FEMS microbiology reviews
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FEMS microbiology reviews · Jan 2016
ReviewInfluenza A virus transmission via respiratory aerosols or droplets as it relates to pandemic potential.
Many respiratory viruses of humans originate from animals. For instance, there are now eight paramyxoviruses, four coronaviruses and four orthomxoviruses that cause recurrent epidemics in humans but were once confined to other hosts. In the last decade, several members of the same virus families have jumped the species barrier from animals to humans. ⋯ In part triggered by the relatively high frequency of occurrence of influenza A virus zoonoses and pandemics, the influenza research community has started to investigate the viral genetic and biological traits that drive virus transmission via aerosols or respiratory droplets between mammals. Here we summarize recent discoveries on the genetic and phenotypic traits required for airborne transmission of zoonotic influenza viruses of subtypes H5, H7 and H9 and pandemic viruses of subtypes H1, H2 and H3. Increased understanding of the determinants and mechanisms of respiratory virus transmission is not only key from a basic scientific perspective, but may also aid in assessing the risks posed by zoonotic viruses to human health, and preparedness for such risks.
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FEMS microbiology reviews · Mar 2012
ReviewApplications of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in clinical diagnostic microbiology.
Until recently, microbial identification in clinical diagnostic laboratories has mainly relied on conventional phenotypic and gene sequencing identification techniques. The development of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) devices has revolutionized the routine identification of microorganisms in clinical microbiology laboratories by introducing an easy, rapid, high throughput, low-cost, and efficient identification technique. This technology has been adapted to the constraint of clinical diagnostic laboratories and has the potential to replace and/or complement conventional identification techniques for both bacterial and fungal strains. ⋯ Similarly, the routine identification by MALDI-TOF MS of yeast isolates is reliable and much quicker than conventional techniques. Recent studies have shown that MALDI-TOF MS has also the potential to accurately identify filamentous fungi and dermatophytes, providing that specific standardized procedures are established for these microorganisms. Moreover, MALDI-TOF MS has been used successfully for microbial typing and identification at the subspecies level, demonstrating that this technology is a potential efficient tool for epidemiological studies and for taxonomical classification.
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FEMS microbiology reviews · Jan 2006
ReviewFeast/famine regulatory proteins (FFRPs): Escherichia coli Lrp, AsnC and related archaeal transcription factors.
Feast/famine regulatory proteins comprise a diverse family of transcription factors, which have been referred to in various individual identifications, including Escherichia coli leucine-responsive regulatory protein and asparagine synthase C gene product. A full length feast/famine regulatory protein consists of the N-terminal DNA-binding domain and the C-domain, which is involved in dimerization and further assembly, thereby producing, for example, a disc or a chromatin-like cylinder. ⋯ In this way, a small number of feast/famine regulatory proteins are able to regulate a large number of genes in response to various environmental changes. Because feast/famine regulatory proteins are shared by archaea and eubacteria, the genome-wide regulation by feast/famine regulatory proteins is traceable back to their common ancestor, being the prototype of highly differentiated transcription regulatory mechanisms found in organisms nowadays.
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FEMS microbiology reviews · Oct 1998
ReviewThe serine, threonine, and/or tyrosine-specific protein kinases and protein phosphatases of prokaryotic organisms: a family portrait.
Inspection of the genomes for the bacteria Bacillus subtilis 168, Borrelia burgdorferi B31, Escherichia coli K-12, Haemophilus influenzae KW20, Helicobacter pylori 26695, Mycoplasma genitalium G-37, and Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 and for the archaeons Archaeoglobus fulgidus VC-16 DSM4304, Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum delta H, and Methanococcus jannaschii DSM2661 revealed that each contains at least one ORF whose predicted product displays sequence features characteristic of eukaryote-like protein-serine/threonine/tyrosine kinases and protein-serine/threonine/tyrosine phosphatases. Orthologs for all four major protein phosphatase families (PPP, PPM, conventional PTP, and low molecular weight PTP) were present in the bacteria surveyed, but not all strains contained all types. ⋯ It appears that all prokaryotic organisms, at one time, contained the genetic information necessary to construct protein phosphorylation-dephosphorylation networks that target serine, threonine, and/or tyrosine residues on proteins. However, the potential for functional redundancy among the four protein phosphatase families has led many prokaryotic organisms to discard one, two, or three of the four.