biotic generally caused by infectious organisms like bacteria; and abiotic caused by environmental agents like nutrient deficiency flood and salinity.
The scientists looked at the genes'response to five abiotic stresses--drought heavy metal contamination salt cold and nutrient deprivation--and five biotic stresses--bacteria fungus insect predation weed
A bacterium called Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLAS) vectored by the Asian citrus psyllid is presumed the causal agent of the disease.
#Reducing E coli in cows, improving food safetya new biological treatment could help dairy cattle stave off uterine diseases
and because those maladies are linked often to bacteria he said. The UF researchers did their experiments in labs
because cattle uteri have a neutral ph. The study's findings suggest chitosan microparticles kill bacteria in the uteri he said.
Jeong said it may someday be possible for chitosan microparticles to be used to help humans who have become ill from consuming E coli-contaminated food
Once bacteria become resistant whether on farms hospitals or in the environment they can infect humans through water food
and animals kill good and bad bacteria. Scientists can use the UF study's findings to begin to develop better drugs that target bad pathogens
but leave beneficial bacteria Jeong said. E coli are everywhere including the human gut but can contaminate beef unpasteurized milk soft cheeses made from raw milk
and raw fruits and vegetables that haven't been washed properly The most recent outbreak of meat-traced E coli was in 2010 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That year 21 people in 16 states fell ill from the pathogen including one in Florida the agency reported.
when two different strains of Listeria monocytogenes were found in the traditional Austrian curd cheese known as Quargel. 34 people were infected
Listeria is a rod-shaped bacterium highly prevalent in the environment and generally not a threat to human health.
One species however Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis a very dangerous disease. This pathogen can be present in raw milk
In 2009 and 2010 a dairy in Hartberg (Styria Austria) produced Quargel cheese contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes leading to a multinational listeriosis outbreak in Austria Germany
two distinct bacterial strains which had evolved not recently from a common ancestor and therefore entered the food chain independently.
Highest level of operational hygiene essential Listeria expert and co-author Stephan Schmitz-Esser emphasizes the importance of cleanliness in production:
and that possible food for the bacteria be limited. Any products listeria is found in must be recalled immediately.
Recalls are very expensive for producers and we need to do everything we can to prevent them.
Austria-wide the Institute for Milk Hygiene Milk Technology and Food Science at the University of Veterinary medicine Vienna offers effective Listeria monitoring and a range of molecular and microbiological examination methods for the food industry.
The team concluded that the bacteria and fungi that decompose plant matter in healthy ecosystems are hindered by radioactive contamination.
Researchers have reported just that certain bacteria in the stomach gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart.
The good microbes such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria feast on chocolate she said. When you eat dark chocolate they grow
The other bacteria in the gut are associated with inflammation and can cause gas bloating diarrhea and constipation.
These include some Clostridia and some E coli. When these compounds are absorbed by the body they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue reducing the long-term risk of stroke said John Finley Ph d. who led the work.
He said that this study is the first to look at the effects of dark chocolate on the various types of bacteria in the stomach.
They then subjected the nondigestible materials to anaerobic fermentation using human fecal bacteria according to Finley.
but that good bacteria like to eat. This food for your gut's helpful inhabitants also comes in dietary supplements.
and tested the tags using E coli (food-spoiling bacteria that cause gastrointestinal problems) in milk as a reference model.
#Honey offers new approach to fighting antibiotic resistancehoney that delectable condiment for breads and fruits could be one sweet solution to the serious ever-growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics
The unique property of honey lies in its ability to fight infection on multiple levels making it more difficult for bacteria to develop resistance said study leader Susan M. Meschwitz Ph d. That is it uses a combination of weapons including hydrogen peroxide
and polyphenols--all of which actively kill bacterial cells she explained. The osmotic effect which is the result of the high sugar concentration in honey draws water from the bacterial cells dehydrating
and killing them. In addition several studies have shown that honey inhibits the formation of biofilms or communities of slimy disease-causing bacteria she said.
Honey may also disrupt quorum sensing which weakens bacterial virulence rendering the bacteria more susceptible to conventional antibiotics Meschwitz said.
Quorum sensing is the way bacteria communicate with one another and may be involved in the formation of biofilms.
In certain bacteria this communication system also controls the release of toxins which affects the bacteria's pathogenicity or their ability to cause disease.
