Science topic

Bacteria - Science topic

One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.
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I work with iPSC-derived neurons. I got this contamination which is slow growing and spreads across cultures through media. I don't understand if this is bacterial or fungal. My media does have pen strep but still does not get killed. I plated this culture on PDA, no fungal growth. Please provide me suggestions
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10x magnification
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Hello! I am currently doing my thesis on mercury bioremediation using bacteria. To understand the underlying mechanisms, I'm seeking your recommendations for suitable analytical techniques. I'm particularly interested in investigating processes like biodegradation, biotransformation, absorption, and adsorption. My current proposals include Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) to examine bacterial-mercury interactions, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) to assess mercury transformation, and UV-Vis Spectrophotometry to quantify mercury removal.
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Hello,
Your analytical approach covers a broad spectrum, and the techniques you've proposed are highly effective for understanding different aspects of mercury bioremediation.
Here are a few additional methods to complement your research:
  1. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS): This can help identify oxidation states of mercury on bacterial surfaces, providing insight into biotransformation and adsorption processes.
  2. Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR): Useful for characterizing functional groups involved in mercury binding on the bacterial surface, helping to clarify absorption and adsorption mechanisms.
  3. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS): Ideal for highly sensitive quantification of mercury at low concentrations, and it can also analyze mercury in complex matrices if required.
  4. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with UV or fluorescence detectors: For examining mercury speciation in solution, this technique can differentiate between organic and inorganic mercury, revealing pathways of biotransformation.
These methods can provide a deeper understanding of how mercury interacts with bacterial cells and the transformation processes it undergoes.
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HI all,
I have started cell culture for VSMC and I saw this in my culture the other day. It does not move when gently jiggling the plate and I have seen it even after rinsing with PBS and placing in new media. Does this look like cell contamination to you?
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Not contamination that could ruin your cells. Most likely industrial dusts that got stuck during the making of the plate or when you opened the packaging. It’ll disappear once you wash and spin your cells a few passages later.
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I'm trying to do some live/dead staining of s. aureus and e. coli on the confocal microscope using Cyto 9 and Propidium Iodide. The cyto 9 is being taken up and imaging really well but the propidium iodide is not being taken up by the cells as well (these should definitely be dead). Can anybody suggest an optimum concentration/incubation time for the PI please?
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May consider using Permai fluorescence dye.
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I have to estimate the growth of my bacterial cultures spectrophotometrically and I read articles of measurement at an OD of 600nm. Also what to do if the values exceed 1. What is the proper method for the measurement of the same.
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Different labs use different wavelengths to measure, usually from 590-650. They all work fine so it doesn't really matter so long as you consistently use the same. Traditionally 600nm has been used but not by everyone, I think because it matches the old color filters of Klett meters that used to be used.
When you get to optical densities above 1, the amount of light being scattered vastly exceeds the amount passing through, so the accuracy of the measurement goes way down. As the other responders said, the solution is to dilute your culture and take your reading so that it is below 1.
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15 E. coli K12 promoters from EcoCyc are now accessible on PeptiCloud (www.pepticloud.com)! You can clone them into your projects to build constructs. Find them here: https://www.pepticloud.com/public-project/E.%20coli%20K12%20Promoters.
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Thanks for sharing
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I have two different populations: one expressing GFP and the other one expressing mcherry. I analyzed them individually (as well as a negative control) in the cytometer and I did compensation. However when I mix both populations a huge amount of events are positive for both GFP and mcherry. I thought maybe more than one bacteria were being exposed to the laser at one time so I diluted and lower the number of events per second. However the result seems to be similar. Conjugation when I mix both populations is discarded. Has anyone else had the same problem and could help me?
Thanks in advance
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Thanks for the answer Hüseyin!
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I would like to understand potential safety concerns while handling SEB in the lab. Especially while working in animal house facility. Would like to know precautions for handling.
Sigma MSDS showed it as highly toxic.
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Handling Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin Type B (SEB) requires strict precautions due to its toxicity. Work should be conducted at BSL-2 or higher with appropriate PPE (gloves, lab coat, eye, and respiratory protection). Use a biological safety cabinet (BSC) for manipulations and ensure proper ventilation. Store SEB securely, decontaminate surfaces with bleach, and follow strict emergency and spill response protocols.
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I am reaching out to seek your expertise on the use of different culture media for growing gene-transformed Agrobacterium K599.
In my current work, I am utilizing both TY and YEP media to culture Agrobacterium rhizogenes K599 that has been transfered DNA plasmid pAGM4723 contain RUBY reporter gene. However, I am unsure how these media might affect the growth and gene expression in this particular bacterial strain.
1. Are there any known effects of using TY medium versus YEP medium on the expression of the introduced genes in Agrobacterium K599? How might the choice of medium influence gene stability or expression levels?
2. Are there specific experimental conditions or practical considerations that might make one medium preferable over the other for optimal culturing of gene-transformed Agrobacterium K599?
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Differences:
Nutrient Content: YEP is richer, promoting higher bacterial density.
Growth Rate: TY supports faster growth, while YEP yields more biomass.
Application: TY for quick, routine growth; YEP for robust growth and higher biomass.
In summary, choose TY for faster growth and YEP for larger biomass, depending on your experimental needs.
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List down the various factors responsible and how does this effect the overall biogas production when it is related to Hydraulic retention time of the digester based on the feedstock?
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Bruno Peeters I am of the same view when it comes to CSTR non mixing digesters vs mixing systems and this is the reason I support and suggest to have good mixing systems in place to start with. I agree with the HRT/SRT vs biogas production details you have shared.
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I am cloning an overexpression plasmid with my protein of interest tagged with mScarlet. After transforming my ligated product into DH5α bacteria and plating on LB agar, I noticed colonies with a pink tint to them. Miniprep pellets and even DNA elutions were also pink. The plasmid has been sequence verified and has the confirmed sequence. After looking online, I wanted to be sure this is not yeast contamination so the USER cloning was repeated. Again I saw both white and pink colonies and had pink pellets upon centrifugation. This issue has persisted across multiple batches of agar plates. Others in the lab have been doing transformations and have not come across this so it seems to be specific to my plasmid only. Could this be expression of mScarlet from my plasmid? This would be weird it is under the expression of mammalian promoter and none of my other mScarlet plasmids have had this issue. I've attached some photos for reference (arrows pointing to pink and white colonies).
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don't panic!! this is not unusual: I got the same observation with sfGFP, redGFP...construct it depends on the plasmid construct probably in some of them there is a cryptic bacterial promoter and this fluorescent protein are so powerfull that even a small expression will give coloured pellet. more over
yeast will not grow at 37°C overnigt in LB and if you can get a plasmid from your culture it is most probably E. coli...
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I was performing estimation of Total Soluble Sugar content in bacterial cultures by Anthrone method. Out of 9 samples, only one sample showed positive reading while others had a negative reading in the UV-vis spectrophotometer. What does this denote.
