CD, an inflammatory bowel disease) however their role in CD is controversial. We performed highly sensitive PCR assays of specific sequences for the gene of and the gene of . Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018 18;8:323. Epub 2018 Sep 18.

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States.

The formation of biofilms by () and requires the genes, which direct production of a polysaccharide extracellular matrix (Hms-ECM). Despite possessing identical sequences, produces much less Hms-ECM than . The regulatory influences that control Hms-ECM production and biofilm formation are not fully understood. Read More

Int J Mol Sci 2018 Sep 30;19(10). Epub 2018 Sep 30.

Far Eastern Federal University, 8 Sukhanova St., Vladivostok 690091, Russia.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a widespread, dangerous infection. Unfortunately, all attempts to create safe anti-TBE subunit vaccines are still unsuccessful due to their low immunogenicity. The goal of the present work was to investigate the immunogenicity of a recombinant chimeric protein created by the fusion of the EIII protein, comprising domain III and a stem region of the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) E protein, and the OmpF porin of (OmpF-EIII). Read More

Mol Microbiol 2019 Jan 26;111(1):82-95. Epub 2018 Oct 26.

Division of Integrated Biomedical Sciences, University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, Detroit, MI, USA.

Ail, a multifunctional outer membrane protein of Yersinia pestis, confers cell binding, Yop delivery and serum resistance activities. Resistance to complement proteins in serum is critical for the survival of Y. pestis during the septicemic stage of plague infections. Read More

Sci Rep 2018 Sep 21;8(1):14186. Epub 2018 Sep 21.

School of Life Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, South Korea.

In this study we show Yersinia pseudotuberculosis secretes membrane vesicles (MVs) that contain different proteins and virulence factors depending on the strain. Although MVs from Y. pseudotuberculosis YPIII and ATCC 29833 had many proteins in common (68. Read More

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2018 Dec 20;37(12):2301-2306. Epub 2018 Sep 20.

Omnio AB, Umeå, Sweden.

Yersiniosis is a foodborne infection caused by Yersinia enterocolitica or Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Although yersiniosis is most often self-limiting, some patients develop chronic infections, such as reactive arthritis, glomerulonephritis, or myocarditis, which require an antibiotic treatment. Whereas early infections can be diagnosed by direct detection of bacteria, chronic infections can only be identified by serological tests. Read More

N Z Vet J 2019 Jan 3;67(1):27-35. Epub 2018 Oct 3.

a Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences , University of Melbourne , 250 Princes Highway, Werribee , VIC , Australia.

AIMS To assess the efficacy of an autogenous vaccine against Yersinia pseudotuberculosis III in preventing clinical disease and deaths due to yersiniosis in young Merino sheep, and to determine the effect of vaccination on the prevalence of faecal shedding of pathogenic Yersinia spp., daily liveweight gain, and development of antibodies to Yersinia spp. following vaccination and natural exposure. Read More

Biomolecules 2018 08 25;8(3). Epub 2018 Aug 25.

Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, Far Eastern Federal University, Sukhanov St., 8, Vladivostok 690091, Russia.

Domain III (DIII) of the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) protein E contains epitopes, which induce antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus. To enhance the immunogenicity of this protein, which has a low molecular weight, the aim of the present work was to express, isolate, and characterize a chimeric protein based on the fusion of the bacterial chaperone HSP70 of and EIII (DIII + stem) as a prospective antigen for an adjuvanted delivery system, the tubular immunostimulating complex (TI-complex). The chimeric construction was obtained using pET-40b(+) vector by ligating the respective genes. Read More

Biometals 2018 Dec 22;31(6):941-950. Epub 2018 Aug 22.

Department of Oral Biochemistry, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, Gustav Mahlerlaan 3004, 1081 LA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague. As adequate antibiotic treatment falls short and currently no effective vaccine is available, alternative therapeutic strategies are needed. In order to contribute to solving this problem we investigated the therapeutic potential of the peptide construct LFchimera against the safer-to-handle Y. Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018 3;8:261. Epub 2018 Aug 3.

W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.

replicates within mammalian tissues to form clustered bacterial replication centers, called microcolonies. A subset of bacterial cells within microcolonies interact directly with host immune cells, and other subsets of bacteria only interact with other bacteria. This establishes a system where subsets of have distinct gene expression profiles, which are driven by their unique microenvironments and cellular interactions. Read More

Nature 2018 09 15;561(7721):122-126. Epub 2018 Aug 15.

National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China.