Meschwitz who is with Salve Regina University in Newport R i. said another advantage of honey is that unlike conventional antibiotics it doesn't target the essential growth processes of bacteria.
The problem with this type of targeting which is the basis of conventional antibiotics is that it results in the bacteria building up resistance to the drugs.
Honey is effective because it is filled with healthful polyphenols or antioxidants she said. These include the phenolic acids caffeic acid p-coumaric acid and ellagic acid as well as many flavonoids.
Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between the non-peroxide antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of honey and the presence of honey phenolics she added.
A large number of laboratory and limited clinical studies have confirmed the broad-spectrum antibacterial antifungal and antiviral properties of honey according to Meschwitz.
She said that her team also is finding that honey has antioxidant properties and is an effective antibacterial.
In our antibacterial studies we have been testing honey's activity against E coli Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa among others.*
Without these trash bins the Escherichia coli bacteria they serve would die. And thanks to Rice the how is becoming clearer.
One such biomachine is Ftsh a membrane-bound molecule in E coli made of six protein copies that form two connected hexagonal rings.
He said understanding essential motor proteins in bacteria will be important as researchers begin to apply DCA to advance human health.
Another possibility is that commensal bacteria in the gut could offer humans a helping hand in digesting milk.
The team is now assaying Africans'gut bacteria to see if that might be the case.
The shrub bacteria are more like what they found in open prairie than in the forest.
because the product isn't pasteurized it contains good bacteria that can increase lactose absorption.
me because regardless of the bacteria raw milk and pasteurized milk have the same amount of lactose in them Gardner said.
whether their digestive systems adapted to the additional bacteria in raw milk. We brought in focus groups of lactose-intolerant people to get feedback before we started the study
and balances between beneficial and potentially harmful bacteria which characterizes a healthy gut microbiota is disturbed in IBS patients.
Probably the best example of this interaction is the discovery that IBS symptoms develop in up to 10 percent of previously healthy subjects after a single episode of gastroenteritis caused by an infection through bacterial pathogens like Salmonella Shighella or Campylobacter
and treatment we have to identify more of the various functions of the intestinal bacteria.
With regard to clinical applications bacterial functions are even more important than their types. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Gastroenterological Association.
#Maize and bacteria: A one-two punch knocks copper out of stamp sandscientists have known for years that together bacteria
and plants can remediate contaminated sites. Ramakrishna Wusirika of Michigan Technological University has determined that how you add bacteria to the mix can make a big difference.
He has also shed light on the biochemical pathways that allow plants and bacteria to clean up some of the worst soils on the planet
while increasing their fertility. Wusirika an associate professor of biological sciences first collected stamp sands near the village of Gay in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Then Wusirika and his team planted maize in the stamp sand incorporating bacteria in four different ways:
2. coating seed with bacteria and planting it; 3. germinating seeds and planting them in soil to
which bacteria were added; and4. the conventional method immersing the roots of maize seedlings in bacteria
and planting them in stamp sand. After 45 days the team uprooted the plants and measured their dry weight.
All maize grown with bacteria was significantly more vigorous--from two to five times larger--than the maize grown in stamp sand alone.
The usual technique--applying bacteria to seedlings'roots before transplanting--works fine in the lab
But the mere fact that all the plants grown with bacteria did so well also piqued his curiosity.
When we saw this we wondered what the bacteria were doing to the soil Wusirika said.
The bacteria are also changing copper into a form that the plants can take up. With bacteria the exchangeable copper is increased three times he said.
There's still a lot of copper that's not available but it is moving in the right direction.
By analyzing metabolic compounds the team was able to show that the bacteria enhance photosynthesis
Bacteria also appear to affect the amount phenolics produced by the maize. Phenolics are antioxidants similar to those in grapes and red wine.
Compared to plants grown in normal soil without bacteria plants grown in stamp sand alone showed a fivefold increase in phenolics.
However phenolics in plants grown in stamp sand with bacteria showed a lesser increase. Growing in stamp sand is very stressful for plants
Adding the metal-resistant bacteria enables the plants to cope with stress better resulting in reduced levels of phenolics.
but wastewater carries microorganisms such as viruses bacteria and protozoa that can contaminate food and cause disease.
and regulations for the reuse of wastewater they present only threshold concentrations for bacteria such as E coli not viruses.
