I have been doing research in the field of Biofilms biology past 19 years and trying to learn how bacteria are interact each other in selective environment especially human oral cavity. Address: Singapore, Singapore
A common strategy by which bacterial pathogens reside in humans is by shifting from a virulent li... more A common strategy by which bacterial pathogens reside in humans is by shifting from a virulent lifestyle, (systemic infection), to a dormant carrier state. Two major serovars ofSalmonella enterica, Typhi and Typhimurium, have evolved a two-component regulatory system to exist insideSalmonella-containing vacuoles in the macrophage, as well as to persist as asymptomatic biofilms in the gallbladder. Here we present evidence that SsrB, a transcriptional regulator encoded on the SPI-2 pathogenicity-island, determines the switch between these two lifestyles by controlling ancestral and horizontally-acquired genes. In the acidic macrophage vacuole, the kinase SsrA phosphorylates SsrB, and SsrB~P relieves silencing of virulence genes and activates their transcription. In the absence of SsrA, unphosphorylated SsrB directs transcription of factors required for biofilm formation specifically by activatingcsgD(agfD), the master biofilm regulator by disrupting the silenced, H-NS-bound promoter. ...
Neutrophils form the first line of host defense against bacterial pathogens. They are rapidly mob... more Neutrophils form the first line of host defense against bacterial pathogens. They are rapidly mobilized to sites of infection where they help marshal host defenses and remove bacteria by phagocytosis. While splenic neutrophils promote marginal zone B cell antibody production in response to administered T cell independent antigens, whether neutrophils shape humoral immunity in other lymphoid organs is controversial. Here we investigate the neutrophil influx following the local injection of Staphylococcus aureus adjacent to the inguinal lymph node and determine neutrophil impact on the lymph node humoral response. Using intravital microscopy we show that local immunization or infection recruits neutrophils from the blood to lymph nodes in waves. The second wave occurs temporally with neutrophils mobilized from the bone marrow. Within lymph nodes neutrophils infiltrate the medulla and interfollicular areas, but avoid crossing follicle borders. In vivo neutrophils form transient and lon...
Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (sp... more Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (species) and intraspecific (genotypic) diversity can have important effects on community structure and function. However, a critical and unresolved question for understanding the ecology of a community is to what extent these two levels of diversity are functionally substitutable? Here we show, for a mixed-species biofilm community composed of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. protegens and Klebsiella pneumoniae, that increased interspecific diversity reduces and functionally substitutes for intraspecific diversity in mediating tolerance to stress. Biofilm populations generated high percentages of genotypic variants, which were largely absent in biofilm communities. Biofilms with either high intra- or interspecific diversity were more tolerant to SDS stress than biofilms with no or low diversity. Unexpectedly, genotypic variants decreased the tolerance of biofilm communities when experimentally i...
Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (sp... more Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (species) and intraspecific (genotypic) diversity can have important effects on community structure and function. However, a critical and unresolved question for understanding the ecology of a community is to what extent these two levels of diversity are functionally substitutable? Here we show, for a mixed-species biofilm community composed of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. protegens and Klebsiella pneumoniae, that increased interspecific diversity reduces and functionally substitutes for intraspecific diversity in mediating tolerance to stress. Biofilm populations generated high percentages of genotypic variants, which were largely absent in biofilm communities. Biofilms with either high intra- or interspecific diversity were more tolerant to SDS stress than biofilms with no or low diversity. Unexpectedly, genotypic variants decreased the tolerance of biofilm communities when experimentally introduced into the communities. For example, substituting P. protegens wild type with its genotypic variant within biofilm communities decreased SDS tolerance by twofold, apparently due to perturbation of interspecific interactions. A decrease in variant frequency was also observed when biofilm populations were exposed to cell-free effluents from another species, suggesting that extracellular factors have a role in selection against the appearance of intraspecific variants. This work demonstrates the functional substitution of inter- and intraspecific diversity for an emergent property of biofilms. It also provides a potential explanation for a long-standing paradox in microbiology, in which morphotypic variants are common in laboratory grown biofilm populations, but are rare in diverse, environmental biofilm communities.The ISME Journal advance online publication, 25 September 2015; doi:10.1038/ismej.2015.159.
