Search

The Aeromonas hydrophila AH-3 WecP represents a new class of UDP-HexNAc:polyprenol-P HexNAc-1-P transferases. These enzymes use a membrane-associated polyprenol phosphate acceptor (undecaprenyl phosphate [Und-P]) and a cytoplasmic UDP-D-N-acetylhexosamine sugar nucleotide as the donor substrate. Until now, all the WecA enzymes tested were able to transfer UDP-GlcNAc to the Und-P. In this study, we present in vitro and in vivo proofs that A. hydrophila AH-3 WecP transfers GalNAc to Und-P and is unable to transfer GlcNAc to the same enzyme substrate. The molecular topology of WecP is more similar to that of WbaP (UDP-Gal polyprenol-P transferase) than to that of WecA (UDP-GlcNAc polyprenol-P transferase). WecP is the first UDP-HexNAc:polyprenol-P GalNAc-1-P transferase described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Challenges remain in discerning microbiologic etiology and disease severity in childhood pneumonia. Defining host transcriptomic profiles during illness may facilitate improved diagnostic and prognostic approaches., Methods: Using whole blood ribonucleic acid sequencing from 222 hospitalized children with radiographic pneumonia and 45 age-matched controls, we identified differentially expressed genes that best identified children according to detected microbial pathogens (viral-only vs. bacterial-only and typical vs. atypical bacterial [+/- viral co-detection]) and an ordinal measure of phenotypic severity (moderate, severe, very severe)., Results: Overall, 135 (61%) children had viral-only detections, 15 (7%) had typical bacterial (+/- viral co-detections), and 26 (12%) had atypical bacterial (+/- viral co-detections). Eleven DE genes distinguished between viral-only and bacterial-only detections. Sixteen DE genes distinguished between atypical and typical bacterial detections (+/- viral co-detections). Nineteen DE genes distinguished between levels of pneumonia severity, including four genes also identified in the viral-only vs. bacterial-only model (IGHGP, PI3, CD177, RAP1GAP1) and four genes from the typical vs atypical bacterial model (PRSS23, IFI27, OLFM4, and ABO)., Conclusions: We identified transcriptomic biomarkers associated with microbial detections and phenotypic severity in children hospitalized with pneumonia. These DE genes are promising candidates for validation and translation into diagnostic and prognostic tools., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

The BioMoby project was initiated in 2001 from within the model organism database community. It aimed to standardize methodologies to facilitate information exchange and access to analytical resources, using a consensus driven approach. Six years later, the BioMoby development community is pleased to announce the release of the 1.0 version of the interoperability framework, registry Application Programming Interface and supporting Perl and Java code-bases. Together, these provide interoperable access to over 1400 bioinformatics resources worldwide through the BioMoby platform, and this number continues to grow. Here we highlight and discuss the features of BioMoby that make it distinct from other Semantic Web Service and interoperability initiatives, and that have been instrumental to its deployment and use by a wide community of bioinformatics service providers. The standard, client software, and supporting code libraries are all freely available at http://www.biomoby.org/.