#Predators delay pest resistance to Bt cropscrops genetically modified with the bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) produce proteins that kill pest insects.
Bt is a soil bacterium that produces proteins that are toxic to some species of caterpillars
and cotton plants genetically engineered to produce proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). These proteins kill some key pests
E coli has also been a problem historically and continues to be on an industry-wide basis said James Pettigrew.
Consumer concerns about bacterial resistance to antibiotics have prompted the swine industry to seek additional methods to protect the health of pigs including special feed additives.
The researchers conducted two experiments to test the beneficial effects of adding plant extracts to pig diets to combat PRRS and E coli.
In both experiments half of the pigs in each dietary treatment were challenged with either E coli
E coli a bacterial illness of the gut is marked by diarrhea decrease in appetite decrease in body weight and in some cases a higher mortality rate.
E coli is especially dangerous post-weaning as pigs adapt to new feed and new environments Pettigrew said.
The pigs in the study challenged with E coli that had been fed any of the three plant extracts had a lower frequency of diarrhea (20 percent) than the pigs fed the control diet (40 percent.
The pigs fed plant extracts were more efficient (40 percent) in feed use than the pigs fed the control diet in the E coli-challenged group
because feeding plant extracts reduced the inflammation caused by E coli and the PRRS virus. In production animals inflammation is costly.
The disease is caused by a bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum which is transmitted by the psyllid said Dr. Ron French Agrilife Extension plant pathologist in Amarillo.
and by then the insect has transmitted already the bacterium into the plant especially if that psyllid flew into the field.
and transmit the bacterium from plant to plant French said. French is conducting his studies using alternative controls as a part of the U s. Department of agriculture-National Institute of Food
so that any negative impacts the psyllid bacterium disease or pesticide use are having on the plant can translate into improved yields.
The improvised filter should trap any bacteria producing fresh uncontaminated water. In fact an MIT team has discovered that this low-tech filtration system can produce up to four liters of drinking water a day--enough to quench the thirst of a typical person.
In a paper published this week in the journal PLOS ONE the researchers demonstrate that a small piece of sapwood can filter out more than 99 percent of the bacteria E coli from water.
while blocking most types of bacteria. Co-author Rohit Karnik an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT says sapwood is a promising low-cost
Picking the right plantfinally the team flowed inactivated E coli-contaminated water through the wood filter.
When they examined the xylem under a fluorescent microscope they saw that bacteria had accumulated around pit membranes in the first few millimeters of the wood.
Counting the bacterial cells in the filtered water the researchers found that the sapwood was able to filter out more than 99 percent of E coli from water.
Karnik says sapwood likely can filter most types of bacteria the smallest of which measure about 200 nanometers.
and butterflies can pick up fungal bacterial or viral infections that might be as benign as the sniffles
In total we found eight major groups of animal pathogens that are transmitted potentially at flowers including a trypanosomatid fungi bacteria
Epidemic typhus is caused an infectious disease by a bacterium transmitted between people by body lice. The disease spreads where conditions are crowded and unsanitary.
Chocolate Safetythe roasting process kills bacteria on the cocoa seeds. Because of the high fat low moisture content chocolate generally does not spoil.
How our gut bacteria metabolize complex carbohydrates from fruits, vegetableswe are all aware of the health benefits of dietary fiber.
and institutions in Canada and Sweden has begun to uncover how our gut bacteria metabolize the complex dietary carbohydrates found in fruits and vegetables.
Trillions of bacteria live in human intestines--there are about ten times more bacterial cells in the average person's body than human ones.
Known as microbiota these bacteria have a vital role to play in human health: they are central to our metabolism and well-being.
The research team has uncovered how one group of gut bacteria known as Bacteroidetes digest complex sugars known as xyloglucans.
They show that about 92 per cent of the population harbors bacteria with a variant of the gene sequence according to a survey of public genome data from 250 adult humans.
Understanding how these bacteria digest complex carbohydrates informs studies on a wide range of nutritional issues.
and prebiotics (the consumption of foods or supplements intended to stimulate the production of healthy bacteria in the gut).
Its been appreciated for a long time that our symbiotic gut bacteria provide us with greatly expanded abilities to digest dietary fiber.
