Check out our exciting new paper out now in @plos.org where Dr Ahmad manipulated #peptidoglycan chemistry to understand Lyme disease and arthritis 👇👏
#Microsky
#glycotime
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
New #studies show that a #bacterial molecule, #peptidoglycan , is present in the #brain and fluctuates with #sleep patterns. This challenges the idea that sleep is solely brain-driven, instead suggesting it’s a #collaborative process between our #bodies and #microbiomes . [1/2]
🔬 My PhD research focused on how #antibiotics affect #Wolbachia - an intracellular bacterium essential for filarial worms and unusual for lacking a classical #peptidoglycan. 🧪
Thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey! (3/4)
#Microbiology #CellWall #AMR #AcademicSky
Left: Results of spotting various supernatants onto lawns of Halalkalibacterium halodurans, Phycicoccus endophyticus, and Virgibacillus salexigens. a,b: top fraction (>3 kDa) of supernatant from Haloferax volcanii expressing an intact (a) or catalytic mutant (b) version of Woldo; c,d: bottom fraction (<3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing an intact (c) or catalytic mutant (d) version of Woldo; e: unfiltered supernatant from Halogranum salarium B-1; f,g: top fraction (>3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing (f) Danwoldo or (g) and empty plasmid control; h,i: bottom fraction (<3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing (h) Danwoldo or (i) and empty plasmid control. Top right: Structural overlay of zoocin A from Streptococcus zooepidemicus (UniProt ID: O54308) and Woldo, a candidate PGH from Halogranum salarium B-1 (UniProt ID: J2ZZK6), highlighting homologous M23 domains but divergent cell wall binding domains. TRD: target recognition domain. PG: peptidoglycan. Bottom right: Images of bacterial cells following exposure to H. volcanii supernatants expressing Woldo, Danwoldo or the control (as above). Bacteria are stained using LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability staining kit with ingress of red dye into bacterial cells indicative of cells with terminally compromised cell wall integrity.
Archaea-on-bacteria action! @romainstrock.bsky.social @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social &co show that many #archaea encode #peptidoglycan hydrolases, which specifically target #bacterial cell walls, experimentally confirming the killing capacity of 2 of these enzymes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4lrJBBa
Left: Results of spotting various supernatants onto lawns of Halalkalibacterium halodurans, Phycicoccus endophyticus, and Virgibacillus salexigens. a,b: top fraction (>3 kDa) of supernatant from Haloferax volcanii expressing an intact (a) or catalytic mutant (b) version of Woldo; c,d: bottom fraction (<3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing an intact (c) or catalytic mutant (d) version of Woldo; e: unfiltered supernatant from Halogranum salarium B-1; f,g: top fraction (>3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing (f) Danwoldo or (g) and empty plasmid control; h,i: bottom fraction (<3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing (h) Danwoldo or (i) and empty plasmid control. Top right: Structural overlay of zoocin A from Streptococcus zooepidemicus (UniProt ID: O54308) and Woldo, a candidate PGH from Halogranum salarium B-1 (UniProt ID: J2ZZK6), highlighting homologous M23 domains but divergent cell wall binding domains. TRD: target recognition domain. PG: peptidoglycan. Bottom right: Images of bacterial cells following exposure to H. volcanii supernatants expressing Woldo, Danwoldo or the control (as above). Bacteria are stained using LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability staining kit with ingress of red dye into bacterial cells indicative of cells with terminally compromised cell wall integrity.
