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Microorganisms, Volume 8, Issue 4

2020 April - 158 articles

Cover Story: Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) are polyphyletic ascomycetes that form intimate associations with the roots of most plant species. DSEs have a wide geographical distribution (from arctic to tropical ecosystems) and display strong abilities to tolerate a range of environmental stresses. DSEs are particularly tolerant to trace elements (TE) and are commonly found in soils heavily contaminated by TE. Moreover, the beneficial inoculation of several plant species to cope with TE toxicity has also been reported. The high production of melanin, a black polymer found in cell walls, was hypothesized by several authors to play a role in the TE tolerance of DSEs. To test this hypothesis, we established a series of experiments using albino strains and melanin inhibitors and examined the responses to Cd and Zn. We demonstrate that melanin production is not an important functional trait that contributes to Cd and Zn tolerance, but might contribute to Cd accumulation.
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  • Articles (158)

    • Article
    • Open Access
    50 Citations
    7,009 Views
    18 Pages

    Microbial Resource Management for Ex Situ Biomethanation of Hydrogen at Alkaline pH

    • Washington Logroño,
    • Denny Popp,
    • Sabine Kleinsteuber,
    • Heike Sträuber,
    • Hauke Harms and
    • Marcell Nikolausz

    Biomethanation is a promising solution to convert H2 (produced from surplus electricity) and CO2 to CH4 by using hydrogenotrophic methanogens. In ex situ biomethanation with mixed cultures, homoacetogens and methanogens compete for H2/CO2. We enriche...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    18 Citations
    4,867 Views
    18 Pages

    Despite displaying broad tropism in vivo, human cytomegalovirus (CMV) contained in bodily fluids replicates inefficiently in most cultured cell types except fibroblasts. As propagation in fibroblasts leads to the accumulation of genomic changes, a nu...

    • Review
    • Open Access
    69 Citations
    9,248 Views
    18 Pages

    Recent Advances in Strategies for Activation and Discovery/Characterization of Cryptic Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in Streptomyces

    • Chung Thanh Nguyen,
    • Dipesh Dhakal,
    • Van Thuy Thi Pham,
    • Hue Thi Nguyen and
    • Jae-Kyung Sohng

    Streptomyces spp. are prolific sources of valuable natural products (NPs) that are of great interest in pharmaceutical industries such as antibiotics, anticancer chemotherapeutics, immunosuppressants, etc. Approximately two-thirds of all known antibi...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    7 Citations
    8,660 Views
    11 Pages

    Throughout fermentation, yeast faces continuously changing medium conditions and reacts by adapting its metabolism. The adaptation is a critical process and is dependent on the accurate functioning of the cell. A stable membrane potential, which is,...

    • Review
    • Open Access
    5 Citations
    4,445 Views
    8 Pages

    The bacterivorous nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an important model species for understanding genetic variation of complex traits. So far, most studies involve axenic laboratory settings using Escherichia coli as the sole bacterial species. Over...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    60 Citations
    12,270 Views
    24 Pages

    Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most important diseases of wheat, causing yield losses and mycotoxin contamination of harvested grain. A complex of different toxigenic Fusarium species is responsible for FHB and the composition and predomina...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    29 Citations
    6,390 Views
    10 Pages

    Incidental Prophylactic Appendectomy Is Associated with a Profound Microbial Dysbiosis in the Long-Term

    • Lidia Sánchez-Alcoholado,
    • José Carlos Fernández-García,
    • Carolina Gutiérrez-Repiso,
    • M Rosa Bernal-López,
    • Luis Ocaña-Wilhelmi,
    • Eduardo García-Fuentes,
    • Isabel Moreno-Indias and
    • Francisco J. Tinahones

    Incidental prophylactic surgeries are performed in certain situations. Incidental prophylactic appendectomies were common practice within opened bariatric surgeries. The gut microbiota has emerged as an important actor within the homeostasis of the h...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    5 Citations
    4,163 Views
    16 Pages

    Taxogenomics of the Genus Cyclobacterium: Cyclobacterium xiamenense and Cyclobacterium halophilum as Synonyms and Description of Cyclobacterium plantarum sp. nov.