In this study we took an empirical approach to decipher how one model gut bacterium digests one type of fiber that is abundant in the foods we eat.
and vegetables and how and why the good bacteria do what they do. Professor Gideon Davies who led the research at York University says
for this we rely on our gut bacteria. This work is helping us to understand the science of that process.
and medicinesbright pink-orange microalgae found in salt lakes and coastal waters could become a renewable source of food plastics health products
and businesses from eight countries including world leading experts in the biochemistry of Dunaliella in large-scale cultivation of microalgae in novel harvesting technologies and in bioprocessing development.
Together they aim to set a world benchmark for a biorefinery based on microalgae. Plans include the largest commercial cultivation of the single-cell organisms in water raceways lakes and photobioreactors.
The project hopes to demonstrate the business case for global investment in algae biorefineries and in large-scale production of microalgae within three years in order to raise investment for the first prototype D-Factory in Europe.
The high salinity and light intensity turns the microalgae orange by producing protective carotenoids. The pink-orange of many salt lakes containing Dunaliella is intensified by the presence of archaea fellow single-celled organisms.**
IOTA is studying the biochemical pathways that produce Dunaliella's essential metabolites--small chemicals synthesised by the microalgae that can form the building blocks of more complex therapeutically useful natural products.
Bovine TB caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis not only infects cattle but other livestock and wildlife.
various environmental factors as well as differences in the TB bacteria may also affect susceptibility. If we can choose animals with better genotypes for TB resistance then we can apply this information in new breeding programs alongside other control strategies.
Roberts is also planning to study how the body's natural gut bacteria impact the digestion of berry-based compounds.
#Bacterial fibers critical to human, avian infectionescherichia coli--a friendly and ubiquitous bacterial resident in the guts of humans and other animals--may occasionally colonize regions outside the intestines.
and her colleagues examine one such bacterial adversary Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). The research conducted in collaboration with scientists at the University of Florida Gainesville appears in the current issue of the journal PLOS ONE.
The researchers targeted a specific group of threadlike fibers known as E coli common pilus (ECP) which adorn bacterial cell surfaces.
In the first study of its kind they analyzed the way these structures contribute to APEC's ability to cause infection
and form dense cell aggregates known as biofilms. APEC infections are a serious threat to poultry causing both systemic and localized infections collectively known as colibacillosis.
Avian Pathogenic E coli (APEC) belong to a broad group of extraintestinal pathogenic E coli (Expec) strains. Colibacillosis caused by APEC in birds leads to serious illness often attacking the avian respiratory system producing systemic
Many types of bacteria produce extracellular surface fibers like ECP enabling them to adhere to one another as well as to various surfaces.
But such fibers or pili perform other vital functions particularly in the case of pathogenic bacteria Pili including those projecting from the surfaces of E coli are capable of recognizing specific host cell receptors during their initial phase of colonization.
Bacteria make further use of their pili to form cellular biofilms. Such bacterial aggregates are of clinical importance as they provide reservoirs for pathogenic organisms to persist in the host and often display increased resistance to antibiotics.
E coli common pilus (ECP) was identified originally in an Expec form known to cause neonatal meningitis in humans
but was recognized later as a component in all classes of E coli--both pathogenic and benign.
While E coli bacteria exist primarily as beneficial residents of the human intestine extraintestinal variants are responsible for diarrheal diseases like hemorrhagic colitis as well as urinary tract infections neonatal meningitis sepsis and pneumonia.
The toll of such diseases--particularly in the developing world--is substantial claiming some 2. 5 million lives per year.
and evaluate its contribution in the early stage of biofilm formation and host cell recognition.
which was associated previousely with human pathogenic E coli. The authors stress that the results confirm that APEC and human pathogenic E coli strains share virulence traits.
They further speculate that ecpa may permit the persistence of E coli bacteria in the intestine where they exist in a non-threatening state before migrating to alternate extraintestinal sites becoming pathogenic.
Environmental conditions including low ph low growth temperature and high acetate concentration have been shown to upregulate the expression of ECP in human E coli strains that cause urinary tract infections meningitis and diarrheal diseases.
In the current study an APEC strain was found to adhere to human cervical cells in a manner similar to human Expec infections.
