Alexander Ignatov | People's Friendship University of Russia (original) (raw)

Papers by Alexander Ignatov

RUDN Journal of Agronomy and Animal Industries, 2014

Primers identifying bacterial blight pathogen, without cross-reactions with closely related speci... more Primers identifying bacterial blight pathogen, without cross-reactions with closely related species were designed based on the analysis of the original and GeneBank DNA sequences of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Media YPGA containing cycloheximide 50 mg / l + cefazolin 30 mg / l + gentamicin 2 mg / l has been optimized for BIO-PCR. Sensitivity of the BIO-PCR analysis using original selective media up to 100 times more effective than direct PCR analysis. The sensitivity of the primers in BIO-PCR analysis with original selective media has achieved 50 CFU/ml.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Diseases caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Curtobacteriumflaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (C... more Diseases caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Curtobacteriumflaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) inflict substantial economic losses in soybean cultivation. Use of specific bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) for treatment of seeds and plants to prevent the development of bacterial infections is a promising approach for bioprotection in agriculture. Phage control has been successfully tested for a number of staple crops. However, this approach has never been applied to treat bacterial diseases of legumes caused by Cff, and no specific bacteriophages have been known to date. This paper presents detailed characteristics of the first lytic bacteriophage infecting this pathogen. Phage Ayka, related to φ29-like (Salasmaviridae) viruses, but representing a new subfamily, was shown to control the development of bacterial wilt and tan spot in vitro and in greenhouse plants.

Frontiers in Genetics, 2020

Editorial on the Research Topic Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Systems Biology This Rese... more Editorial on the Research Topic Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Systems Biology This Research Topic presents the studies in the field of computational genomics. These papers were discussed at BGRS\SB-2018 (Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Structure Systems Biology) multi-conference, along with the hybrid wet-lab/computational genetics studies focused on genome-wide gene expression regulation. The BGRS is the major event in the computational biology field, which has been held in Novosibirsk, Russia biannually since 1998. The main conference is typically followed by a series of special post-conference journal issues covering contemporary computational genetics and genomics applications (Orlov et al.,

PLOS ONE, 2021

The causative agent of the pandemic identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads to a severe respiratory illnes... more The causative agent of the pandemic identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads to a severe respiratory illness similar to SARS and MERS with fever, cough, and shortness of breath symptoms and severe cases that can often be fatal. In our study, we report our findings based on molecular docking analysis which could be the new effective way for controlling the SARS-CoV-2 virus and additionally, another manipulative possibilities involving the mimicking of immune system as occurred during the bacterial cell recognition system. For this purpose, we performed molecular docking using computational biology techniques on several SARS-CoV-2 proteins that are responsible for its pathogenicity against N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. A similar molecular dynamics analysis has been carried out on both SARS-CoV-2 and anti-Staphylococcus aureus neutralizing antibodies to establish the potential of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine which likely induces the immune response against the virus. The results of molecular dynamic analysi...

BMC Microbiology, 2020

This Special Issue of BMC Microbiology "Systems Biology and Bioinformatics" presents the material... more This Special Issue of BMC Microbiology "Systems Biology and Bioinformatics" presents the materials discussed at the 11-th Young Scientists School "Systems Biology and Bioinformatics"-2019 (SBB-2019) in Novosibirsk, Russia (http://conf.bionet.nsc.ru/sbb2019/en/). These Young Scientists' Schools on bioinformatics have been organized every year since 2008 by the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Novosibirsk State University [1, 2]. To accompany this Special Issue on microbiology, parallel special journal issues in the fields of genomics, bioinformatics, and medical genomics were published as a part of SBB-2019 series in BioMed Central journals: BMC Genomics, BMC Medical Genomics, BMC Genetics, BMC Medical Genetics, and BMC Bioinformatics (https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral. com/articles/supplements/volume-21-supplement-11). The SBB Schools in Novosibirsk are satellite training meetings for young scientists and PhD students, which are organized either as satellite events for BGRS\SB (Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Structure \ Systems Biology) conferences series [3, 4] or as independent events [2, 5]. The Schools were accompanied and complemented by the publication of special journal issues in BMC Microbiology [6] and other BioMed Central journals [3, 4].