Objective: We investigated mutualism in a multispecies community growing in two different model s... more Objective: We investigated mutualism in a multispecies community growing in two different model systems with saliva as the sole source of nutrient. Methods: We used saliva-coated transferable solid phase-polystyrene (Peg) surface and flow cells. Saliva was the sole nutritional source. The flow cells were inoculated with coaggregates for dual- and triple-species biofilms. In Peg experiments, biofilm biomass was quantified using Quantitative Real Time PCR with species-specific primers. In flow cell experiments, fluorescent antibody staining and image analysis were used to determine biomass. Results: Veillonella sp. PK1910 grew in the Peg model as well as in flow cells. Fusobacterium nucleatum ATCC 10953 and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans JP2 were unable to grow as monospecies biofilms in both systems. Biomass in dual species biofilms increased in both systems when Veillonella sp. PK1910 was present as one of the partners. Enhanced growth of all strains was observed in triple-sp...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 produces three polysaccharides, alginate, Psl, and Pel that play dist... more Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 produces three polysaccharides, alginate, Psl, and Pel that play distinct roles in attachment and biofilm formation for monospecies biofilms. Considerably less is known about their role in the development of mixed species biofilm communities. This study has investigated the roles of alginate, Psl, and Pel during biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa in a defined and experimentally informative mixed species biofilm community, consisting of P. aeruginosa, Pseudomonas protegens, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Loss of the Psl polysaccharide had the biggest impact on the integration of P. aeruginosa in the mixed species biofilms, where the percent composition of the psl mutant was significantly lower (0.06%) than its wild-type (WT) parent (2.44%). In contrast, loss of the Pel polysaccharide had no impact on mixed species biofilm development. Loss of alginate or its overproduction resulted in P. aeruginosa representing 8.4 and 18.11%, respectively, of the mixed specie...
Effects of elevated water temperatures and residual chlorine from a thermal discharge at a coasta... more Effects of elevated water temperatures and residual chlorine from a thermal discharge at a coastal nuclear power plant on the biomass and productivity of periphyton and phytoplankton were determined in subtropical Taiwan. Phytoplankton chlorophyll a, but not productivity, was significantly ...
The distribution of a recently described marine bacterium, SBT 033 GenBank Accession No. AY723742... more The distribution of a recently described marine bacterium, SBT 033 GenBank Accession No. AY723742), Pseudoalteromonas ruthenica, at the seawater intake point, outfall and mixing point of an atomic power plant is described, and its ability to form biofilm was investigated. The effectiveness of the antifouling biocide chlorine in the inactivation of planktonic as well as biofilm cells of P. ruthenica was studied in the laboratory. The results show that the planktonic cells were more readily inactivated than the cells enclosed in a biofilm matrix. Viable counting showed that P. ruthenica cells in biofilms were up to 10 times more resistant to chlorine than those in liquid suspension. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy it was shown that significant detachment of P. ruthenica biofilm developed on a glass substratum could be accomplished by treatment with a dose of 1 mg l-1 chlorine. Chlorine-induced detachment led to a significant reduction in biofilm thickness (up to 69%) and substratum coverage (up to 61%), after 5-min contact time. The results show that P. ruthenica has a remarkable ability to form biofilms but chlorine, a common biocide, can be used to effectively kill and detach these biofilms.
The microbial intervention for sustainable management of aquaculture, especially use of probiotic... more The microbial intervention for sustainable management of aquaculture, especially use of probiotics, is one of the most popular and practical approaches towards controlling pathogens. Vibrio harveyi is a well-known pathogenic bacterium, which is associated to a huge economic loss in the aquaculture system by causing vibriosis. The present study is crafted for screening and characterization of anti-Vibrio strains, which were isolated from various traditional fermented Korean foods. A total of 196 strains have been isolated from soybean paste (78 strains), red chili paste (49 strains), soy sauce (18 strains), jeotgal-a salted fish (34 strains), and the gazami crab-Portunus trituberculatus (17 strains). Fifteen strains showed an inhibitory effect on the growth of V. harveyi when subjected to coculture condition. Among the strains isolated, one has been identified as a significant anti-Vibrio strain. Further biochemical characterization and 16S rDNA sequencing revealed it as Pseudoalteromonas aliena, which had been deposited at the Korean Culture Center of Microorganisms (KCCM), Korea and designated as KCCM 11207P. The culture supernatants did not have any antimicrobial properties either in pure or in coculture condition. The culture supernatant was not toxic when supplemented to the swimming crab, Zoea, and Artemia larvae in aquaculture system. The results were very encouraging and showed a significant reduction in accumulated mortality. Here, we reported that pathogenic vibriosis can be controlled by Pseudoalteromonas sp. under in vitro and in vivo conditions. The results indicated that the biotic treatment offers a promising alternative to the use of antibiotics in crab aquaculture.
