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Topic Review
Molecular Virology
Molecular virology is the study of viruses on a molecular level. Viruses are submicroscopic parasites that replicate inside host cells. They are able to successfully infect and parasitize all kinds of life forms- from microorganisms to plants and animals- and as a result viruses have more biological diversity than the rest of the bacterial, plant, and animal kingdoms combined. Studying this diversity is the key to a better understanding of how viruses interact with their hosts, replicate inside them, and cause diseases.
  • 1.3K
  • 31 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Drug-Resistance of Candida glabrata
Candida glabrata is a yeast of increasing medical relevance, particularly in critically ill patients. It is the second most isolated Candida species associated with invasive candidiasis (IC) behind C. albicans. The attributed higher incidence is primarily due to an increase in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) population, cancer, and diabetic patients. The elderly population and the frequent use of indwelling medical devices are also predisposing factors.
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Helicobacter pylori in Gastric Cancer
The H. pyloriinfection generates an inflammatory reaction in the stomach, resulting in the loss of parietal cells and an elevation in gastric pH. H. pylorimay contribute to microbial dysbiosis, and effective eradication can restore the gut microbiota to a state comparable to that of uninfected people.
  • 1.3K
  • 02 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Corynebacterium Glutamicum Mechanosensing
Corynebacterium glutamicum is a workhorse for industrial amino acid production, and the most striking feature of this bacterium is L-glutamate secretion. L-glutamate secretion is triggered by altering cell surface structures by biotin limitation, adding surfactants, penicillin, etc. Mechanosensing by MscCG-type mechanosensitive channels is the central physiological phenomenon for the L-glutamate secretion, and understanding the structural and functional diversity of MscS bacterial mechanosensitive channel superfamily will solve long-puzzling questions in Corynebacterium glutamicum.
  • 1.3K
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative diplococcus which causes the sexually transmitted infection (STI) gonorrhea.
  • 1.3K
  • 24 Feb 2021
Topic Review
The STEC–MFG Association
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are zoonotic Gram-negative bacteria. While raw milk cheese consumption is healthful, contamination with pathogens such as STEC can occur due to poor hygiene practices at the farm level. STEC infections cause mild to serious symptoms in humans. The raw milk cheese-making process concentrates certain milk macromolecules such as proteins and milk fat globules (MFGs), allowing the intrinsic beneficial and pathogenic microflora to continue to thrive. MFGs are surrounded by a biological membrane, the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), which has a globally positive health effect, including inhibition of pathogen adhesion.
  • 1.3K
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Quercetin and Akkermansia muciniphila: Facing NAFLD & Obesity
Obesity is a disease characterized by an excessive body fat accumulation and by the presence of a subclinical chronic inflammation. It is related to many comorbidities, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the predominant cause of chronic liver disease in many parts of the world. NAFLD is a disease spectrum which starts with simple steatosis (the accumulation of fat in the liver) and could progress to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis or even hepatocarcinoma, mainly due to sedentary lifestyle.  Gut microbiota is a metabolic organ involved in physiological homeostasis and is defined as all the microorganisms that habit along the digestive tract. The alteration of its composition and functionality, called dysbiosis, has been associated with many pathologies, such as obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) development. Gut microbiota emerges as a therapeutic target, in which probiotics or prebiotics play a central role. Probiotics are live microorganisms that have beneficial effects on health status when are consumed in proper doses, whereas prebiotics are non-digestible ingredients which promote the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the gut. A synbiotic is a combination of prebiotics and probiotics that confers a healthy benefit on the host. 
