The COVID University Challenge: A Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points Assessment of the Return of Students to Higher Education Establishments.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted economies and societies throughout the world since early 2020. Education is especially affected, with schools and universities widely closed for long periods. People under 25 years have the lowest risk of severe disease but their activities can be key to persistent ongoing community transmission. A challenge arose for how to provide education, including university level, without the activities of students increasing wider community SARS-CoV-2 infections. We used a Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP) framework to assess the risks associated with university student activity and recommend how to mitigate these risks. This tool appealed because it relies on multiagency collaboration and interdisciplinary expertise and yet is low cost, allowing rapid generation of evidence-based recommendations. We identified key critical control points associated with university student' activities, lifestyle, and interaction patterns both on-and-off campus. Unacceptable contact thresholds and the most up-to-date guidance were used to identify levels of risk for potential SARS-CoV-2 transmission, as well as recommendations based on existing research and emerging evidence for strategies that can reduce the risks of transmission. Employing the preventative measures we suggest can reduce the risks of SARS-CoV-2 transmission among and from university students. Reduction of infectious disease transmission in this demographic will reduce overall community transmission, lower demands on health services and reduce risk of harm to clinically vulnerable individuals while allowing vital education activity to continue. HACCP assessment proved a flexible tool for risk analysis in a specific setting in response to an emerging infectious disease threat. Systematic approaches to assessing hazards and risk critical control points (#HACCP) enable robust strategies for protecting students and staff in HE settings during #COVID19 pandemic.

Promoting microbiology education through the iGEM synthetic biology competition.

Synthetic biology has developed rapidly in the 21st century. It covers a range of scientific disciplines that incorporate principles from engineering to take advantage of and improve biological systems, often applied to specific problems. Methods important in this subject area include the systematic design and testing of biological systems and, here, we describe how synthetic biology projects frequently develop microbiology skills and education. Synthetic biology research has huge potential in biotechnology and medicine, which brings important ethical and moral issues to address, offering learning opportunities about the wider impact of microbiological research. Synthetic biology projects have developed into wide-ranging training and educational experiences through iGEM, the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition. Elements of the competition are judged against specific criteria and teams can win medals and prizes across several categories. Collaboration is an important element of iGEM, and all DNA constructs synthesized by iGEM teams are made available to all researchers through the Registry for Standard Biological Parts. An overview of microbiological developments in the iGEM competition is provided. This review is targeted at educators that focus on microbiology and synthetic biology, but will also be of value to undergraduate and postgraduate students with an interest in this exciting subject area.

The representation of scientific research in the national curriculum and secondary school pupils' perceptions of research, its function, usefulness and value to their lives.

Young people's views on what research is, how it is conducted and whether it is important, influences the decisions they make about their further studies and career choices. In this paper we report the analysis of questionnaire data with a particular focus on pupil perceptions of research in the sciences and of the scientific method. The questionnaire was a 25-item Likert Scale (1-5) distributed to seven collaborating schools. We received 2634 returns from pupils across key stages 3, 4 and 5. We also asked teachers to complete the questionnaire in order to explore how they thought their pupils would respond. We received 54 teacher responses. Statistically significant differences in the responses were identified through a chi-square test on SPSS. As what is being taught influences secondary pupil views on research we also consider how the term 'research' appears in the national curriculum for England and Wales and the three main English exam boards. The main theoretical construct that informs our analysis of the questionnaire data and the national curriculum is Angela Brew's 4-tier descriptor of perceptions of research (domino, trading, layer, journey). We use this framework in order to map what, when and how research is presented to school pupils in England and Wales. We also use this framework in order to highlight and discuss certain pupil views that emerged from the questionnaire data and which indicate areas where curriculum and pedagogy intervention may be necessary: pupils seem less confident in their understanding of research as involving the identification of a research question; and, they often see research as a means to confirm one's own opinion. They do however understand research as involving the generation of new knowledge and the collection of new data, such as interviews and questionnaires as well as laboratory work, field trips and library searches and they appear relatively confident in their statements about their ability to do research, their school experiences of research and the importance of research in their future career choice.

The ECF sigma factor RpoI of R. leguminosarum initiates transcription of the vbsGSO and vbsADL siderophore biosynthetic genes in vitro.