Seeds ofLathyrus sativus, a legume plant, contain 3-oxalyl and 2,3-dioxalyl DAP (O-DAP), neurotox... more Seeds ofLathyrus sativus, a legume plant, contain 3-oxalyl and 2,3-dioxalyl DAP (O-DAP), neurotoxins which when consumed causes Neurolathyrism or Osteolathyrism, in humans, affecting nervous system and bone formation respectively. Some microorganisms viz virulent and non-virulentSalmonella typhimurium, Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonad have been shown to detoxifyL-alpha,beta-diaminopropionate (DAP), the immediate precursor of O-DAP. The gene coding for diaminopropionate ammonia lyase (DAPAL) which detoxifies DAP was cloned from nonvirulentS. typhimurium PU011 into Escherichia coli DH5alpha and the nucleotides sequenced (1212 bp). Whereas the specific enzyme activity of DAPAL obtained from recombinantE. coli PU018 was 0.346 U/mg, the specific activity of the enzyme from nonvirulentS. typhimurium PU011 was 0.351 U/mg. The DAPAL corresponding to 43 kDa protein was found both in nonvirulentS. typhimurium PU011 andE. coli PU018. The Km value was found to be 0.740 mM and 0.680 mM forS. typhimurium PU011 and 0.741 mM and 0.683 mM forE. coli PU018 when grown in minimal medium (MM+DAP) andL. sativus seed extracts respectively, indicating that both of them were capable of utilizing the neurotoxins present inL. sativus seeds. The biomass, enzyme production and the effect of pH and temperature on DAPAL enzyme activity from both non-virulentS. typhimurium PU011 andE. coli PU018 were found to be similar. The recombinantE. coli PU018 as well as non-virulentS. typhimurium PU011 are as good as pathogenicS. typhimurium in detoxifying DAP, the immediate precursor of O-DAP present inL. sativus seeds.
A common strategy by which bacterial pathogens reside in humans is by shifting from a virulent li... more A common strategy by which bacterial pathogens reside in humans is by shifting from a virulent lifestyle, (systemic infection), to a dormant carrier state. Two major serovars ofSalmonella enterica, Typhi and Typhimurium, have evolved a two-component regulatory system to exist insideSalmonella-containing vacuoles in the macrophage, as well as to persist as asymptomatic biofilms in the gallbladder. Here we present evidence that SsrB, a transcriptional regulator encoded on the SPI-2 pathogenicity-island, determines the switch between these two lifestyles by controlling ancestral and horizontally-acquired genes. In the acidic macrophage vacuole, the kinase SsrA phosphorylates SsrB, and SsrB~P relieves silencing of virulence genes and activates their transcription. In the absence of SsrA, unphosphorylated SsrB directs transcription of factors required for biofilm formation specifically by activatingcsgD(agfD), the master biofilm regulator by disrupting the silenced, H-NS-bound promoter. ...
Neutrophils form the first line of host defense against bacterial pathogens. They are rapidly mob... more Neutrophils form the first line of host defense against bacterial pathogens. They are rapidly mobilized to sites of infection where they help marshal host defenses and remove bacteria by phagocytosis. While splenic neutrophils promote marginal zone B cell antibody production in response to administered T cell independent antigens, whether neutrophils shape humoral immunity in other lymphoid organs is controversial. Here we investigate the neutrophil influx following the local injection of Staphylococcus aureus adjacent to the inguinal lymph node and determine neutrophil impact on the lymph node humoral response. Using intravital microscopy we show that local immunization or infection recruits neutrophils from the blood to lymph nodes in waves. The second wave occurs temporally with neutrophils mobilized from the bone marrow. Within lymph nodes neutrophils infiltrate the medulla and interfollicular areas, but avoid crossing follicle borders. In vivo neutrophils form transient and lon...
Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (sp... more Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (species) and intraspecific (genotypic) diversity can have important effects on community structure and function. However, a critical and unresolved question for understanding the ecology of a community is to what extent these two levels of diversity are functionally substitutable? Here we show, for a mixed-species biofilm community composed of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. protegens and Klebsiella pneumoniae, that increased interspecific diversity reduces and functionally substitutes for intraspecific diversity in mediating tolerance to stress. Biofilm populations generated high percentages of genotypic variants, which were largely absent in biofilm communities. Biofilms with either high intra- or interspecific diversity were more tolerant to SDS stress than biofilms with no or low diversity. Unexpectedly, genotypic variants decreased the tolerance of biofilm communities when experimentally i...
Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (sp... more Diversity has a key role in the dynamics and resilience of communities and both interspecific (species) and intraspecific (genotypic) diversity can have important effects on community structure and function. However, a critical and unresolved question for understanding the ecology of a community is to what extent these two levels of diversity are functionally substitutable? Here we show, for a mixed-species biofilm community composed of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. protegens and Klebsiella pneumoniae, that increased interspecific diversity reduces and functionally substitutes for intraspecific diversity in mediating tolerance to stress. Biofilm populations generated high percentages of genotypic variants, which were largely absent in biofilm communities. Biofilms with either high intra- or interspecific diversity were more tolerant to SDS stress than biofilms with no or low diversity. Unexpectedly, genotypic variants decreased the tolerance of biofilm communities when experimentally introduced into the communities. For example, substituting P. protegens wild type with its genotypic variant within biofilm communities decreased SDS tolerance by twofold, apparently due to perturbation of interspecific interactions. A decrease in variant frequency was also observed when biofilm populations were exposed to cell-free effluents from another species, suggesting that extracellular factors have a role in selection against the appearance of intraspecific variants. This work demonstrates the functional substitution of inter- and intraspecific diversity for an emergent property of biofilms. It also provides a potential explanation for a long-standing paradox in microbiology, in which morphotypic variants are common in laboratory grown biofilm populations, but are rare in diverse, environmental biofilm communities.The ISME Journal advance online publication, 25 September 2015; doi:10.1038/ismej.2015.159.
Objective: We investigated mutualism in a multispecies community growing in two different model s... more Objective: We investigated mutualism in a multispecies community growing in two different model systems with saliva as the sole source of nutrient. Methods: We used saliva-coated transferable solid phase-polystyrene (Peg) surface and flow cells. Saliva was the sole nutritional source. The flow cells were inoculated with coaggregates for dual- and triple-species biofilms. In Peg experiments, biofilm biomass was quantified using Quantitative Real Time PCR with species-specific primers. In flow cell experiments, fluorescent antibody staining and image analysis were used to determine biomass. Results: Veillonella sp. PK1910 grew in the Peg model as well as in flow cells. Fusobacterium nucleatum ATCC 10953 and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans JP2 were unable to grow as monospecies biofilms in both systems. Biomass in dual species biofilms increased in both systems when Veillonella sp. PK1910 was present as one of the partners. Enhanced growth of all strains was observed in triple-sp...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 produces three polysaccharides, alginate, Psl, and Pel that play dist... more Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 produces three polysaccharides, alginate, Psl, and Pel that play distinct roles in attachment and biofilm formation for monospecies biofilms. Considerably less is known about their role in the development of mixed species biofilm communities. This study has investigated the roles of alginate, Psl, and Pel during biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa in a defined and experimentally informative mixed species biofilm community, consisting of P. aeruginosa, Pseudomonas protegens, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Loss of the Psl polysaccharide had the biggest impact on the integration of P. aeruginosa in the mixed species biofilms, where the percent composition of the psl mutant was significantly lower (0.06%) than its wild-type (WT) parent (2.44%). In contrast, loss of the Pel polysaccharide had no impact on mixed species biofilm development. Loss of alginate or its overproduction resulted in P. aeruginosa representing 8.4 and 18.11%, respectively, of the mixed specie...
Effects of elevated water temperatures and residual chlorine from a thermal discharge at a coasta... more Effects of elevated water temperatures and residual chlorine from a thermal discharge at a coastal nuclear power plant on the biomass and productivity of periphyton and phytoplankton were determined in subtropical Taiwan. Phytoplankton chlorophyll a, but not productivity, was significantly ...