Immune recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors often activates proinflammatory NF-κB signalling. Recent studies indicate that the bacterial metabolite D-glycero-β-D-manno-heptose 1,7-bisphosphate (HBP) can activate NF-κB signalling in host cytosol, but it is unclear whether HBP is a genuine PAMP and the cognate pattern recognition receptor has not been identified. Here we combined a transposon screen in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis with biochemical analyses and identified ADP-β-D-manno-heptose (ADP-Hep), which mediates type III secretion system-dependent NF-κB activation and cytokine expression. Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018 31;8:260. Epub 2018 Jul 31.

State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a versatile secretion system widely distributed in Gram-negative bacteria that delivers multiple effector proteins into either prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells, or into the extracellular milieu. T6SS participates in various physiological processes including bacterial competition, host infection, and stress response. Three pathogenic species, namely , and , possess different copies of T6SSs with distinct biological functions. Read More

Chembiochem 2018 Nov 11;19(21):2283-2292. Epub 2018 Oct 11.

Institut für Pharmazeutische Wissenschaften, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Albertstrasse 25, 79104, Freiburg, Germany.

A wide range of thiamine diphosphate (ThDP)-dependent enzymes catalyze the benzoin-type carboligation of pyruvate with aldehydes. A few ThDP-dependent enzymes, such as YerE from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (YpYerE), are known to accept ketones as acceptor substrates. Catalysis by YpYerE gives access to chiral tertiary alcohols, a group of products difficult to obtain in an enantioenriched form by other means. Read More

J Mol Biol 2018 Sep 2;430(18 Pt B):3157-3169. Epub 2018 Aug 2.

Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. Electronic address:

Bacterial virulence is typically initiated by translocation of effector or toxic proteins across host cell membranes. A class of gram-negative pathogenic bacteria including Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis accomplishes this objective with a protein assembly called the type III secretion system. Yersinia effector proteins (Yop) are presented to the translocation apparatus through formation of specific complexes with their cognate chaperones (Syc). Read More

Bull Exp Biol Med 2018 Jul 13;165(3):403-407. Epub 2018 Jul 13.

Institute of Physiology, Komi Research Center, Ural Division of Russia Academy of Science, Vyatka State University, Kirov, Russia.

Incubation of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis cells grown on a solid medium with pseudotuberculous diagnostic bacteriophage for 20 min at 37oC led to a significant decrease in the concentration of both components of the system. This effect was absent when the bacteria were grown in a fluid medium. At the same time, this incubation regimen promoted vesicle formation and typical morphological changes in bacteria grown in both surface and suspension cultures. Read More

Appl Environ Microbiol 2018 Sep 31;84(18). Epub 2018 Aug 31.

German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Department of Biological Safety, Berlin, Germany

In this study, the prevalence of in wild boars in northeast Germany was determined. For that purpose, the tonsils of 503 wild boars were sampled. The presence of was studied by diagnostic PCR. Read More

Arch Microbiol 2018 Nov 4;200(9):1345-1355. Epub 2018 Jul 4.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd, Mailstop 70A3317, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is a recently evolved clone of the enteropathogenic bacterium Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Y. pestis has been extensively studied for decades; however, there are insufficient data about the intra-species diversity of this microorganism in certain parts of the world, including the Caucasus region. Read More

Acta Vet Scand 2018 Jul 3;60(1):40. Epub 2018 Jul 3.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Box 7054, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.

Background: Pure Eurasian wild boars and/or hybrids with domestic pigs are present in the wild on most continents. These wild pigs have been demonstrated to carry a large number of zoonotic and epizootic pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. Read More

Microbiologyopen 2018 Jun 10:e00655. Epub 2018 Jun 10.

School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The Wzx flippase is a critical component of the O-antigen biosynthesis pathway, being responsible for the translocation of oligosaccharide O units across the inner membrane in Gram-negative bacteria. Recent studies have shown that Wzx has a strong preference for its cognate O unit, but the types of O-unit structural variance that a given Wzx can accommodate are poorly understood. In this study, we identified two Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Wzx that can distinguish between different terminal dideoxyhexose sugars on a common O-unit main-chain, despite both being able to translocate several other structurally-divergent O units. Read More

J Biol Chem 2018 06;293(22):8691-8692

From the Schools of Chemistry and Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, Scotland, United Kingdom.

