Journal of Applied Microbiology最新文献

Aims: Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) improve microbial community structure, promote crop growth, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural soils; however, the effects of PGPR fermentation on the growth and salt tolerance of tomato plants remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of the PGPR Stutzerimonas stutzeri NRCB010 on the microbial communities, tomato growth, and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in saline soil by performing a greenhouse pot experiment.

Methods and results: The experiment was conducted under two soil salt concentrations (0 and 3 g kg-1 NaCl) and three treatments (LSFJ broth, NRCB010 cells, and NRCB010 culture). Both salt stress and NRCB010 treatments significantly affected the physicochemical properties and microbial community structure of tomato rhizosphere soil. Treatment with 3 g kg-1 NaCl significantly reduced the shoot and root dry weights of the plants compared with those of the control plants. Application of NRCB010 cells as well as that of culture promoted the growth of tomato seedlings and alleviated salt stress. The copy number changes in the nosZⅠ gene on day 3 and amoA gene on day 25 demonstrated that NRCB010 cells significantly reduced soil N2O emissions when treated with 0 g kg-1 NaCl. Furthermore, soil physicochemical properties, plant biomass, and soil microbial diversity were correlated with each other.

Conclusions: The results emphasize the enormous potential of S. stutzeri NRCB010 culture to resist abiotic stress, promote crop growth, and improve the rhizosphere soil microenvironment; however, its ability to decrease N2O emissions is constrained by soil salinity.

Aims: The aim of this study was to identify sesamin as a Casein hydrolase P (ClpP) inhibitor and to determine whether it could attenuate the virulence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Methods and results: Through fluorescence resonance energy transfer screening, a natural compound sesamin demonstrated a significant inhibitory effect on ClpP enzyme activity with an IC50 of 20.62 μg/ml. Sesamin suppressed the expression of virulence factors of MRSA such as α-hemolysin (Hla) and Panton-Valentine leucocidin by protein immunoblotting. Thermal shift assay and cellular thermal shift assay showed that sesamin could bind to ClpP and enhance the thermal stability of ClpP. Furthermore, the binding affinity between sesamin and ClpP was determined by surface plasmon resonance with a KD value of 7.18 × 10-6 M. Molecular docking, dynamics simulations and point mutation analysis confirmed the stability of the sesamin-ClpP complex with a -10.184 kcal/mol total binding energy and identified PHE-174 in ClpP as a key binding site. In mice pneumonia model, sesamin combined vancomycin treatment markedly reduced the pathogenicity of MRSA-infected mice, offering protection against fatal lung infections.

Conclusions: Overall, these findings validate sesamin as a promising compound that targets ClpP, reducing virulence factor expression, that holds potential as a hit compound against MRSA infections.

Aim: The primary objective of the study was to assess the applicability of a growth model initially developed for Aspergillus brasiliensis on solid surfaces to other micromycetes, specifically Fusarium and Cladosporium. Additionally, the research identifies conditions for complete growth inhibition of these micromycetes using two distinct sources of a nonthermal plasma (NTP).

Methods and results: The growth model incorporates two critical parameters: growth rate and growth delay, which effectively describe the growth dynamics and the impact of NTP treatments. For complete inactivation of Fusarium solani and Cladosporium halotolerans, a single 10-minute exposure of a 0-, 24-, 48-, or 72-hour-old culture to a diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD) was sufficient. A point-to-ring (PtR) corona discharge completely suppressed the growth of freshly inoculated cultures and 24-hour-old cultures. However, when 48- and 72-hour-old cultures were exposed to the point-to-ring NTP for 10 min, only partial inactivation was observed.

Conclusions: The article verifies a model for simulating the surface growth of micromycetes and evaluates the efficacy of two NTP sources in deactivating F. solani and C. halotolerans.

Aims: Supplementing Lactobacillus alongside antibiotic treatment was a curative strategy to modulate gut microbiota and alleviate antibiotic-associated dysbiosis. But the lactobacilli that are used as probiotics are sensitive or have a low level of resistance to antibiotics, so they usually cannot achieve their beneficial effect, since they are killed by the applied antibiotics. This work aimed to develop the highly resistant Lactiplantibacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum ATCC14917 to cephalexin and evaluate its recovery effects of antibiotic-resistant L. plantarum on the antibiotic-disturbed intestinal microbiota using a mice model.

