| 1. |
- Bergman, Jessica M, et al.
(author)
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Acetate availability and utilization supports the growth of mutant sub-populations on aging bacterial colonies
- 2014
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:10, s. e109255-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- When bacterial colonies age most cells enter a stationary phase, but sub-populations of mutant bacteria can continue to grow and accumulate. These sub-populations include bacteria with mutations in rpoB (RNA polymerase β-subunit) or rpoS (RNA polymerase stress-response sigma factor). Here we have identified acetate as a nutrient present in the aging colonies that is utilized by these mutant subpopulations to support their continued growth. Proteome analysis of aging colonies showed that several proteins involved in acetate conversion and utilization were upregulated during aging. Acetate is known to be excreted during the exponential growth phase but can be imported later during the transition to stationary phase and converted to acetyl-CoA. Acetyl-CoA is used in multiple processes, including feeding into the TCA cycle, generating ATP via the glyoxylate shunt, as a source of acetyl groups for protein modification, and to support fatty acid biosynthesis. We showed that deletion of acs (encodes acetyl-CoA synthetase; converts acetate into acetyl-CoA) significantly reduced the accumulation of rpoB and rpoS mutant subpopulations on aging colonies. Measurement of radioactive acetate uptake showed that the rate of conversion decreased in aging wild-type colonies, was maintained at a constant level in the rpoB mutant, and significantly increased in the aging rpoS mutant. Finally, we showed that the growth of subpopulations on aging colonies was greatly enhanced if the aging colony itself was unable to utilize acetate, leaving more acetate available for mutant subpopulations to use. Accordingly, the data show that the accumulation of subpopulations of rpoB and rpoS mutants on aging colonies is supported by the availability in the aging colony of acetate, and by the ability of the subpopulation cells to convert the acetate to acetyl-CoA.
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| 2. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(author)
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Fitness-compensatory mutations in rifampicin-resistant RNA polymerase
- 2012
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In: Molecular Microbiology. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0950-382X .- 1365-2958. ; 85:1, s. 142-151
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mutations in rpoB (RNA polymerase β-subunit) can cause high-level resistance to rifampicin, an important first-line drug against tuberculosis. Most rifampicin-resistant (RifR) mutants selected in vitro have reduced fitness, and resistant clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis frequently carry multiple mutations in RNA polymerase genes. This supports a role for compensatory evolution in global epidemics of drug-resistant tuberculosis but the significance of secondary mutations outside rpoB has not been demonstrated or quantified. Using Salmonella as a model organism, and a previously characterized RifR mutation (rpoB R529C) as a starting point, independent lineages were evolved with selection for improved growth in the presence and absence of rifampicin. Compensatory mutations were identified in every lineage and were distributed between rpoA, rpoB and rpoC. Resistance was maintained in all strains showing that increased fitness by compensatory mutation was more likely than reversion. Genetic reconstructions demonstrated that the secondary mutations were responsible for increasing growth rate. Many of the compensatory mutations in rpoA and rpoC individually caused small but significant reductions in susceptibility to rifampicin, and some compensatory mutations in rpoB individually caused high-level resistance. These findings show that mutations in different components of RNA polymerase are responsible for fitness compensation of a RifR mutant.
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| 3. |
- Del Bel Belluz, Lisa, et al.
(author)
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The Typhoid Toxin Promotes Host Survival and the Establishment of a Persistent Asymptomatic Infection
- 2016
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In: PLoS Pathogens. - : Public Library Science. - 1553-7366 .- 1553-7374. ; 12:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bacterial genotoxins, produced by several Gram-negative bacteria, induce DNA damage in the target cells. While the responses induced in the host cells have been extensively studied in vitro, the role of these effectors during the course of infection remains poorly characterized. To address this issue, we assessed the effects of the Salmonella enterica genotoxin, known as typhoid toxin, in in vivo models of murine infection. Immunocompetent mice were infected with isogenic S. enterica, serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) strains, encoding either a functional or an inactive typhoid toxin. The presence of the genotoxic subunit was detected 10 days post-infection in the liver of infected mice. Unexpectedly, its expression promoted the survival of the host, and was associated with a significant reduction of severe enteritis in the early phases of infection. Immunohistochemical and transcriptomic analysis confirmed the toxin-mediated suppression of the intestinal inflammatory response. The presence of a functional typhoid toxin further induced an increased frequency of asymptomatic carriers. Our data indicate that the typhoid toxin DNA damaging activity increases host survival and favours long-term colonization, highlighting a complex cross-talk between infection, DNA damage response and host immune response. These findings may contribute to understand why such effectors have been evolutionary conserved and horizontally transferred among Gram-negative bacteria.
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| 4. |
- Kesarimangalam, Sriram, 1983, et al.
(author)
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A parallelized nanofluidic device for high-throughput optical dna mapping of bacterial plasmids
- 2021
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In: Micromachines. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-666X. ; 12:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical DNA mapping (ODM) has developed into an important technique for DNA anal-ysis, where single DNA molecules are sequence-specifically labeled and stretched, for example, in nanofluidic channels. We have developed an ODM assay to analyze bacterial plasmids—circular extrachromosomal DNA that often carry genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics. As for most techniques, the next important step is to increase throughput and automation. In this work, we designed and fabricated a nanofluidic device that, together with a simple automation routine, allows parallel analysis of up to 10 samples at the same time. Using plasmids encoding extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL), isolated from Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, we demon-strate the multiplexing capabilities of the device when it comes to both many samples in parallel and different resistance genes. As a final example, we combined the device with a novel protocol for rapid cultivation and extraction of plasmids from fecal samples collected from patients. This combined protocol will make it possible to analyze many patient samples in one device already on the day the sample is collected, which is an important step forward for the ODM analysis of plas-mids in clinical diagnostics.
