Volumen 56 (2017): Heft 2 (January 2017)

Probiotics are microorganisms that provide health benefits when consumed. These are also food supplements or food products containing specified probiotic microorganisms. Probiotic microorganisms colonize the gastrointestinal tract of the host environment, reducing the risk of pathogenic bacteria growth and their potential impact on the regulation of host immune responses. They also have the ability to eliminate pathogenic bacteria. The administration of probiotic microorganisms in addition to chemotherapeutic agents and antibiotics improves therapy efficiency, since it results in restoration of the equilibrium between the local and general pro- and antiinflammatory response.

1. Introduction. 2. The probiotics and the gastrointestinal immune system. 3. Conclusions

1. Wstęp. 2. Probiotyki, a układ odpornościowy przewodu pokarmowego. 3. Podsumowanie

Invasiveness of alien turtles results from their impact on the functioning of the local ecosystem. It is due to predation on or competing with resident species, but also transfer of new and unknown pathogenic bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi. Salmonella is the most often reported microorganism, both in free-living and captive turtles. Zoonotic aspect of Salmonella spp. carriage has led to the definition of RAS (Reptile Associated Salmonellosis) acquired from domestic pet reptiles. Mycobacterium spp., Leptospira spp. and aquatic bacteria are also found in turtles. Additionally, nematode transmissions from invasive turtles to the autochthonic ones have been described. Alien turtles were less affected by parasitic invasion than animals living in a native location, but the infestation of alien parasites in native turtle species was usually more severe. Reports on viral or fungal infections in turtles are scarce. The identified knowledge gaps justify the need for research which will provide basic and systematic data on microbial threats related to alien and invasive turtles present in the natural environment of Poland. It will also give more insight in the scope and the impact of the problem on epidemiology and public health.

1. Introduction. 2. Invasive turtle species. 3. Bacteria. 3.1. Salmonella spp. 3.1.1. Reptile Associated Salmonellosis (RAS). 3.2. Mycobacteria. 3.3. Other bacteria. 4. Parasitofauna of turtles. 4.1. Invasive turtles as a source of helminth invasion of European pond turtle. 4.2. Occurrence and invasiveness of alien parasites in native and alien turtles. 5. Viral infections. 6. Mycotic infection. 7. Conclusions

1. Wstęp. 2. Inwazyjne gatunki żółwi. 3. Bakterie. 3.1. Salmonella spp. 3.1.1. Reptile Associated Salmonellosis (RAS). 3.2. Prątki. 3.3. Inne bakterie. 4. Parazytofauna żółwi. 4.1. Żółwie inwazyjne źródłem zarażenia helmintami żółwia błotnego. 4.2. Występowanie i patogenność obcych pasożytów u natywnych i obcych gatunków żółwi. 5. Infekcje wirusowe. 6. Infekcje grzybicze. 7. Podsumowanie

Heavy metals are found in all living organisms where, as indispensable microelements (e.g. zinc, iron, copper), are involved in endless metabolic processes. However, living organisms are also at a risk of exposure to highly toxic metals, including cadmium or lead, which do not play any physiological role. Among multiple mechanisms associated with the maintenance of micronutrient homeostasis and detoxification of unwanted metals, there is a family of low-molecular-weight, cysteine-rich proteins, able to chelate multiple metal ions i.e. the metallothioneins (MTs). They are widely distributed among Eucaryota, however, they have also been found in some limited Procaryota, including cyanobacteria, pseudomonads and mycobacteria. These bacterial MTs differ in terms of primary structure, the number and type of metal ions they bind, as well as with regard to their physiological functions. The expression of bacterial MTs is regulated by metals via metalosensors. MTs from cyanobacteria seem to be involved in zinc homeostasis, while in Pseudomonas they are linked to cadmium detoxification. In Mycobacterium, MTs bind copper ions and may play a pivotal role in the virulence of these bacteria. The presence of MTs in other groups of bacteria remains questionable. Problems with identification of new bacterial MTs are mainly associated with low level of homology between MT amino acid sequences of different bacterial groups. Further research is needed to evaluate the physiological functions of metallothioneins in Procaryota.

