Involvement of the sigma factor sigma H in the regulation of a small heat shock protein gene in Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1

The relative expression of the heat shock protein hsp18.55 gene was monitored in Lactobacillus plantarum ΔctsR and ΔftsH mutant strains. Transcription of the hsp18.55 gene was drastically repressed in the ΔctsR mutant of L. plantarum; conversely, significant transcriptional induction of the hsp18.55 gene was noted in the L. plantarum ΔftsH strain. Overall, these results suggest a possible regulation of the hsp18.55 gene by the alternative sigma H factor in L. plantarum. We also noted a similarity with the small heat shock gene (shs) locus of Lactobacillus brevis, which might indicate a possible evolutionary relationship

Impact of the COVID ‐19 pandemic on patients with hidradenitis suppurativa

The COVID-19 pandemic caused collateral damage to patients with acute and chronic conditions. In this mono-centre cross-sectional study, we sought to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). In June 2020, we sent an anonymous survey to 109 patients, who were diagnosed with HS in our outpatient clinic from May 2018 to April 2020. Fifty patients (45.9%) completed and returned the survey. Forty-five participants (90.0%) denied any cancellation of hospitalisation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitalisation was postponed in 8% of cases and cancelled in 2%. Compared to prior to the pandemic, fewer patients consulted their primary physician for changing wound dressings and more changed the dressings themselves or were assisted by their family members. 13% of patients avoided doctor visits due to fear of COVID-19 and 26.1% minimised doctor visits. The Dermatology Life Quality Index showed a moderate to very severe impact on patients' Quality of Life (mean score = 10.06). Only one patient used telemedicine. Due to limited access to primary care and fear of COVID-19, the pandemic had a detectable impact on the hospital management of patients with HS in our facility. Telemedicine still plays a negligible role in primary wound care

Biogenic amines degradation by Lactobacillus plantarum: toward a potential application in wine.

Biogenic amines in wine represent a toxicological risk for the health of the consumer, with several trade implications. In this study 26 strains of Lactobacillus plantarum were analysed for their ability to degrade biogenic amines commonly found during wine fermentation. Two strains of L. plantarum were selected in reason of their ability to degrade putrescine and tyramine. The degradation was assessed in vitro, both in presence of the biogenic amines and in presence of the specific chemical precursor and of producer bacteria. The two L. plantarum biotypes were found capable to work synergically. In addition, the survival in wine-like medium and the aptitude to degrade malic acid after alcoholic fermentation of the selected L. plantarum strains was analysed. Our results suggest the potential application of wine L. plantarum strains to design malolactic starter cultures able to degrade biogenic amines in wine

Antimicrobial Properties, Functional Characterisation and Application of Fructobacillus fructosus and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Isolated from Artisanal Honey

Honey is a valuable reservoir of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and, particularly, of fructophilic LAB (FLAB), a relatively novel subgroup of LAB whose functional potential for human and food application has yet to be explored. In this study, FLAB and LAB strains have been isolated from honeys of different floral origins and selected for their broad antimicrobial activity against typical foodborne pathogenic bacteria and spoilage filamentous fungi. The best candidates, two strains belonging to the species Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Fructobacillus fructosus, were submitted to partial characterisation of their cell free supernatants (CFS) in order to identify the secreted metabolites with antimicrobial activity. Besides, these strains were examined to assess some major functional features, including in vitro tolerance to the oro-gastrointestinal conditions, potential cytotoxicity against HT-29 cells, adhesion to human enterocyte-like cells and capability to stimulate macrophages. Moreover, when the tested strains were applied on table grapes artificially contaminated with pathogenic bacteria or filamentous fungi, they showed a good ability to antagonise the growth of undesired microbes, as well as to survive on the fruit surface at a concentration that is recommended to develop a probiotic effect. In conclusion, both LAB and FLAB honey-isolated strains characterised in this work exhibit functional properties that validate their potential use as biocontrol agents and for the design of novel functional foods. We reported antimicrobial activity, cytotoxic evaluation, probiotic properties and direct food application of a F. fructosus strain, improving the knowledge of this species, in particular, and on FLAB, more generally

The hsp 16 Gene of the Probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus Is Differently Regulated by Salt, High Temperature and Acidic Stresses, as Revealed by Reverse Transcription Quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) Analysis

Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are ubiquitous conserved chaperone-like proteins involved in cellular proteins protection under stressful conditions. In this study, a reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) procedure was developed and used to quantify the transcript level of a small heat shock gene (shs) in the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, under stress conditions such as heat (45 °C and 53 °C), bile (0.3% w/v), hyperosmosis (1 M and 2.5 M NaCl), and low pH value (pH 4). The shs gene of L. acidophilus NCFM was induced by salt, high temperature and acidic stress, while repression was observed upon bile stress. Analysis of the 5′ noncoding region of the hsp16 gene reveals the presence of an inverted repeat (IR) sequence (TTAGCACTC-N9-GAGTGCTAA) homologue to the controlling IR of chaperone expression (CIRCE) elements found in the upstream regulatory region of Gram-positive heat shock operons, suggesting that the hsp16 gene of L. acidophilus might be transcriptionally controlled by HrcA. In addition, the alignment of several small heat shock proteins identified so far in lactic acid bacteria, reveals that the Hsp16 of L. acidophilus exhibits a strong evolutionary relationship with members of the Lactobacillus acidophilus group