Further the results showed that adorning APEC with anti-ECP antibodies--a process known as opsonization--could significantly inhibit bacterial adherence.
The formation of biofilms is a common bacterial property including in E coli where the adaptation increases survivability inside
Bacteria forming biofilms frequently display antibiotic resistance and can be tenacious foes to combat medically.
Deletion of ECP-related genes was shown to reduce biofilm production. Finally the study attempted to evaluate APEC virulence in baby chicks using strains with deleted ECP genes.
although the gene of ECP was found in a large number of APEC these bacteria express this gene differently
or in biofilm Mellata says. Elucidating how the expression of some genes is turned on or off by different factors will help us understand how these bacteria cause disease.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Arizona State university. The original article was written by Richard Harth.
In addition fermented dairy products may exert beneficial effects against diabetes through probiotic bacteria and a special form of Vitamin k (part of the menaquinone family) associated with fermentation.
which spreads a bacterium that causes zebra chip disease. Such low attack rates are unlikely to cause population declines of this pest.
and the adoption of transgenic Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis cotton which is modified to express its own pesticide the researchers found that the value of the pest control services dropped 79 percent from a high of $23. 96 million in 1990
studies showa large body of literature has shown that genetically-modified plants that produce proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to protect themselves from insect pests have little to no effect on a wide range of nontarget insects.
The ARF binding mode to DNA has never been described in bacteria or animals. It appears to be exclusive to plants
#Bacterial toxin potential trigger for multiple sclerosisresearchers from Weill Cornell Medical College have added to the growing body of evidence that multiple sclerosis may be triggered by a toxin produced by common foodborne bacteria.
Epsilon toxin may be responsible for triggering MS. Epsilon toxin is produced by certain strains of Clostridium perfringens a spore-forming bacterium that is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the United states. The U s. Centers for Disease Control
Of the 37 food samples 13.5%were positive for bacteria and 2. 7%were positive for the epsilon toxin gene.
#Electrical generator uses bacterial spores to harness power of evaporating watera new type of electrical generator uses bacterial spores to harness the untapped power of evaporating water according to research conducted at the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired
A soil bacterium called Bacillus subtilis wrinkles as it dries out like a grape becoming a raisin forming a tough dormant spore.
#How a versatile gut bacterium helps us get our daily dietary fiberuniversity of British columbia researchers have discovered the genetic machinery that turns a common gut bacterium into The swiss Army knife of the digestive tract--helping us metabolize a main
While they are vital to our diet the long chains of natural polymeric carbohydrates that make up dietary fibre are impossible for humans to digest without the aid of our resident bacteria says UBC professor Harry Brumer with UBC
This newly discovered sequence of genes enables Bacteroides ovatus to chop up xyloglucan a major type of dietary fibre found in many vegetables--from lettuce leaves to tomato fruits.
About 92 per cent of the population harbours bacteria with a variant of the gene sequence according to the researchers'survey of public genome data from 250 adult humans.
whether other groups in the consortium of gut bacteria work in concert with or in competition with Bacteroides ovatus to target these
and other complex carbohydrates says Brumer. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of British columbia.
A major criticism of GMOS Pepper notes focuses on cases where genes from other species â#even bacterial ones â#have been added to an organism to achieve a desired trait.
The presence of ants greatly reduces bacterial abundance on surfaces of leaves and has a visibly positive effect on plant health.
Study results indicate that symbiotic bacteria colonizing the ants inhibit pathogen growth on the leaves.
Detailed analysis of the bacterial composition on the surfaces of the leaves suggested that the presence of mutualistic ants changed the bacterial populations and reduced harmful pathogens.
and parasitic ants and tested the effect of the extracts on the growth of bacterial pathogens in the lab. Plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae was sensitive to the application of leg extracts of both ant species
In the next step the scientist isolated and identified bacteria from the legs of the ants.
In lab tests bacterial strains of the genera Bacillus Lactococcus Pantoea and Burkholderia effectively inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas bacteria isolated from infected acacia leaves.
Interestingly some of the bacterial genera associated with the ants are known to produce antibiotic substances.
In the future we will have to include bacteria and other microorganisms in our considerations says Wilhelm Boland head of the Department of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute.
Studies on symbiotic relationships between ants and myrmecophytic plants should not overlook the role of bacterial partners that help the ants protect their plants.
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