Manipulation of host-cell pathways by bacterial pathogens

Bacterial pathogens operate by attacking crucial intracellular pathways in their hosts. These pathogens usually target more than one intracellular pathway and often interact at several points in each of these pathways to commandeer them fully. Although different bacterial pathogens tend to exploit similar pathway components in the host, the way in which they 'hijack' host cells usually differs. Knowledge of how pathogens target distinct cytoskeletal components and immune-cell signalling pathways is rapidly advancing, together with the understanding of bacterial virulence at a molecular level. Studying how these bacterial pathogens subvert host-cell pathways is central to understanding infectious disease.     

Inhibition of bacterial ice nucleators by fish antifreeze glycoproteins

Certain bacteria promote the formation of ice in super-cooled water by means of ice nucleators which contain a unique protein associated with the cell membrane. Ice nucleators in general are believed to act by mimicking the structure of an ice crystal surface, thus imposing an ice-like arrangement on the water molecules in contact with the nucleating surface and lowering the energy necessary for the initiation of ice formation. Quantitative investigation of the bacterial ice-nucleating process has recently been made possible by the discovery of certain bacteria that shed stable membrane vesicles with ice nucleating activity. The opposite effect, inhibition of ice formation, has been described for a group of glycoproteins found in different fish and insect species. This group of substances, termed antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs), promotes the supercooling of water with no appreciable effect on the equilibrium freezing point or melting temperature. Substantial evidence now indicates that AFGPs act by binding to a growing ice crystal and slowing crystal growth. As the ice-nucleating protein surface is believed to have a structure similar to an embryonic ice crystal, AFGPs might be predicted to interact directly with a bacterial ice-nucleating site. We report here that AFGPs from the antarctic fish Dissostichus mawsoni inhibit the ice-nucleating activity of membrane vesicles from the bacterium Erwinia herbicola. The inhibition effect shows saturation at high concentration of AFGP and conforms to a simple binding reaction between the AFGP and the nucleation centre.     

SPE-HPLC测定土霉素菌渣中土霉素的残留效价

使用固相萃取-高效液相色谱法检测土霉素菌渣中土霉素的残留效价,样品用甲醇/冰乙酸/0.5mol/L Na Cl(V/V/V=5/4/2)提取,经Waters Sep-Pak C18固相萃取柱净化,用高效液相色谱仪进行检测.色谱柱为C18柱,流动相为乙腈:0.02 mol/L磷酸二氢钠缓冲溶液(p H=2.5,1 L溶液含0.48g Na2EDTA)25∶75(V∶V),检测波长为354 nm,流速为1.0 m L/min,进样量为10μL,柱温为30°C.结果表明,土霉素的方法检出限为0.032 mg/L,在不同加标量(1、2、5 mg/kg)下,回收率可达89.2%~97.4%,相对标准偏差为1.6%~2.4%(n=6),标准曲线的线性关系良好.该方法操作方便,灵敏度高且检测成本较低,可广泛用于土霉素菌渣的检测,并且为土霉素菌渣资源化提供基础数据.     

微生物异化还原及其对硝基苯的耦合降解

通过静态实验对地下环境中微生物异化还原降解硝基苯作用及其影响因素进行了研究。结果表明,铁还原微生物能以简单有机物为碳源生长并还原针铁矿,硝基苯可以作为唯一碳源被铁还原微生物利用,随着硝基苯浓度的升高,铁还原微生物的生长逐渐受到抑制,硝基苯浓度为600mg/L时,铁还原微生物的生长停滞。针铁矿浓度0.3mg/L、铁还原微生物浓度2?08cells/mL时耦合体系对硝基苯降解效果最好,硝基苯降解率达78.5%以上。腐植酸能作为电子穿梭体促进耦合体系中硝基苯的衰减,硝基苯降解率达88.8%以上,而维生素B2（VB2）抑制了硝基苯的降解。     

Mechanism of colour discrimination by a bacterial sensory rhodopsin

A photosensitive protein resembling the visual pigments of invertebrates enables phototactic archaebacteria to distinguish colour. This protein exists in two spectrally-distinct forms, one of which is a transient photoproduct of the other and each of which undergoes photochemical reactions controlling the cell's swimming behaviour. Activation of a single pigment molecule in the cell is sufficient to signal the flagellar motor. This signal-transduction mechanism makes evident a colour-sensing capability inherent in the retinal/protein chromophore.     

Recognition of bacterial glycosphingolipids by natural killer T cells

Natural killer T (NKT) cells constitute a highly conserved T lymphocyte subpopulation that has the potential to regulate many types of immune responses through the rapid secretion of cytokines. NKT cells recognize glycolipids presented by CD1d, a class I-like antigen-presenting molecule. They have an invariant T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) alpha-chain, but whether this invariant TCR recognizes microbial antigens is still controversial. Here we show that most mouse and human NKT cells recognize glycosphingolipids from Sphingomonas, Gram-negative bacteria that do not contain lipopolysaccharide. NKT cells are activated in vivo after exposure to these bacterial antigens or bacteria, and mice that lack NKT cells have a marked defect in the clearance of Sphingomonas from the liver. These data suggest that NKT cells are T lymphocytes that provide an innate-type immune response to certain microorganisms through recognition by their antigen receptor, and that they might be useful in providing protection from bacteria that cannot be detected by pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptor 4.     

Principles of the eradication or control of tsetse flies

The success of attempts to control African trypanosomiasis afflicting both men and animals through the destruction of the tsetse vector depends on a realistic assessment of human and ecological factors in infested regions. The complete eradication of tsetse is at present possible only in limited areas, and elsewhere the advantages of periodic control campaigns have to be weighed carefully against their cost.