1. Introduction. 2. The history of discoveries of bacterial metallothioneins. 3. Structure and metal-binding properties of bacterial MTs. 4. Functions of bacterial metallothioneins. 5. Regulation of metallothionein gene expression. 6. Presence of metallothioneins in bacteria. 7. Summary

1. Wstęp. 2. Historia odkryć metalotionein u bakterii. 3. Budowa i sposób wiązania jonów metali ciężkich przez bakteryjne MT. 4. Funkcje metalotionein bakteryjnych. 5. Regulacja ekspresji bakteryjnych metalotionein. 6. Obecność metalotionein u bakterii. 7. Podsumowanie

Lactobacilli are found in the mucous membrane of the mouth, in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and in the genitourinary tract. It is known that lactobacilli have a beneficial effect on our health and are used in the production of fermented milk, yoghurts, cheese, and probiotics. However, in this article I show that lactic acid bacteria also cause many diseases. Lactobacilli produce lactic acid which acidifies the environment. There are some factors increasing the risk of infection caused by lactobacilli, such as neutropenia in immunocompromised patients and certain underlying diseases, especially diabetes. Also, lactobacilli have a natural resistance to some antibiotics, especially vancomycin. The identification of lactobacilli can be very difficult due to the number of species, subspecies and genotypic or phenotypic traits. The most advanced procedures are molecular DNA-based techniques. Conventional biochemical tests can be also used to determine some differences. Lactobacilli infection can affect both a single organ and the whole organism, causing for example lactobacillemia. The main disease caused by lactobacilli is endocarditis.

1. Introduction. 2. Risk factors. 3. Identification. 4. Pathogenicity. 5. Conclusions

1. Wstęp. 2. Czynniki zwiększające ryzyko infekcji Lactobacillus sp. 3. Identyfikacja Lactobacillus sp. 4. ChorobotwórczośćLactobacillus sp. 5. Podsumowanie

Francisella tularensis is an intracellular bacterial pathogen which causes a potentially lethal disease named tularemia. Some studies have been conducted to describe and identify the virulence factors of F. tularensis. This pathogen is able to infect a variety of cells of various hosts, including wild animals, especially rabbits, hares and rodents, and humans. This may suggest that genes of F. tularensis must adapt to many different intraorganismal environments. Still, little is known about the virulence of F. tularensis. This review focuses on the main virulence factors of F. tularensis which are involved in intramacrophage replication and its survival mechanisms during infection.

1. Introduction. 2. Pathogenicity and source of infection. 3. Epidemiology. 4. Intracellular life cycle. 5. Virulence factors. 5.1. Capsule. 5.2. LPS. 5.3. Type IV Pili (Tfp). 5.4. Regulator MglA. 5.5. Francisella Pathogenity Island (FPI). 5.6. Outer membrane proteins (OMP). 5.7. Secreted proteins and secretion systems. 6. Summary

1. Wstęp. 2. Chorobotwórczość, źródła i drogi zakażenia. 3. Występowanie choroby. 4. Wewnątrzkomórkowy cykl życiowy F. tularensis. 5. Czynniki zjadliwości F. tularensis. 5.1. Otoczka. 5.2. Lipopolisacharyd (LPS). 5.3. Pili typu IV. 5.4. Regulator MglA. 5.5. Francisella Pathogenity Island (FPI). 5.6. Białka błony zewnętrznej. 5.7. Białka wydzielnicze i systemy sekrecji. 6. Podsumowanie

The ability of Lactobacillus to adhere to the intestinal epithelium is one of the most important criterion in the selection of probiotic strains. Adherence allows microorganisms to survive and temporarily colonize the digestive system, which is necessary to induce beneficial effects on the host. Adhesion is a very complex, multistep process and, although there are many proposed theories, the exact mechanism is still not fully understood. A crucial role in the formation of the adhesive interactions plays the bacterial cell wall and its components, such as exopolisaccharydes, lipoteichoic acids and various proteins e.g. S-layer proteins.

