TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bury, Susanne
A1  - Soundararajan, Manonmani
A1  - Bharti, Richa
A1  - von Bünau, Rudolf
A1  - Förstner, Konrad U.
A1  - Oelschlaeger, Tobias A.
T1  - The probiotic escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 combats lambdoid bacteriophages stx and lambda
JF  - Frontiers in Microbiology
N2  - Shiga toxin (Stx) producing E. coli (STEC) such as Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) are the major cause of foodborne illness in humans. In vitro studies showed the probiotic Escherichia coil strain Nissle 1917 (EcN) to efficiently inhibit the production of Stx. Life threatening EHEC strains as for example the serotype 0104:H4, responsible for the great outbreak in 2011 in Germany, evolutionary developed from certain E. coll strains which got infected by stx2-encoding lambdoid phages turning the E. coil into lysogenic and subsequently Stx producing strains. Since antibiotics induce stx genes and Stx production, EHEC infected persons are not recommended to be treated with antibiotics. Therefore, EcN might be an alternative medication. However, because even commensal E. coli strains might be converted into Stx-producers after becoming host to a stx encoding prophage, we tested EcN for stx-phage genome integration. Our experiments revealed the resistance of EcN toward not only stx-phages but also against lambda-phages. This resistance was not based on the lack of or by mutated phage receptors. Rather it involved the expression of a phage repressor (pr) gene of a defective prophage in EcN which was able to partially protect E. coli K-12 strain MG1655 against stx and lambda phage infection. Furthermore, we observed EcN to inactivate phages and thereby to protect E. coli K-12 strains against infection by stx- as well as lambda-phages. Inactivation of lambda-phages was due to binding of lambda-phages to LamB of EcN whereas inactivation of stx-phages was caused by a thermostable protein of EcN. These properties together with its ability to inhibit Stx production make EcN a good candidate for the prevention of illness caused by EHEC and probably for the treatment of already infected people.
KW  - probiotic
KW  - E. coli Nissle 1917
KW  - EHEC
KW  - Shiga toxin producing E. coli
KW  - stx-phages
KW  - lambda-phages
KW  - lambdoid prophage
KW  - LamB
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-221960
VL  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lavysh, Daria
A1  - Sokolova, Maria
A1  - Slashcheva, Marina
A1  - Förstner, Konrad U.
A1  - Severinov, Konstantin
T1  - Transcription profiling of "bacillus subtilis" cells infected with AR9, a giant phage encoding two multisubunit RNA polymerases
JF  - mBio
N2  - Bacteriophage AR9 is a recently sequenced jumbo phage that encodes two multisubunit RNA polymerases. Here we investigated the AR9 transcription strategy and the effect of AR9 infection on the transcription of its host, Bacillus subtilis. Analysis of whole-genome transcription revealed early, late, and continuously expressed AR9 genes. Alignment of sequences upstream of the 5′ ends of AR9 transcripts revealed consensus sequences that define early and late phage promoters. Continuously expressed AR9 genes have both early and late promoters in front of them. Early AR9 transcription is independent of protein synthesis and must be determined by virion RNA polymerase injected together with viral DNA. During infection, the overall amount of host mRNAs is significantly decreased. Analysis of relative amounts of host transcripts revealed notable differences in the levels of some mRNAs. The physiological significance of up- or downregulation of host genes for AR9 phage infection remains to be established. AR9 infection is significantly affected by rifampin, an inhibitor of host RNA polymerase transcription. The effect is likely caused by the antibiotic-induced killing of host cells, while phage genome transcription is solely performed by viral RNA polymerases.
KW  - Bacteriaophage AR9
KW  - Transcription profiling
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181810
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mietchen, Daniel
A1  - Hagedorn, Gregor
A1  - Förstner, Konrad U.
A1  - Kubke, M Fabiana
A1  - Koltzenburg, Claudia
A1  - Hahnel, Mark J.
A1  - Penev, Lyubomir
T1  - Wikis in scholarly publishing
N2  - Scientific research is a process concerned with the creation, collective accumulation, contextualization, updating and maintenance of knowledge. Wikis provide an environment that allows to collectively accumulate, contextualize, update and maintain knowledge in a coherent and transparent fashion. Here, we examine the potential of wikis as platforms for scholarly publishing. In the hope to stimulate further discussion, the article itself was drafted on Species-ID – a wiki that hosts a prototype for wiki-based scholarly publishing – where it can be updated, expanded or otherwise improved.
KW  - Elektronisches Publizieren
KW  - wikis
KW  - scientific publishing
KW  - scholarly publishing
KW  - reputation
KW  - version control
Y1  - 2011
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-87770
ER  -