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Swapnil Srivastava then, you could have carbohydrates in your samples that do not form furfural in the dehydration step, so the response is negative for them.
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I would like to investigate the effect of bacterial secretome on cancer cells.
How do you prepare conditioned media from bacteria??
conditions- time points - media
I am looking for the best way to prepare the media in order to recapitulate the physiological conditions in vivo.
Thank you all.
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Ioanna Nikdima I do not have expertise in this field but the attached research article used the bacterial media (LB) for the preparation of conditioned media. Please check the related papers in this field.
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I am trying to reconstitute the bacterium B.ovatus ATCC.
it was first placed in a THIO broth and despite this we observed no turbidity. This was done 24h after the stick containing B.ovatus ATCC had been reconstituted, because of a mistake.
Do you have any suggestions? Could the bacterium have already died?
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thanks a lot!!
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Hello,
My E. coli cells express both green fluorescent protein as well as mCherry. So I need a fluorescent stain of color other than green and red fluorescence to enumerate their viability. Please suggest. Thanks in advance.
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May consider using Permai fluorescence dye.
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Hi
I am trying to revive Pseudomonas aeruginosa from frozen glycerol stock and also from cryobeads. But there was no bacterial growth. I used nutrient agar, tryptone soy agar to streak on. Also I added glycerol stock to nutrient broth and tryptone soy broth but there was no growth.
I would appreciate your guidance.
Thank you
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Many thanks for your clarification, appreciated.
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What is the relationship between the maximal density of a bacterial population during anaerobic and aerobic growth for a specific species - a facultative anaerobe?
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Think you need to run the experiment.
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I would like to do genome assembly for the bacteria isolate from the environment. Can any provide me the information or any tutorial? It would be helpful!
thanks!
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KBase is an online platform with many implemented tools and also examples to follow. Easy for starting as you don't need local resources and can piece together your pipeline or follow published ones.
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Generally for bacterial DNA isolation we use a fresh culture of 2-5 days old. But if we use an older culture say 10-15 days old will it have any impact on the DNA content and the DNA isolation process as the bacterium may secrete some metabolites of their own in the liquid culture medium.
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The age of a bacterial culture can greatly affect DNA isolation. Younger cultures, which are typically in the exponential growth phase, tend to yield better results because the cells are actively dividing and less likely to have degraded DNA. In contrast, older cultures may have more dead cells and debris, leading to lower quality DNA and potential contamination. Additionally, cells in older cultures might be harder to lyse due to changes in cell wall structure, and the presence of extracellular nucleases can degrade the DNA further. Therefore, it's usually best to use younger bacterial cultures for DNA isolation to ensure you get the highest quality and quantity of DNA.
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For WGS, we need to obtain pellets of Avibacterium paragallinarum (Pasteurellacea-like baceria). What are the preffered centrifuge conditions for this bacterial family? Thanks
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For genomic DNA, any standard condition, 15-20 min, 5000 g would work, however, good to use at 4 °C if possible. Time can vary based on your sample density.
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I do not have -80 C refrigerator for storage of my bacterial cultures. Can they be stored in -20C refrigerators in 50% glycerol slants.
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Indeed, 50% glycerol slants serve as effective storage solutions for bacterial cultures at -20°C, leveraging glycerol's cryoprotectant properties to safeguard cells from ice crystal formation during freezing and thawing. To prepare them, mix glycerol and sterile water equally to create a homogeneous 50% glycerol solution. Inoculate the slants with the desired bacterial culture and let them grow before adding the glycerol solution to cover the growth. Seal the slants and store them at -20°C to maintain viability over months to years. To revive cultures, streak cells from the slants onto agar plates and incubate under suitable conditions. Although glycerol enhances viability during storage, it's vital to handle cultures carefully and adhere to proper storage and revival protocols to ensure their viability.
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I'm isolating bacterial from soil on Nutrient Agar media but after 4-5 days I see fungal growth start in the plates. I read about use of Nystatin to prevent fungal growth. How much quantity or concentration of Nystatin should I use for 250 ml of culture media.
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I add 50mg/L of Nystatin as a methanol solution (or rather suspension). The 50mg does not dissolve completely in 1mL of methanol but the suspension is homogenic so if you add this to warm agar (with stirring) then you get a somewhat even dispersal. Hope that helps...
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I am expressing dsRNA using E.coli as vector. I would like to check that my bacteria culture is expressing dsRNA. I am planning to extract RNA from my bacteria culture and then load the total RNA into an agarose gel. Is there any good protocol for loading dsRNA into a gel? Do I need to add formamide to my sample in addition to the loading buffer?
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dsRNA are much like DNA maybe you will need to make a RNAse A and DNAse (RNAse free) control to be sure that you are seeing dsRNA... I have the feeling that migration of dsRNA are more sensitive to base composition than DNA (2 dsRNA of the same lenght but different sequence can run differently)...
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I use 1ul SYTO9 and 1 ul PI per ml of water. The bacteria are attached to a surface and I cover them with 20 ul of this mixture for 10 mins (in the dark), before removing the dye and imaging. The dyes are mixed just before use. At 10 mins, MRSA on steel surfaces are staining both green(live) and red(dead), but I know by culture that they can survive on steel for hours if not days at a time. The filters do not allow cross-fluorescence. The culture is an O/N growth of MRSA in LB broth, and I centrifuge and re-suspend in PBS before use. I have reduced the amount of PI, I have washed the cells to try and remove extracellular DNA/media debris. I can't think of what else to do. Thanks in advance for any suggestions from people who also use this staining kit.
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May consider using Permai fluorescence dye.
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I would like to cultivate lactobacilli in an intestinal organ-on-chip model and stain it with a suitable dye either beforehand or, if necessary, after the end of the experiment with a suitable antibody for immunofluorescence microscopy.
Briefly, I would like to check the Lactobacillus attachment/localization to/in the intestinal tissue.
Is there anyone with experience in this area and could explain possible procedures?
Thank you very much in advance!
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May consider using Permai fluorescence dye.
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Dear researchers, what could be the formation mechanism of the structure that is tiny in size at the end of the first day in the electroless nickel plating waste solution, grows like a mushroom day by day, and has the following appearance after about 2 weeks? What is this structure? I think this is the field of biochemistry and I am not knowledgeable as a materials researcher researcher and I could not find an answer to this in the literature. Maybe because this is not within my field of study, I could not do a proper literature search, I don't know.
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Dear Dr. Robert Adolf Brinzer,
Thanks for your answer. For me, there is no problem with contamination of the solution. I just wanted to have an idea about the structure because I was very curious about why this mushroom-like structure could form in nickel solution and whether this structure could be used for any material field. I think a fatty component was accidentally mixed into the nickel solution, which is why the structure was formed.
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What species of pathogenic bacteria can infect soybeans plant ? and what are the characteristics of soybeans plant (leaves, stems, etc) that are infected by these bacteria?