The distribution of a recently described marine bacterium, SBT 033 GenBank Accession No. AY723742... more The distribution of a recently described marine bacterium, SBT 033 GenBank Accession No. AY723742), Pseudoalteromonas ruthenica, at the seawater intake point, outfall and mixing point of an atomic power plant is described, and its ability to form biofilm was investigated. The effectiveness of the antifouling biocide chlorine in the inactivation of planktonic as well as biofilm cells of P. ruthenica was studied in the laboratory. The results show that the planktonic cells were more readily inactivated than the cells enclosed in a biofilm matrix. Viable counting showed that P. ruthenica cells in biofilms were up to 10 times more resistant to chlorine than those in liquid suspension. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy it was shown that significant detachment of P. ruthenica biofilm developed on a glass substratum could be accomplished by treatment with a dose of 1 mg l-1 chlorine. Chlorine-induced detachment led to a significant reduction in biofilm thickness (up to 69%) and substratum coverage (up to 61%), after 5-min contact time. The results show that P. ruthenica has a remarkable ability to form biofilms but chlorine, a common biocide, can be used to effectively kill and detach these biofilms.
The microbial intervention for sustainable management of aquaculture, especially use of probiotic... more The microbial intervention for sustainable management of aquaculture, especially use of probiotics, is one of the most popular and practical approaches towards controlling pathogens. Vibrio harveyi is a well-known pathogenic bacterium, which is associated to a huge economic loss in the aquaculture system by causing vibriosis. The present study is crafted for screening and characterization of anti-Vibrio strains, which were isolated from various traditional fermented Korean foods. A total of 196 strains have been isolated from soybean paste (78 strains), red chili paste (49 strains), soy sauce (18 strains), jeotgal-a salted fish (34 strains), and the gazami crab-Portunus trituberculatus (17 strains). Fifteen strains showed an inhibitory effect on the growth of V. harveyi when subjected to coculture condition. Among the strains isolated, one has been identified as a significant anti-Vibrio strain. Further biochemical characterization and 16S rDNA sequencing revealed it as Pseudoalteromonas aliena, which had been deposited at the Korean Culture Center of Microorganisms (KCCM), Korea and designated as KCCM 11207P. The culture supernatants did not have any antimicrobial properties either in pure or in coculture condition. The culture supernatant was not toxic when supplemented to the swimming crab, Zoea, and Artemia larvae in aquaculture system. The results were very encouraging and showed a significant reduction in accumulated mortality. Here, we reported that pathogenic vibriosis can be controlled by Pseudoalteromonas sp. under in vitro and in vivo conditions. The results indicated that the biotic treatment offers a promising alternative to the use of antibiotics in crab aquaculture.
Seeds ofLathyrus sativus, a legume plant, contain 3-oxalyl and 2,3-dioxalyl DAP (O-DAP), neurotox... more Seeds ofLathyrus sativus, a legume plant, contain 3-oxalyl and 2,3-dioxalyl DAP (O-DAP), neurotoxins which when consumed causes Neurolathyrism or Osteolathyrism, in humans, affecting nervous system and bone formation respectively. Some microorganisms viz virulent and non-virulentSalmonella typhimurium, Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonad have been shown to detoxifyL-alpha,beta-diaminopropionate (DAP), the immediate precursor of O-DAP. The gene coding for diaminopropionate ammonia lyase (DAPAL) which detoxifies DAP was cloned from nonvirulentS. typhimurium PU011 into Escherichia coli DH5alpha and the nucleotides sequenced (1212 bp). Whereas the specific enzyme activity of DAPAL obtained from recombinantE. coli PU018 was 0.346 U/mg, the specific activity of the enzyme from nonvirulentS. typhimurium PU011 was 0.351 U/mg. The DAPAL corresponding to 43 kDa protein was found both in nonvirulentS. typhimurium PU011 andE. coli PU018. The Km value was found to be 0.740 mM and 0.680 mM forS. typhimurium PU011 and 0.741 mM and 0.683 mM forE. coli PU018 when grown in minimal medium (MM+DAP) andL. sativus seed extracts respectively, indicating that both of them were capable of utilizing the neurotoxins present inL. sativus seeds. The biomass, enzyme production and the effect of pH and temperature on DAPAL enzyme activity from both non-virulentS. typhimurium PU011 andE. coli PU018 were found to be similar. The recombinantE. coli PU018 as well as non-virulentS. typhimurium PU011 are as good as pathogenicS. typhimurium in detoxifying DAP, the immediate precursor of O-DAP present inL. sativus seeds.
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