    • Azadeh Shahinpei,
    • Mohammad Ali Amoozegar,
    • Leila Mirfeizi,
    • Mahdi Moshtaghi Nikou,
    • Antonio Ventosa and
    • Cristina Sánchez-Porro

    The genus Cyclobacterium belongs to the phylum Bacteroidetes and includes eight species. Our study, based on the genomic parameters in silico DNA–DNA hybridization (GGDC), average nucleotide identity (OrthoANI), and average amino acid identity...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    6 Citations
    4,381 Views
    14 Pages

    Tripeptide glutathione, which plays important roles in many cellular mechanisms, is also a biotechnology-oriented molecule with applications in medicine, food and cosmetic. Here, the engineering of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica for the production of...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    9 Citations
    3,236 Views
    16 Pages

    Glycosphingolipids Recognized by Acinetobacter baumannii

    • Miralda Madar Johansson,
    • Mehjar Azzouz,
    • Beatrice Häggendal,
    • Karin Säljö,
    • Henri Malmi,
    • Anton Zavialov and
    • Susann Teneberg

    Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen associated with hospital-acquired infections, including pneumonia, meningitis, bacteremia, urinary tract infection, and wound infections. Recognition of host cell surface carbohydrates pl...

    • Review
    • Open Access
    57 Citations
    10,424 Views
    15 Pages

    New Approaches for Cryptococcosis Treatment

    • Cristina de Castro Spadari,
    • Fernanda Wirth,
    • Luciana Biagini Lopes and
    • Kelly Ishida

    Cryptococcosis is an important opportunistic infection and a leading cause of meningitis in patients with HIV infection. The antifungal pharmacological treatment is limited to amphotericin B, fluconazole and 5- flucytosine. In addition to the limited...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    19 Citations
    5,142 Views
    18 Pages

    Expression of Bacillus cereus Virulence-Related Genes in an Ocular Infection-Related Environment

    • Phillip S. Coburn,
    • Frederick C. Miller,
    • Morgan A. Enty,
    • Craig Land,
    • Austin L. LaGrow,
    • Md Huzzatul Mursalin and
    • Michelle C. Callegan

    Bacillus cereus produces many factors linked to pathogenesis and is recognized for causing gastrointestinal toxemia and infections. B. cereus also causes a fulminant and often blinding intraocular infection called endophthalmitis. We reported that th...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    23 Citations
    6,666 Views
    12 Pages

    A flagellate, rod–shaped bacterium designated strain M15T was isolated from rice roots. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequences of the 16S rRNA, housekeeping genes and genomes showed that the isolate belonged to the genus Rhizobium, with t...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    13 Citations
    5,336 Views
    20 Pages

    Butyrate Conversion by Sulfate-Reducing and Methanogenic Communities from Anoxic Sediments of Aarhus Bay, Denmark

    • Derya Ozuolmez,
    • Elisha K. Moore,
    • Ellen C. Hopmans,
    • Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté,
    • Alfons J. M. Stams and
    • Caroline M. Plugge

    The conventional perception that the zone of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis are separated in high- and low-sulfate-containing marine sediments has recently been changed by studies demonstrating their co-occurrence in sediments. The presence of...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    37 Citations
    5,474 Views
    14 Pages

    Pleurotus ostreatus is a species of white-rot fungi that effectively degrades lignin. In this study, we aimed to efficiently express the lac-2 gene of Pleurotus ostreatus in the Pichia pastoris X33 yeast strain. The enzymatic properties of recombinan...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    24 Citations
    5,352 Views
    21 Pages

    Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to reduce plant stress and improve their health and growth, making them important components of the plant-root associated microbiome, especially in stressful conditions such as petroleum hydrocarbons...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    17 Citations
    4,093 Views
    15 Pages

    The type A trichothecene NX-3, produced by certain Fusarium graminearum strains, is similar to the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), with the exception that it lacks the carbonyl moiety at the C-8 position. NX-3 inhibits protein biosynthesis and induce...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    10 Citations
    5,222 Views
    16 Pages

    Natronomonas salsuginis sp. nov., a New Inhabitant of a Marine Solar Saltern

    • Ana Durán-Viseras,
    • Cristina Sánchez-Porro and
    • Antonio Ventosa

    A halophilic archaeon, strain F20-122T, was isolated from a marine saltern of Isla Bacuta (Huelva, Spain). Cells were Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, and coccoid in morphology. It grew at 25–50 °C (optimum 37 °C), pH 6.5–9.0 (optimu...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    19 Citations
    5,532 Views
    16 Pages

    Understanding the coral microbiome is critical for predicting the fidelity of coral symbiosis with growing surface seawater temperature (SST). However, how the coral microbiome will respond to increasing SST is still understudied. Here, we compared t...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    75 Citations
    5,772 Views
    15 Pages

    Biodegradation of Allethrin by a Novel Fungus Fusarium proliferatum Strain CF2, Isolated from Contaminated Soils

    • Pankaj Bhatt,
    • Wenping Zhang,
    • Ziqiu Lin,
    • Shimei Pang,
    • Yaohua Huang and
    • Shaohua Chen

    Continuous use of allethrin has resulted in heavy environmental contamination and has raised public concern about its impact on human health, yet little is known about the kinetics and microbial degradation of this pesticide. This study reported the...

