Twitter as a Tool for Teaching and Communicating Microbiology: The #microMOOCSEM Initiative

Online social networks are increasingly used by the population on a daily basis. They are considered a powerful tool for science communication and their potential as educational tools is emerging. However, their usefulness in academic practice is still a matter of debate. Here, we present the results of our pioneering experience teaching a full Basic Microbiology course via Twitter (#microMOOCSEM), consisting of 28 lessons of 40-45 minutes duration each, at a tweet per minute rate during 10 weeks. Lessons were prepared by 30 different lecturers, covering most basic areas in Microbiology and some monographic topics of general interest (malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, etc.). Data analysis on the impact and acceptance of the course were largely affirmative, promoting a 330% enhancement in the followers and a >350-fold increase of the number of visits per month to the Twitter account of the host institution, the Spanish Society for Microbiology. Almost one third of the course followers were located overseas. Our study indicates that Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) via Twitter are highly dynamic, interactive, and accessible to great audiences, providing a valuable tool for social learning and communicating science. This strategy attracts the interest of students towards particular topics in the field, efficiently complementing customary academic activities, especially in multidisciplinary areas like Microbiology.Versión del edito

Diversity of class 1 integron gene cassette Pc promoter variants in clinical Escherichia coli strains and description of a new P2 promoter variant.

International audienceGene cassettes of class 1 integrons may be differently expressed depending on the Pc promoter variant as well as occasionally from a second promoter located downstream of Pc, named P2. So far, the distribution of the variants has only been described in an in silico study. In this study, the prevalence of these variants in vivo was analysed in a population of 85 Escherichia coli strains from a variety of phylogenetic groups isolated from healthy subjects and clinical samples in Spain and France from 2004 to 2007. The weakest variants (PcW and PcH1) prevailed (variants associated with the integrase having the most efficient excision activity), whilst the two strongest variants, PcW(TGN-10) and PcS, were less frequent. Furthermore, a new variant of P2 associated with PcW was characterised in one integron (harbouring the gene cassette bla(OXA-1)-aadA1) from a French strain of a healthy subject. This variant was hereafter named P2m3 and shows a G→A substitution in its -10 element (TACAGT to TACAAT), a mutation that doubled the strength of P2 and approached the level of expression of the strong PcW(TGN-10) variant. When the correlation between the Pc variants and the origin of the strains was analysed, no significant difference (P<0.05) was observed in the Pc variant distribution according to the geographic origin or clinical setting

Complete sequence and molecular epidemiology of IncK epidemic plasmid encoding bla(CTX-M-14)

Antimicrobial drug resistance is a global challenge for the 21st century with the emergence of resistant bacterial strains worldwide. Transferable resistance to beta-lactam antimicrobial drugs, mediated by production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), is of particular concern. In 2004, an ESBL-carrying IncK plasmid (pCT) was isolated from cattle in the United Kingdom. The sequence was a 93,629-bp plasmid encoding a single antimicrobial drug resistance gene, bla(CTX-M-14). From this information, PCRs identifying novel features of pCT were designed and applied to isolates from several countries, showing that the plasmid has disseminated worldwide in bacteria from humans and animals. Complete DNA sequences can be used as a platform to develop rapid epidemiologic tools to identify and trace the spread of plasmids in clinically relevant pathogens, thus facilitating a better understanding of their distribution and ability to transfer between bacteria of humans and animals