Applied and Environmental Microbiology This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Sulfur assimilation using gaseous carbonyl sulfide by the soil fungus Trichoderma harzianum 
In this study, we present evidence that fungi can utilize gaseous carbonyl sulfide (COS) for the assimilation of a sulfur compound. We found that the filamentous fungus Trichoderma harzianum strain THIF08, which has constitutively high COS-degrading activity, was able to grow with COS as the sole sulfur source. Cultivation with 34S-labeled COS revealed that sulfur atom from COS was incorporated into intracellular metabolites such as glutathione and ergothioneine. COS degradation by strain THIF08, in which as much of the moisture derived from the agar medium as possible was removed, indicated that gaseous COS was taken up d...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - February 1, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ryuka Iizuka Shohei Hattori Yusuke Kosaka Yoshihito Masaki Yusuke Kawano Iwao Ohtsu David Hibbett Yoko Katayama Makoto Yoshida Source Type: research

Diversity and community structure of anaerobic gut fungi in the rumen of wild and domesticated herbivores
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Feb 1:e0149223. doi: 10.1128/aem.01492-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe rumen houses a diverse community that plays a major role in the digestion process in ruminants. Anaerobic gut fungi (AGF) are key contributors to plant digestion in the rumen. Here, we present a global amplicon-based survey of the rumen AGF mycobiome by examining 206 samples from 15 animal species, 15 countries, and 6 continents. The rumen AGF mycobiome was highly diverse, with 81 out of 88 currently recognized AGF genera or candidate genera identified. However, only six genera (Neocallimastix, Orpinomyces, Caecomyces,...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - February 1, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Casey H Meili Moustafa A TagElDein Adrienne L Jones Christina D Moon Catherine Andrews Michelle R Kirk Peter H Janssen Carl J Yeoman Savannah Grace Joanna-Lynn C Borgogna Andrew P Foote Yosra I Nagy Mona T Kashef Aymen S Yassin Mostafa S Elshahed Noha H Y Source Type: research

SMU_1361c regulates the oxidative stress response of Streptococcus mutans 
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Feb 1:e0187123. doi: 10.1128/aem.01871-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDental caries is the most common chronic infectious disease around the world and disproportionately affects the marginalized socioeconomic group. Streptococcus mutans, considered a primary etiological agent of caries, depends on the coordinated physiological response to tolerate the oxidative stress generated by commensal species within dental plaque, which is a critical aspect of its pathogenicity. Here, we identified and characterized a novel tetracycline repressor family regulator, SMU_1361c, which appears to be acquire...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - February 1, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Shuxing Yu Qizhao Ma Jun Huang Yaqi Liu Jing Li Yan Wang Tao Gong Qiong Zhang Jing Zou Yuqing Li Source Type: research

Widespread dissolved inorganic carbon-modifying toolkits in genomes of autotrophic Bacteria and Archaea and how they are likely to bridge supply from the environment to demand by autotrophic pathways
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Feb 1:e0155723. doi: 10.1128/aem.01557-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTUsing dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) as a major carbon source, as autotrophs do, is complicated by the bedeviling nature of this substance. Autotrophs using the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle (CBB) are known to make use of a toolkit comprised of DIC transporters and carbonic anhydrase enzymes (CA) to facilitate DIC fixation. This minireview provides a brief overview of the current understanding of how toolkit function facilitates DIC fixation in Cyanobacteria and some Proteobacteria using the CBB and continues with a survey...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - February 1, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Kathleen M Scott Ren R Payne Arin Gahramanova Source Type: research

Genomic editing in Burkholderia multivorans by CRISPR/Cas9
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Feb 2:e0225023. doi: 10.1128/aem.02250-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBurkholderia cepacia complex bacteria have emerged as opportunistic pathogens in patients with cystic fibrosis and immunocompromised individuals, causing life-threatening infections. Because of the relevance of these microorganisms, genetic manipulation is crucial for explaining the genetic mechanisms leading to pathogenesis. Despite the availability of allelic exchange tools to obtain unmarked gene deletions in Burkholderia, these require a step of merodiploid formation and another of merodiploid resolution through two in...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - February 1, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Mirela R Ferreira Vasco Queiroga Leonilde M Moreira Source Type: research

Measuring differential fitness costs and interactions between genetic cassettes using fluorescent spectrophotometry
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Feb 1:e0141923. doi: 10.1128/aem.01419-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIn this article, we present a method for designing, executing, and analyzing data from a microbial competition experiment. We use fluorescent reporters to label different competing strains and resolve individual growth curves using a fluorescent spectrophotometer. Our comprehensive data analysis pipeline integrates multiple experiments to simultaneously infer sources of variation, extract selection coefficients, and estimate the genetic contributions to fitness for various synthetic genetic cassettes (SGCs). To demonstrate...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - February 1, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Dan Kehila Nobuhiko Tokuriki Source Type: research

Illegal dumping of oil and gas wastewater alters arid soil microbial communities
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Jan 31:e0149023. doi: 10.1128/aem.01490-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe Permian Basin, underlying southeast New Mexico and west Texas, is one of the most productive oil and gas (OG) provinces in the United States. Oil and gas production yields large volumes of wastewater with complex chemistries, and the environmental health risks posed by these OG wastewaters on sensitive desert ecosystems are poorly understood. Starting in November 2017, 39 illegal dumps, as defined by federal and state regulations, of OG wastewater were identified in southeastern New Mexico, releasing ~600,000 L of flu...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 31, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Mitra Kashani Mark A Engle Douglas B Kent Terry Gregston Isabelle M Cozzarelli Adam C Mumford Matthew S Varonka Cassandra R Harris Denise M Akob Source Type: research

