Pilegaardstafford9543
t. However, data on the effect of B. subtilis on C. jejuni biofilms are scarce. Our study shows that the B. subtilis natural isolate PS-216 prevents adhesion to the abiotic surfaces and the development of submerged C. jejuni biofilm during coculture and destroys the preestablished C. jejuni biofilm. These insights are important for development of novel applications of B. subtilis that will reduce the use of antibiotics in human and animal health and increase productivity in animal breeding.The biosynthesis and incorporation of polyunsaturated fatty acids into phospholipid membranes are unique features of certain marine Gammaproteobacteria inhabiting high-pressure and/or low-temperature environments. In these bacteria, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids are produced via the classical dissociated type II fatty acid synthase mechanism, while omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 205n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 226n-3) are produced by a hybrid polyketide/fatty acid synthase-encoded by the pfa genes-also referred to as the secondary lipid synthase mechanism. In this work, phenotypes associated with partial or complete loss of monounsaturated biosynthesis are shown to be compensated for by severalfold increased production of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the model marine bacterium Photobacterium profundum SS9. One route to suppression of these phenotypes could be achieved by transposition of insertion sequences within or upstream of the fabD coding seqo two genetically distinct co-occurring pathways that utilize the same pool of intracellular precursors. Using a genetic approach, new insights into the interactions between these two biosynthetic pathways have been gained. Specifically, core fatty acid biosynthesis genes previously thought to be essential were found to be nonessential in strains harboring both pathways due to functional overlap between the two pathways. These results provide new routes to genetically optimize long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in bacteria and reveal a possible ecological role for maintaining multiple pathways for lipid synthesis in a single bacterium.An outer membrane c-type cytochrome (OmcZ) in Geobacter sulfurreducens is essential for optimal current production in microbial fuel cells. OmcZ exists in two forms, small and large, designated OmcZS and OmcZL, respectively. However, it is still not known how these two structures are formed. A mutant with a disruption of the GSU2075 gene encoding a subtilisin-like serine protease (designated ozpA for the OmcZ protease), which is located downstream of omcZ, produced low currents at a level similar to that of the omcZ-deficient mutant strain. Biochemical analyses revealed that the ozpA mutant accumulated OmcZL and did not produce OmcZS, which is thought to be a mature form that is essential for the extracellular electron transfer to the electrode. A heterologous expression system cell lysate from an Escherichia coli strain producing OzpA cleaved OmcZL and generated OmcZS as the proteolytic product. Among the culture supernatant, loosely bound outer surface, and intracellular protein fractions from wild-type G. rs during maturation, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. This study identifies a subtilisin-like protease, OzpA, which plays a role in cleaving OmcZ and generating the mature form of OmcZ (OmcZS). OzpA is essential for current production and, thus, the proteolytic maturation of OmcZ. This is a novel regulation of the c-type cytochrome for G. sulfurreducens extracellular electron transfer. This study also provides new insights into the design strategy and development of microbial extracellular electron transfer for an efficient energy conversion from chemical energy to electricity.The disproportionation activity of cyclodextrin glucosyltransferase (CGTase; EC 2.4.1.19) can be used to convert small molecules into glycosides, thereby enhancing their solubility and stability. However, CGTases also exhibit a competing hydrolysis activity. The +2 subsite of the substrate binding cleft plays an important role in both the disproportionation and hydrolysis activities, but almost all known mutations at this site decrease disproportionation activity. In this study, Leu277 of the CGTase from Bacillus stearothermophilus NO2, located near both the +2 subsite and the catalytic acid/base Glu253, was modified to assess the effect of side chain size at this position on disproportionation and hydrolysis activities. The best mutant, L277M, exhibited a reduced Km for the acceptor substrate maltose (0.48 mM versus 0.945 mM) and an increased kcat/Km (1,175 s-1 mM-1 versus 686.1 s-1 mM-1), compared with those of the wild-type enzyme. The disproportionation-to-hydrolysis ratio of L277M was 2.4-fold greater threctly affect the acceptor subsite also enhance enzymatic activity.Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that provide critical ecosystem services in coastal environments worldwide. Marine fungi are often overlooked in microbiome and seagrass studies, despite terrestrial fungi having critical functional roles as decomposers, pathogens, or endophytes in global ecosystems. BMS-265246 clinical trial Here, we characterize the distribution of fungi associated with the seagrass Zostera marina, using leaves, roots, and rhizosphere sediment from 16 locations across its full biogeographic range. Using high-throughput sequencing of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and 18S rRNA gene, we first measured fungal community composition and diversity. We then tested hypotheses of neutral community assembly theory and the degree to which deviations suggested that amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were plant selected or dispersal limited. Finally, we identified a core mycobiome and investigated the global distribution of differentially abundant ASVs. We found that the fungal community is significanhis study, we report the results of a global effort to characterize the fungi associated with the seagrass Zostera marina across its full biogeographic range. Although we defined a putative global core fungal community, it is apparent from the many fungal sequences and predicted functional guilds that had no matches to existing databases that general knowledge of seagrass-associated fungi and marine fungi is lacking. This work serves as an important foundational step toward future work investigating the functional ramifications of fungi in the marine ecosystem.