An international consensus on effective, inclusive, and career-spanning short-format training in the life sciences and beyond.

Science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields change rapidly and are increasingly interdisciplinary. Commonly, STEMM practitioners use short-format training (SFT) such as workshops and short courses for upskilling and reskilling, but unaddressed challenges limit SFT's effectiveness and inclusiveness. Education researchers, students in SFT courses, and organizations have called for research and strategies that can strengthen SFT in terms of effectiveness, inclusiveness, and accessibility across multiple dimensions. This paper describes the project that resulted in a consensus set of 14 actionable recommendations to systematically strengthen SFT. A diverse international group of 30 experts in education, accessibility, and life sciences came together from 10 countries to develop recommendations that can help strengthen SFT globally. Participants, including representation from some of the largest life science training programs globally, assembled findings in the educational sciences and encompassed the experiences of several of the largest life science SFT programs. The 14 recommendations were derived through a Delphi method, where consensus was achieved in real time as the group completed a series of meetings and tasks designed to elicit specific recommendations. Recommendations cover the breadth of SFT contexts and stakeholder groups and include actions for instructors (e.g., make equity and inclusion an ethical obligation), programs (e.g., centralize infrastructure for assessment and evaluation), as well as organizations and funders (e.g., professionalize training SFT instructors; deploy SFT to counter inequity). Recommendations are aligned with a purpose-built framework-"The Bicycle Principles"-that prioritizes evidenced-based teaching, inclusiveness, and equity, as well as the ability to scale, share, and sustain SFT. We also describe how the Bicycle Principles and recommendations are consistent with educational change theories and can overcome systemic barriers to delivering consistently effective, inclusive, and career-spanning SFT.

Integrated regulation involving quorum sensing, a two-component system, a GGDEF/EAL domain protein and a post-transcriptional regulator controls swarming and RhlA-dependent surfactant biosynthesis in Serratia.

Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 (Serratia 39006) is a Gram-negative bacterium which produces the secondary metabolite antibiotics, prodigiosin and 1-carbapen-2-em-3-carboxylic acid and secretes plant cell wall degrading enzymes. In this study we have identified mutations in the genes, pigX, rap and rsmA, which caused increased production of a previously unidentified surfactant and flagella-dependent swarming phenotype in Serratia 39006. Analysis of both the biosynthesis and regulation of surfactant production and swarming, revealed FlhC, quorum sensing, a GGDEF/EAL domain protein (PigX), a GacAS two-component system, an Rsm system and Rap as key regulators. In addition, surfactant biosynthesis required a protein similar to RhlA, involved in rhamnolipid synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Homologues of RhlA have not previously been identified in members of the Enterobacteriaceae. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the surfactant may be responsible for dispersal of the antimicrobial pigment, prodigiosin. This study demonstrates the complex regulatory inputs into the coordinated multicellular swarming phenotype in Serratia.

Biosynthesis of the red antibiotic, prodigiosin, in Serratia: identification of a novel 2-methyl-3-n-amyl-pyrrole (MAP) assembly pathway, definition of the terminal condensing enzyme, and implications for undecylprodigiosin biosynthesis in Streptomyces.

The biosynthetic pathway of the red-pigmented antibiotic, prodigiosin, produced by Serratia sp. is known to involve separate pathways for the production of the monopyrrole, 2-methyl-3-n-amyl-pyrrole (MAP) and the bipyrrole, 4-methoxy-2,2'-bipyrrole-5-carbaldehyde (MBC) which are then coupled in the final condensation step. We have previously reported the cloning, sequencing and heterologous expression of the pig cluster responsible for prodigiosin biosynthesis in two Serratia sp. In this article we report the creation of in-frame deletions or insertions in every biosynthetic gene in the cluster from Serratia sp. ATCC 39006. The biosynthetic intermediates accumulating in each mutant have been analysed by LC-MS, cross-feeding and genetic complementation studies. Based on these results we assign specific roles in the biosynthesis of MBC to the following Pig proteins: PigI, PigG, PigA, PigJ, PigH, PigM, PigF and PigN. We report a novel pathway for the biosynthesis of MAP, involving PigD, PigE and PigB. We also report a new chemical synthesis of MAP and one of its precursors, 3-acetyloctanal. Finally, we identify the condensing enzyme as PigC. We reassess the existing literature and discuss the significance of the results for the biosynthesis of undecylprodigiosin by the Red cluster in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

Regulation of alternative pre-mRNA splicing.

The first wave of bioinformatic studies that followed genome and complementary DNA sequencing projects revealed that alternative splicing of messenger RNA precursors (pre-mRNAs) contributes substantially to transcriptome complexity in higher eukaryotes. Together with the realisation of the impact of the process on cell differentiation, development and disease, these studies portray alternative splicing as a fundamental component of gene regulation. Both detailed mechanistic studies and genome-wide analyses will be necessary to unravel the molecular basis for cell type-specific splice site selection. This paper will highlight some recent progress and future challenges for functional genomics and bioinformatics in this rapidly developing area.