Draft Genome Sequence of the First Confirmed Isolate of Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Tasmania

The spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) has become amajor global challenge. In 2016, Tasmania recorded its first known incidence ofMDR-TB. Here, we report the draft whole-genome sequence of the Mycobacteriumtuberculosis isolate from this case, TASMDR1, and describe single-nucleotide polymorphismsassociated with its drug resistance

Draft Genome Sequence of the First Isolate of Extensively Drug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Ireland.

Extensive drug resistance is an emerging threat to the control of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, even in countries with low TB incidence. We report the draft whole-genome sequence of the first reported extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) strain isolated in Ireland (a low-incidence setting) and describe a number of single-nucleotide variations that correlate with its XDR phenotype

Microbiomes in respiratory health and disease: An Asia-Pacific perspective

© 2017 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology There is currently enormous interest in studying the role of the microbiome in health and disease. Microbiome's role is increasingly being applied to respiratory diseases, in particular COPD, asthma, cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis. The changes in respiratory microbiomes that occur in these diseases and how they are modified by environmental challenges such as cigarette smoke, air pollution and infection are being elucidated. There is also emerging evidence that gut microbiomes play a role in lung diseases through the modulation of systemic immune responses and can be modified by diet and antibiotic treatment. There are issues that are particular to the Asia-Pacific region involving diet and prevalence of specific respiratory diseases. Each of these issues is further complicated by the effects of ageing. The challenges now are to elucidate the cause and effect relationships between changes in microbiomes and respiratory diseases and how to translate these into new treatments and clinical care. Here we review the current understanding and progression in these areas

Memory Th1 Cells Are Protective in Invasive Staphylococcus aureus Infection

Mechanisms of protective immunity to Staphylococcus aureus infection in humans remain elusive. While the importance of cellular immunity has been shown in mice, T cell responses in humans have not been characterised. Using a murine model of recurrent S. aureus peritonitis, we demonstrated that prior exposure to S. aureus enhanced IFN gamma responses upon subsequent infection, while adoptive transfer of S. aureus antigen-specific Th1 cells was protective in naive mice. Translating these findings, we found that S. aureus antigen-specific Th1 cells were also significantly expanded during human S. aureus bloodstream infection (BSI). These Th1 cells were CD45RO(+), indicative of a memory phenotype. Thus, exposure to S. aureus induces memory Th1 cells in mice and humans, identifying Th1 cells as potential S. aureus vaccine targets. Consequently, we developed a model vaccine comprising staphylococcal clumping factor A, which we demonstrate to be an effective human T cell antigen, combined with the Th1-driving adjuvant CpG. This novel Th1-inducing vaccine conferred significant protection during S. aureus infection in mice. This study notably advances our understanding of S. aureus cellular immunity, and demonstrates for the first time that a correlate of S. aureus protective immunity identified in mice may be relevant in humans

Sex Steroids Induce Membrane Stress Responses and Virulence Properties in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

10.1128/mBio.01774-20MBIO11

Sex Steroids Induce Membrane Stress Responses and Virulence Properties in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (vol 11, e01774-20, 2020)

MBIO11

Pathogenicity phenomena in three model systems: from network mining to emerging system-level properties

Understanding the interconnections of microbial pathogenicity phenomena, such as biofilm formation, quorum sensing and antimicrobial resistance, is a tremendous open challenge for biomedical research. Progress made by wet-lab researchers and bioinformaticians in understanding the underlying regulatory phenomena has been significant, with converging evidence from multiple high-throughput technologies. Notably, network reconstructions are already of considerable size and quality, tackling both intracellular regulation and signal mediation in microbial infection. Therefore, it stands to reason that in silico investigations would play a more active part in this research. Drug target identification and drug repurposing could take much advantage of the ability to simulate pathogen regulatory systems, hostpathogen interactions and pathogen cross-talking. Here, we review the bioinformatics resources and tools available for the study of the gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and the fungal species Candida albicans. The choice of these three microorganisms fits the rationale of the review converging into pathogens of great clinical importance, which thrive in biofilm consortia and manifest growing antimicrobial resistance.IBB - Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, CEB - Centre of Biological Engineering; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT); the European Community fund FEDER, through Program COMPETE, in the ambit of the FCT Project PTDC/SAU-SAP/113196/2009/FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-016012; the European Union Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/REGPOT-2012-2013.1] under grant agreement no 316265, BIOCAPS; the Agrupamento INBIOMED from DXPCTSUG-FEDER unha maneira de facer Europa (2012/273); the ERASMUS program of scholarships