Biosynthesis of Platinum Nanoparticles with Cordyceps Flower Extract: Characterization, Antioxidant Activity and Antibacterial Activity

The aim of this work is to develop a green route for platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) biosynthesized using Cordyceps flower extract and to evaluate their antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity. Different characterization techniques were utilized to characterize the biosynthetic PtNPs. The results showed that PtNPs were spherical particles covered with Cordyceps flower extract. The average particle size of PtNPs in Dynamic Light Scattering was 84.67 ± 5.28 nm, while that of PtNPs in Transmission Electron Microscope was 13.34 ± 4.06 nm. Antioxidant activity of PtNPs was evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging ability test. The results showed that the antioxidant activity was positively correlated with the concentration of PtNPs, the DPPH scavenging efficiency of PtNPs (0.50–125.00 μg/mL) was 27.77–44.00%. In addition, the morphological changes of four kinds of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus) exposed to PtNPs were observed by scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the antibacterial activity of PtNPs against Gram-negative bacteria was stronger than that of Gram-positive bacteria

Gene Analysis of <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> Suspended Aggregates Induced by <i>Ralstonia insidiosa</i> Cell-Free Supernatants under Nutrient-Poor Environments

Listeria monocytogenes is a zoonotic food-borne pathogen. The production of food-borne pathogenic bacteria aggregates is considered to be a way to improve their resistance and persistence in the food chain. Ralstonia insidiosa has been shown to induce L. monocytogenes to form suspended aggregates, but induction mechanisms remain unclear. In the study, the effect of R. insidiosa cell-free supernatants cultured in 10% TSB medium (10% RIS) on the formation of L. monocytogenes suspended aggregates was evaluated. Next, the Illumina RNA sequencing was used to compare the transcriptional profiles of L. monocytogenes in 10% TSB medium with and without 10% RIS to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The result of functional annotation analysis of DEGs indicated that these genes mainly participate in two component system, bacterial chemotaxis and flagellar assembly. Then the reaction network of L. monocytogenes suspended aggregates with the presence of 10% RIS was summarized. The gene-deletion strain of L. monocytogenes was constructed by homologous recombination. The result showed that cheA and cheY are key genes in the formation of suspended aggregates. This research is the preliminary verification of suspended aggregates’ RNA sequencing and is helpful to analyze the aggregation mechanisms of food-borne pathogenic bacteria from a new perspective

Transcriptome Analysis of Gene Expression in Dermacoccus abyssi HZAU 226 under Lysozyme Stress

Lysozyme acts as a kind of cationic antimicrobial protein and effectively hydrolyzes bacterial peptidoglycan to have a bactericidal effect, which also plays an important role in protecting eggs from microbial contamination. Dermacoccus abyssi HZAU 226, a Gram-positive bacterium isolated from spoiled eggs, has egg white and lysozyme tolerance, but its survival mechanism is unknown, especially from a transcriptomics point of view. In this study, the high lysozyme tolerance of D. abyssi HZAU 226 was characterized by three independent experiments, and then the Illumina RNA-seq was used to compare the transcriptional profiles of this strain in Luria&ndash;Bertani (LB) medium with and without 5 mg/mL lysozyme to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs); 1024 DEGs were identified by expression analysis, including 544 up-regulated genes and 480 down-regulated genes in response to lysozyme treatment. The functional annotation analysis results of DEGs showed that these genes were mainly involved in glutathione biosynthesis and metabolism, ion transport, energy metabolism pathways, and peptidoglycan biosynthesis. This study is the first report of bacterial-related lysozyme RNA-seq, and our results help in understanding the lysozyme-tolerance mechanism of bacteria from a new perspective and provide transcriptome resources for subsequent research in related fields