Archaea-on-bacteria action! @romainstrock.bsky.social @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social &co show that many #archaea encode #peptidoglycan hydrolases, which specifically target #bacterial cell walls, experimentally confirming the killing capacity of 2 of these enzymes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4lrJBBa
Left: Results of spotting various supernatants onto lawns of Halalkalibacterium halodurans, Phycicoccus endophyticus, and Virgibacillus salexigens. a,b: top fraction (>3 kDa) of supernatant from Haloferax volcanii expressing an intact (a) or catalytic mutant (b) version of Woldo; c,d: bottom fraction (<3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing an intact (c) or catalytic mutant (d) version of Woldo; e: unfiltered supernatant from Halogranum salarium B-1; f,g: top fraction (>3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing (f) Danwoldo or (g) and empty plasmid control; h,i: bottom fraction (<3 kDa) of supernatant from H. volcanii expressing (h) Danwoldo or (i) and empty plasmid control. Top right: Structural overlay of zoocin A from Streptococcus zooepidemicus (UniProt ID: O54308) and Woldo, a candidate PGH from Halogranum salarium B-1 (UniProt ID: J2ZZK6), highlighting homologous M23 domains but divergent cell wall binding domains. TRD: target recognition domain. PG: peptidoglycan. Bottom right: Images of bacterial cells following exposure to H. volcanii supernatants expressing Woldo, Danwoldo or the control (as above). Bacteria are stained using LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability staining kit with ingress of red dye into bacterial cells indicative of cells with terminally compromised cell wall integrity.
Archaea-on-bacteria action! @romainstrock.bsky.social @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social &co show that many #archaea encode #peptidoglycan hydrolases, which specifically target #bacterial cell walls, experimentally confirming the killing capacity of 2 of these enzymes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4lrJBBa
🦠 How do #GramNegative bacteria generate D- #AminoAcids for #peptidoglycan? Miyamoto et al. characterized the two multifunctional amino acid transferases TM1255 and TM1698 of Thermotoga maritima with their racemase activity.
➡️ doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.70034
#bacteria #enzymes #microbiology
Competent streptococci release hydrolases associated with fratricide (bacteria kill closely related cells to release DNA). The ScrI protein substitutes Thr for Ala in peptidoglycan cross bridges to confer immunity!
#MicroSky #Peptidoglycan #Competence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
S. aureus LTA modulates cell wall integrity (in part) by sequestering a putatively bifunctional PG hydrolase (ScaH); from the Taeok Bae and Susanne Walker labs.
#MicroSky #Peptidoglycan
@ all #peptidoglycan folks out there!
#AcademicSky #PhDSky #GWS25 #cellwall
This is a collage with the main picture showing me, standing on snow in front of the Umeå Town Hall. I have integrated a picture from a thermometer showing that it had 21 °C in my flat, while it had -21 °C outside.
The picture was taken in the city center of Umeå, in the direction of City Hall Square. In the foreground, 2 "stones" are glowing and fairy lights are strung between the trees. The sky is dark blue.
Frost-covered branches shimmer in the sunlight, with intricate ice crystals visible against a blue sky. The blurred background shows a snowy mound and trees.
View from the windows of the Bildmuseet towards Öbacka. The landscape is blanketed in snow, including the frozen Ume River, creating a serene winter scene.
#Throwback to a year ago today: I arrived in Umeå, Sweden, for my research stay. The #Cava lab gave me a warm welcome (unlike the weather – it was -21 °C!). I loved learning HPLC-MS analysis of #peptidoglycan and exploring snowy Umeå. ❄️ 1/3
#AcademicSky #PhDSky #PGN #CellWall #Fika
Bacterial communities Form biofilms in response to purified peptidoglycan
As already indicated by previous experiments, not only #V_cholerae reacts to purified #peptidoglycan but this behaviour can also be observed in different biofilm forming species.
So Sanika has "demonstrated that exogenous PG released by cellular lysis […]
[Original post on academiccloud.social]
Just in time for #WAAW - new collab paper with the Strynadka lab at UBC on structure/function of #peptidoglycan fragment recycling transporter AmpG involved in AmpC-related beta lactam resistance. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @yaegerluke.bsky.social
Images of our newly determined crystal structure, PDB ID = 8QZG
Check out the #XRAY #structure of a newly discovered #peptidoglycan cross-linking #enzyme that I solved👇Interestingly, the N-terminal region (in blue-cartoon or grey-sticks) wraps around the protein and blocks the encircled active site, probably regulating activity.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Antibody neutralization of #microbiota-derived circulating #peptidoglycan dampens #inflammation and ameliorates #autoimmunity https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-019-0381-1
