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Food Science Commons

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Other Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health

Iowa State University

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Full-Text Articles in Food Science

Single-Cell Microbiology: Tools, Technologies, And Applications, Byron F. Brehm-Stecher, Eric A. Johnson Sep 2004

Single-Cell Microbiology: Tools, Technologies, And Applications, Byron F. Brehm-Stecher, Eric A. Johnson

Byron F. Brehm-Stecher

The field of microbiology has traditionally been concerned with and focused on studies at the population level. Information on how cells respond to their environment, interact with each other, or undergo complex processes such as cellular differentiation or gene expression has been obtained mostly by inference from population-level data. New appreciation for the existence and importance of cellular heterogeneity, coupled with recent advances in technology, has driven the development of new tools and techniques for the study of individual microbial cells. As a result, scientists have been able to characterize microorganisms and their activities at unprecedented levels of detail.


Sensitization Of Staphylococcus Aureus And Escherichia Coli To Antibiotics By The Sesquiterpenoids Nerolidol, Farnesol, Bisabolol, And Apritone, Byron F. Brehm-Stecher, Eric A. Johnson Oct 2003

Sensitization Of Staphylococcus Aureus And Escherichia Coli To Antibiotics By The Sesquiterpenoids Nerolidol, Farnesol, Bisabolol, And Apritone, Byron F. Brehm-Stecher, Eric A. Johnson

Byron F. Brehm-Stecher

The sesquiterpenoids nerolidol, farnesol, bisabolol, and apritone were investigated for their abilities to enhance bacterial permeability and susceptibility to exogenous antimicrobial compounds. Initially, it was observed by flow cytometry that these sesquiterpenoids promoted the intracellular accumulation of the membrane-impermeant nucleic acid stain ethidium bromide by live cells of Lactobacillus fermentum, suggesting that enhanced permeability resulted from disruption of the cytoplasmic membrane. The ability of these sesquiterpenoids to increase bacterial susceptibility to a number of clinically important antibiotics was then investigated. In disk diffusion assays, treatment with low concentrations (0.5 to 2 mM) of nerolidol, bisabolol, or apritone enhanced the susceptibility …