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Discusses a study which presented an evidence to the origin of infrared scattering in GaAs with high-resolution infrared tomography. Methods utilized to observe microprecipitates in GaAs substrates; Function of infrared light scattering tomography; Manner in which the scattering light distribution is magnified and observed.

Auranofin (AF), a former rheumatoid polyarthritis treatment, gained renewed interest for its use as an antimicrobial. AF is an inhibitor of thioredoxin reductase (TrxB), a thiol and protein repair enzyme, with an antibacterial activity against several bacteria including C. difficile, an enteropathogen causing post-antibiotic diarrhea. Several studies demonstrated the effect of AF on C. difficile physiology, but the crucial questions of resistance mechanisms and impact on microbiota remain unaddressed. We explored potential resistance mechanisms by studying the impact of TrxB multiplicity and by generating and characterizing adaptive mutations. We showed that if mutants inactivated for trxB genes have a lower MIC of AF, the number of TrxBs naturally present in clinical strains does not impact the MIC. All stable mutations isolated after AF long-term exposure were in the anti-sigma factor of σ B and strongly affect physiology. Finally, we showed that AF has less impact on human gut microbiota than vancomycin., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Bacterial evolution is affected by mobile genetic elements like phages and conjugative plasmids, offering new adaptive traits while incurring fitness costs. Their infection is affected by the bacterial capsule. Yet, its importance has been difficult to quantify because of the high diversity of confounding mechanisms in bacterial genomes such as anti-viral systems and surface receptor modifications. Swapping capsule loci between Klebsiella pneumoniae strains allowed us to quantify their impact on plasmid and phage infection independently of genetic background. Capsule swaps systematically invert phage susceptibility, revealing serotypes as key determinants of phage infection. Capsule types also influence conjugation efficiency in both donor and recipient cells, a mechanism shaped by capsule volume and conjugative pilus structure. Comparative genomics confirmed that more permissive serotypes in the lab correspond to the strains acquiring more conjugative plasmids in nature. The least capsule-sensitive pili (F-like) are the most frequent in the species' plasmids, and are the only ones associated with both antibiotic resistance and virulence factors, driving the convergence between virulence and antibiotics resistance in the population. These results show how traits of cellular envelopes define slow and fast lanes of infection by mobile genetic elements, with implications for population dynamics and horizontal gene transfer., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: The dlt operon encodes proteins responsible for the esterification of positively charged D-alanine on the wall teichoic acids and lipoteichoic acids of Gram-positive bacteria. This structural modification of the bacterial anionic surface in several species has been described to alter the physicochemical properties of the cell-wall. In addition, it has been linked to reduced sensibilities to cationic antimicrobial peptides and antibiotics., Methods: We studied the D-alanylation of Clostridioides difficile polysaccharides with a complete deletion of the dltDABC operon in the 630 strain. To look for D-alanylation location, surface polysaccharides were purified and analyzed by NMR. Properties of the dltDABC mutant and the parental strains, were determined for bacterial surface's hydrophobicity, motility, adhesion, antibiotic resistance., Results: We first confirmed the role of the dltDABC operon in D-alanylation. Then, we established the exclusive esterification of D-alanine on C. difficile lipoteichoic acid. Our data also suggest that D-alanylation modifies the cell-wall's properties, affecting the bacterial surface's hydrophobicity, motility, adhesion to biotic and abiotic surfaces,and biofilm formation. In addition, our mutant exhibitedincreased sensibilities to antibiotics linked to the membrane, especially bacitracin. A specific inhibitor DLT-1 of DltA reduces the D-alanylation rate in C. difficile but the inhibition was not sufficient to decrease the antibiotic resistance against bacitracin and vancomycin., Conclusion: Our results suggest the D-alanylation of C. difficile as an interesting target to tackle C. difficile infections., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2023 Lacotte, Denis-Quanquin, Chatonnat, Le Bris, Leparfait, Lequeux, Martin-Verstraete and Candela.)

The present case report describes a remarkable feature of Histomonas meleagridis characterized by aberrant clinical appearance and pathomorphologic lesions, which were mainly confined to the ceca, noticed during a field outbreak of histomonosis. In a flock of meat turkey toms, sudden death was noticed at the end of week 5 in the absence of specific clinical signs. Instead of the well-known sulfur-colored feces, some caseous cores were found in the litter. Mortality up to 17% per week was noticed in the first 2 wk of observation, after which it declined to approximately 1% per week. In the 10th week of life roughly 31% of the birds had died before the remaining birds were killed to preclude further economic losses due to insufficient growth or continuing mortality. Necropsy of affected birds on the farm and during a more detailed investigation of 15 birds prior to the killing of the flock revealed severe lesions in the ceca characterized by thickened cecal walls filled with necrotic and caseous material. Additionally, some ruptured and necrotic ceca were noticed together with localized peritonitis. Despite such severe typhlitis, only one of the sectioned birds showed pathomorphologic changes in the liver. Test tube flotation from collected fecal samples revealed only sporadic occurrence of coccidial oocysts and no nematodes. However, the presence of H. meleagridis was confirmed by PCR and/or immunohistochemistry, with specific antibodies against the parasite in a majority of the investigated ceca and in four liver samples. Remarkably, genetic characterization revealed H. meleagridis genotype 2, about which no detailed investigations have been reported so far. Although PCR detected a concurrent presence of Tetratrichomonas gallinarum, an involvement in the lesions could be excluded based upon histologic investigations. Finally, infection with Escherichia coli and Gallibacterium anatis was demonstrated by bacteriologic smears of internal organs, most likely a secondary infection. Altogether, the results demonstrate an aberrant clinical appearance and pathomorphology in turkeys suffering from histomonosis. Pathomorphologic changes were characterized by severe inflammation of the ceca with minimal liver involvement, indicating a different pathogenesis of H. meleagridis genotype 2.

The synthesis of a ligand containing as an electroactive core a tetrathiafulvalene moiety, 3-[3-(diphenylphosphino)propylthio]-3',4,4'-trimethyl-tetrathiafulvalene, is reported. Its versatile ability to act as a bidentate or a monodentate ligand, as demonstrated by the metal carbonyl complexes obtained, is described. The novel cis-Mo(CO)(4)(P-TTF)(2) 4 and cis-W(CO)(4)(P,S-TTF) 6 complexes have been characterized by X-ray diffraction analyses and cyclic voltammetry measurements. Within complex 4, no significant influence of the two electroactive ligands on the molybdenum center was detected, whereas, in complex 6, a weak influence of the TTF redox-active core can be observed on the redox behavior of the metal center.

We report a case of fatal pneumococcal sepsis in a previously healthy 22 month old child. At postmorten examination the patient was found to have an atrophic spleen. When other malformations are not associated, congenital asplenia is generally diagnosed after death related to pneumococcal infection.