1. Introduction. 2. Stages of Lactobacillus adhesion to intestinal epithelium 3. Adhesion factors. 3.1. Protein factors 3.2. Non-protein factors. 3.3. Environmental factors. 3.4. Aggregation and hydrophobic interactions. 4. Summary

1. Wstęp. 2. Etapy adhezji bakterii Lactobacillus do nabłonka jelitowego. 3. Czynniki uczestniczące w adhezji. 3.1. Czynniki białkowe. 3.2. Czynniki niebiałkowe. 3.3 Czynniki środowiskowe. 3.4. Tworzenie agregatów oraz oddziaływania hydrofobowe. 4. Podsumowanie

In this article, the characteristics of human coronaviruses (HCoV) are presented. Currently, six human coronaviruses are known: HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-SARS and HCoV-MERS. The first human coronaviruses were described in the sixties of the twentieth century, the last one, HCoV-MERS, in 2012 y. Coronaviruses can cause mild, asymptomatic infections as well as severe respiratory diseases, like pneumonia and bronchiolitis. The symptoms of HCoV infection are mainly: fever, nasopharyngitis, cough, bronchiolitis, pneumonia. Infections due to HCoV occur during the whole human life, but aremost frequent in children. They can occur throughout the year, but are most common in the winter season. Treatment of HCoV infections is usually symptomatic. Diagnosis of HCoV is mainly based on molecular technics such as quantitative PCR. Serological tests are only used for epidemiological purposes.

1. History. 2. Taxonomy and occurrence. 3. The structure and amplification of human coronaviruses. 4. Cell receptors used by human coronaviruses. 5. Human infection – transmission, symptoms, characteristics. 6. Diagnostics. 7. Summary

1. Historia. 2. Taksonomia i występowanie. 3. Struktura i namnażanie się koronawirusów. 4. Receptory komórkowe wykorzystywane przez koronawirusy człowieka. 5. Zakażenie człowieka – transmisja, objawy, charakterystyka. 6. Diagnostyka. 7. Podsumowanie

The first confirmed transfer of genetic material in human was performed in 1990. Ever since, gene therapy was considered to be one of the best promising treatments of genetic diseases. The sine qua non of successful gene therapy are efficient genetic vectors. Recently, the most frequently used vectors in clinical trials for genetic therapies are virus-based and plasmid-based. A range of features makes plasmids useful for gene therapy, however, they have also some characteristics which make it difficult to consider plasmids as ideal vectors. The main goal of this article is to address and describe these unfavourable factors.

1. Introduction. 2. Natural modification of DNA as an obstacle to the use of plasmids for gene therapy. 3. Plasmid DNA usage safety. 4. Plasmid DNA entry into eucaryotic cells. 5. Post-entry fate of plasmid DNA in eucaryotic cells. 6. pDNA-based gene therapies. 7. Alternative routes of development of pDNA-based gene therapies. 7.1. Baktofection. 7.2. Alternative Gene Therapy – AGT. 7.3. Hydrogels. 7.4. DNA minicircles. 7.5. DNA ministrings. 8. Summary

1. Wstęp. 2. Naturalna modyfikacja DNA jako przeszkoda w stosowaniu plazmidów w terapii genowej. 3. Bezpieczeństwo użycia plazmidowego DNA. 4. Wprowadzenie pDNA do komórek eukariotycznych. 5. Los plazmidowego DNA po wprowadzeniu do komórek eukariotycznych. 6. Terapie genowe bazujące na pDNA. 7. Inne kierunki rozwoju terapii genowych opartych na plazmidowym DNA. 7.1 Baktofekcja. 7.2. Alternatywna terapia genowa (Alternative Gene Therapy – AGT). 7.3. Hydrożele. 7.4. Minikoliste DNA. 7.5. Mininici DNA. 8. Podsumowanie