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Nutritional Therapies on the Intestinal Microbiome
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, autoimmune disorder of the gastrointestinal tract with numerous genetic and environmental risk factors. Patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) often demonstrate marked disruptions of their gut microbiome. The intestinal microbiota is strongly influenced by diet. The association between the increasing incidence of IBD worldwide and increased consumption of a westernized diet suggests host nutrition may influence the progression or treatment of IBD via the microbiome. Several nutritional therapies have been studied for the treatment of CD and UC. While their mechanisms of action are only partially understood, existing studies do suggest that diet-driven changes in microbial composition and function underlie the diverse mechanisms of nutritional therapy. Despite existing therapies for IBD focusing heavily on immune suppression, nutrition is an important treatment option due to its superior safety profile, potentially low cost, and benefits for growth and development. These benefits are increasingly important to patients. In this entry, we will describe the clinical efficacy of the different nutritional therapies that have been described for the treatment of CD and UC. 
  • 1.3K
  • 05 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Current Methods for Bacterial Infection Clinical Diagnosis
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), defined as the ability of microorganisms to withstand antimicrobial treatment, is responsible for millions of deaths annually. The rapid spread of AMR across continents warrants systematic changes in healthcare routines and protocols. One of the fundamental issues with AMR spread is the lack of rapid diagnostic tools for pathogen identification and AMR detection. Resistance profile identification often depends on pathogen culturing and thus may last up to several days. This contributes to the misuse of antibiotics for viral infection, the use of inappropriate antibiotics, the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics, or delayed infection treatment.
  • 1.3K
  • 05 May 2023
Topic Review
Fungal Co-Infections in COVID-19 Patients
Fungal co-infections are reported in severely ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU, with a higher rate of incidence for aspergillosis followed by candidemia, as observed from our literature analysis. Fungal co-infections may increase disease severity and lead to more severe outcomes. 
  • 1.3K
  • 16 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Metschnikowia bicuspidata
Metschnikowia bicuspidata is an opportunistic pathogenic yeast that is distributed in marine and freshwater environments worldwide. 
  • 1.3K
  • 01 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Bacterial–Fungal Interactions
At the cell-to-cell level, bacteria and fungi interact at many different levels of intimacy that can be considered from two perspectives: in terms of physical associations and in terms of molecular communication. More often than not, multiple mechanism of interaction can be employed by one microorganism. Cumulative cell-to-cell interactions among organisms belonging to very different taxa levels and origins, such as animals, protists, fungi, bacteria, archaea, and viruses, determine the overall microbial community activity in a given habitat. These interactions have an effect not just on their surrounding environment (i.e., microenvironment), but also influence large-scale fluxes and, thus, impact global ecosystem processes.
  • 1.3K
  • 25 Oct 2021
Topic Review
CRISPR-Cas9 Innovations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been for a long time a common model for fundamental biological studies and a popular biotechnological engineering platform to produce chemicals, fuels, and pharmaceuticals due to its peculiar characteristics. Both lines of research require an effective editing of the native genetic elements or the inclusion of heterologous pathways into the yeast genome. Although S. cerevisiae is a well-known host with several molecular biology tools available, a more precise tool is still needed. The clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats–associated Cas9 (CRISPR-Cas9) system is a current, widespread genome editing tool. The implementation of a reprogrammable, precise, and specific method, such as CRISPR-Cas9, to edit the S. cerevisiae genome has revolutionized laboratory practices.
  • 1.3K
  • 17 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria in Medicinal Plants
Plants are constantly exposed to both biotic and abiotic stresses which limit their growth and development and reduce productivity. In order to tolerate them, plants initiate a multitude of stress-specific responses which modulate different physiological, molecular and cellular mechanisms. The microbial community in the rhizosphere (known as the rhizomicrobiome) undergoes intraspecific as well as interspecific interaction and signaling. The rhizomicrobiome, as biostimulants, play a pivotal role in stimulating the growth of plants and providing resilience against abiotic stress. Such rhizobacteria which promote the development of plants and increase their yield and immunity are known as PGPR (plant growth promoting rhizobacteria). On the basis of contact, they are classified into two categories, extracellular (in soil around root, root surface and cellular space) and intracellular (nitrogen-fixing bacteria). They show their effects on plant growth directly (i.e., in absence of pathogens) or indirectly. Generally, they make their niche in concentrated form around roots, as the latter exude several nutrients, such as amino acids, lipids, proteins, etc. Rhizobacteria build a special symbiotic relationship with the plant or a section of the plant’s inner tissues. There are free-living PGPRs with the potential to work as biofertilizers. Additionally, studies show that PGPRs can ameliorate the effect of abiotic stresses and help in enhanced growth and development of plants producing therapeutically important compounds. 