Methods and results: After successive growth in lactic acid bacteria susceptibility medium broth containing a gradually increasing concentration of cephalexin for 70 days, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of L. plantarum ATCC14917 to cephalexin significantly increased from 16 to 8192 μg ml-1, but stabilized at 4096 μg ml-1. After sequencing and sequence analysis, no mutated genes were detected on mobile elements, showing that horizontal transfer of mutated genes could not occur. Compared to the control group (Con), feeding mice with cephalexin (1 mg ml-1; Cep) led to a decrease in alpha diversity. However, concurrently used cephalexin and L. plantarum (Cep + LpR) increased the alpha diversity in both microbial richness and diversity. The Cep + LpR group showed a lower distance with the Con group than either Cep or Cep + LpS groups, suggesting that resistant L. plantarum treatment was more effective than the original strain for the recovery of intestinal microbiota. Compared to the cephalexin-treated group, concurrent ingestion of cephalexin together with resistant L. plantarum significantly increased the proportion of beneficial bacteria and decreased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and abundance of potential pathogens.

Conclusions: The use of antibiotic-resistant L. plantarum ATCC14917 contributed to a much faster and richer recovery of the gut microbiota disturbed by antibiotic treatment compared to the original strain.

Aim: The aim of this study was to isolate Klebsiella spp. from clinically healthy animals fed diets with or without antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP). Additionally, the study evaluated whether the inclusion of growth promoters affected the recovery of multi-drug-resistant isolates.

Methods and results: A total of 144 isolates were obtained from rectal swabs on Simmons citrate agar supplemented with 1% inositol. Of these, 45 non-replicative isolates underwent extensive characterization, including molecular and phenotypic analyses. Sequencing identified that 77% were Klebsiella pneumoniae, 14.5% K. aerogenes, and 8.5% K. variicola. Isolates exhibiting the same polymorphic profiles were detected across different animals and treatments, with and without AGP. Seventy-one percent were multidrug-resistant, as determined by disk diffusion testing. The isolates harbored genes such as mcr-1, blaCTX-M-2, sul2, tetB, qnrS, and dfrA, among others. Additionally, genes encoding siderophores like enterobactin, aerobactin, and yersiniabactin were detected via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Thirty-nine isolates were strong biofilm producers, 45% moderate, and 16% weak in vitro tests. The predominant genetic profiles included single, double, or triple-locus variants of ST25, ST147, and ST4691. Two novel sequence types were identified: ST7694 (K. pneumoniae) and ST7699 (K. variicola). Survival and persistence analyses in Galleria mellonella showed that these isolates exhibited a virulent phenotype and an enhanced capacity for multiplication in the early hours of infection.

Conclusion: Clinically healthy swine act as reservoirs for multidrug-resistant Klebsiella spp. exhibiting significant virulence phenotypes. The identification of novel sequence types contributes to epidemiological surveillance and the One Health framework.

Aims: This study aims to evaluate the antiviral activity of sophorolipids against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and develop an anti-herpetic formulation for treatment of cutaneous lesions caused by HSV-1.

Methods and results: The antiherpetic activity of sophorolipids was evaluated in vitro against both sensitive (KOS) and acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 strains. used as a model to assess the antiviral activity of sophorolipids against non-enveloped viruses Poliovirus was used as a model to assess the antiviral activity of sophorolipids against non-enveloped viruses. The results showed that sophorolipids exhibit effective antiviral activity against both strains with low cytotoxicity to VERO cells. However, antiviral activity against poliovirus was not observed, suggesting that sophorolipids specifically target enveloped virus. In vivo, the sophorolipid-based cream formulation demonstrated good stability and efficacy in reducing herpetic lesions, including those caused by the drug-resistant strain. Promising antiviral activity was confirmed through histopathological analysis, indicating a reduced occurrence of tissue damage in the treated group compared to the viral control.