    • Review
    • Open Access
    6 Citations
    4,358 Views
    10 Pages

    Pathogenesis of Uveitis in Ebola Virus Disease Survivors: Evolving Understanding from Outbreaks to Animal Models

    • Caleb Hartley,
    • J. Clay Bavinger,
    • Sanjana Kuthyar,
    • Jessica G. Shantha and
    • Steven Yeh

    Ebola virus disease (EVD) and emerging infectious disease threats continue to threaten life, prosperity and global health security. To properly counteract EVD, an improved understanding of the long-term impact of recent EVD outbreaks in West Africa a...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    40 Citations
    5,963 Views
    9 Pages

    Emergence of a Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacter hormaechei Clinical Isolate from Egypt Co-Harboring mcr-9 and blaVIM-4

    • Ahmed M. Soliman,
    • Fumito Maruyama,
    • Hoda O. Zarad,
    • Atsushi Ota,
    • Hirofumi Nariya,
    • Toshi Shimamoto and
    • Tadashi Shimamoto

    This study describes the first full genomic sequence of an mcr-9 and blaVIM-4-carrying multidrug-resistant Enterobacter hormaechei clinical isolate from Egypt. The strain was isolated in April 2015 from the sputum of a patient in Cairo, Egypt. The mc...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    6 Citations
    3,769 Views
    12 Pages

    Objective: The aims of this study are as follows: (1) to understand the relationship between gut microbiota and the choking phenomenon in diving athletes, and (2) to regulate the gut microbiota in diving athletes by drinking yogurt containing Bifidob...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    21 Citations
    4,144 Views
    10 Pages

    Experimental Infection of Dogs with Toscana Virus and Sandfly Fever Sicilian Virus to Determine Their Potential as Possible Vertebrate Hosts

    • Clara Muñoz,
    • Nazli Ayhan,
    • Maria Ortuño,
    • Juana Ortiz,
    • Ernest A. Gould,
    • Carla Maia,
    • Eduardo Berriatua and
    • Remi N. Charrel

    The sandfly-borne Toscana phlebovirus (TOSV), a close relative of the sandfly fever Sicilian phlebovirus (SFSV), is one of the most common causes of acute meningitis or meningoencephalitis in humans in the Mediterranean Basin. However, most of human...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    26 Citations
    5,007 Views
    18 Pages

    Effect of Cobalt, Nickel, and Selenium/Tungsten Deficiency on Mesophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Chemically Defined Soluble Organic Compounds

    • Luka Šafarič,
    • Sepehr Shakeri Yekta,
    • Bo H. Svensson,
    • Anna Schnürer,
    • David Bastviken and
    • Annika Björn

    Trace elements (TEs) are vital for anaerobic digestion (AD), due to their role as cofactors in many key enzymes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of specific TE deficiencies on mixed microbial communities during AD of soluble polymer...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    27 Citations
    5,722 Views
    17 Pages

    FDA-Approved Drugs Efavirenz, Tipranavir, and Dasabuvir Inhibit Replication of Multiple Flaviviruses in Vero Cells

    • Michal Stefanik,
    • James J. Valdes,
    • Fortunatus C. Ezebuo,
    • Jan Haviernik,
    • Ikemefuna C. Uzochukwu,
    • Martina Fojtikova,
    • Jiri Salat,
    • Ludek Eyer and
    • Daniel Ruzek

    Vector-borne flaviviruses (VBFs) affect human health worldwide, but no approved drugs are available specifically to treat VBF-associated infections. Here, we performed in silico screening of a library of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved ant...

    • Review
    • Open Access
    80 Citations
    8,025 Views
    33 Pages

    Yeast–Yeast Interactions: Mechanisms, Methodologies and Impact on Composition

    • Fanny Bordet,
    • Alexis Joran,
    • Géraldine Klein,
    • Chloé Roullier-Gall and
    • Hervé Alexandre

    During the winemaking process, alcoholic fermentation is carried out by a consortium of yeasts in which interactions occurs. The consequences of these interactions on the wine matrix have been widely described for several years with the aim of contro...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    14 Citations
    4,646 Views
    22 Pages

    Epidemiology and Genetic Variability of Circulating Influenza B Viruses in Uruguay, 2012–2019

    • María José Rivas,
    • Miguel Alegretti,
    • Leticia Cóppola,
    • Viviana Ramas,
    • Héctor Chiparelli and
    • Natalia Goñi