Genome announcements, Jan 23, 2014

Sclerotinia borealis is a necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus notable for its wide host range and... more Sclerotinia borealis is a necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus notable for its wide host range and environmental persistence. It grows at low temperatures, causing snow mold disease of crop plants. To understand the molecular mechanisms of its pathogenesis and adaptation to the psychrophilic lifestyle, we determined the 39.3-Mb draft genome sequence of S. borealis F-4128.

Plants, 2022

Bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) have been considered as potential agents for the biological co... more Bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) have been considered as potential agents for the biological control of bacterial phytopathogens due to their safety and host specificity. Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. glycinea (Psg) is a causative agent of the bacterial spotting of soybean (Glycine max Willd). The harm caused by this bacterium to crop production and the development of antibiotic resistance in Psg and other pathogenic microorganisms has led to the pursuit of alternative management strategies. In this study, three Psg-specific lytic bacteriophages were isolated from soybean field soil in geographically distant regions of Russia, and their potential for protective action on plants was assessed. Sequencing of phage genomes has revealed their close relatedness and attribution to the genus Ghunavirus, subfamily Studiervirinae, family Autographiviridae. Extensive testing of the biological properties of P421, the representative of the isolated phage group, has demonstrated a relatively broad...

Microorganisms, 2021

The study of the ecological and evolutionary traits of Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP) comprisin... more The study of the ecological and evolutionary traits of Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP) comprising genera Pectobacterium and Dickeya often involves bacterial viruses (bacteriophages). Bacteriophages are considered to be a prospective tool for the ecologically safe and highly specific protection of plants and harvests from bacterial diseases. Information concerning bacteriophages has been growing rapidly in recent years, and this has included new genomics-based principles of taxonomic distribution. In this review, we summarise the data on phages infecting Pectobacterium and Dickeya that are available in publications and genomic databases. The analysis highlights not only major genomic properties that assign phages to taxonomic families and genera, but also the features that make them potentially suitable for phage control applications. Specifically, there is a discussion of the molecular mechanisms of receptor recognition by the phages and problems concerning the evolution of phage-r...

International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020

Phytopathogenic bacteria belonging to the Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera (soft-rot Pectobacter... more Phytopathogenic bacteria belonging to the Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera (soft-rot Pectobacteriaceae) are in the focus of agriculture-related microbiology because of their diversity, their substantial negative impact on the production of potatoes and vegetables, and the prospects of bacteriophage applications for disease control. Because of numerous amendments in the taxonomy of P. carotovorum, there are still a few studied sequenced strains among this species. The present work reports on the isolation and characterization of the phage infectious to the type strain of P. carotovorum. The phage Arno 160 is a lytic Podovirus representing a potential new genus of the subfamily Autographivirinae. It recognizes O-polysaccahride of the host strain and depolymerizes it in the process of infection using a rhamnosidase hydrolytic mechanism. Despite the narrow host range of this phage, it is suitable for phage control application.

BIO Web of Conferences, 2020

Global climate warming and involvement of new regions with endemic populations of microorganisms ... more Global climate warming and involvement of new regions with endemic populations of microorganisms in commercial seed production have led to an increase in the diversity of phytopathogenic bacteria that are affecting major crops, including the fruit trees. As a rule, emergence of new pathogens is associated with importation of infected seeds and planting material, cultivation of new species and varieties of plants, and expansion of agricultural trade with foreign countries. One of the leaders in diversity among phytopathogens is the genus Xanthomonas bacteria, affecting more than 400 plant species. Among the characteristic signs of xanthomonads is the high frequency of horizontal gene transfer both within the genus and between phylogenetically removed bacterial taxa – up to 25% of the genes are of this origin. In this paper, we consider another source of increasing the number of phytopathogenic species – by the epiphytic populations. These bacteria are the likely ancestral form of the...

