In order to colonize the human gastrointestinal tract and exert their beneficial effects, bifidobacteria must effectively cope with toxic bile salts in the intestine; however, the molecular mechanism underlying bile tolerance is poorly understood. In this study, heterologous expression of a MarR family transcriptional regulator, BmrR, significantly...
Cronobacter sakazakii is a xerotolerant neonatal pathogen epidemiologically linked to powdered infant food formula, often resulting in high mortality rates. Here, we used transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) to provide transcriptional insights into the survival of C. sakazakii in desiccated conditions. Our RNA-seq data show that about 22% of the tota...
Under stressful conditions, Salmonella enterica forms multinucleated elongated filaments. The triggers and outcomes of filamentation are not well characterized. S. enterica serotypes Newport, Javiana, and Typhimurium were evaluated for their ability to form filaments upon exposure to 20 mM pelargonic acid. S. Newport was used as a model to investig...
Traditional fermented products are an important part of the diet in many African countries. These products can provide much of the needed proteins, vitamins and other micro-nutrients to its consumers, which include young children. Also, traditional fermented products are rooted in the local context and have high social and cultural value. Increasin...
Fermented dairy products are an important part of the human diet because they provide nutrients and extend the shelf life of raw milk, which is perishable. In Africa, there are several traditionally fermented milk products (TFMPs) mostly, produced at household level for domestic consumption such as mabisi from Zambia. Mabisi is made by spontaneous ...
Type I CRISPR–Cas systems are the most abundant adaptive immune systems in bacteria and archaea1,2. Target interference relies on a multi-subunit, RNA-guided complex called Cascade3,4, which recruits a trans-acting helicase-nuclease, Cas3, for target degradation5–7. Type I systems have rarely been used for eukaryotic genome engineering applications...
Fermented cereal-based foods play a crucial role in attaining food and nutrition security for resource-poor populations in sub-Saharan Africa. These products are widely produced by spontaneous fermentation using of cereal grains as raw material. They have a unique taste and flavour, are rich sources of energy and their non-alcoholic nature makes th...
In this PhD thesis, the potential of outgrowth of L. monocytogenes was assessed in Dutch-type Gouda cheese. It was demonstrated that L. monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis, is not able to grow in or on Dutch-type Gouda. The factors present in Gouda cheese that can lead to full inhibition of growth of L. monocytogenes were identified and safe...
Here we propose to use bacterial cells as factories that generate EVs harboring both the RNP complex (or any other CRISPR‐mediated tool) and a specific ligand molecule. The ligand would allow specific binding of EVs to cells with the matching receptors, adding a level of specificity to the delivery, hence stimulating precise genome editing.