  • 1.3K
  • 20 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Lactococcus lactis
Gram-positive cocci known as Lactococcus are found solely in pairs or in chains. They are catalase-negative, and facultatively anaerobic L-lactic acid is the main byproduct of the fermentation of glucose during the glycolytic pathway of L. lactis.
  • 1.3K
  • 05 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Nivalenol Mycotoxin Concerns in Foods
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi that infect a wide range of foods worldwide. Nivalenol (NIV), a type B trichothecene produced by numerous Fusarium species, has the ability to infect a variety of foods both in the field and during post-harvest handling and management. NIV is frequently found in cereal and cereal-based goods, and its strong cytotoxicity poses major concerns for both human and animal health. 
  • 1.3K
  • 18 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Antarctic cryptoendolithic communities
The Antarctic cryptoendolithic communities are self-supporting assemblages of phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms, including bacteria, Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta and both free-living and lichen-forming fungi. These are among the most stress-resistant organisms known to date, constantly living to the edge of their physiological adaptability.
  • 1.3K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Chlamydiae
The Chlamydiae are a bacterial phylum and class whose members are remarkably diverse, including pathogens of humans and animals, symbionts of ubiquitous protozoa, and marine sediment forms not yet well understood. All of the Chlamydiae that humans have known about for many decades are obligate intracellular bacteria; in 2020 many additional Chlamydiae were discovered in ocean-floor environments, and it is not yet known whether they all have hosts. Historically it was believed that all Chlamydiae had a peptidoglycan-free cell wall, but studies in the 2010s demonstrated a detectable presence of peptidoglycan, as well as other important proteins. Among the Chlamydiae, all of the ones long known to science grow only by infecting eukaryotic host cells. They are as small as or smaller than many viruses. They are ovoid in shape and stain Gram-negative. They are dependent on replication inside the host cells; thus, some species are termed obligate intracellular pathogens and others are symbionts of ubiquitous protozoa. Most intracellular Chlamydiae are located in an inclusion body or vacuole. Outside cells, they survive only as an extracellular infectious form. These Chlamydiae can grow only where their host cells grow, and develop according to a characteristic biphasic developmental cycle. Therefore, clinically relevant Chlamydiae cannot be propagated in bacterial culture media in the clinical laboratory. They are most successfully isolated while still inside their host cells. Of various Chlamydiae that cause human disease, the two most important species are Chlamydia pneumoniae, which causes a type of pneumonia, and Chlamydia trachomatis, which causes chlamydia. Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and 2.86 million chlamydia infections are reported annually.
  • 1.3K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
The Necrobiome of Deadwood
Sustainable forest management has been increasingly recognized, promoting the diffusion of silvicultural practices aimed at considering all components of the forest system. Deadwood is an important component of the forest ecosystem. It plays a fundamental role in providing nutrients and habitats for a wide variety of saprotrophic and heterotrophic organisms and significantly contributes to soil formation and carbon storage. Deadwood is inhabited by a plethora of organisms from various kingdoms that have evolved the ability to utilize decaying organic matter. This community, consisting of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic species, can be defined as “necrobiome”. Through the interactions between its various members, the necrobiome influences the decay rates of deadwood and plays a crucial role in the balance between organic matter decomposition, carbon sequestration, and gas exchanges (e.g., CO2) with the atmosphere. 
  • 1.3K
  • 04 Jan 2023
Topic Review
The Formation of Biofilms
Biofilms are matrix-enclosed bacterial populations that are adherent to each other and to surfaces and/or interfaces and are mainly composed of polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and extracellular DNA.
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Jun 2021
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