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There are bound to be more but Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea causes bacterial blight. just check the wiki page for the symptoms.
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What genus of bacteria can grow in YDCA medium and What color is the colony of these bacteria when grown on YDCA medium ?
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From my experience - most bacteria can grow well on YDC agar except acidophilic bacilli. YDC is the diagnostic medium for bacteria phenotype description, pigmented bacteria show high variation in the pigmentation color and intensity.
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Dear scientists,
I have encountered a problem where my bacteria (Staphylococcus Epidermidis) grow perfectly fine in liquid media (Tryptic soy broth) but not on agar plates (freshly prepared TSB plates). For the TSB plates that did grow bacteria, often only one small corner grew but not other parts although I streaked all over the plate using a glycerol stock (image1). I also plated the diluted bacteria solution from a liquid culture (OD was about 0.06) on the plates yet nothing grew (image 2). When I used the bacteria that did grow on the plates to streak another agar plate (TSB), they did grow but the middle of the plate didn’t grow anything (image 5). However, when I used a 6 month old LB agar plate for streaking, the bacteria grew perfectly fine (image 3). In addition, I also used an E. Coli liquid culture to streak a TSB plate, and they grew perfectly fine (image 4). I don't understand why my bacteria have problem growing on TSB agar plates but can grow in liquid TSB media. TSB media is recommended by ATCC for the growth of S. Epidermidis. This problem has halted all of my CFU experiments as the bacteria don't grow on agar plates. Would you be able to give me any suggestions why this is happening? Your time and help are strongly appreciated!
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Thank you so much for answering my question! The recipe for TSB media is 15 g/ 500 ml of water (suggested by sigma), and that for TSB plates is 6 g of TSB + 3 g of agarose in 200 ml of water. The agar concentration is 1.5%, and the TSB concentration is the same for TSB broth and plates. The only thing I am worried about when making the plates is that I didn't put the agar flask into a 56 oC water bath after autoclaving to lower the temperature. But I will definitely make a new batch of TSB plates and try again!
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Bacteria isolated from soybean leaves have characteristic spots. The bacteria are in the form of bacilli, gram negative, positive catalase test, positive oxidase test, and the color of the colony is as shown in the picture. Bacterial colonies are shiny, slimy, convex and raised.
Bacteria isolated on NA medium showed a yellow and slightly orange color. This bacteria was also isolated in YDCA medium and showed a cream color.
I'm looking for pathogenic bacteria that cause disease in soybean plants. Please, help me. Thank you.
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Setya Dwi Rahmawati Please, confirm that the bacteria are plant pathogenic. HR test on tobacco and test for soft rot of potato would be useful. Several features that you listed are not sufficient to guess the genus. Look at pages 23-25 in the Introduction to Practical Phytobacteriology A Manual for Phytobacteriology by SAFRINET, the Southern African (SADC) LOOP of BioNET-INTERNATIONAL Compiled by T. Goszczynska, J.J. Serfontein & S. Serfontein. ARC – Plant Protection Research Institute Pretoria, South Africa. 2000. There are some other useful simple tests that may help.
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Im planning to do some BAC maxi preps, a total of 8, and due to the restrictions in terms of equipment, i would only be able to do 2 at a time since only two 1000mL Erlenmeyers fit in the shaking incubator.
I was wondering if i could do all of the starter cultures together and then leave some at 4ºC to then do the maxi cultures the following days (so the maximum time a culture would be at 4ºC would be around 3 days).
My concern is that by putting them at 4ºC ill be losing the inherent efficiency of a starter culture, i.e., to have actively dividing bacteria, in the logarithmic phase.
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My take is that starter culture preserved at 4oC for up to 24 hours will not have any significant population change. This is due to inactivation of microbial enzymes. However, if left for longer than this period, cell start entering a decline phase and therefore a lower population in the starter culture.
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I need to know to which taxonomic levels (from phylum to species) the following approaches allow prokaryote identification:
a) morphology-based approaches
b) chemotaxonomy
c) GC content
d) DNA-DNA hybridization
d) phylogeny
For instance, can morphology-based approaches be used to identify species?
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Some bacteria have very specific colony or cellular morphology. So yes, in some cases, you can use morphology to identify a bacterium to the genus or even species level. However, with most bacteria you can routinely cultivate, this isn't the case. You can use various phenotyping methods, such as biochemical testing, to get a better idea of what group of organisms you're working with and again, if the tested bacteria have some specific traits, you can identify them quite accurately this way.
In our lab where we work with a wide range of environmental and animal samples, we use 16S rRNA sequencing for routine identification. With a full-length 16S rRNA sequence, you can get very accurate identification to the genus or species level. Whole genome sequencing gives you even more information and you can identify to the species and even strain level.
I would say that in most bacteria, you cannot distinguish between strains based on the 16S rRNA sequence. When we need to differentiate between strains, we use fingerprinting methods, such as rep-PCR or MALDI-TOF. You can use these two methods for identification as well but you need a comprehensive database of reference strains to compare your strains with.
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Basically, I would like to quantitatively detect total bacteria in mice feces. How can I obtain a standard curve to reveal total bacteria quantitatively?
By the way, I have one bacterial species that I grew in a suitable medium, and I obtained a standard curve by making serial dilutions, and I found that bacteria in the DNA whose amount I did not know by substituting it in the Ct equation (obtained from the standard curve). But I don't know how to quantify total bacteria. I would be glad if you help.
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I understand your challenge in quantifying total bacteria in mice feces. Obtaining a standard curve for this purpose can be tricky, as it's not feasible to isolate and culture all the diverse bacterial species present in the gut. However, there are alternative approaches you can consider:
1. Universal 16S rRNA gene amplification:
  • This method targets a conserved region of the 16S rRNA gene present in all bacteria. By amplifying this region using specific primers and quantifying the amplicons (e.g., using qPCR), you can estimate the total bacterial abundance.
  • Standard curve options:Genomic DNA from a single bacterial species: Similar to your approach, you can use genomic DNA from a single bacterial species (e.g., E. coli) to generate a standard curve. However, this will only provide an estimate relative to the chosen species and won't reflect the true diversity of gut bacteria. Mock community DNA: A more accurate option is to use commercially available mock community DNA containing known amounts of various bacterial species. This provides a more representative standard curve for diverse gut microbiota.
2. Fluorescence-based methods:
  • These methods stain bacterial cells in the fecal sample with fluorescent dyes and then measure the fluorescence intensity to estimate total bacterial abundance.
  • Examples:SYBR Green: This dye binds to double-stranded DNA in all bacteria, providing a direct measure of total bacterial biomass. Propidium iodide: This dye stains only bacteria with compromised cell membranes, potentially underestimating total bacterial abundance.
3. Flow cytometry:
  • This technique uses fluorescence-labeled antibodies to target specific bacterial groups or total bacteria, allowing for quantification and characterization of the gut microbiota.
