De novo production of the flavonoid naringenin in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BACKGROUND: Flavonoids comprise a large family of secondary plant metabolic intermediates that exhibit a wide variety of antioxidant and human health-related properties. Plant production of flavonoids is limited by the low productivity and the complexity of the recovered flavonoids. Thus to overcome these limitations, metabolic engineering of specific pathway in microbial systems have been envisaged to produce high quantity of a single molecules. RESULT: Saccharomyces cerevisiae was engineered to produce the key intermediate flavonoid, naringenin, solely from glucose. For this, specific naringenin biosynthesis genes from Arabidopsis thaliana were selected by comparative expression profiling and introduced in S. cerevisiae. The sole expression of these A. thaliana genes yielded low extracellular naringenin concentrations (<5.5 µM). To optimize naringenin titers, a yeast chassis strain was developed. Synthesis of aromatic amino acids was deregulated by alleviating feedback inhibition of 3-deoxy-d-arabinose-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase (Aro3, Aro4) and byproduct formation was reduced by eliminating phenylpyruvate decarboxylase (Aro10, Pdc5, Pdc6). Together with an increased copy number of the chalcone synthase gene and expression of a heterologous tyrosine ammonia lyase, these modifications resulted in a 40-fold increase of extracellular naringenin titers (to approximately 200 µM) in glucose-grown shake-flask cultures. In aerated, pH controlled batch reactors, extracellular naringenin concentrations of over 400 µM were reached. CONCLUSION: The results reported in this study demonstrate that S. cerevisiae is capable of de novo production of naringenin by coexpressing the naringenin production genes from A. thaliana and optimization of the flux towards the naringenin pathway. The engineered yeast naringenin production host provides a metabolic chassis for production of a wide range of flavonoids and exploration of their biological functions.

Metabolome, transcriptome and metabolic flux analysis of arabinose fermentation by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

One of the challenges in strain improvement by evolutionary engineering is to subsequently determine the molecular basis of the improved properties that were enriched from the natural genetic variation during the selective conditions. This study focuses on Saccharomyces cerevisiae IMS0002 which, after metabolic and evolutionary engineering, ferments the pentose sugar arabinose. Glucose- and arabinose-limited anaerobic chemostat cultures of IMS0002 and its non-evolved ancestor were subjected to transcriptome analysis, intracellular metabolite measurements and metabolic flux analysis. Increased expression of the GAL-regulon and deletion of GAL2 in IMS0002 confirmed that the galactose transporter is essential for growth on arabinose. Elevated intracellular concentrations of pentose-phosphate-pathway intermediates and upregulation of TKL2 and YGR043c (encoding transketolase and transaldolase isoenzymes) suggested an involvement of these genes in flux-controlling reactions in arabinose fermentation. Indeed, deletion of these genes in IMS0002 caused a 21% reduction of the maximum specific growth rate on arabinose.

Tracking antibiotic resistance genes in the South Platte River basin using molecular signatures of urban, agricultural, and pristine sources.

A novel approach utilizing antibiotic-resistance-gene (ARG) molecular signatures was applied to track the sources of ARGs at sites along the Cache la Poudre (Poudre) and South Platte Rivers in Colorado. Two lines of evidence were employed: (1) detection frequencies of 2 sulfonamide and 11 tetracycline ARGs and (2) tet(W) phylotype and phylogenetic analysis. A GIS database indicating the locations of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and animal feeding operations (AFOs) in the watershed was also constructed to assess congruence of the surrounding landscape with the putative sources identified by ARG molecular signatures. Discriminant analysis was performed on detection frequencies of tetARG groups that were previously identified to be associated with either WWTPs or AFOs. All but one (South Platte River-3, just downstream from the confluence with the Poudre River) of the eight sites were classified as primarily WWTP-influenced based on discriminant analysis of ARG detection frequencies. tet(W) phylotype analysis also aligned South Platte River-3 with putative AFO sources, while phylogenetic analysis indicated that it was not significantly different from the AFOs or WWTPs investigated. South Platte River-3 is situated in an intense agricultural area, but the upstream portion of the South Platte River receives substantial loading from metropolitan Denver. By contrast, tet(W) phylotype and phylogenetics of site Poudre River-4, located 4 km downstream of a WWTP, was also characterized and found to be significantly different from the AFO lagoons (p < 0.05), as expected. In general, a good correspondence was found between classification of the impacted river sites and the surrounding landscape. While the overall approach could be extended to other watersheds, the general findings indicate that transport of ARGs from specific sources is likely the dominant mechanism for ARG proliferation in this riverine environment relative to selection of ARGs among native bacteria by antibiotics and other pollutants.

