Nanocellulose Polymer Composites as Innovative Pool for (Bio)Material Development

Summary: Using a “never-dried” procedure (according to Figure 4) shaped bacterial nanocellulose (BC, 1% cellulose, 99% water) has been modified by the formation of BC-polymer composites. For this purpose, acrylate and methacrylate monomers and methacrylate crosslinkers were photopolymerized inside an ethanol-swollen nanofiber network. Using the ethanol as solvent and as confirmed by model reactions the synthetic polymer (SP) part of the composites is constructed of crosslinked polymers (number of repeating units in the range of 500). As part of ongoing work on the development of (bio)materials from the innovative pool of BC composites these investigations are recently directed towards the creation of collagen-like materials. Thus, for these purposes, mainly water absorption capacity, strength, and elasticity have to be controlled, whilst still retaining essential features of BC like shape, nanofiber network, pore system, and proved biocompatibility. Using acrylic acid, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, N-vinyl pyrrolidone as acrylate monomers and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate and 1,4-butandiol dimethacrylate as crosslinkers of different concentrations either a filling of the pores or a coating of the fibers in the BC nanocomposites could be achieved. The small cellulose content of the composites significantly increases the water absorption value and the strength of the material as well as the ability of re-swelling in the case of fiber coated composites. Sample 12 is an optimized BC-SP composite regarding important properties of hyaline cartilage like Young's modulus in the range of 5–20 MPa using the well-known Simplex-method.     

Functional Bacterial Amyloids: Understanding Fibrillation,Regulating Biofilm Fibril Formation and Organizing Surface Assemblies

Functional amyloid is produced by many organisms but is particularly well understood in bacteria, where proteins such as CsgA (E. coli) and FapC (Pseudomonas) are assembled as functional bacterial amyloid (FuBA) on the cell surface in a carefully optimized process. Besides a host of helper proteins, FuBA formation is aided by multiple imperfect repeats which stabilize amyloid and streamline the aggregation mechanism to a fast-track assembly dominated by primary nucleation. These repeats, which are found in variable numbers in Pseudomonas, are most likely the structural core of the fibrils, though we still lack experimental data to determine whether the repeats give rise to β-helix structures via stacked β-hairpins (highly likely for CsgA) or more complicated arrangements (possibly the case for FapC). The response of FuBA fibrillation to denaturants suggests that nucleation and elongation involve equal amounts of folding, but protein chaperones preferentially target nucleation for effective inhibition. Smart peptides can be designed based on these imperfect repeats and modified with various flanking sequences to divert aggregation to less stable structures, leading to a reduction in biofilm formation. Small molecules such as EGCG can also divert FuBA to less organized structures, such as partially-folded oligomeric species, with the same detrimental effect on biofilm. Finally, the strong tendency of FuBA to self-assemble can lead to the formation of very regular two-dimensional amyloid films on structured surfaces such as graphite, which strongly implies future use in biosensors or other nanobiomaterials. In summary, the properties of functional amyloid are a much-needed corrective to the unfortunate association of amyloid with neurodegenerative disease and a testimony to nature’s ability to get the best out of a protein fold.     

Salpianthus macrodontus Extracts,a Novel Source of Phenolic Compounds with Antibacterial Activity against Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated from White Shrimp

This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity in vitro of Salpianthus macrodontus and Azadirachta indica extracts against potentially pathogenic bacteria for Pacific white shrimp. Furthermore, the extracts with higher inhibitory activity were analyzed to identify compounds responsible for bacterial inhibition and evaluate their effect on motility and biofilm formation. S. macrodontus and A. indica extracts were prepared using methanol, acetone, and hexane by ultrasound. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extracts was determined against Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. harveyi, Photobacterium damselae and P. leiognathi. The polyphenol profile of those extracts showing the highest bacterial inhibition were determined. Besides, the bacterial swimming and swarming motility and biofilm formation were determined. The highest inhibitory activity against the four pathogens was found with the acetonic extract of S. macrodontus leaf (MIC of 50 mg/mL for Vibrio spp. and 25 mg/mL for Photobacterium spp.) and the methanol extract of S. macrodontus flower (MIC of 50 mg/mL for all pathogens tested). Both extracts affected the swarming and swimming motility and the biofilm formation of the tested bacteria. The main phenolic compounds related to Vibrio bacteria inhibition were naringin, vanillic acid, and rosmarinic acid, whilst hesperidin, kaempferol pentosyl-rutinoside, and rhamnetin were related to Photobacterium bacteria inhibition.     