Microorganisms, 2020

Black leg and soft rot are devastating diseases causing up to 50% loss of potential potato yield.... more Black leg and soft rot are devastating diseases causing up to 50% loss of potential potato yield. The search for, and characterization of, bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) suitable for the control of these diseases is currently a sought-after task for agricultural microbiology. Isolated lytic Pectobacterium bacteriophages Q19, PP47 and PP81 possess a similar broad host range but differ in their genomic properties. The genomic features of characterized phages have been described and compared to other Studiervirinae bacteriophages. Thorough phylogenetic analysis has clarified the taxonomy of the phages and their positioning relative to other genera of the Autographiviridae family. Pectobacterium phage Q19 seems to represent a new genus not described previously. The genomes of the phages are generally similar to the genome of phage T7 of the Teseptimavirus genus but possess a number of specific features. Examination of the structure of the genes and proteins of the phages, including ...

Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020

Frontiers in Microbiology, 2019

Dickeya solani is a recently emerged virulent bacterial potato pathogen that poses a major threat... more Dickeya solani is a recently emerged virulent bacterial potato pathogen that poses a major threat to world agriculture. Because of increasing antibiotic resistance and growing limitations in antibiotic use, alternative antibacterials such as bacteriophages are being developed. Myoviridae bacteriophages recently re-ranked as a separate Ackermannviridae family, such as phage PP35 described in this work, are the attractive candidates for this bacterial biocontrol. PP35 has a very specific host range due to the presence of tail spike protein PP35 gp156, which can depolymerize the O-polysaccharide (OPS) of D. solani. The D. solani OPS structure, →2)-β-D-6-deoxy-D-altrose-(1→, is so far unique among soft-rot Pectobacteriaceae, though it may exist in non-virulent environmental Enterobacteriaceae. The phage tail spike depolymerase degrades the shielding polysaccharide, and launches the cell infection process. We hypothesize that non-pathogenic commensal bacteria may maintain the population of the phage in soil environment.

Genome announcements, Jan 5, 2018

We present the draft genome sequence of strain PB72 infecting potatoes in Russia. PB72 is similar... more We present the draft genome sequence of strain PB72 infecting potatoes in Russia. PB72 is similar to the previously reported strain 21A. Considering potential biocontrol of this pathogen, an infectious bacteriophage was isolated and characterized. Phage vB_PatP_PP90 is a lytic podovirus of narrow host range belonging to the genus.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Novel, closely related phages Possum and Horatius infect Pectobacterium versatile, a phytopathoge... more Novel, closely related phages Possum and Horatius infect Pectobacterium versatile, a phytopathogen causing soft rot in potatoes and other essential plants. Their properties and genomic composition define them as N4-like bacteriophages of the genus Cbunavirus, a part of a recently formed family Schitoviridae. It is proposed that the adsorption apparatus of these phages consists of tail fibers connected to the virion through an adapter protein. Tail fibers possess an enzymatic domain. Phage Possum uses it to deacetylate O-polysaccharide on the surface of the host strain to provide viral attachment. Such an infection mechanism is supposed to be common for all Cbunavirus phages and this feature should be considered when designing cocktails for phage control of soft rot.

Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a s... more Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a severe respiratory illness like SARS and MERS. The pathogen spreading has turned into a pandemic dissemination and increased the mortality rate. Therefore, useful information is urgently necessary for effective control of the disease. Our study shows the existence of unvarying sequence with no mutation, including ORF1ab regions in 134 high-quality filtered genome sequences of SARS-CoV2 downloaded from the GISAID database. We have detected this sequence stability by using MAUVE analysis and pairwise alignment with Global Needleman Wunsch algorithm for each two different sequences, reciprocally. They also confirmed all these results were also with the Clustal W analysis. The first 6500 bp including ORF1ab region is an unvarying sequence. According to the highest TM-score of predicted protein structure analysis, the results showed it is very similar to spike protein of feline infectious peri...