Choosing the best approach:
The best method for your study will depend on your specific research question, budget, and available resources. Here are some factors to consider:
  • Sensitivity: Some methods are more sensitive than others, which may be important if you are expecting low bacterial abundance in your samples.
  • Specificity: If you are interested in quantifying specific bacterial groups, you will need to choose a method that targets those groups.
  • Cost: Some methods, such as flow cytometry, require specialized equipment and can be expensive.
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Hello, can you help me ?
I'm working with E.coli BL21 transformed with a plasmid that codes for a 13.271 kDa His-tagged periplasmic protein.
I've already done the induction part with IPTG, but I'd like to verify the correct expression using a Western blot. The problem is that I'm finding a lot of contradictory information and in the end, I don't know which parameters would work best in my case.
For the moment, I've written this protocol for lysis and extraction only :
Washing: Place samples on ice and resuspend the pellets in PBS (previously cooled to 4°C) by vortexing. Centrifuge for 1 minute at 4°C and 4150g and discard the supernatant.
Resuspend the pellets in cold lysis buffer (5 ml per gram of cells).
Stock solution PMSF (X100)
PMSF 100 mM
Ethanol 100% qsp 10 ml
Lysis buffer (1X)
MgCl2 1 mM
Lysozyme 10 mg/ml
PMSF 1 mM
DNAse 20 mg/ml
PBS pH 7,4 qsp 40 ml
Add lysozyme and PMSF (= anti-protease) just before the experiment. Add DNAse after sonication.
Lysozyme has an Mw of 15 kDa. If the protein being studied has a similar Mw, it may be better to use a different lysis buffer. Do not add EDTA if the protein of interest has a histidine tag.
Make a stock solution of PMSF as it is not very miscible in water.
Still on ice, sonicate the samples for 8 minutes at a rate of 30-second cycles every 50 seconds (6 cycles) at a frequency of 23 kHz and an amplitude of 10 microns. The probe must be completely immersed in the sample, without touching the tube.
Centrifuge for 1h30 at 4°C and 4150g. Separate the supernatant from the pellet (a pause of a few days is possible at this stage if the samples are stored at -80°C in glycerol). If the protein of interest is membrane-bound, keep the pellet; if it is cytoplasmic or periplasmic, keep the supernatant.
After 1h30 centrifugation, depending on the protein of interest, add 1X Laemmli buffer to the pellet (how many ml?) or 2X Laemmli buffer to the supernatant.
Stock solution Laemmli buffer (4X)
Tris pH 6.8 200 mM
SDS 8 % (m/v)
Glycerol 40%
Bromophenol Blue 0,4 % (m/v)
DTT 400 mM
H2O qsp 40 ml
Store the loading buffer without DTT at room temperature. Add DTT just before using the buffer. 200 mM β-mercaptoethanol can be used instead of DTT.
Heat the samples for 5 minutes at 95°C. Then cool for 5 minutes on ice.
Keep samples on ice for use (or freeze at -80°C in glycerol for a few days for later use).
Can you tell me what you would change in my protocol please?
And if you have any recommendations for the purification part, I'd be interested.
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Which periplasmic translocation tag are you using? Fundamentally, periplasmic extraction can be accomplished via a simple osmotic shock procedure. The osmotic shock supe can then be used for ni-nta resin purification of your protein. If you know it is being expressed in your cells then the rest should follow with appropriate culture. I would also add that baffled flasks greatly improve yield.
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Hello there.
I've been having a really hard time with my cultures of human immortalized podocytes. Everytime I put them under differentiation conditions, they die because of contamination.
For more context, this culture is expanded in DMEM F12 10% FBS at 33°C until confluence. Then, for differentiation, it's subcultered into some plastic previously coated with laminin/fibronectin and maintained with RPMI 1% FBS 1X ITS at 37°C, with media changes every other day.
When the cultures are expanding they're fine, but when I start the differentiation they die before a week, that's to say, about the second media change. Cells look detached, media looks cloudy and slightly basic, and I've seen small dark dots, so I'm guessing it's bacterial contamination.
No other culture at 37°C gets contaminated, we've prepared new media, new PBS, I've thawed several vials frozen at different times and everytime I get the same results.
So, do you think it's bacterial contamination? Is it possible that the source of contamination is the laminin/fibronectin solution or the ITS? Obviously the problem starts when that is used (I have some other podocyte cultures that are not contaminated when expanding, even for weeks) and those are the only reagents that haven't been changed, could bacteria resist there?
Than you in advance
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Cell aging. I had the same experience as you, throwing away the cells and replacing them with new ones.
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My question is self explanatory.
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You can prepare nanomaterials based on silicon or carbon that are loaded with biological components like oligomers and nucleotides. In general, many metals have toxic effects on bacteria and can potentially function as antimicrobial agents. Examples of such metals include silver, gold, and copper.
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For cytometry purposes, I am using Accumax for tissue digestion but I need to also evaluate bacteria from the digested tissue.
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Suggest you test it.
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HELP!
Our lab has recently discovered these dancing blobs in our TC cultures - across cell lines, primary cells and organoids. So far they are not behaving like any bacteria/fungi/yeast we have ever come across (not responding to antibiotics/antifungals and no turbid media). They seem to be amorphous and both extra/intracellular..
Someone has suggested they may be protozoa? If anyone has seen something similar or is an expert microbiologist please help us identify them!!
(Picture included for attention but really need to watch the videos to distinguish from cells/debri)
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Looks like amorphous debris.
Have you cultured for microorganisms?
btw - Kingdom Fungus "yeasts"
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Hi, I'm looking for a product recommendation. I want to seal microplates containing bacteria for an overnight growth curve at 30-37 degrees C. The job of the seal is to keep moisture from escaping but allow oxygen in. It has to do this and also be transparent enough for absorbance readings through the seal, be sterile to not contaminate cultures, be sticky on the bottom (i.e. not for a heat sealer but rather peel and stick), and not be sticky on the top (i.e. not gum up the works inside our plate reader). In the past, we have used "Breathe Easy" seals but they're not so transparent and they're too sticky on top. What do you use for these situations? It seems a common enough methodology that surely there's a solution out there. Thanks!!!
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Hi,
In my understanding, you may need to put that plate into a microplate reader overnight.
In that case, if you are afraid of the edge effect (the evaporation usually is faster in the edge), you may consider only using the inside wells of the plate and filling the edge wells with water to maintain humidity. A higher volume of solution in each well may also help to get a more accurate OD value.
Also, there are some specially designed 96-well plates to reduce the edge effect via moat. I tried Nunc Edge 2.0 96 Well Plate - Anti-Edge Effect Plate, but it did not work well. Still, you may consider other similar choices (such as https://www.eppendorf.com/uploads/media/Application-Note_326_Cell-Culture-Plate-96-Well_A-simple-method-of-m_eng_01.pdf).
