TY  - JOUR
A1  - Harrington, John M.
A1  - Scelsi, Chris
A1  - Hartel, Andreas
A1  - Jones, Nicola G.
A1  - Engstler, Markus
A1  - Capewell, Paul
A1  - MacLeod, Annette
A1  - Hajduk, Stephen
T1  - Novel African Trypanocidal Agents: Membrane Rigidifying Peptides
JF  - PLoS One
N2  - The bloodstream developmental forms of pathogenic African trypanosomes are uniquely susceptible to killing by small hydrophobic peptides. Trypanocidal activity is conferred by peptide hydrophobicity and charge distribution and results from increased rigidity of the plasma membrane. Structural analysis of lipid-associated peptide suggests a mechanism of phospholipid clamping in which an internal hydrophobic bulge anchors the peptide in the membrane and positively charged moieties at the termini coordinate phosphates of the polar lipid headgroups. This mechanism reveals a necessary phenotype in bloodstream form African trypanosomes, high membrane fluidity, and we suggest that targeting the plasma membrane lipid bilayer as a whole may be a novel strategy for the development of new pharmaceutical agents. Additionally, the peptides we have described may be valuable tools for probing the biosynthetic machinery responsible for the unique composition and characteristics of African trypanosome plasma membranes.
KW  - depth
KW  - trypanosome lytic factor
KW  - signal peptides
KW  - cell surface
KW  - protein
KW  - brucei
KW  - environment
KW  - bilayers
KW  - binding
KW  - probes
Y1  - 2012
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-135179
VL  - 7
IS  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Too, Chin Chin
A1  - Keller, Alexander
A1  - Sickel, Wiebke
A1  - Lee, Sui Mae
A1  - Yule, Catherine M.
T1  - Microbial Community Structure in a Malaysian Tropical Peat Swamp Forest: The Influence of Tree Species and Depth
JF  - Frontiers in Microbiology
N2  - Tropical peat swamp forests sequester globally significant stores of carbon in deep layers of waterlogged, anoxic, acidic and nutrient-depleted peat. The roles of microbes in supporting these forests through the formation of peat, carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling are virtually unknown. This study investigated physicochemical peat properties and microbial diversity between three dominant tree species: Shorea uliginosa (Dipterocarpaceae), Koompassia malaccensis (legumes associated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria), Eleiodoxa conferta (palm) and depths (surface, 45 and 90 cm) using microbial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Water pH, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, total phenolic contents and C/N ratio differed significantly between depths, but not tree species. Depth also strongly influenced microbial diversity and composition, while both depth and tree species exhibited significant impact on the archaeal communities. Microbial diversity was highest at the surface, where fresh leaf litter accumulates, and nutrient supply is guaranteed. Nitrogen was the core parameter correlating to microbial communities, but the interactive effects from various environmental variables displayed significant correlation to relative abundance of major microbial groups. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum and the most abundant genus, Rhodoplanes, might be involved in nitrogen fixation. The most abundant methanogens and methanotrophs affiliated, respectively, to families Methanomassiliicoccaceae and Methylocystaceae. Our results demonstrated diverse microbial communities and provide valuable insights on microbial ecology in these extreme ecosystems.
KW  - tropical peat swamp forest
KW  - metabarcoding
KW  - microbial diversity and composition
KW  - tree species
KW  - depth
KW  - methanogens
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229000
VL  - 9
ER  -