Bacteriocins: Novel Solutions to Age Old Spore-Related Problems?

peer-reviewedBacteriocins are ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides produced by bacteria, which have the ability to kill or inhibit other bacteria. Many bacteriocins are produced by food grade lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Indeed, the prototypic bacteriocin, nisin, is produced by Lactococcus lactis, and is licensed in over 50 countries. With consumers becoming more concerned about the levels of chemical preservatives present in food, bacteriocins offer an alternative, more natural approach, while ensuring both food safety and product shelf life. Bacteriocins also show additive/synergistic effects when used in combination with other treatments, such as heating, high pressure, organic compounds, and as part of food packaging. These features are particularly attractive from the perspective of controlling sporeforming bacteria. Bacterial spores are common contaminants of food products, and their outgrowth may cause food spoilage or food-borne illness. They are of particular concern to the food industry due to their thermal and chemical resistance in their dormant state. However, when spores germinate they lose the majority of their resistance traits, making them susceptible to a variety of food processing treatments. Bacteriocins represent one potential treatment as they may inhibit spores in the post-germination/outgrowth phase of the spore cycle. Spore eradication and control in food is critical, as they are able to spoil and in certain cases compromise the safety of food by producing dangerous toxins. Thus, understanding the mechanisms by which bacteriocins exert their sporostatic/sporicidal activity against bacterial spores will ultimately facilitate their optimal use in food. This review will focus on the use of bacteriocins alone, or in combination with other innovative processing methods to control spores in food, the current knowledge and gaps therein with regard to bacteriocin-spore interactions and discuss future research approaches to enable spores to be more effectively targeted by bacteriocins in food settings.KE, DF, CH, PC, MR, RR are supported by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, through the Food Institutional Research Measure, administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ireland (DAFM 13/F/462) to PC and MR, a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Technology and Innovation Development Award (TIDA 14/TIDA/2286) to DF, SFI-PI funding (11/PI/1137) to PDC and the APC Microbiome Insitute under Grant Number SFI/12/RC/2273

Nisin in Combination with Cinnamaldehyde and EDTA to Control Growth of Escherichia coli Strains of Swine Origin

peer-reviewedPost-weaning diarrhoea (PWD) due to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is an economically important disease in pig production worldwide. Although antibiotics have contributed significantly to mitigate the economic losses caused by PWD, there is major concern over the increased incidence of antimicrobial resistance among bacteria isolated from pigs. Consequently, suitable alternatives that are safe and effective are urgently required. Many naturally occurring compounds, including the antimicrobial peptide nisin and a number of plant essential oils, have been widely studied and are reported to be effective as antimicrobial agents against pathogenic microorganisms. Here, we evaluate the potential of nisin in combination with the essential oil cinnamaldehyde and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to control the growth of E. coli strains of swine origin including two characterized as ETEC. The results reveal that the use of nisin (10 μM) with low concentrations of trans-cinnamaldehyde (125 μg/mL) and EDTA (0.25–2%) resulted in extended lag phases of growth compared to when either antimicrobial is used alone. Further analysis through kill curves revealed that an approximate 1-log reduction in E. coli cell counts was observed against the majority of targets tested following 3 h incubation. These results highlight the potential benefits of combining the natural antimicrobial nisin with trans-cinnamaldehyde and EDTA as a new approach for the inhibition of E. coli strains of swine origin

Bacteriocin-Antimicrobial Synergy: A Medical and Food Perspective

peer-reviewedThe continuing emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens has sparked an interest in seeking alternative therapeutic options. Antimicrobial combinatorial therapy is one such avenue. A number of studies have been conducted, involving combinations of bacteriocins with other antimicrobials, to circumvent the development of antimicrobial resistance and/or increase antimicrobial potency. Such bacteriocin-antimicrobial combinations could have tremendous value, in terms of reducing the likelihood of resistance development due to the involvement of two distinct mechanisms of antimicrobial action. Furthermore, antimicrobial synergistic interactions may also have potential financial implications in terms of decreasing the costs of treatment by reducing the concentration of an expensive antimicrobial and utilizing it in combination with an inexpensive one. In addition, combinatorial therapies with bacteriocins can broaden antimicrobial spectra and/or result in a reduction in the concentration of an antibiotic required for effective treatments to the extent that potentially toxic or adverse side effects can be reduced or eliminated. Here, we review studies in which bacteriocins were found to be effective in combination with other antimicrobials, with a view to targeting clinical and/or food-borne pathogens. Furthermore, we discuss some of the bottlenecks which are currently hindering the development of bacteriocins as viable therapeutic options, as well as addressing the need to exercise caution when attempting to predict clinical outcomes of bacteriocin-antimicrobial combinations.HM is a researcher in Teagasc Food Research Centre and the APC Microbiome Institute, funded by the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI)-funded Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology and the APC Microbiome Institute Grant Number SFI/12/RC/2273. Research in PC, CH, MR, and RP laboratories is supported by the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI)-funded Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology and the APC Microbiome Institute