Conjugates of Iron-Transporting N-Hydroxylactams with Ciprofloxacin

Screening of a library of novel N-hydroxylactams amenable by the Castagnoli-Cushman reaction identified four lead compounds that facilitated ⁵⁵Fe transport into P. aeruginosa cells (one of these synthetic siderophores was found to be as efficient at promoting iron uptake as the natural siderophores pyoverdine, pyochelin or enterobactin). Conjugates of the four lead siderophores with ciprofloxacin were tested for antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa POA1 (wild type) and the ∆pvdF∆pchA mutant strain. The antibacterial activity was found to be pronounced against the ∆pvdF∆pchA mutant strain grown in CAA medium but not for the POA1 strain. This may be indicative of these compounds being ‘Trojan horse’ antibiotics. Further scrutiny of the mechanism of the antibacterial action of the newly developed conjugates is warranted.     

盐藻(Dunaliella viridis)细菌人工染色体文库的构建和鉴定

盐藻具有极强的耐盐能力,是研究植物耐盐机制的模式系统.为了对其耐盐机制进行深入的 研究,以pCC1BAC为载体,构建了盐藻的细菌人工染色体（BAC）文库.该文库共有9 216 个转化子,插入片段平均长度为55 kb,以单克隆形式保藏在96块96孔板中,并建立了四维P CR基因筛选体系,可以通过4轮PCR快速筛选获得阳性单克隆.根据本实验室分离到的两个盐 藻基因的cDNA序列（ DvSPT2和DvTPSP ）设计引物,通过PCR从该文库中各筛到4个阳性BA C克 隆,说明该文库能有效用于分离盐藻基因的基因组序列,据此推测该文库约覆盖4倍盐藻基 因组序列.     

盐胁迫下P.putidaRs-198液体菌肥对棉花的促生效应

基于P.putida Rs-198菌株为主要成分开发的Rs-198液体菌肥为目的,并采用盆栽试验考察了在盐胁迫条件下Rs-198菌肥对棉花种子发芽和棉苗生长的促生效应。结果表明:与菌肥载体物质处理(F)相比,Rs-198液体菌肥处理(MF)后棉花种子发芽率、棉苗株高、根长、鲜重、干重分别比对照分别提高了17.20%、14.93%、31.81%、7.89%、31.25%。而可溶性蛋白含量提高了10.67%,脯氨酸和丙二醛含量分别降低了13.00%和7.02%。另外,Rs-198菌肥处理后的棉苗中超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化物酶、过氧化氢酶、多酚氧化酶的活性分别降低了27.81%、6.19%、10.47%、27.75%。因此,Rs-198液体菌肥的应用能够有效地促进棉花生长和缓解盐胁迫的危害。     

10种红藻和褐藻抗细菌抗真菌活性的研究

本文报道了产于福建沿岸的１０种红藻和褐藻的抗细菌抗真菌活性。实验结果表明：１０种海藻中，有８种对细菌（革兰氏阳性菌）显示了不同程度的抑制活性，２种没有抗菌活性。１０种海藻对革兰氏阴性菌（大肠杆菌）都没有抑制作用。褐藻门的网地藻、厚网藻对真菌具有抑制作用并且活性很强，其它８种均无抗真菌作用。红藻门的中国凹顶藻和冈村凹顶藻的抗细菌活性也很强，本实验还对鼠尾藻和羊栖菜藻体不同部位，中国凹顶藻和冈村凹顶藻配子体和孢子体以及两种溶剂提取物的抗菌活性作了比较研究。     