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C2925H, JM110,SCS110, HST04
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I have a 22kb backbone that needs to use Fse1 (NEB, I always store it at -80 degree-C) and Kfl1 (Thermo) to cut to(21+kb and 700+bp bands). Still, the 2 enzymes (both of them are fresh and new) come from different companies and their buffers are not the same(rcut-smart vs. fastdigest10 buffer), No matter whether I digested them together or separately, I couldn't get the right band, so I guess Fse1 didn't play a role ( I have already did the dam–/dcm– Competent E. coli C2925 transformation firstly), Fse1 still can not cut my plasmid...but they can cut my insert DNA to the right bands that means the enzymes are good.
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I have a doubt regarding the plant compound that is partially soluble in water, which I need to test for anti-bacterial activity.
I'm dissolving it in 50% ethanol and using it for anti-bacterial activity tests. Is that fine to use like that?
Can anyone please suggest me some better options?
Thank you in advance
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Very few bacteria do well with total ethanol over 16%. Try using DMSO or a surfactant like Tween-20/80.
Just remember to have a pure ethanol control.
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Hi all,
I am currently planning an experiment that involves viewing E. coli cells tagged with gold-conjugated secondary antibodies using a scanning electron microscope, and I am running into the issue of cost for primary antibodies. I might have the option of using primary antibodies previously purchased for Western blots, but I am unsure if these antibodies can also be used for SEM imaging. I do not yet know enough about the chemistry and reactivity of antibodies to answer this question, thus I find myself here!
On a related note, if anyone has any recommendations of good websites to purchase primary antibodies for E. coli that work with SEM, I would love some! I have found a few websites, but each of them only has 2 or 3 antibodies for this purpose.
Thanks,
Joel
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Agree with Yannick. However, some antibodies work for both WB and imaging applications. A relatively easy way to test a primary ab for imaging is usually by light (fluorescence) microscopy, using applicable secondary ab (fluorophor conjugated). Also keep in mind that most ab do not bind after fixation with standard glutaraldehyde concentrations used for EM.
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Hello everyone,
I am encountering bacterial growth in my diluted western primary antibodies (in TBS, without any milk/bsa, with 0.01% NaZ). We keep the antibodies in +4 C since we use them frequently (Our incubations are also o/n at +4 C). Almost every 2-3 weeks I observe the contamination. I filter the antibodies with 0.4um filter every 1-2 months.
I am wondering why there is that much of bacterial growth even with NaZ. Also, is there a better way of decontaminating antibodies? Can I keep the antibodies in -20 C (how many times I can freeze/thaw them?)
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Are you sure you're seeing growing bacteria, not precipitate of some kind? TBS alone can hardly support bacterial growth, and you even have it supplemented with NaN3. By the way, people rather use 0.01M or 0.1% NaN3 instead of 0.01%. If you are concerned, you may increase NaN3 concentration.
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Hi-
I have analysed some PI stained samples through flow cytometry.
The results show a much lower concentration of cells in those samples which have been treated than those which haven't (samples were adjusted to same CFU/ml then treated with antimicrobial- then washed- then stained- then washed again)
Am I seeing a lower concentration due to complete lysis and washing away the DNA as it is no longer intracellular? so now PI does not have much DNA to stain other than those which just have damaged membranes?
Any suggestions/advice I would be grateful!
Thank you
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Based on the information you've provided, it seems likely that the lower concentration of cells observed in the PI stained samples after treatment with an antimicrobial is indeed due to cell lysis and subsequent washing steps. Let's break down the possible reasons for this:
  1. Cell Lysis: Antimicrobial treatments can disrupt bacterial cell membranes, leading to the lysis of cells. When cells are lysed, their intracellular contents, including DNA, are released into the surrounding medium.
  2. Washing Steps: After the antimicrobial treatment, you mentioned that the samples were washed. Washing is a standard step in many experimental protocols to remove any extracellular material, including cell debris and released intracellular content.
  3. PI Staining: Propidium iodide (PI) is a commonly used dye to stain nucleic acids, specifically DNA. It can enter cells with damaged or compromised membranes and intercalate with DNA, resulting in fluorescence. In your experiment, the PI is likely staining the released DNA from lysed cells.
Putting it all together, after the antimicrobial treatment and washing steps, the lysed cells release their DNA into the medium. When you stain the samples with PI, it primarily stains the extracellular DNA, as it can no longer penetrate the intact membranes of viable cells. Since the PI is staining mostly the released DNA from lysed cells and not the intact intracellular DNA of viable cells, the observed concentration of PI-positive cells will be lower in the treated samples.
To verify this explanation and further interpret your results, you may want to consider the following:
  1. Control Experiment: Include an untreated control sample without antimicrobial treatment to compare the results and determine the baseline level of PI staining due to any natural cell death or lysis during the experiment.
  2. Time Course Analysis: Perform a time course analysis after antimicrobial treatment to observe the kinetics of cell lysis and DNA release. This will help you understand the rate at which cells are lysing and DNA is being released.
  3. Microscopy: If possible, consider using microscopy to visually confirm cell lysis and DNA release, which can give you additional insights into the mechanism.
  4. Quantification of Intracellular DNA: Explore methods to specifically quantify intracellular DNA in treated and untreated samples. This could provide further confirmation of the impact of antimicrobial treatment on cell lysis and DNA release.
All the best buddy
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Storage and maintenance of pathogens is a costly and time-consuming affair, the recent study indicated that most of the pathogenic bacteria can be stored for several months at room temperature in sterile tap water without any hustle.
Ref DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34672.84480
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No, it is not recommended to use sterile tap water to store pathogens in a microbiology laboratory. Water, even if sterile, can easily become contaminated, and some pathogens can survive and grow in water environments. Water may not provide the necessary conditions for preserving pathogens effectively. It is better to use specialized media or culture media designed for pathogen storage. Following established laboratory protocols and guidelines is important for sample safety and integrity.
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Is there any sensitive plates to understand the movement of bacteria?
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If you mean what plates do you use to visualize bacterial motility, they are generally called swarm plates or motility plates and normally have agar concentrations in the range of 0.4% to 0.8%. It does depend somewhat on the bacteria and motility mode.
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I carried out a microdilution test for extract and fraction samples of 80 mg samples with DMSO 300 µl and distilled water 700 µl. For the negative control I used DMSO 300 µl and distilled water 700 µl without sample. First I put 50 µl of media into each well, then 50 µl of the sample on the 1st well, and the sample was resuspended. Finally I put 50 µl of bacterial suspension on each well. After 18 hours of incubation, I did some resazurin staining.
[based on my calculation I think the percentage of DMSO in the 1st well is 75 µl/1000 µl=0,075 so it is 7,5% (v/v)] and the literature said that the E. coli can tolerate 10% DMSO
300 µl/ml x 50 µl = C1 x 100 µl (50 µl media + 50 µl sample)
C1 = 150 µl/ml
150 µl/ml x 50 µl (after resuspension) = C2 x 100 µl (+ 50 µl bacteria suspension)
C2 = 75 µl/ml =75 µl/1000 µl = 7,5%
On microdilution with S aureus ATCC 25923 bacteria, the negative control did not inhibit the bacteria. However, microdilution with the E coli ATCC 25922 was inhibited in well 1 and 2 in the negative control (it's on the photo). I used the same negative control on both bacteria.