Genome Sequence of Geobacillus stearothermophilus DSM 458, an Antimicrobial-Producing Thermophilic Bacterium, Isolated from a Sugar Beet Factory

peer-reviewedThis paper reports the full genome sequence of the antimicrobial-producing bacterium Geobacillus stearothermophilus DSM 458, isolated in a sugar beet factory in Austria. In silico analysis reveals the presence of a number of novel bacteriocin biosynthetic genes

Observation of playa salts as nuclei in orographic wave clouds

During the Ice in Clouds Experiment-Layer Clouds (ICE-L), dry lakebed, or playa, salts from the Great Basin region of the United States were observed as cloud nuclei in orographic wave clouds over Wyoming. Using a counterflow virtual impactor in series with a single-particle mass spectrometer, sodium-potassium-magnesium-calcium-chloride salts were identified as residues of cloud droplets. Importantly, these salts produced similar mass spectral signatures to playa salts with elevated cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) efficiencies close to sea salt. Using a suite of chemical characterization instrumentation, the playa salts were observed to be internally mixed with oxidized organics, presumably produced by cloud processing, as well as carbonate. These salt particles were enriched as residues of large droplets (>19 μm) compared to smaller droplets (>7 μm). In addition, a small fraction of silicate-containing playa salts were hypothesized to be important in the observed heterogeneous ice nucleation processes. While the high CCN activity of sea salt has been demonstrated to play an important role in cloud formation in marine environments, this study provides direct evidence of the importance of playa salts in cloud formation in continental North America has not been shown previously. Studies are needed to model and quantify the impact of playas on climate globally, particularly because of the abundance of playas and expected increases in the frequency and intensity of dust storms in the future due to climate and land use changes

Evaluation of azlocillin in-vitro and in discriminative animal models of infection

Azlocillin was more active in vitro than ticarcillin or carbenicillin against 561 aminoglycoside-resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa collected from 74 hospitals distributed over a wide geographic area in the eastern United States. Azlocillin was compared with various other antimicrobial agents in discriminative animal models of Ps. aeruginosa pyelonephritis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, and meningitis in a variety of mammalian species. Cefsulodin was more effective than azlocillin in reducing Ps. aeruginosa kidney concentrations in rat pyelonephritis induced by intrarenal inoculation. The mean±s.d. logl0 cfu/g kidney after three days of therapy were as follows: controls = 5.4±1.5, azlocillin = 4.4±1.8, cefsulodin = 2.6±0.9 (P < 0.01) but the MBC for the test strain was eight-fold higher for azlocillin (8 vs. 1 mg/l) and effective concentrations were maintained longer in rat serum for cefsulodin as against azlocillin. In addition, ticarcillin reduced kidney bacterial concentrations faster than azlocillin in a mouse pyelonephritis model induced by intravenous Ps. aeruginosa inoculation with subsequent iron loading. Azlocillin was less effective than tobramycin in experimental chronic Ps. aeruginosa osteomyelitis induced in rabbits by direct injection into the tibia. An azlocillin-tobramycin regimen was not more effective than tobramycin alone. After 28 days of therapy, the percentages of positive bone cultures after death were as follows: no antibiotic (controls) = 92%, azlocillin = 95%, tobramycin = 76%, azlocillin plus tobramycin = 60%. Both ticarcillin and azlocillin were less active than tobramycin in experimental Ps. aeruginosa endocarditis induced in rabbits by intravenous inoculation of 108 cfu following 1 h of catheter induced aortic valve trauma. The best results were noted with an azlocillin-tobramycin regimen. The mean±s.d. log10 cfu Ps. aeruginosa/g vegetation after five days of therapy were as follows: no antibiotic controls = 8.1 ± 1.1, tobramycin = 4.5 ±0.8, ticarcillin = 6.9 ± 0.8, azlocillin = 5.7 ± 1.5, ticarcillin phis tobramycin = 4.9 ± 1.0, azlocillin plus tobramycin = 3.3 ± 1.6. Sterile vegetations were rarely attained with any regimen. The mean percentage penetration into purulent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in experimental Ps. aeruginosa meningitis for azlocillin was 13.3%, comparable to many other β-lactam antibiotics. Azlocillin was the single most active (P < 0.01) agent evaluated after 8 h intravenous infusions in this model. An azlocillin-amikacin regimen was more rapidly bactericidal (P < 0.01) than either agent alone in vivo. None of the agents evaluated alone or in combination, however, produced a sterile CSF after 8 h of therapy in any anima