产CTX-M型超广谱β-内酰胺酶肺炎克雷伯菌耐药性分析

目的了解吉林市区肺炎克雷伯菌CTX-M型超广谱β-内酰胺酶（ESBLs）的基因型分类及耐药情况,并对其分子流行病学特征进行分析.方法采用PCR扩增法检测118株肺炎克雷伯菌产CTX-M型ESBLs基因型情况,调查其阳性株对14种常见抗菌药物的耐药情况,对产CTX-M型肺炎克雷伯菌进行AP-PCR同源性分析,并绘制基因分析图谱.结果 118株肺炎克雷伯菌中共扩增出CTX-M型菌株25株,占21.19%;其中CTX-M-1组13株,占11.02%;CTX-M-9组16株,占13.56%;同时含CTX-M-1组和CTX-M-9组菌株4株,占3.39%;扩增未发现CTX-M-2组、CTX-M-8组和CTX-M-25组阳性株.25株产CTX-M型超广谱β-内酰胺酶均为多重耐药菌（耐3种以上抗菌药物）,对红霉素耐药率高达100%;其次耐药率依次为头孢噻肟92%,氨苄西林92%,四环素88%;对亚胺培南耐药率较低,对美罗培南均敏感.25株CTX-M型阳性菌株做随机扩增多态性分析,共发现13种RAPD.结论吉林市区产CTX-M型超广谱β-内酰胺酶菌株均为多重耐药,且对红霉素、头孢噻肟和氨苄西林类耐药率均很高.CTX-M酶在一定程度上存在克隆传播.     

基于高通量测序的不同养殖系统下凡纳滨对虾肠道和水体中微生物的多样性

【目的】研究不同养殖系统对凡纳滨对虾肠道及水体微生物多样性的影响。【方法】以循环养殖系统和非养殖系统下凡纳滨对虾养殖水体及其肠道为研究对象,在养殖30d后采集样品,采用Illumina MiSeq高通量测序样品细菌16SrRNA基因V3+V4区,通过RDP11.3、Greengenes13.8、NCBI 16S Microbial和Customized batabase等数据库进行分析,阐述循环养殖系统的意义和微生物在其中的作用。【结果】养殖期间,不同养殖系统凡纳滨对虾均正常存活。将原始序列优化后对Clean序列进行分析,非循环系统下水体优质序列百分比约81%,肠道中约89%;循环系统下水体优质序列百分比为92%,肠道中为94%。两种养殖系统下水体和肠道细菌在纲水平占绝对优势的是变形菌纲,但各菌群丰度不同;不同的Alpha指数显示出物种间的差异性;通过系统发育树可以看出,不同养殖系统改变了凡纳滨对虾生境中的物种及发育关系,间接阐述微生物在养殖生境中的作用和意义。【结论】通过高通量测序揭示不同养殖系统中微生物菌群的差异以及多样性,对于凡纳滨对虾实际养殖具有指导作用,对阐述养殖过程中微生物和相关疾病的关系具有重要意义。     

MWNTs/BBC复合纤维的制备及其力学性能

采用静电纺丝技术制备了多壁碳纳米管(MWNTs)/细菌纤维素苯甲酸酯(BBC)复合纤维。利用场发射扫描电镜(FESEM)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)、热重分析仪(TGA)及原子力显微镜(AFM)对复合纤维的形貌和性能进行了表征。结果表明:MWNTs的加入使BBC纤维变细;在280℃条件下对纤维进行热处理30 min,提高了MWNTs/BBC复合纤维的结晶度;对MWNTs含量为7‰的MWNTs/BBC纤维进行力学性能测试,得到单根MWNTs/BBC复合纤维的弹性模量达130 GPa。