I don't know why this is happening, is there any explanation?
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DMSO is too much concentation you must add 15% or 10 % .
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The smaller white colonies are Rhodococcus, however the yellow ones I am not sure! I collected some of the isolated yellow looking colonies? and streaked them on a separate agar plate and what I got looked like Rhodococcus. Could it be mutant colonies or just bacterial lysis? Thank you!!
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yes it looks contaminant
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Hello everybody, I'm a master degree student. I'm working with 16S data on some environmental samples. After all the cleaning, denoising ecc... now I have an object that stores my sequences, their taxonomic classification, and a table of counts of ASV per sample linked to their taxonomic classification.
The question is, what should I do with the counts for assessing Diversity metrics? Should I transform them prior to the calculation of indexes, or i should transform them according to the index/distance i want to assess? Where can I find some resources linked to these problems and related other for study that out?
I know that these questions may be very simple ones, but I'm lost.
As far as I know there is no consensus on the statistical operation of transforming the data, but i cannot leave raw because of the compositionality of the datum.
Please help
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Assessing diversity metrics in 16S data is an important step in analyzing microbial communities. Handling count data in this context can be challenging due to the compositional nature of the data, as you mentioned. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are several techniques and considerations you can explore. Here are some suggestions:
  1. Transformations for diversity metrics: The choice of transformation depends on the diversity metric you want to assess. Common transformations include rarefaction, normalization (e.g., by library size or cumulative sum scaling), or transformations that aim to address compositionality, such as log-ratio transformations (e.g., centered log-ratio, clr transformation) or Hellinger transformation. Different transformations may be more suitable for specific diversity metrics, so it's essential to consider the metric's assumptions and properties.
  2. Compositional data analysis (CoDA): Compositional data analysis provides a statistical framework to analyze and interpret compositional data. It accounts for the constrained nature of relative abundance data by working on transformed data. CoDA methods, such as ALDEx2 or ANCOM, can help identify differentially abundant features between groups while considering the compositional structure.
  3. Multivariate analyses: If you want to explore the overall community structure and relationships, multivariate techniques like principal component analysis (PCA), correspondence analysis (CA), or non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) can be employed. It's advisable to perform these analyses on transformed data to mitigate the effects of compositionality.
  4. Research articles and resources: To delve deeper into the subject, you can refer to scientific articles and resources that discuss the statistical analysis of 16S data. Some useful references include: "Microbiome Analysis Methods" by Paul J. McMurdie and Susan Holmes. "A guide to statistical analysis in microbial ecology: a community-focused, living review of multivariate data analyses" by Egoitz Martínez-Costa et al. "Statistical analysis of microbiome data with R" by Yinglin Xia et al. "MicrobiomeSeq: An R package for analysis of microbial communities in an environmental context" by Paul McMurdie and Susan Holmes. These resources provide insights into various statistical approaches, transformations, and analysis techniques for 16S data.
Remember that there is ongoing research in the field, and best practices continue to evolve. It's important to critically evaluate the methods, consider the specific characteristics of your data, and consult with your advisor or peers with expertise in microbiome analysis to make informed decisions about data transformations and diversity metric assessment.
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biofilm and quorum sensing genes of E.coli, not used drug but chemical material (Thiophene)
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Lack of aseptic techniques
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I am hoping to be proven wrong.
Kindly go through the attachment and provide me with your thoughts on this
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Thank you,
Gregory Dressler
Kousalya Lavudi, and John Hildyard, for your valuable inputs
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I have performed a colony PCR with two unknown bacteria (in triplo). Lanes 6, 7 and 8 shows one bacteria with a nice outcome. The band that I expect is 1465 bp, because during the colony PCR, I use a 27 forward primer and a 1492 reverse primer. Lanes 3, 4 and 5 shows the other bacteria with also the expected outcome of 1465 bp, but there is also a band around 250 bp.
I've asked this question before and the conclusion was to change the hybridization temperature. In the last week I have tested 10 different hybridization temperatures, and all the outcomes have the same 250 bp band on the gel.
Why is this band and what can I change in the PCR settings?
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Nonspecific primer annealing is one cause. To reduce the risk of nonspecific annealing, you can try increasing the annealing temperature, increasing the concentration of MgCl2, or decreasing the concentration of primer.
DNA contamination is my next guess, or PCR error.
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I've performed a colony PCR with two unknown bacteria (in triplo). Lanes 6, 7 and 8 shows one bacteria with a nice outcome. The band that I expect is 1465 bp, because during the colony PCR, I use a 27 forward primer and a 1492 reverse primer. Lanes 3, 4 and 5 shows the other bacteria with also the expected outcome of 1465 bp, but there is also a band around 250 bp. Why is this band and what can I change in the PCR settings?
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I try to have the same Tm for the 2 primers, for example when designing the primers you could have removed the last G of the primer Forward primer: 5` - AGA GTT TGA TCM TGG CTC AG - 3`, this will have 19 nucleotides and it will not change anything to the hybridization and the 2 primers will have the same Tm. It's nothing you can use them but in this case of primer with different Tm, take the lowest temperature to calculate the hybridization temperature.
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I have been regularly amplifying bacteria with my plasmid of interest and performing midipreps yielding 400-600 ng/uL. As of late, my yields have been very low tanking to almost 80 ng/uL. I initially thought this may be due to antibiotic degradation so both fresh LB and ampicillin were made (working concentration of 50ug/uL). This actually decreased the yields.
I have also noticed a decrease in my transfection efficiency. May this be due to the diluted plasmid yields increasing the volume added to the wells? Any tips on how to resolve this?
Best
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Most likely the problem falls into one of these categories
1) not achieving high cell density (problem with medium or antibiotics or phage contamination)
2) Cells grow but have lost plasmid (can easily test this)
3) problem with the midipreps not working as well as before (bad kit, problem with reagents, etc).
I would carefully check each of these and then you can figure out what is the source of the problem and an appropriate solution.
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During the thawing of the subpolar permafrost, triggered by accelerating global warming, could viruses and bacteria from many thousands of years ago, which are dangerous to humans, emerge and cause another pandemic?
