Microbe Profiles
Microbiology is now publishing ‘Microbe Profiles’ – concise, review-type articles that provide overviews of the classification, structure and properties of microbes, written by leading microbiologists. These profiles will provide insights into key microbes within the field.
Collection Contents
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Microbe Profile: Alteromonas macleodii − a widespread, fast-responding, ‘interactive’ marine bacterium
More LessAlteromonas macleodii is a marine heterotrophic bacterium with widespread distribution − from temperate to tropical oceans, and from surface to deep waters. Strains of A. macleodii exhibit considerable genomic and metabolic variability, and can grow rapidly on diverse organic compounds. A. macleodii is a model organism for the study of population genomics, physiological adaptations and microbial interactions, with individual genomes encoding diverse phenotypic traits influenced by recombination and horizontal gene transfer.
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Microbe Profile: Aeromonas salmonicida: an opportunistic pathogen with multiple personalities
More LessThe bacterial species Aeromonas salmonicida is a fish pathogen. Feared by fish farmers everywhere on Earth over the past century, this species has turned out to be more diverse than initially suspected. While some psychrophilic subspecies cannot grow at temperatures above 25 °C or 30 °C, other mesophilic strains growing up to 37 °C and above are now characterized. Adding to the surprising diversity of this species, some of the mesophilic strains infect mammals and birds. The remarkable diversity is explained in part by the presence of numerous mobile genetic elements, which sculpt and modify the genome of the various strains of this species.
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Microbe Profile: Aquifex aeolicus: an extreme heat-loving bacterium that feeds on gases and inorganic chemicals
More LessThe bacterium ‘ Aquifex aeolicus ’ is the model organism for the deeply rooted phylum Aquificae . This ‘water-maker’ is an H2-oxidizing microaerophile that flourishes in extremely hot marine habitats, and it also thrives on the sulphur compounds commonly found in volcanic environments. ‘ A. aeolicus ’ has hyper-stable proteins and a fully sequenced genome, with some of its essential metabolic pathways deciphered (including energy conservation). Many of its proteins have also been characterized (especially structurally), including many of the enzymes involved in replication, transcription, RNA processing and cell envelope biosynthesis. Enzymes that are of promise for biotechnological applications have been widely investigated in this species. ‘ A. aeolicus ’ has also added to our understanding of the origins of life and evolution.
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Microbe Profile: Aspergillus fumigatus: a saprotrophic and opportunistic fungal pathogen
More LessAspergillus fumigatus is a saprotrophic fungus that continuously disseminates spores (conidia) into the environment. It is also the most common and opportunistic aerial fungal pathogen, causing allergic and chronic lung pathologies including the fatal invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. The pathobiology of aspergillosis is complex and depends on the competence of the host immune system. Moreover, A. fumigatus has become a model to study unique features of fungi. This includes the fungal cell wall, which not only acts as a rigid skeleton for protection against hostile environments but also plays significant roles during infection by manipulating the host immune response.
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Microbe Profile: Akkermansia muciniphila: a conserved intestinal symbiont that acts as the gatekeeper of our mucosa
More LessAkkermansia muciniphila is an abundant inhabitant of the intestinal tract of humans and many other animals. It is the sole intestinal representative of the verrucomicrobia in human stools and depleted in adults suffering from obesity, diabetes and several other diseases. A. muciniphila degrades intestinal mucin into mainly propionic and acetic acid, and lives in symbiosis with its host, marked by signalling to immune and metabolic pathways, priming trophic chains and likely providing competitive exclusion at the host–microbe interface. Since its recent discovery, A. muciniphila has increasingly been studied and recognized as a true intestinal symbiont promoting beneficial interactions in the intestinal tract.
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