Biology subjects

Bougouffa, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Bougouffa, S..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

A multidrug resistant clinical P. aeruginosa isolate in the MLST550 clonal complex: uncoupled quorum sensing modulates the interplay of virulence and resistance

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a prevalent and pernicious pathogen equipped with both extraordinary capabilities to infect the host and to develop antimicrobials resistance (AMR). Monitoring the emergence of AMR high risk clones and understanding the interplay of their pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance is of paramount importance to avoid resistance dissemination and to control P. aeruginosa infections. In this study, we report the identification of a multidrug resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa strain PA154197 isolated from a blood stream infection in Hong Kong. PA154197 belongs to a distinctive MLST550 clonal complex shared by two international P. aeruginosa isolates VW0289 and AUS544. Comparative genome and transcriptome analysis with the reference strain PAO1 led to the identification of a variety of genetic variations in antibiotic resistance genes and the hyper-expression of three multidrug efflux pumps MexAB-OprM, MexEF-OprN, and MexGHI-OpmD in PA154197. Unlike many resistant isolates displaying an attenuated virulence, PA154197 produces a significantly high level of the P. aeruginosa major virulence factor pyocyanin (PYO) and displays an uncompromised virulence compared to PAO1. Further analysis revealed that the secondary quorum sensing system Pqs which primarily controls the PYO production is hyper-active in PA154197 independent of the master QS systems Las and Rhl. Together, these investigations disclose a unique, uncoupled QS mediated pathoadaptation mechanism in clinical P. aeruginosa which may account for the high pathogenic potentials and antibiotics resistance in the MDR isolate PA154197.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2017

The genome sequence of the wild tomato Solanum pimpinellifolium provides insights into salinity tolerance

Solanum pimpinellifolium, a wild relative of cultivated tomato, offers a wealth of breeding potential for several desirable traits such as tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Here, we report the genome and annotation of S. pimpinellifolium LA0480. The LA0480 genome size (811 Mb) and the number of annotated genes (25,970) are within the range observed for other sequenced tomato species. We developed and utilized the Dragon Eukaryotic Analyses Platform (DEAP) to functionally annotate the LA0480 protein-coding genes. Additionally, we used DEAP to compare protein function between S. pimpinellifolium and cultivated tomato. Our data suggest enrichment in genes involved in biotic and abiotic stress responses. Moreover, we present phenotypic data from one field experiment that demonstrate a greater salinity tolerance for fruit-and yield-related traits in S. pimpinellifolium compared with cultivated tomato. To understand the genomic basis for these differences in S. pimpinellifolium and S. lycopersicum, we analyzed 15 genes that have previously been shown to mediate salinity tolerance in plants. We show that S. pimpinellifolium has a higher copy number of the inositol-3-phosphate synthase and phosphatase genes, which are both key enzymes in the production of inositol and its derivatives. Moreover, our analysis indicates that changes occurring in the inositol phosphate pathway may contribute to the observed higher salinity tolerance in LA0480. Altogether, our work provides essential resources to understand and unlock the genetic and breeding potential of S. pimpinellifolium, and to discover the genomic basis underlying its environmental robustness.

plant biology↗