Existence of moonlighting proteins in microorganisms is a known phenomenon, yet still not well understood. Moonlighting proteins have at least two independent biological functions, which must be performed by one polypeptide chain without separation into protein domains. Most of these proteins, beside their role in the cytoplasm, play an important role outside of the cell i.e. they take part in the process of pathogenesis by binding and activating host’s plasminogen. The existence of moonlighting proteins complicates the understanding of pathogenicity and virulence of many common bacteria as well as their role in commensal bacteria. Many of moonlighting proteins occurring in commensal bacteria appear to perform similar functions to proteins discovered in pathogenic bacteria, e.g. binding extracellular matrix. Moonlighting proteins found in bacteria are mostly housekeeping enzymes, especially from the glycolytic pathway, such as enolase, aldolase, dehydrogenase as well as heat-shock proteins and transcriptional factors.

1. Introduction. 2. Involvement of moonlighting proteins in bacterial pathogenesis. 3. Effect of moonlighting proteins on the immune system. 4. Moonlighting proteins in lactic acid bacteria.5. Transportation of moonlighting proteins to the bacterial surface. 6. Evolution of moonlighting proteins. 7. Detection of moonlighting proteins. 8. Summary

1. Wprowadzenie. 2. Udział białek wielofunkcyjnych w bakteryjnej patogenezie. 3. Wpływ białek wielofunkcyjnych na układ odpornościowy. 4. Obecność białek wielofunkcyjnych u bakterii kwasu mlekowego. 5. Transport białek wielofunkcyjnych na powierzchnię komórek bakteryjnych. 6. Ewolucja białek wielofunkcyjnych. 7. Wykrywanie białek wielofunkcyjnych. 8. Podsumowanie

Staphylococci constitute an important component of the human microbiome. Most of them are coagulase-negative species, whose importance in the pathogenesis of human infections has been widely recognized and is being documented on a regular basis. Until recently, the only well-known coagulase-positive staphylococcus species recognized as human pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus. Previously, the ability to produce coagulase was used as its basic diagnostic feature, because other coagulase-positive species were associated with animal hosts. Progress in the laboratory medicine, in which automatic or semi-automatic systems identify the staphylococci species, revealed a phenomenon of spreading of the coagulase positive staphylococci to new niches and hosts, as they are being isolated from human clinical materials with increasing frequency. As a result, many reaserchers and laboratories have turned their attention to the phenomenon, which caused an inflow of new data on these species. An increasingly expansive pathogenic potential of coagulase-positive staphylococci against humans has been documented. In the presented study, recent data on both S. aureus and species previously considered to be animal, i.e. S. intermedius, S. pseudintermedius, S. delphini, S. lutrae, S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans, S. hyicus as well as newly described species S. agnetis, were shown.

1. Introduction. 2. Staphylococcal coagulase. 3. Staphylococcus aureus. 4. Staphylococcus intermedius Group species. 4.1. Staphylococcus intermedius. 4.2. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. 4.3. Staphylococcus delphini. 5. Staphylococcus hyicus. 6. Staphylococcus schleiferi subsp. coagulans. 7. Staphylococcus lutrae. 8. Staphylococcus agnetis. 9. Summary

1. Wstęp. 2. Koagulaza gronkowcowa. 3. Staphylococcus aureus. 4. Gronkowce grupy SIG. 4.1. Staphylococcus intermedius. 4.2. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. 4.3. Staphylococcus delphini. 5. Staphylococcus hyicus. 6. Staphylococcus schleiferi subsp. coagulans. 7. Staphylococcus lutrae. 8. Staphylococcus agnetis. 9. Podsumowanie