Ecology- and genome-based identification of the Bifidobacterium adolescentis prototype of the healthy human gut microbiota
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Jan 31:e0201423. doi: 10.1128/aem.02014-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBifidobacteria are among the first microbial colonizers of the human gut, being frequently associated with human health-promoting activities. In the current study, an in silico methodology based on an ecological and phylogenomic-driven approach allowed the selection of a Bifidobacterium adolescentis prototype strain, i.e., B. adolescentis PRL2023, which best represents the overall genetic content and functional features of the B. adolescentis taxon. Such features were confirmed by in vitro experiments aimed at evaluating ...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 31, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Chiara Argentini Gabriele Andrea Lugli Chiara Tarracchini Federico Fontana Leonardo Mancabelli Alice Viappiani Rosaria Anzalone Leonora Angelini Giulia Alessandri Massimiliano G Bianchi Giuseppe Taurino Ovidio Bussolati Christian Milani Douwe van Sinderen Source Type: research

Correction for Yoshino et al., "Inducible Expression of Transmembrane Proteins on Bacterial Magnetic Particles in Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1"
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Jan 30:e0180623. doi: 10.1128/aem.01806-23. Online ahead of print.NO ABSTRACTPMID:38289095 | DOI:10.1128/aem.01806-23 (Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology)
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 30, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Tomoko Yoshino Akiko Shimojo Yoshiaki Maeda Tadashi Matsunaga Source Type: research

Transcriptional heterogeneity of catabolic genes on the plasmid pCAR1 causes host-specific carbazole degradation
This study may provide a clue for determining appropriate hosts for a plasmid and for regulating the expression of plasmid-borne traits, such as the degradation of xenobiotics and antibiotic resistance.PMID:38289097 | DOI:10.1128/aem.01247-23 (Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology)
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 30, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Chiho Suzuki-Minakuchi Natsumi Yamamoto Saki Takahira Masataka Yamaguchi Yutaro Takeda Kazunori Okada Shinsuke Shigeto Hideaki Nojiri Source Type: research

Simultaneous glucose and xylose utilization by an Escherichia coli catabolite repression mutant
In this study, we focus our analysis on glucose and xylose utilization as these two sugars are the primary components in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysate, a promising renewable carbon feedstock for industrial bioprocesses. This strain is valuable to the field as it enables the use of mixed sugar sources in traditional fed-batch based approaches, whereas the wild-type carbon catabolite repression system leads to biphasic growth and possible buildup of non-preferential sugars, reducing process efficiency at scale.PMID:38289128 | DOI:10.1128/aem.02169-23 (Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology)
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 30, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Nicholas A Kaplan Khondokar Nowshin Islam Fiona C Kanis Jack R Verderber Xin Wang J Andrew Jones Mattheos A G Koffas Source Type: research

Functional characterization of the dbu locus for D-branched-chain amino acid catabolism in Pseudomonas putida 
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Jan 30:e0196223. doi: 10.1128/aem.01962-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTPseudomonas putida is a metabolically robust soil bacterium that employs a diverse set of pathways to utilize a wide range of nutrients. The versatility of this microorganism contributes to both its environmental ubiquity and its rising popularity as a bioengineering chassis. In P. putida, the newly named dbu locus encodes a transcriptional regulator (DbuR), D-amino acid oxidase (DbuA), Rid2 protein (DbuB), and a putative transporter (DbuC). Current annotation implicates this locus in the utilization of D-arginine. Howeve...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 30, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ronnie L Fulton Diana M Downs Source Type: research

High performance Legionella pneumophila source attribution using genomics-based machine learning classification
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Jan 30:e0129223. doi: 10.1128/aem.01292-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTFundamental to effective Legionnaires' disease outbreak control is the ability to rapidly identify the environmental source(s) of the causative agent, Legionella pneumophila. Genomics has revolutionized pathogen surveillance, but L. pneumophila has a complex ecology and population structure that can limit source inference based on standard core genome phylogenetics. Here, we present a powerful machine learning approach that assigns the geographical source of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks more accurately than current cor...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 30, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Andrew H Buultjens Koen Vandelannoote Karolina Mercoulia Susan Ballard Clare Sloggett Benjamin P Howden Torsten Seemann Timothy P Stinear Source Type: research

HtrAs are essential for the survival of the haloarchaeon Natrinema gari J7-2 in response to heat, high salinity, and toxic substances
This study provides the first biochemical and genetic evidence of the importance of HtrAs for the survival of haloarchaea in response to stresses.PMID:38289131 | DOI:10.1128/aem.02048-23 (Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology)
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 30, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Hongyi Luo Xiaoyi Qu Xi Deng Liping He Yi Wu Yang Liu Dan He Jing Yin Bingxue Wang Fei Gan Bing Tang Xiao-Feng Tang Source Type: research

Fluoride anodic films on stainless-steel fomites to reduce transmission infections
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Jan 30:e0189223. doi: 10.1128/aem.01892-23. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe growing concern arising from viruses with pandemic potential and multi-resistant bacteria responsible for hospital-acquired infections and outbreaks of food poisoning has led to an increased awareness of indirect contact transmission. This has resulted in a renewed interest to confer antimicrobial properties to commonly used metallic materials. The present work provides a full characterization of optimized fluoride anodic films grown in stainless steel 304L as well as their antimicrobial properties. Antibacterial test...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - January 30, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ana Conde Daniel Voces Marina Medel-Plaza Celia Perales Ana Isabel de Ávila John Jairo Aguilera-Correa Juan Jose de Damborenea Jaime Esteban Esteban Domingo Maria Angeles Arenas Source Type: research