Microbial enzymes implicated in plant cell hydrolysis may have several potential aplications such as biomass degradation biocatalysts or with biofuel production. Bark beetles establish symbiosis with several microbial strains which play different roles benifitting the beetle, as the production of hydrolytic enzymes to degrade the ingested wood, the protection against mirobial antagonist or the detoxification of the environment. Fungal symbionts have been traditionally the best studied, but several recent research with bacterial symbionts of several bark beetle species show that bacterial also display important functions for the host. In this study, the bacterial communities of the bark beetle species Cryphalus piceae and Pithophtorus pithophtorus, collected in the Czech Republic from pine and fir trees, respectively, were isolated and 55 out of 89 samples were identified by 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing. Members of the genera Erwinia, Pantoea, Curtobacterium, Yersinia, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus were detected. The isolates were object of study for their possible biotechnological potential in (ligno)cellulose materials degradation by screening several enzymes implicated in plant cell hydrolysis, as cellulases, xylanases, amylases, laccases, as well as their capability for colorant...

In the search for the mitochondrion of oxymonads, DNA of Monocercomonoides exilis - an oxymonad isolated from the gut of Chinchilla, was isolated and its genome was sequenced. Sequencing resulted in a fairly complete genome which was extensively searched or genes for mitochondrion related proteins, but no reliable candidate for such gene was identified. Even genes for the ISC pathway, which is responsible for Fe-S cluster assembly and considered to be the only essential function of reduced mitochondrion-like organelles (MROs), were absent. Instead, we were able to detect the presence of a SUF pathway which functionally replaced the ISC pathway. Closer examination of the SUF pathway based on heterologous localisation revealed that this pathway localised in the cytosol. In silico analysis showed that SUF genes are highly conserved at the level of secondary and tertiary structure and most catalytic residues and motifs are present in their sequences. The functionality of these proteins was further indirectly confirmed by complementation experiments in Escherichia coli where SUF proteins of M. exilis were able to restore at least partially Fe-S cluster assembly of strains deficient in the SUF and ISC pathways. We also proved by bacterial adenylate cyclase two-hybrid system that SufB and SufC can form...

Infectious diseases are a very hot topic nowadays in society. In recent years, there were several epidemics, infectious diseases (hepatitis A, Avian influenza, pandemic influenza A) and nobody knows when will the next "new" infection. At the outbreak of epidemics, there is great interest in the company to obtain information about the disease, but often also to unnecessary panic, because the media often publish incorrect information. It would be preferable, in order to improve public awareness and prevent the unnecessary spread of disease. Great emphasis should be given to prevent the disease - primarily on immunization, hygiene rules and principles of safe sex. Quality information should be mainly from teachers in teaching their pupils, as is clear from research books, infectious diseases are only mentioned in textbooks and the number of substantive information in them is missing. The fact that pupils of primary schools and grammar schools with basic information on infectious diseases do not meet in the classroom, evidenced by the results of a survey carried out in the 6th classes and first year at selected elementary schools and grammar schools in Prague. To raise awareness of the pupils in school was to create a methodical manual for teachers, which summarizes information about bacterial and...

Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Study program: Healthcare Bioanalytics Author: Bc. Adéla Diepoltová Supervisor: RNDr. Klára Konečná, Ph.D. Title of thesis: Optimization of the method for sensitivity evaluation of biofilm- forming staphylococci against candidate antimicrobial compounds Background: The aim of this thesis was to optimize approach for in vitro formation of staphylococcal biofilms on the pegs and on the wells of the 96-well panel as an analogous approach to commercially available Calgary Biofilm Device system. The aim of the Experiment 1 was to evaluate incubation conditions (such as impact of a growth medium, incubation mode, optical density of the starting bacterial inoculum and type of surface) leading to maximal biofilm formation of two biofilm producer strains with unknown biofilm phenotype and one staphylococcal strain known as strong biofilm producer. The most advisable conditions were used in incubation process of Experiment 2. This work should propose the approach leading to in vitro formation of the most voluminous staphylococcal biofilms exploitable for candidate drug antimicrobial activity testing. Methods: Spectrophotometric measurement of the crystal violet colour extracted from wells with fixed and stained Staphylococci to evaluate the ability to...

Phospholipids are dominant components of bacterial cell membranes, where they create double layers. Bacteria differ in their phospholipid composition determination of which can help in identification of important groups of microorganisms. Phospholipid composition of bacteria is influenced by many environmental factors, therefore its variation can be observed within one bacterial stem also. Because of its simplicity, thin layer chromatography is usually applied to identification and determination of bacterial phospholipids. Disadvantage of this method are the high demands of time, carefulness and skills of the analytical personnel. The increasing interest in the phospholipid double-layer promotes the detailed investigation of their fatty acid composition because the more detailed analyses allows for more information yield about bacteria. Gas chromatography hyphenated with mass spectrometry seems to be the best choice for these purposes. Fatty acid identity and total fatty acid content in phospholipid molecules could be determined by this method. Additionally, number, position and isomerism of double bonds and presence of other functional groups on hydrocarbon chain could be determined. Whereas a suitable and...

The use of probiotics has emerged in the last decades as a promising strategy when it comes to the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Through modulation of composition of the intestinal microbiota and the signalling it provides, probiotics can favourably tune the immune system. Beneficial effects of probiotic treatment have been documented in multiple animal inflammatory disease models. The effect of probiotic treatment on uveitis-a sight- threatening disease-has however not yet been described. In our study, we have tested two commercially available probiotics-Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) and Escherichia coli O83:K24:H31 (EcO)-in the treatment of experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). The disease severity was assessed by ophthalmoscopy and histology, proportions of leukocyte populations and intracellular expression of cytokines were evaluated by flow cytometry and the gut immune environment was analysed by tissue culture and ELISA. We found that prophylactic and early oral treatment with EcN reduces the severity of EAU. However, EcO treatment does not. The effects were accompanied by immune changes including a lowered production of inflammatory cytokines in Peyer's patches, a shift in macrophage populations in ileum and mesenteric lymph nodes or a reduced IRBP-specific response of CD4+ T...