Bacteria

About: Bacteria is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 23676 publications have been published within this topic receiving 715990 citations. The topic is also known as: eubacteria.

Enzyme Characteristics of β- d -Galactosidase- and β- d -Glucuronidase-Positive Bacteria and Their Interference in Rapid Methods for Detection of Waterborne Coliforms and Escherichia coli

Abstract: Bacteria which were beta-D-galactosidase and beta-D-glucuronidase positive or expressed only one of these enzymes were isolated from environmental water samples. The enzymatic activity of these bacteria was measured in 25-min assays by using the fluorogenic substrates 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-galactoside and 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-glucuronide. The enzyme activity, enzyme induction, and enzyme temperature characteristics of target and nontarget bacteria in assays aimed at detecting coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli were investigated. The potential interference of false-positive bacteria was evaluated. Several of the beta-D-galactosidase-positive nontarget bacteria but none of the beta-D-glucuronidase-positive nontarget bacteria contained unstable enzyme at 44.5 degrees C. The activity of target bacteria was highly inducible. Nontarget bacteria were induced much less or were not induced by the inducers used. The results revealed large variations in the enzyme levels of different beta-D-galactosidase- and beta-D-glucuronidase-positive bacteria. The induced and noninduced beta-D-glucuronidase activities of Bacillus spp. and Aerococcus viridans were approximately the same as the activities of induced E. coli. Except for some isolates identified as Aeromonas spp., all of the induced and noninduced beta-D-galactosidase-positive, noncoliform isolates exhibited at least 2 log units less mean beta-D-galactosidase activity than induced E. coli. The noncoliform bacteria must be present in correspondingly higher concentrations than those of target bacteria to interfere in the rapid assay for detection of coliform bacteria.

Functional Characterization of Bacteria Isolated from Ancient Arctic Soil Exposes Diverse Resistance Mechanisms to Modern Antibiotics

Abstract: Using functional metagenomics to study the resistomes of bacterial communities isolated from different layers of the Canadian high Arctic permafrost, we show that microbial communities harbored diverse resistance mechanisms at least 5,000 years ago. Among bacteria sampled from the ancient layers of a permafrost core, we isolated eight genes conferring clinical levels of resistance against aminoglycoside, β-lactam and tetracycline antibiotics that are naturally produced by microorganisms. Among these resistance genes, four also conferred resistance against amikacin, a modern semi-synthetic antibiotic that does not naturally occur in microorganisms. In bacteria sampled from the overlaying active layer, we isolated ten different genes conferring resistance to all six antibiotics tested in this study, including aminoglycoside, β-lactam and tetracycline variants that are naturally produced by microorganisms as well as semi-synthetic variants produced in the laboratory. On average, we found that resistance genes found in permafrost bacteria conferred lower levels of resistance against clinically relevant antibiotics than resistance genes sampled from the active layer. Our results demonstrate that antibiotic resistance genes were functionally diverse prior to the anthropogenic use of antibiotics, contributing to the evolution of natural reservoirs of resistance genes.

Isolation of new bacterial species from drinking water biofilms and proof of their in situ dominance with highly specific 16S rRNA probes.

Abstract: A polyphasic approach involving cultivation, direct viable counts, rRNA-based phylogenetic classification, and in situ probing was applied for the characterization of the dominant microbial population in a municipal drinking water distribution system. A total of 234 bacterial strains cultivated on R2A medium were screened for bacteria affiliated with the in situ dominating beta subclass of Proteobacteria. The isolates were grouped according to common features of their cell and colony morphologies, and eight representative strains were used for 16S rRNA sequencing and the development of a suite of strain-specific oligonucleotide probes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that all of the isolates were hitherto unknown bacteria. Three of them, strains B4, B6, and B8, formed a separate cluster of closely related organisms within the beta 1 subclass of Proteobacteria. In situ probing revealed that (i) 67 to 72% of total bacteria, corresponding to more than 80% of beta-subclass bacteria, could be encompassed with the strain-specific probes and (ii) the dominating bacterial species were culturable on R2A medium. Additionally, two-thirds of the autochthonous drinking water population could be shown to be in a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state by using a direct viable count approach. The comparison of isolation frequencies with the in situ abundances of the eight investigated strains revealed differences in their culturability, indicating variable ratios of culturable to VBNC cells among the strains. The further characterization of biofilms throughout the distribution network demonstrated strains B6 and B8 to be dominant bacterial strains in groundwater and distribution system biofilms. The other strains could be found at various frequencies in the different parts of the distribution system; several strains appeared exclusively in drinking water biofilms obtained from a house installation system.

Ammonia oxidation: different niches for bacteria and archaea?

Abstract: marine microbial ecosystems to climate change. Given the strong evidence, however, that we are fundamentally changing Earth’s ‘heart and lungs’, there is no longer any excuse for international community not to pursue deep and rapid cuts in the use of fossil fuels and other greenhouse gas emitting sources. If we continue to ignore this evidence, we will place our planet, and the future of ourselves and our children, in extreme jeopardy.