The Penicillium chrysogenum transporter PcAraT enables high-affinity, glucose-insensitive l-arabinose transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BACKGROUND: l-Arabinose occurs at economically relevant levels in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Its low-affinity uptake via the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Gal2 galactose transporter is inhibited by d-glucose. Especially at low concentrations of l-arabinose, uptake is an important rate-controlling step in the complete conversion of these feedstocks by engineered pentose-metabolizing S. cerevisiae strains. RESULTS: Chemostat-based transcriptome analysis yielded 16 putative sugar transporter genes in the filamentous fungus Penicillium chrysogenum whose transcript levels were at least threefold higher in l-arabinose-limited cultures than in d-glucose-limited and ethanol-limited cultures. Of five genes, that encoded putative transport proteins and showed an over 30-fold higher transcript level in l-arabinose-grown cultures compared to d-glucose-grown cultures, only one (Pc20g01790) restored growth on l-arabinose upon expression in an engineered l-arabinose-fermenting S. cerevisiae strain in which the endogenous l-arabinose transporter, GAL2, had been deleted. Sugar transport assays indicated that this fungal transporter, designated as PcAraT, is a high-affinity (Km = 0.13 mM), high-specificity l-arabinose-proton symporter that does not transport d-xylose or d-glucose. An l-arabinose-metabolizing S. cerevisiae strain in which GAL2 was replaced by PcaraT showed 450-fold lower residual substrate concentrations in l-arabinose-limited chemostat cultures than a congenic strain in which l-arabinose import depended on Gal2 (4.2 × 10-3 and 1.8 g L-1, respectively). Inhibition of l-arabinose transport by the most abundant sugars in hydrolysates, d-glucose and d-xylose was far less pronounced than observed with Gal2. Expression of PcAraT in a hexose-phosphorylation-deficient, l-arabinose-metabolizing S. cerevisiae strain enabled growth in media supplemented with both 20 g L-1 l-arabinose and 20 g L-1 d-glucose, which completely inhibited growth of a congenic strain in the same condition that depended on l-arabinose transport via Gal2. CONCLUSION: Its high affinity and specificity for l-arabinose, combined with limited sensitivity to inhibition by d-glucose and d-xylose, make PcAraT a valuable transporter for application in metabolic engineering strategies aimed at engineering S. cerevisiae strains for efficient conversion of lignocellulosic hydrolysates.

[Burnout and occupational stress in nurses]. / Burnout e stress lavorativo in infermieri professionali.

BACKGROUND: In the last few years there has been a growing interest in the psychosocial work environment of health care workers, since they are both at high risk of burnout, role conflict and job dissatifaction. Burnout, as a type of prolonged response to chronic job-related stress, has a special significance in health care settings, where staff experience both psychological--emotional and physical stress. OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated the interrelationship between burnout, occupational stress and personality characteristics in a sample of 120 nurses employed in the Infectious Diseases Department and the Department of Medical Oncology of two major hospitals in Messina, Italy. METHODS: Three questionnaire surveys were administered: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to estimate the job stress level, Occupational Stress Inventory to measure occupational stress and the Comrey Personality Scale to identify major personality characteristics. RESULTS: The results showed a significant statistical diference regarding the burnout levels in the two groups under study, with a higher burnout level in the Medical Oncology staff with respect to the Infectious Diseases Staff. The latter group also showed a higher occupational stress compared to the second group, with a significant statistical difference regarding "stress sources", coping strategies" and psychological health". Concerning the CPS results, some personality characteristics, as predictors for burnout syndrome, were found in the Medical Oncology staff. CONCLUSIONS: The study results underline the importance of the role ofpsychosocial work environment and the interrelationships between burnout, occupational stress and psychosomatic health in health care workers. In addition, in order to reduce a burnout risk, the Authors suggest improving the psychosocial work environment as a preventive measure.

Active community profiling via capillary electrophoresis single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis of amplified 16S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes.

Here, we report the validation and advancement of a high-throughput method for fingerprinting the active members of a microbial community. This method, termed active community profiling (ACP), provides information about both the composition and the activity of mixed microbial cultures via comparative measurements of amplified 16S rRNA (RNA) and 16S rRNA genes (DNA). Capillary electrophoresis is used to resolve single-strand conformation polymorphisms of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) products, producing electropherograms representative of the community structure. Active members of the community are distinguished by elevated RNA:DNA peak area ratios. Chemostat experiments with defined populations were conducted to validate the ACP approach. Using a pure culture of Escherichia coli, a direct correlation was found between the growth rate and the RNA:DNA peak ratio. In a second validation experiment, a binary culture of E. coli and Pseudomonas putida was subjected to a controlled environmental change consisting of a shift to anaerobic conditions. ACP revealed the expected cessation of growth of P. putida, an obligate aerobe, while the corresponding DNA-only analysis indicated no change in the culture. Finally, ACP was applied to a complex microbial community, and a novel binning approach was demonstrated for integrating the RNA and DNA electropherograms. ACP thus represents a significant advance from traditional DNA-based profiling techniques, which do not distinguish active from inactive or dead cells, and is well suited for high-throughput community analysis.