The Phenotypic Analysis of Lactobacillus plantarum shsp Mutants Reveals a Potential Role for hsp1 in Cryotolerance

Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are ubiquitous, low molecular weight (MW) proteins that share a conserved alpha-crystallin domain. sHSPs oligomers exhibit chaperon-like activities by interacting with unfolded substrates, thereby preventing their aggregation and precipitation. Unlike most lactobacilli, which have single shsp genes, three different sHSP-encoding genes, i.e., hsp1, hsp2, and hsp3, were previously identified in the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1. Early studies, including the characterization of the knock out (KO) mutant for hsp2, indicated a different organization and transcriptional regulation of these genes and suggested that the three L. plantarum sHSPs might accomplish different tasks in stress response. To unravel the role of sHSPs, KO mutants of hsp1 and hsp3 were generated using a Cre-lox based system. Mutation of either genes resulted in impaired growth capacity under normal conditions, heat-stress and stresses typically found during host interactions and food technological process. However, survival to heat shock and the level of thermal stabilization of cytoplasmic proteins were similar between mutants and parental strain. Transcriptional analysis revealed that in the mutant genetic backgrounds there is an upregulated basal expression of the un-mutated mate hsps and other stress-related genes, which may compensate for the loss of HSP function, hence possibly accounting for the lack of a remarkable susceptibility to heat challenge. HSP3 seemed relevant for the induction of thermotolerance, while HSP1 was required for improved cryotolerance. Cell surface properties and plasma membrane fluidity were investigated to ascertain the possible membrane association of sHSP. Intriguingly, the loss of hsp1 was associated to a lower level of maximal membrane fluidity upon heat stress. A role for HSP1 in controlling and improving membrane fluidity is suggested which may pertains its cryoprotective function

Beta-Glucans Improve Growth, Viability and Colonization of Probiotic Microorganisms

Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics are frequently-used components for the elaboration of functional food. Currently, most of the commercialized probiotics are limited to a few strains of the genera Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus, most of which produce exopolysaccharides (EPS). This suggests that the beneficial properties of these microorganisms may be related to the biological activities of these biopolymers. In this work we report that a 2-substituted-(1,3)-β-d-glucan of non-dairy bacterial origin has a prebiotic effect on three probiotic strains. Moreover, the presence of this β-d-glucan potentiates in vitro adhesion of the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 to human intestinal epithelial cells

Bacterial Stressors in Minimally Processed Food

Stress responses are of particular importance to microorganisms, because their habitats are subjected to continual changes in temperature, osmotic pressure, and nutrients availability. Stressors (and stress factors), may be of chemical, physical, or biological nature. While stress to microorganisms is frequently caused by the surrounding environment, the growth of microbial cells on its own may also result in induction of some kinds of stress such as starvation and acidity. During production of fresh-cut produce, cumulative mild processing steps are employed, to control the growth of microorganisms. Pathogens on plant surfaces are already stressed and stress may be increased during the multiple mild processing steps, potentially leading to very hardy bacteria geared towards enhanced survival. Cross-protection can occur because the overlapping stress responses enable bacteria exposed to one stress to become resistant to another stress. A number of stresses have been shown to induce cross protection, including heat, cold, acid and osmotic stress. Among other factors, adaptation to heat stress appears to provide bacterial cells with more pronounced cross protection against several other stresses. Understanding how pathogens sense and respond to mild stresses is essential in order to design safe and effective minimal processing regimes

COVID-19 in rheumatic diseases in Italy: first results from the Italian registry of the Italian Society for Rheumatology (CONTROL-19)

OBJECTIVES: Italy was one of the first countries significantly affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. The Italian Society for Rheumatology promptly launched a retrospective and anonymised data collection to monitor COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), the CONTROL-19 surveillance database, which is part of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance. METHODS: CONTROL-19 includes patients with RMDs and proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) updated until May 3rd 2020. In this analysis, only molecular diagnoses were included. The data collection covered demographic data, medical history (general and RMD-related), treatments and COVID-19 related features, treatments, and outcome. In this paper, we report the first descriptive data from the CONTROL-19 registry. RESULTS: The population of the first 232 patients (36% males) consisted mainly of elderly patients (mean age 62.2 years), who used corticosteroids (51.7%), and suffered from multi-morbidity (median comorbidities 2). Rheumatoid arthritis was the most frequent disease (34.1%), followed by spondyloarthritis (26.3%), connective tissue disease (21.1%) and vasculitis (11.2%). Most cases had an active disease (69.4%). Clinical presentation of COVID-19 was typical, with systemic symptoms (fever and asthenia) and respiratory symptoms. The overall outcome was severe, with high frequencies of hospitalisation (69.8%), respiratory support oxygen (55.7%), non-invasive ventilation (20.9%) or mechanical ventilation (7.5%), and 19% of deaths. Male patients typically manifested a worse prognosis. Immunomodulatory treatments were not significantly associated with an increased risk of intensive care unit admission/mechanical ventilation/death. CONCLUSIONS: Although the report mainly includes the most severe cases, its temporal and spatial trend supports the validity of the national surveillance system. More complete data are being acquired in order to both test the hypothesis that RMD patients may have a different outcome from that of the general population and determine the safety of immunomodulatory treatments