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| 5. |
- Müller, Vilhelm, 1990, et al.
(author)
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Cultivation-Free Typing of Bacteria Using Optical DNA Mapping
- 2020
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In: Acs Infectious Diseases. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2373-8227. ; 6:5, s. 1076-1084
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A variety of pathogenic bacteria can infect humans, and rapid species identification is crucial for the correct treatment. However, the identification process can often be time-consuming and depend on the cultivation of the bacterial pathogen(s). Here, we present a stand-alone, enzyme-free, optical DNA mapping assay capable of species identification by matching the intensity profiles of large DNA molecules to a database of fully assembled bacterial genomes (>10 000). The assay includes a new data analysis strategy as well as a general DNA extraction protocol for both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. We demonstrate that the assay is capable of identifying bacteria directly from uncultured clinical urine samples, as well as in mixtures, with the potential to be discriminative even at the subspecies level. We foresee that the assay has applications both within research laboratories and in clinical settings, where the time-consuming step of cultivation can be minimized or even completely avoided.
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| 6. |
- Nyblom, My, 1995, et al.
(author)
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Bacterial identification by optical mapping of genomic DNA in nanofluidic channels
- 2019
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In: 23rd International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, MicroTAS 2019. - 9781733419000 ; , s. 821-822
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A variety of pathogenic bacteria can infect humans and the increase in bacteria resistant to common antibiotics is a large threat to human health worldwide. This work presents a method, based on optical DNA mapping (ODM) in nanofluidic channels, that can detect the type of bacterial present in a sample by matching the obtained maps of large DNA molecules to a database of fully assembled bacterial genomes. The extraction and labelling protocol has been designed to work for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, not requiring any prior knowledge about the sample content.
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| 7. |
- Nyblom, My, 1995, et al.
(author)
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Strain-level bacterial typing directly from patient samples using optical DNA mapping
- 2023
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In: COMMUNICATIONS MEDICINE. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2730-664X. ; 3:31
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For bacterial infections, it is important to rapidly and accurately identify and characterize the type of bacteria involved so that optimal antibiotic treatment can be given quickly to the patient. However, current diagnostic methods are sometimes slow and cannot be used for mixtures of bacteria. We have, therefore, developed a method to identify bacteria directly from patient samples. The method was tested on two common species of disease-causing bacteria - Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae - and it could correctly identify the bacterial strain or subtype in both urine samples and mixtures. Hence, the method has the potential to provide fast diagnostic information for choosing the most suited antibiotic, thereby reducing the risk of death and suffering. Nyblom, Johnning et al. develop an optical DNA mapping approach for bacterial strain typing of patient samples. They demonstrate rapid identification of clinically relevant E. coli and K. pneumoniae strains, without the need for cultivation. BackgroundIdentification of pathogens is crucial to efficiently treat and prevent bacterial infections. However, existing diagnostic techniques are slow or have a too low resolution for well-informed clinical decisions.MethodsIn this study, we have developed an optical DNA mapping-based method for strain-level bacterial typing and simultaneous plasmid characterisation. For the typing, different taxonomical resolutions were examined and cultivated pure Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae samples were used for parameter optimization. Finally, the method was applied to mixed bacterial samples and uncultured urine samples from patients with urinary tract infections. Results We demonstrate that optical DNA mapping of single DNA molecules can identify Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae at the strain level directly from patient samples. At a taxonomic resolution corresponding to E. coli sequence type 131 and K. pneumoniae clonal complex 258 forming distinct groups, the average true positive prediction rates are 94% and 89%, respectively. The single-molecule aspect of the method enables us to identify multiple E. coli strains in polymicrobial samples. Furthermore, by targeting plasmid-borne antibiotic resistance genes with Cas9 restriction, we simultaneously identify the strain or subtype and characterize the corresponding plasmids. Conclusion The optical DNA mapping method is accurate and directly applicable to polymicrobial and clinical samples without cultivation. Hence, it has the potential to rapidly provide comprehensive diagnostics information, thereby optimizing early antibiotic treatment and opening up for future precision medicine management.
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| 8. |
- Sánchez Martín, Darío, et al.
(author)
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Circle to circle amplification for detection of antibiotic resistance genes
- 2022
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In: Uppsala Antibiotic Days: a multidisciplinary conference. ; , s. 37-
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Detection of antibiotic resistance is paramount for accurate and effective treatment of infectious bacterial diseases. There is a growing interest for methods making it possible to identify the specific genes giving rise to antibiotic resistance. Molecular detection approaches have evolved to the point where many techniques can be performed in clinics, bedside setups or implemented in microfluidic chips as they require little equipment and training. Rolling circle amplification (RCA) is an isothermal DNA amplification technique that amplifies synthetic circular DNA probes that have been hybridized to a complementary target present in the sample. To increase the number of amplification products, several rounds of RCA may be performed on a single sample. This technique is denoted as circle-to-circle amplification (C2CA).
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