Microbiology

Non-receptor protein-tyrosine kinases regulate cellular responses to many external signals and are important drug discovery targets for cancer and infectious diseases. While many assays exist for the assessment of kinase activity in vitro, methods that report changes in tyrosine kinase activity in single cells have the potential to provide

Surface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus and other Gram-positive bacteria play essential roles in bacterial colonization and host-microbe interactions. Surface protein precursors containing a YSIRK/GXXS signal peptide are translocated across the septal membrane at mid-cell, anchored to the cell wall peptidoglycan at the cross-wall compartment,

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease. Its treatment relies on the use of a single drug, praziquantel. Due to treatment limitations, an alternative for schistosomiasis chemotherapy is required; thus, a better understanding of parasite biology and host-parasite interactions is valuable to aid the identification of new anti-Schistosoma

Swarming – swift movement across a surface via flagella propulsion – is a unique property of many bacteria. The role of swarming, particularly among bacterial populations of the human gut microbiome, is not yet fully understood; although, it is becoming an area of increased scientific and clinical inquiry. To further characterize

Epichloë species form agriculturally important symbioses with many cool season grasses. To study these symbioses, such as the interaction of Epichloë festucae with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), host plants can be infected by artificial inoculation of etiolated seedlings. This inoculation is performed by placing mycelium into an

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the major cause of liver diseases and liver cancer worldwide. After infecting hepatocytes, the virus establishes a stable episome (covalently closed circular DNA, or cccDNA) that serves as the template for all viral transcripts. Specific and accurate quantification of cccDNA is difficult because infected cells contain

Root-associated bacteria are able to influence plant fitness and vigor. A key step in understanding the belowground plant-bacteria interactions is to quantify root colonization by the bacteria of interest. Probably, genetic engineering with fluorescence markers is the most powerful way to monitor bacterial strains in plant. However, this could

Creating a robust and controlled infection model is imperative for studying the innate immune response. Leveraging the particular strengths of the zebrafish model system, such as optical transparency, ex utero development, and large clutch size, allows for the development of methods that yield consistent and reproducible results. We created a

Calcium signaling is an emerging mechanism by which bacteria respond to environmental cues. To measure the intracellular free-calcium concentration in bacterial cells, [Ca2+]i, a simple spectrofluorometric method based on the chemical probe Fura 2-acetoxy methyl ester (Fura 2-AM) is here presented using Pseudomonad bacterial cells. This is an