The thawing of permafrost, which has been present for thousands and millions of years in areas near the Arctic Circle, mainly in the Arctic, caused by the accelerating process of global warming, will result in the release into the atmosphere of thousands and possibly millions of tonnes of hitherto frozen methane, a gas that is many times more greenhouse-generating than CO2, which will result in a significant acceleration of the already rapid process of global warming. However, this is not the only very dangerous effect for human civilisation and for the state of the planet's biosphere of the progressing process of global warming, a process which has been taking place since the first industrial revolution, i.e. since the 18th century. Among the significant negative consequences of the increasingly rapid global warming process triggered by the industrial revolution based on the dirty energy of burning fossil fuels is the increase in the risk of a future pandemic caused by viruses emerging from the thawing of the permafrost in areas near the planet's Arctic Circle. These viruses emerged and were frozen many thousands and perhaps millions of years ago, i.e. when there was not yet a modern species of homo sapiens on planet Earth. Therefore, humans may not be immune at all to these strains of different types of viruses that functioned on the planet many thousands of years ago. In addition, the existence of many species of both wild animals and farmed livestock may also be threatened if thawing viruses from many thousands of years ago prove to be completely unfamiliar to the immune systems of said animals. According to CNN media reports, there are virological research laboratories currently working on revived viruses taken from thawing permafrost. These revived viruses are referred to in the media as "zombie viruses". In addition, high summer temperatures have thawed the corpses of people who died and were buried in cemeteries many years ago, as well as animals, from whose thawing bodies pathogenic strains of viruses and bacteria have emerged. The thawing of the permafrost in recent years, for example, has been identified as a major source factor in the occurrence of the anthrax epidemic in Siberia, because the high temperatures experienced in Siberia for the first time in many thousands of years allow viruses and bacteria to be released from human cemeteries and animal corpses, i.e. micro-organisms that functioned thousands of years ago and which may be particularly dangerous to humans and animals living on the planet today.
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of scientists and researchers:
In the course of the rapid thawing of the sub-polar permafrost, caused by the progressive process of global warming, could viruses and bacteria from many thousands of years ago, which are dangerous to humans, come to light and cause another pandemic?
What is your opinion on this subject?
Please respond,
I invite you all to discuss,
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
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Dariusz Prokopowicz There are many recent works published for this subject. The risk was always present, but now it will be more significant.
Wu, Ruonan, Gareth Trubl, Neslihan Taş, and Janet K. Jansson. "Permafrost as a potential pathogen reservoir." One Earth 5, no. 4 (2022): 351-360.
Alempic, J.M., Lartigue, A., Goncharov, A.E., Grosse, G., Strauss, J., Tikhonov, A.N., Fedorov, A.N., Poirot, O., Legendre, M., Santini, S. and Abergel, C., 2023. An Update on Eukaryotic Viruses Revived from Ancient Permafrost. Viruses, 15(2), p.564.
Christie, Alec. "Blast from the Past: Pathogen Release from Thawing Permafrost could lead to Future Pandemics." (2021).
Hueffer, K., Drown, D., Romanovsky, V., & Hennessy, T. (2020). Factors contributing to anthrax outbreaks in the circumpolar north. EcoHealth, 17, 174-180.
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We are doing a research on Biofilm formation of Bacteria, for knowing each isolate strong, moderate or weak, by calculations tables of Standard deviation, Variance and Cutoff (Ct) etc… and with the help of Microsoft Excel but the results in the program differ from the hand written and don’t know the best way to calculate and compare the results, any help will be very appreciated, Thank you
Ali
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Dear Ali,
There are probably many ways you can differentiate bacterial biofilm formation and I'd suggest either following the procedure described in a research paper working on the species or strains you are interested in, or by using your own criteria. We characterise our air-liquid interface biofilms using a combined biofilm assay measuring biofilm strength, attachment levels and total growth - which means we can describe 'biofilms' using one or all three quantitative measurements. We tend not to use 'no biofilm' control strains, as many biofilm-formers produce such weak and poorly attached structures it is not clear when a 'no biofilm' becomes a measurable one (though we can use a sterile microcosm/culture as the negative control if appropriate).
I can't comment on your problems with Excel, but one simple way is to graph the mean results from your experimental replicates, and divide these into quartiles about the median (i.e., from the minimum values to Q1, from Q1 to the median, from the median to Q3, and from Q3 to the maximum value). You could then simply state that no or poor biofilm formers are min - Q1, biofilm formers are Q1 ≤ Q3, and good biofilm-formers are Q3 - max (if you liked, you could divide your bacteria into no biofilm, poor biofilms, good biofilms and very good biofilms – the number of categories is up to you, but you can't have lots when you have relatively few bacteria to distribute across these categories).
There are statistical tests you could use, and assuming that data (or residuals) are Normally distributed, you could say that no or poor biofilms are not significantly different to a no-biofilm control, etc., but this gets messy because it is hard to know when a very poor biofilm is effectively no biofilm, etc.
Andrew
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Hi, I'm currently working with PAST 4.01 and I have my data organized on a table of 4 columns (treatments) and 45 rows (different bacteria genders) with the amount of genders found in every treatment and they are numbers like these: 6,7E+04 ; 5,2E+05 and 0.
Last week I got diversity indices, diversity t test, diversity permutation test and everything went great. But I had to change just ONE VALUE that wasn't 0 and since then, every time I try to get the rarefaction the program doesn't respond or if I try to get diversity t test and diversity permutation test the values are wrong (it's 0 and trust me, when I did it the first time I got numbers like 0,005 but not just 0). Funny thing is that when I try to get the diversity indices and beta diversity with the same data, results are the same from the first time, it works with those options.
Please if someone knows what am I doing wrong or if this time I'm missing something... I'd really appreciate the help!
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Have you fixed the problem?
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Hello,
I made a cell lysate with a gram-positive bacterium using lysozyme and sonication. I need to inactivate the lysozyme because we are using the lysate in cell-stimulation assays and do not want the lysozyme to influence the cellular response. Inactivation by heat seems to be the way to go, however, we need to maintain the integrity of bacterial lipids. Has anyone had experience with inactivating lysozyme? What temperature and how long was necessary? Will heating at this temp destroy lipids?
Thank you!
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Which lysozyme did you use since the answer will vary by which enzyme you used? Hen egg lysozyme for example is pretty stable until about 70 degrees C, which may be too high for your lipids. Have you considered using another approach to making your lysate, for example freeze-thaw cycles and sonication instead of adding lysozyme.
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I understand the extreme pH can kill the normal skin microflora bacteria. But how. can someone explain the process?
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Dear Aakash,
Yes, high or low pH can kill bacteria by disrupting their cellular processes and structures. Bacteria have an optimal pH range for growth and survival, and when the pH of their environment falls outside this range, it can harm their survival.
When the pH of the environment becomes too high or too low, it can cause changes in the bacterial cell membrane and walls. This can lead to membrane permeability changes, disrupting essential cellular processes and structures such as ion exchange, metabolism, and protein synthesis.
At a high pH, the hydroxide ions (OH-) concentration increases, making the environment more basic or alkaline. In such an environment, the cell membrane of bacteria can become damaged and lose its selective permeability, leading to loss of cellular contents and, ultimately, cell death.
At a low pH, hydrogen ions (H+) concentration increases, making the environment more acidic. This can cause the bacterial cell membrane to become damaged and more porous, also resulting in cell death.