Conclusions: Sophorolipids, whether isolated or incorporated as an active ingredient in a cream formulation, represent a promising and innovative alternative for the treatment of cutaneous lesions caused by HSV-1, including strains resistant to the reference drug.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Bacillus subtilis supplementation on the health of weaned piglets and whether B. subtilis supplementation can reduce the damage of piglets induced by ETEC K88.

Methods and results: The experiment was designed with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, comprising the control group, B. subtilis (PRO) group, Escherichia coli K88 (ETEC) group, and B. subtilis + ETEC (PRO + ETEC) group. Regardless of the presence of ETEC, the addition of PRO increased the piglets' final body weight, average daily gain, and daily feed intake. Additionally, PRO primarily achieves a reduction in heat-stable enterotoxin (ST) levels, suppresses the expression of NF-κB, TLR4, and MyD88 mRNA in the jejunum and ileum, lowers pro-inflammatory factors in the blood and small intestine, enhances the expression of tight junction proteins in the small intestine, improves the composition of the colonic microbiota, increases colonic short-chain fatty acid contents, thereby alleviating diarrhea and mitigating bodily damage caused by ETEC K88 infection.

Conclusion: The addition of B. subtilis MZ-01 alleviated ETEC K88-induced piglet diarrhea by reducing ST levels, decreasing pro-inflammatory factors in the blood and intestine, and enhancing the intestinal barrier and tight junction proteins.

Aims: To determine the optimum conditions for extracting Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG) from Eucommia ulmoides leaves during fermentation by Coprinellus disseminatus. At the same time, the EUG characteristics were characterized.

Methods and results: The ability of C. disseminatus to secrete degrading enzymes, including enzyme activity and lignocellulose content, was observed by culturing C. disseminatus on a medium with different formulations. Based on the optimal formula, the fermentation conditions were determined by an orthogonal test and EUG was extracted. After that, the characteristic parameters of EUG were determined by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, SEM, POM, DSC, XRD and GPC. The results showed that the lignin and hemicellulose contents in Eucommia leaves decreased significantly with the increase of fermentation days, and C. disseminatus mediated fermentation had an obvious damage effect on the tissue of Eucommia leaves. At the same time, At the same time, xylan can be used as an initiator to induce the expression of degradation-related enzymes. The extraction yield of EUG from Eucommia ulmoides leaves after fermentation was 3.06%, which was significantly improved. The optimum fermentation conditions were 4% inoculum, 28°C fermentation temperature, and pH = 5. The results of infrared FT-IR and 1H-NMR showed that the extract had typical characteristics of EUG, and the surface and quenching part of the EUG were smooth, as observed by SEM. In addition, DSC and XRD analysis show that there are two crystal types, α and β, in the crystallization process of molten EUG. The main crystallization type of EUG extracted from fermented leaves was β type.

Conclusion: The ability of C. disseminatus to produce degrading enzymes can effectively improve the extraction rate of EUG under optimal fermentation process. The method can maintain the integrity of gutta-percha better. EUG has the characteristics of good crystallinity, many β crystal types and high molecular weight.

Mycoplasmas are significant pathogens in human health, implicated in a range of clinical conditions from respiratory infections to urogenital disorders. Their resistance to commonly used antibiotics poses a substantial challenge to treatment and control. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the global distribution of clinical mycoplasmas, elucidate their resistance to various antibiotics, and identify the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying their resistance. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted, collating data from peer-reviewed publications between 2012 and 2024. The UK (100%) and Germany (98%) reported high numbers of respiratory mycoplasmas, with 7% and 2% being resistant to macrolides. For urogenital mycoplasmas, Iceland (99%) and Estonia (94%) reported a high prevalence of Mycoplasma species, whereas the UK (85%), France (82%), and the USA (82%) reported a high prevalence of Ureaplasma species. High resistance rates in Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma have been reported in Greenland (100%) and the UK (86%), respectively. The rising resistance rates in these species underscore an urgent need for updated treatment guidelines and the development of novel therapeutic options. Our findings highlight the importance of tailored antibiotic stewardship and the potential of genomic insights in guiding effective treatment strategies.