Showing papers in "Research in Microbiology in 2001"

TL;DR: It was shown that the structure of nitrogen fixers in soil was influenced by soil functioning, and three restriction enzymes, HaeIII, NdeII and MnlI, chosen for restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses, were the most discriminating for the study of nifH gene diversity.

TL;DR: The importance of studies on bacteria in elucidating many basic principles pertaining to ABC transporters is emphasised, and the family is described and a general overview of the structure and function is presented.

TL;DR: A comparative analysis of the properties of ABC systems and a phylogenetic and functional classification is made to accurately annotate ABC systems discovered during the sequencing of the genome of living organisms and to identify the partners of the ABC ATPases.

TL;DR: This review provides an overview of the methodologies useful to microbiologists for assessing spatial distribution of bacteria in soil, and quantitative and qualitative bacterial distribution for determining the preferential location of bacteria and the definition of "favourable" habitats.

TL;DR: Findings suggest that this probiotic strain could be used to prevent colonization of the gastrointestinal tract by a large variety of pathogens.

TL;DR: An overview of ABC transporters related to iron uptake: components of three distinct families mediate the translocation of iron, siderophores, heme and vitamin B12 across the cytoplasmic membrane of bacteria.

TL;DR: Stx phages play an important role in the expression of Stx and in lateral gene transfer and are therefore a contribution to the emergence of new Stx-producing E. coli (STEC) variants.

TL;DR: Results indicated that administration of VSL-3 improved the clinical picture and changed the composition and biochemistry of fecal microbiota and a significant increase in lactobacilli, bifidobacteria and Streptococcus thermophilus was observed as a consequence of probiotic treatment.

TL;DR: The outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria acts as a barrier against harmful lipophilic compounds and larger molecules unable to diffuse freely through the porins, but these proteins together with the Tol-Pal and TonB systems have been exploited for the entry of macromolecules through the Escherichia coli cell envelope.

TL;DR: Information processing in the microorganism is discussed to focus on the issue as to whether the maze-solving behavior is akin to primitive intelligence.

TL;DR: Phylogenetic analysis of 47 extracellular putative metal binding receptors (MBRs) belonging to the newly defined cluster suggests the existence of two subclusters that correspond to paralogous metal permeases dedicated primarily to manganese and to zinc transport.

TL;DR: A simple technique was used to detect, observe, and evaluate the concentration of free-living amoebae in dental unit and tap water samples, finding Hartmanella, Vanella, and Vahlkampfia spp.

TL;DR: The increase in genetic variability of a population can be selected during adaptation, as demonstrated by the selection of mutator alleles, which can result in an improved adaptability of bacteria through regulation of all facets of mutation and recombination processes.

TL;DR: The future of antimicrobial chemotherapy may lie in developing new antimicrobials using information from comparative functional microbial genomics to find genetic targets for antimicroBials and also to understand gene expression enabling selective targeting of genes with expression that correlates with the infectious process.

TL;DR: Current knowledge of members of each CUT1, CUT2 family is summarized with special emphasis on the well-characterized transport systems for maltose/maltodextrin and ribose, respectively, of enterobacteria.

TL;DR: A real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for direct detection and enumeration of Listersia monocytogenes and Listeria innocua was developed and applied to artificially contaminated milk samples, characterized by a wide dynamic range of quantification and a high sensitivity.

TL;DR: Yeast orthologues of mammalian disease genes made this unicellular eukaryote an invaluable model system for studies on the molecular mechanisms of ABC proteins, in order to better understand and perhaps improve treatment of ABC gene-related disease.

TL;DR: Knowledge about biosynthetic gene clusters from antibiotic-producing actinomycetes is continuously increasing and the presence of an ABC transporter system is a fairly general phenomenon in most of these clusters.

TL;DR: Bacterial infections of free-living amoebae are discussed from both a "biological" and general "infection control" point of view.

TL;DR: Focusing on some of the best-studied ATP binding cassette transporters, this work examines the mechanism of amino acid uptake, paying particular attention to the question of bidirectionality of solute movement.

TL;DR: In this review, knowledge of ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters specific for peptides is discussed and particular attention is paid to the specificity determinants of peptide receptors and transporter in relation to their structure and to the mechanisms of peptides binding.

TL;DR: Bacteriophages, but not faecal indicator organisms, were correlated with viral contamination, and viral contamination in rivers which receive water from treatment plants without a final sand filtration step was heavily contaminated.

TL;DR: The results suggest that intracellular generation of superoxide by cadmium, nickel and cobalt is toxic in E. coli and support the participation of sod genes in its protection against metal stress.

TL;DR: Current knowledge of this emerging species in the fields of taxonomy, phylogeny and physiology, and metabolism is reviewed to evaluate future prospects.

TL;DR: The properties of the first two polyamine uptake systems are reviewed in detail and a third transport system, catalyzed by PotE, mediates both uptake and excretion of putrescine is proposed.

TL;DR: The sulfonate and sulfate ester transporters identified to date are all ABC-type systems, whose synthesis is tightly regulated by the sulfur supply to the cell, mediated by the CysB protein and other transcriptional regulators of the LysR-family.

TL;DR: The analysis of the ospC gene is extended to the other pathogenic species, Borrelia garinii and Bor Relia afzelii, and it is shown that only ten out of the 58 defined oSpC groups cause invasive and presumably chronic Lyme disease.

TL;DR: The suitability of the genetic tool constructed and the first genetic evidence for the participation of a protocatechuate 4,5-degradation pathway in a bacterial fluorene degradation pathway are provided.

TL;DR: The data suggest that environmental bacteria may harbor many not yet recognized mercury resistance transposons and warrant their further inventory.

TL;DR: An integrated approach is being developed to assess how toxic compounds affect the different biological levels of organisation--from the community level to the species level--of ciliated protozoa.