In the case of skin microflora bacteria, which are adapted to the slightly acidic pH of the skin, exposure to high or low-pH environments can lead to their death or reduced growth. This can be beneficial in some instances, such as when trying to control the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Still, it can also have unintended consequences, such as disrupting the skin microbiome's balance and promoting opportunistic pathogens' development.
Yours sincerely,
Edgar M Cambaza
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My topic is related to antimicrobials, and after testing intracellular ATP levels I found that intracellular ATP is increased at antimicrobial concentrations. In most studies, intracellular ATP levels are decreased after drug treatment and may be related to cell membrane disruption and drug-induced apoptosis. However, I did not find any explanation for the increase of intracellular ATP and the antibacterial mechanism. Can anyone answer my question?
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My colleague and I are planning to do a culture-independent study on identifying specific bacteria in a river system. We just have some questions before we undertake this study.
1. If we happen to sample pathogenic bacteria, do we need to work in a BSL-2 laboratory?
2. What is the general procedure for trying to identify specific bacteria? Do we need to perform DNA extraction, cultivation, etc.? We are planning to perform 16S rRNA metagenomic analysis and are scouting sequencing centers around our country.
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Ciara Maria Ines Palma Del Rosario Look at work of Gyraite G, Katarzyte M, Schernewski G. First findings of potentially human pathogenic bacteria Vibrio in the south-eastern Baltic Sea coastal and transitional bathing waters. Marine pollution bulletin. 2019 Dec 1;149:110546.
It has most of important methods regarding identification pathogenic bacteria in water
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We have a Flask that contains broth, and we want to inoculate it with Bacteria inoculum, Can we simply take a touch by the loop or by micropipette?
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Kseniya Kondrasheva Nikhita Madhav Chambhare Thank you very much, The Goal is Pyocyanin production, we tried 1:100 and yes by micropipette because the loop carry small volume
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Hi, I'm trying to build a dataset of Acr and Cas protein interactions and I had a couple of questions. First, most of the literature includes which Acrs interacts with what Cas proteins and they don't mention negative examples. So, I was thinking If I know for example that AcrF1 interacts with Cas7, can I assume it doesn't interact with all other Cas proteins?
Second, some research papers mention that a certain Acr protein inhibits the CRISPR system in a certain bacteria and they don't mention anything about what Cas proteins are affected. Can I assume that For all sequences in one Acr family, they all affect the same Cas protein? e.g. if one AcrF9 inhibits Cas8 and Cas7, all AcrF9 sequences will interact with the same Cas prote ins?
I'd appreciate it if you explain these to me, and if you have any useful material please do share it with me. Thank you.
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Thank you for replying. So you mean Acrs can interact with different Cas proteins and it is not always the same? For example I know AcrF1 interacts with Cas7, can this interaction become untrue if we examine other species? am I understanding this correctly?
I looked at the paper you shared, AcrF1 was interacting with different Cas7 subunits in different scenarios however still it was interacting with Cas7.
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is there a specific ratio to follow during the addition?
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Add Chloroform to a total of 50% total volume and vortex vigorously for a min or half. Let the sample settle for 10 minutes
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Hi there,
I am looking for a protocol to isolate RNA using low total CFU of bacteria (S. Aureus). We already have a good isolation protocol for mammalian cells (cell culture and tissue), but now we also want to isolate RNA from bacteria. We already found several protocols, but these protocols are all based on high CFU numbers. Like a 50 ml culture of a 1x10^8 CFU/ml. For our experiments, we want to isolate RNA from only 1 ml culture with a concentration ranging from 1x10^6 - 1x10^8 CFU/ml. We have tested several things, but our yields are just too low to use for downstream applications. Hopefully, you one you has an answer for us that works.
Thanks in advance..
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You can use DNA vacuum concentrator to increase the RNA content in final isolate.
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Hello all.
I isolated some bacterial isolates from the environment. I have been trying to culture several of these isolates in liquid minimal media (with various concentrations of the gaseous C-source used to isolate them) but i never seem to get any growth. However, they grow well on minimal media plates when i use a similar amounts of the C-source.
Can anyone help explain this and how to circumvent it?
Thank you in anticipation.
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It depends upon the type of species used and can clarity for your question only if the name of the organism is mentioned because some organism requires enrichment liquid media to grow
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This is my first time culturing and working with bacteria.
I am culturing Bifidobacteria in the anaerobic gas chamber. According to the references I am using BL broth media supplemented with 5% defibrinated blood.
Previously while culturing other bacteria such as lactobacillus, I simply centrifuged the tube and add fresh media, dissolve the bacteria pellet and proceeded with further experiment.
In this case after 24-48hr incubation while centrifuging blood particles also collected at the bottom. Is it normal or I should follow some sp[ecial technique?
I am attaching the media details and references here for better understanding. Any suggestion is highly appreciated.
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The blood cells are going to be much much larger than the bacteria. You can removed them by a low speed centrifugation at a speed that won't pellet the bacteria (a few hundred RPM). Or by filtering through a large pore size filter that won't trap the bacteria. Then you can collect your bacteria by normal centrifugation and proceed as usual.
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There are many complicated and detailed steps, devices like cold centrifuge, O.D measurement, silica gel, columns, HPLC, If possible please i need a short recap of the procedure and advices with Many Thanks to you
Ali
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A simple method:
Obtain a pure culture broth of P. aeruginosa.
Centrifuge the broth.
Separate the supernatant.
Add chloroform to the supernatant.
Keep it for settlement.
Add HCl. It will turns into pink/red. Again keep for settlement.
Add NaOH, it will turns blue.
Pigment isolated.
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Dear all,
What could these things be in a clean mammalian cell media? Yeast? Mycoplasma colonies? Media components sedimenting?
They are as big or a little bigger than lymphocyte cells. No organelles are visible, these oval things are very smooth and of different size. I am hesitant to use this media because it much more orange than the other vial of same media I made on the same day. It has been filtered through double 0.2 um filter.
I made a cell media and set up a mock plate with all medias I made and cells to monitor whether there is any contamination.
After 5 days, this media is not turbid, cells are growing well in it.
Not sure if these things are dividing.
I will submit it for mycoplasma testing.
What could it be though? Any ideas?
Thanks,
Maria
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Answer
If it was (living) yeast, they'd definetly be dividing in a normal media and you would notice turbidity in the medium rather sooner than later. If you suspect any sort of contamination you should not use the culture media in an incubator with other experiments or use as a component in eg freezing media, that might be handed around in the lab. Also clean the incubator thoroughly after testing the media. The staining suggestions from Can and Tomás above seem indicated, a trypan blue staining will give you some additional insights and an occasional test for mycoplasma is not wrong when working in labs that are at risk. I would expect an occasional dead cell in a medium if somebody pipetted carelessly, but if they are occuring often, somebody would have needed to empty a lot of old