Biology of moderately halophilic aerobic bacteria

The moderately halophilic heterotrophic aerobic bacteria form a diverse group of microorganisms. The property of halophilism is widespread within the bacterial domain. Bacterial halophiles are abundant in environments such as salt lakes, saline soils, and salted food products. Most species keep their intracellular ionic concentrations at low levels while synthesizing or accumulating organic solutes to provide osmotic equilibrium of the cytoplasm with the surrounding medium. Complex mechanisms of adjustment of the intracellular environments and the properties of the cytoplasmic membrane enable rapid adaptation to changes in the salt concentration of the environment. Approaches to the study of genetic processes have recently been developed for several moderate halophiles, opening the way toward an understanding of haloadaptation at the molecular level. The new information obtained is also expected to contribute to the development of novel biotechnological uses for these organisms

Use of HT-29, a cultured human colon cancer cell line, to study the effect of fermented milks on colon cancer cell growth and differentiation.

International audienceEpidemiological and in vivo and in vitro experimental studies have suggested that fermented milks may interfere with the emergence and/or the development of colon cancer. The results, however, remain inconclusive. This prompted us to develop a new approach based on the use of HT-29, a cultured human colon cancer cell line, to study at the cellular level the effect of fermented milks on colon cancer cell growth and differentiation characteristics. Undifferentiated HT-29 cells have been grown in the continuous presence of milks fermented by one of the following bacterial populations: Lactobacillus helveticus, Bifidobacterium, L.acidophilus or a mix of Streptococcus thermophilus and L. bulgaricus. Penicillin G was added to the cell culture medium, resulting in a complete blockade of bacterial growth without significant effect on bacterial viability. One out of the four bacteria species studied, namely L.acidophilus, was without effect on both cell growth and differentiation. The three other bacterial strains induced a significant, although variable, reduction in the growth rate of HT-29 cells, which resulted in a 10-50% decrease in the cell number at steady-state (i.e. at cell confluency). The most efficient strains in lowering the HT-29 growth rate were L. helveticus and Bifidobacterium. Concomitantly, the specific activities of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV), a sensitive and specific marker of HT-29 cell differentiation, and that of three other brush border enzymes (sucrase, aminopeptidase N and alkaline phosphatase) were significantly increased, thus suggesting that these cells may have entered a differentiation process. Altogether, these results indicate that the use of cultured colon cancer cells may be a useful tool to further study the effect of fermented milks on colon cancer and that bacterial strains may exert a different and specific effect on cancer cell growth and differentiation when used in fermented milk products

Genome Sequence of the Probiotic Strain Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis CNCM I-2494

Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis CNCM I-2494 is part of a commercialized fermented dairy product with documented health benefits revealed by multiple randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials. Here we report the complete genome sequence of this strain, which has a circular genome of 1,943,113 bp with 1,660 open reading frames and 4 ribosomal operons

Anoxic function for the Escherichia coli flavohaemoglobin (Hmp): Reversible binding of nitric oxide and reduction to nitrous oxide

The flavohaemoglobin Hmp of Escherichia coli is inducible by nitric oxide (NO) and provides protection both aerobically and anaerobically from inhibition of growth by NO and agents that cause nitrosative stress. Here we report rapid kinetic studies of NO binding to Fe(III) Hmp with a second order rate constant of 7.5×105 M−1 s−1 to generate a nitrosyl adduct that was stable anoxically but decayed in the presence of air to reform the Fe(III) protein. NO displaced CO bound to dithionite‐reduced Hmp but, remarkably, CO recombined after only 2 s at room temperature indicative of NO reduction and dissociation from the haem. Addition of NO to anoxic NADH‐reduced Hmp also generated a nitrosyl species which persisted while NADH was oxidised. These results are consistent with direct demonstration by membrane‐inlet mass spectrometry of NO consumption and nitrous oxide production during anoxic incubation of NADH‐reduced Hmp. The results demonstrate a new mechanism by which Hmp may eliminate NO under anoxic growth conditions