    Influenza B viruses (IBV) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality during interpandemic periods in the human population. Two phylogenetically distinct IBV lineages, B/Yamagata and B/Victoria, co-circulate worldwide and they present challenge...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    10 Citations
    4,902 Views
    12 Pages

    Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501 possesses an extraordinary number of transporters which confer this rhizosphere bacterium with the sophisticated ability to metabolize various carbon sources. However, sugars are not a preferred carbon source for P. stutzer...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    17 Citations
    4,370 Views
    12 Pages

    Investigation of the Causes of Shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli PCR Positive and Culture Negative Samples

    • Guerrino Macori,
    • Siobhán C. McCarthy,
    • Catherine M. Burgess,
    • Séamus Fanning and
    • Geraldine Duffy

    Molecular methods may reveal the presence of pathogens in samples through the detection of specific target gene(s) associated with microorganisms, but often, the subsequent cultural isolation of the pathogen is not possible. This discrepancy may be r...

    • Review
    • Open Access
    129 Citations
    19,941 Views
    20 Pages

    Iron is an essential element for virtually all cell types due to its role in energy metabolism, nucleic acid synthesis and cell proliferation. Nevertheless, if free, iron induces cellular and organ damage through the formation of free radicals. Thus,...

    • Case Report
    • Open Access
    10 Citations
    4,628 Views
    8 Pages

    Autochthonous Cases of Mucosal Leishmaniasis in Northeastern Italy: Clinical Management and Novel Treatment Approaches

    • Valeria Gaspari,
    • Irene Zaghi,
    • Giovanni Macrì,
    • Annalisa Patrizi,
    • Nunzio Salfi,
    • Francesca Locatelli,
    • Elena Carra,
    • Maria Carla Re and
    • Stefania Varani

    Mucosal leishmaniasis (ML) is a rare clinical variant of tegumentary leishmaniasis in Mediterranean Europe. Here we report on three autochthonous cases of head and neck ML in patients living in Northeastern Italy. Patients presented with non-specific...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    54 Citations
    6,891 Views
    12 Pages

    Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can potentially be used as an alternative strategy to control plant diseases. In this study, strain ST–TJ4 isolated from the rhizosphere soil of a healthy poplar was found to have a strong antifungal...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    51 Citations
    5,043 Views
    15 Pages

    Multiple Fungal Metabolites Including Mycotoxins in Naturally Infected and Fusarium-Inoculated Wheat Samples

    • Valentina Spanic,
    • Zorana Katanic,
    • Michael Sulyok,
    • Rudolf Krska,
    • Katalin Puskas,
    • Gyula Vida,
    • Georg Drezner and
    • Bojan Šarkanj

    In this study, the occurrence of multiple fungal metabolites including mycotoxins was determined in four different winter wheat varieties in a field experiment in Croatia. One group was naturally infected, while the second group was inoculated with a...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    22 Citations
    6,057 Views
    17 Pages

    Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157) is noninvasive and a weak biofilm producer; however, a subset of O157 are exceptions. O157 ATCC 43895 forms biofilms and invades epithelial cells. Tn5 mutagenesis identified a mutation responsible for both phenotypes....

    • Article
    • Open Access
    30 Citations
    12,014 Views
    16 Pages

    Hong Kong’s wet markets play a crucial role in the country’s supply of safe, fresh meat to satisfy the dietary needs of its population. Whilst food safety regulations have been introduced over the past few years to maintain the microbial...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    58 Citations
    4,153 Views
    21 Pages

    Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are intermediates in the methane formation pathway of anaerobic digestion and can be produced through the fermentation of organic wastes. VFAs have become an anticipated resource- and cost-effective way to replace fossil r...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    27 Citations
    4,722 Views
    14 Pages

    Maintaining integrity of the plant cell walls is critical for plant health, however, our previous study showed that Cellvibrio, which is recognized by its robust ability to degrade plant cell walls, was enriched from the citrus rhizosphere to the rhi...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    11 Citations
    4,632 Views
    19 Pages

    Changes in the Ultrastructure of Candida albicans Treated with Cationic Peptides

    • Alina Grigor’eva,
    • Alevtina Bardasheva,
    • Anastasiya Tupitsyna,
    • Nariman Amirkhanov,
    • Nina Tikunova,
    • Dmitrii Pyshnyi,
    • Maksim Kleshev and
    • Elena Ryabchikova

    Candida albicans is becoming increasingly harmful for humans, which determines the need for new effective antifungal preparations. Currently, when testing antifungals, various morphological methods are used, among which transmission electron microsco...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    10 Citations
    3,729 Views
    16 Pages