When complexed with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase core enzyme, purified RpoI protein of Rhizobium leguminosarum initiated transcription in vitro from promoters of the vbsADL and vbsGSO operons, which are needed to synthesise the siderophore vicibactin. There is a single transcription initiation site for rpoI, regardless of whether the cells are grown in Fe-replete or Fe-depleted media, but levels of rpoI mRNA were reduced, though not abolished, in the presence of Fe. Unlike PvdS, a similar Pseudomonas sigma factor needed to transcribe genes involved in pyoverdine synthesis, RpoI transcribes vbsADL and vbsGSO in the absence of the cognate siderophore. The RpoI sigma factor is not required for transcription of rpoI.

RirA, an iron-responsive regulator in the symbiotic bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum.

Mutations in a Rhizobium leguminosarum gene, rirA (rhizobial iron regulator), caused high-level, constitutive expression of at least eight operons whose transcription is normally Fe-responsive and whose products are involved in the synthesis or uptake of siderophores, or in the uptake of haem or of other iron sources. Close homologues of RirA exist in other rhizobia and in the pathogen Brucella; many other bacteria have deduced proteins with more limited sequence similarity. None of these homologues had been implicated in Fe-mediated gene regulation. Transcription of rirA itself is about twofold higher in cells grown in Fe-replete than in Fe-deficient growth media. Mutations in rirA reduced growth rates in Fe-replete and -depleted medium, but did not appear to affect symbiotic N(2) fixation.

Analysis of the Rhizobium leguminosarum siderophore-uptake gene fhuA: differential expression in free-living bacteria and nitrogen-fixing bacteroids and distribution of an fhuA pseudogene in different strains.

A mutation was isolated in the Rhizobium leguminosarum gene fhuA, which appears to specify the outer-membrane receptor for the siderophore vicibactin. The mutant was defective in iron uptake and accumulated the siderophore vicibactin in the extracellular medium. Expression of fhuA was regulated by Fe3+, transcription being higher in iron-depleted cells. Transcription of fhuA was independent of a functional copy of rpol, a neighbouring gene that specifies a putative ECF sigma factor of RNA polymerase and which is involved in siderophore production in Rhizobium. Mutations in fhuA did not detectably affect symbiotic N2 fixation on peas. An fhuA::gus fusion was expressed by bacteria in the meristematic zone of pea nodules but not in mature bacteroids. Some other strains of R. leguminosarum also contain a pseudogene version of fhuA. The sequences of some of these and the 'real' fhuA genes were determined.

Analysis of a Rhizobium leguminosarum gene encoding a protein homologous to glutathione S-transferases.

A novel Rhizobium leguminosarum gene, gstA, the sequence of which indicated that it was a member of the gene family of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), was identified. The homology was greatest to the GST enzymes of higher plants. The Rhizobium gstA gene was normally expressed at a very low level. The product of gstA was over-expressed and purified from Escherichia coli. It was shown to bind to the affinity matrix glutathione-Sepharose, but no enzymic GST activity with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene as substrate was detected. gstA encoded a polypeptide of 203 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 21990 Da. Transcribed divergently from gstA is another gene, gstR, which was similar in sequence to the LysR family of bacterial transcriptional regulators. A mutation in gstR had no effect on the transcription of itself or gstA under the growth conditions used here. Mutations in gstA and gstR caused no obvious phenotypic defect and the biological functions of these genes remain to be determined.

High affinity iron acquisition in Rhizobium leguminosarum requires the cycHJKL operon and the feuPQ gene products, which belong to the family of two-component transcriptional regulators.

The cycHJKL operon of Rhizobium leguminosarum has previously been shown to be involved in the maturation of cytochrome c, possibly by its involvement in the covalent attachment of haem to the apoprotein. Mutations in the cycHJKL genes abolish symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Here, we show that cyc mutants are pleiotropically defective. They have lost a high affinity iron acquisition system due to their failure to make or to export siderophores. They also accumulate protoporphyrin IX, the immediate precursor of haem. A model to account for these phenotypes is presented. Immediately upstream of cycH is a gene, lipA, which is predicted to encode an outer-membrane lipoprotein. Further upstream of lipA, there are two other genes, whose products are similar in sequence to the widespread family of two-component transcriptional regulators. These two genes, feuP and feuQ, did not affect the transcription of lipA, or of the cycHJKL operon. However, a mutation in feuQ also led to the loss of the high affinity iron uptake system, although siderophores were still produced.