Bacteria, either indigenous or added, are immobilized in solid foods where they grow as colonies. Since the 80's, relatively few research groups have explored the implications of bacteria growing as colonies and mostly focused on pathogens in large colonies on agar/gelatine media. It is only recently that high resolution imaging techniques and biophysical characterization techniques increased t...

Gastric cancer (GC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. It has been proposed that the specific genotypes of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are the causative agents in the development of gastroduodenal diseases, such as chronic atrophic gastritis, peptic ulcerations, and GC. However, disease progression to GC occurs in only a small proportion of infected patients. Re...

Rational use of antibiotic is the key approach to improve the antibiotic performance and tackling of the antimicrobial resistance. The efficacy of antimicrobials are influenced by many factors: (1) bacterial status (susceptibility and resistance, tolerance, persistence, biofilm) and inoculum size; (2) antimicrobial concentrations [mutant selection window (MSW) and sub-inhibitory concentration];...

The surface design of titanium implants influences not only the local biological reactions but also affects at least the clinical result in orthopaedic application. During the last decades, strong efforts have been made to improve osteointegration and prevent bacterial adhesion to these surfaces. Following the rule of "smaller, faster, cheaper", nanotechnology has encountered clinical applicati...

Magnetotactic bacteria are a group of motile prokaryotes that synthesize chains of lipid-bound, magnetic nanoparticles called magnetosomes. This study exploits their innate magnetism to investigate previously unexplored facets of bacterial hydrodynamics at surfaces. Through use of weak, uniform, external magnetic fields and local, micromagnetic surface patterns, the relative strength of hydrody...

Bacterial peritonitis is a frequent complication in cirrhotic patients. Amongst the aetiological germs, Aeromonas is very infrequent. We present the clinical case of a cirrhotic patient with peritonitis and bacteraemia due to Aeromonas hydrophila. This micro-organism is a Gram-negative bacillus of the Vibrionaceae family. It very frequently produces gastroenteritis in the human being. Exception...

Embryos and larvae of Xenopus laevis are contaminated with a wide range of micro-organisms from the maternal cloaca. Primary monolayer cultures prepared from them were usually destroyed by endogenous contaminants. Fungal contamination was readily eliminated by the usual procedures. The high incidence of bacterial contamination was not reduced by penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline or combina...

LACTB is a mammalian active-site serine protein that has evolved from a bacterial penicillin-binding protein. Penicillin-binding proteins are involved in the metabolism of peptidoglycan, the major bacterial cell wall constituent, implying that LACTB has been endowed with novel biochemical properties during eukaryote evolution. Here we demonstrate that LACTB is localized in the mitochondrial int...

A biofilms are micro Colonies of bacteria adhere to each other and to biotic or biotic surfaces, embedded in an extracellular matrix produced by the sessile bacterial cells [1]. Extracellular matrix (ECM) and ECM proteins in bacterial biofilm play crucial roles in contaminating the agricultural produce starting from the field to the packing. In addition, ECM mediates adhesions protect bacteria ...

Micro-Tom is the smallest known variety of tomatoes. An orthogonal experimental design L(16) (4(5)) was used to optimize Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cotyledon explants of Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Micro-Tom. Four parameters were investigated to determine their effect on transformation frequency: the concentration of bacterial suspension, time of dip in bacterial suspension, ...