Ratios of Community Respiration to Photosynthesis and Rates of Primary Production in Lake Erie Via Oxygen Isotope Techniques

ABSTRACT. To evaluate levels of primary production and community metabolism in Lake Eri

Renewable energy resource assessment

© The Author(s) 2019. Literature overview of published global and regional renewable energy potential estimates. This section provides definitions for different types of RE potentials and introduces a new category, the economic renewable energy potential in space constrained environments. The potential for utility scale solar and onshore wind in square kilometre and maximum possible installed capacity (in GW) are provided for 75 different regions. The results set the upper limits for the deployment of solar- and wind technologies for the development of the 2.0 °C and 1.5 °C energy pathways

Establishment, Immortalisation and Characterisation of Pteropid Bat Cell Lines

BACKGROUND: Bats are the suspected natural reservoir hosts for a number of new and emerging zoonotic viruses including Nipah virus, Hendra virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and Ebola virus. Since the discovery of SARS-like coronaviruses in Chinese horseshoe bats, attempts to isolate a SL-CoV from bats have failed and attempts to isolate other bat-borne viruses in various mammalian cell lines have been similarly unsuccessful. New stable bat cell lines are needed to help with these investigations and as tools to assist in the study of bat immunology and virus-host interactions. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: Black flying foxes (Pteropus alecto) were captured from the wild and transported live to the laboratory for primary cell culture preparation using a variety of different methods and culture media. Primary cells were successfully cultured from 20 different organs. Cell immortalisation can occur spontaneously, however we used a retroviral system to immortalise cells via the transfer and stable production of the Simian virus 40 Large T antigen and the human telomerase reverse transcriptase protein. Initial infection experiments with both cloned and uncloned cell lines using Hendra and Nipah viruses demonstrated varying degrees of infection efficiency between the different cell lines, although it was possible to infect cells in all tissue types. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The approaches developed and optimised in this study should be applicable to bats of other species. We are in the process of generating further cell lines from a number of different bat species using the methodology established in this study

Hyperpolarized¹³C-Pyruvate Metabolism as a Surrogate for Tumor Grade and Poor Outcome in Renal Cell Carcinoma—A Proof of Principle Study

Differentiating aggressive clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) from indolent lesions is challenging using conventional imaging. This work prospectively compared the metabolic imaging phenotype of renal tumors using carbon-13 MRI following injection of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate (HP-13C-MRI) and validated these findings with histopathology. Nine patients with treatment-naïve renal tumors (6 ccRCCs, 1 liposarcoma, 1 pheochromocytoma, 1 oncocytoma) underwent pre-operative HP-13C-MRI and conventional proton (1H) MRI. Multi-regional tissue samples were collected using patient-specific 3D-printed tumor molds for spatial registration between imaging and molecular analysis. The apparent exchange rate constant (kPL) between 13C-pyruvate and 13C-lactate was calculated. Immunohistochemistry for the pyruvate transporter (MCT1) from 44 multi-regional samples, as well as associations between MCT1 expression and outcome in the TCGA-KIRC dataset, were investigated. Increasing kPL in ccRCC was correlated with increasing overall tumor grade (ρ = 0.92, p = 0.009) and MCT1 expression (r = 0.89, p = 0.016), with similar results acquired from the multi-regional analysis. Conventional 1H-MRI parameters did not discriminate tumor grades. The correlation between MCT1 and ccRCC grade was confirmed within a TCGA dataset (p &lt; 0.001), where MCT1 expression was a predictor of overall and disease-free survival. In conclusion, metabolic imaging using HP-13C-MRI differentiates tumor aggressiveness in ccRCC and correlates with the expression of MCT1, a predictor of survival. HP-13C-MRI may non-invasively characterize metabolic phenotypes within renal cancer.</jats:p