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis YrbE3A Promotes Host Innate Immune Response by Targeting NF-κB/JNK Signaling

    • Jieru Wang,
    • Xiaojie Zhu,
    • Yongchong Peng,
    • Tingting Zhu,
    • Han Liu,
    • Yifan Zhu,
    • Xuekai Xiong,
    • Xi Chen,
    • Changmin Hu and
    • Aizhen Guo
    • + 2 authors

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis is considered a successful pathogen with multiple strategies to undermine host immunity. The YrbE3A is encoded by Rv1964 within the RD15 region present in the genome of Mtb, but missing in M. bovis, M. bovis BCG (Pasteur) s...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    22 Citations
    4,974 Views
    16 Pages

    Hepcidin 25 (hep 25) is a cysteine-rich 25-amino acid antimicrobial peptide containing the amino-terminal Cu(II)/Ni(II)-binding (ATCUN) motif. Upon metal binding, the ATCUN motif is known to be involved in the generation of reactive oxygen species (R...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    31 Citations
    5,260 Views
    15 Pages

    Endophytic fungi were first isolated from the fresh root of the Chinese medicinal plant Vernonia anthelmintica collected from the Hotan Prefecture within the Xinjiang Autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. This plant has been used...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    47 Citations
    11,548 Views
    22 Pages

    Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 (SPI-1) encodes a type three secretion system (T3SS), effector proteins, and associated transcription factors that together enable invasion of epithelial cells in animal intestines. The horizontal acquisition of SPI-...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    18 Citations
    5,199 Views
    19 Pages

    Effects of Halophyte Root Exudates and Their Components on Chemotaxis, Biofilm Formation and Colonization of the Halophilic Bacterium Halomonas Anticariensis FP35T

    • Inmaculada Sampedro,
    • Daniel Pérez-Mendoza,
    • Laura Toral,
    • Esther Palacios,
    • César Arriagada and
    • Inmaculada Llamas

    Increase in soil salinity poses an enormous problem for agriculture and highlights the need for sustainable crop production solutions. Plant growth-promoting bacteria can be used to boost the growth of halophytes in saline soils. Salicornia is consid...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    24 Citations
    6,859 Views
    18 Pages

    Staphylococcus aureus Lung Infection Results in Down-Regulation of Surfactant Protein-A Mainly Caused by Pro-Inflammatory Macrophages

    • Elisabeth Schicke,
    • Zoltán Cseresnyés,
    • Knut Rennert,
    • Vanessa Vau,
    • Karoline Frieda Haupt,
    • Franziska Hornung,
    • Sandor Nietzsche,
    • Fatina Swiczak,
    • Michaela Schmidtke and
    • Stefanie Deinhardt-Emmer
    • + 8 authors

    Pneumonia is the leading cause of hospitalization worldwide. Besides viruses, bacterial co-infections dramatically exacerbate infection. In general, surfactant protein-A (SP-A) represents a first line of immune defense. In this study, we analyzed whe...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    23 Citations
    4,025 Views
    15 Pages

    Biofilm Eradication by Symmetrical Selenoesters for Food-Borne Pathogens

    • Márta Nové,
    • Annamária Kincses,
    • Beatrix Szalontai,
    • Bálint Rácz,
    • Jessica M. A. Blair,
    • Ana González-Prádena,
    • Miguel Benito-Lama,
    • Enrique Domínguez-Álvarez and
    • Gabriella Spengler

    Infections caused by Salmonella species and Staphylococcus aureus represent major health and food industry problems. Bacteria have developed many strategies to resist the antibacterial activity of antibiotics, leading to multidrug resistance (MDR). T...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    19 Citations
    3,973 Views
    13 Pages

    One of the main public health problems nowadays is the increase of antimicrobial resistance, both in the hospital environment and outside it (animal environment, food and aquatic ecosystems, among others). It is necessary to investigate the virulence...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    27 Citations
    4,478 Views
    9 Pages

    This study aims at evaluating the performances of the multiplex PCR AllplexTM Gastrointestinal Panel-Parasite Assay (GIPPA), which detects G. duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., E. histolytica, D. fragilis, B. hominis, and C. cayetanensis, by compariso...

    • Article
    • Open Access
    23 Citations
    5,156 Views
    22 Pages

    Dinoflagellates and diatoms are among the most prominent microeukaryotic plankton groups, and they have evolved different functional traits reflecting their roles within ecosystems. However, links between their metabolic processes and functional trai...

    • Erratum
    • Open Access
    2 Citations
    2,366 Views
    2 Pages

    The authors wish to make the following erratum in this paper [...]

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    Microorganisms - ISSN 2076-2607