In a new paper, the protein InvD from , a zoonotic pathogen, is shown to assist late-stage invasion of intestinal epithelia. Remarkably, InvD acts by binding the Fab region of IgG or IgA. It straddles adjacent light-chain and heavy-chain variable domains, but its binding is different from that of antigens in that complementarity-determining regions do not participate. Read More

BMC Microbiol 2018 05 31;18(1):46. Epub 2018 May 31.

Department of Pathogen Molecular Biology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.

Background: Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a zoonotic pathogen, causing mild gastrointestinal infection in humans. From this comparatively benign pathogenic species emerged the highly virulent plague bacillus, Yersinia pestis, which has experienced significant genetic divergence in a relatively short time span. Much of our knowledge of Yersinia spp. Read More

J Microbiol Methods 2018 Jul 21;150:32-38. Epub 2018 May 21.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Microbiology, National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address:

Salmonellosis and yersiniosis are notifiable human diseases that are commonly associated with contaminated food. Domestic pigs as well as wild boars and other wild-life have been identified as reservoirs of these bacteria. Methods for cultivation and molecular epidemiological investigations of Salmonella spp. Read More

Microbiol Immunol 2018 May 23. Epub 2018 May 23.

Department of Bacteriology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa 903- 0215, Japan.

We screened a total of 672 plant-tissue extracts to search for phytochemicals that inhibit the function of the type III secretion system (T3SS) of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). Among candidates examined, we found that an extract from the leaves of Psidium guajava (guava) inhibited the secretion of the EspB protein from EPEC and EHEC without affecting bacterial growth. Read More

Infect Immun 2018 08 23;86(8). Epub 2018 Jul 23.

Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå Centre for Microbial Research UCMR, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Type III secretion systems (T3SSs) are used by various Gram-negative pathogens to subvert the host defense by a host cell contact-dependent mechanism to secrete and translocate virulence effectors. While the effectors differ between pathogens and determine the pathogenic life style, the overall mechanism of secretion and translocation is conserved. T3SSs are regulated at multiple levels, and some secreted substrates have also been shown to function in regulation. Read More

Genome Announc 2018 May 10;6(19). Epub 2018 May 10.

German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany

We report here the draft genome sequences of 10 isolates recovered from tonsils of wild boars hunted between 2015 and 2016 in Germany. Whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatic analyses were performed to assess the diversity of , which may result in human infections caused by the consumption of game meat. Read More

Aust Vet J 2018 May;96(5):176-183

Mackinnon Project, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia.

Objective: Identify the cause of outbreaks of diarrhoea during winter that are not attributable to gastrointestinal nematodes in weaned Merino sheep in the high rainfall regions of south-eastern Australia and determine the efficacy of antimicrobials used to treat this syndrome.

Methods: We investigated 45 outbreaks on 24 farms. Faecal samples from affected animals were cultured for Yersinia, Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. Read More

Prev Vet Med 2018 May 1;153:30-41. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

Mackinnon Project, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, VIC 3030, Australia.

A prospective longitudinal study was conducted to investigate potential risk factors for faecal shedding of Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis by Merino lambs in four flocks in south-eastern Australia. The primary aims of the study were to determine the seasonal patterns of shedding of pathogenic Y. Read More

ACS Synth Biol 2018 05 17;7(5):1436-1446. Epub 2018 Apr 17.

BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences , The University of Nottingham , Nottingham , NG7 2RD , United Kingdom.

Itaconic acid is an important platform chemical that can easily be incorporated into polymers and has the potential to replace petrochemical-based acrylic or methacrylic acid. A number of microorganisms have been developed for the biosynthesis of itaconate including Aspergillus terreus, Escherichia coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, the number of strains and conditions that can be tested for increased itaconate titers are currently limited because of the lack of high-throughput screening methods. Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018 16;8:80. Epub 2018 Mar 16.

Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.

Type III secretion systems harbored by several Gram-negative bacteria are often used to deliver host-modulating effectors into infected eukaryotic cells. About 20 core proteins are needed for assembly of a secretion apparatus. Several of these proteins are genetically and functionally conserved in type III secretion systems of bacteria associated with invertebrate or vertebrate hosts. Read More

PeerJ 2018 27;6:e4545. Epub 2018 Mar 27.

Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Moscow, Russia.

Genome rearrangements have played an important role in the evolution of from its progenitor . Traditional phylogenetic trees for based on sequence comparison have short internal branches and low bootstrap supports as only a small number of nucleotide substitutions have occurred. On the other hand, even a small number of genome rearrangements may resolve topological ambiguities in a phylogenetic tree. Read More