Full paper , 2021

The causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the world identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads t... more The causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the world identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads to a severe respiratory illness like SARS and MERS. The pathogen spreading has turned into a pandemic dissemination and increased the mortality rate. Therefore, any useful information is essential for effective control of the disease. Our findings show the existence of unvarying sequence with no mutation in ORF1ab regions from 134 high-quality filtered genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 downloaded from the GISAID database. We have detected this sequence region by using MAUVE analysis and pairwise alignment using Global Needleman Wunsch algorithm. All these results were also confirmed with the Clustal W analysis. The first 6500 bp of the consensus genome including ORF1ab region is an unvarying sequence in SARS-CoV-2 genome. Unvarying sequence in SARS-CoV-2 genome has been very similar to another spike protein, which belongs to feline infectious peritonitis virus strain UU4 (PDB 6JX7), depending on amino acid sequences encoded, and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is the ligand of this protein according to the highest TM-score of predicted protein structure analysis. These results have confirmed that N-acetyl-D-glucosamine could play an important effect on pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Also, our molecular docking analysis data supports a strong protein-ligand interaction of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine with spike receptor-binding domain bound with ACE2 (PDB 6M0J) and RNA-binding domain of nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (PDB 6WKP) from SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, binding of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine to these proteins could inhibit SARS-CoV-2's replication. In the present work, we have suggested providing a repurposing compound for further in vitro and in vivo studies and new insights for ongoing clinical treatments as a new strategy to control of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

BIO Web of Conferences, 2020

Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas display high levels of genetic diversity and c... more Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas display high levels of genetic diversity and cause remarkable damage to about 400 plant species. In 2001–2008, a new group of strains of Xanthomonas arboricola has been found as pathogens on novel host plants such as wheat, rye, barley, tomato, sunflower, and brassicas in Russia. Physiological tests and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis confirmed their position within the Xanthomonas arboricola species. The obtained draft genome sequence of Xanthomonas arboricola strain 3004 from barley plants, also virulent to sunflower, brassicas, and chestnut, has demonstrated an evidence for the lateral gene transfer (LGT) of the virulence genes. It can be suggested that the virE and other genes of T4SS, obtained due to LGT, may contribute to the host range extension. Thus, T4SS genes can be used as the target for group-specific PCR analysis of this emerging pathogen of cereals and oilseeds. We propose to use virB3, virB4, and virB9 gen...

Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a s... more Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a severe respiratory illness like SARS and MERS. The pathogen spreading has turned into a pandemic dissemination and increased the mortality rate. Therefore, useful information is urgently necessary for effective control of the disease. Our study shows the existence of unvarying sequence with no mutation, including ORF1ab regions in 134 high-quality filtered genome sequences of SARS-CoV2 downloaded from the GISAID database. We have detected this sequence stability by using MAUVE analysis and pairwise alignment with Global Needleman Wunsch algorithm for each two different sequences, reciprocally. They also confirmed all these results were also with the Clustal W analysis. The first 6500 bp including ORF1ab region is an unvarying sequence. According to the highest TM-score of predicted protein structure analysis, the results showed it is very similar to spike protein of feline infectious peri...

RUDN Journal of Agronomy and Animal Industries, 2014

Primers identifying bacterial blight pathogen, without cross-reactions with closely related speci... more Primers identifying bacterial blight pathogen, without cross-reactions with closely related species were designed based on the analysis of the original and GeneBank DNA sequences of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Media YPGA containing cycloheximide 50 mg / l + cefazolin 30 mg / l + gentamicin 2 mg / l has been optimized for BIO-PCR. Sensitivity of the BIO-PCR analysis using original selective media up to 100 times more effective than direct PCR analysis. The sensitivity of the primers in BIO-PCR analysis with original selective media has achieved 50 CFU/ml.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Diseases caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Curtobacteriumflaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (C... more Diseases caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Curtobacteriumflaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) inflict substantial economic losses in soybean cultivation. Use of specific bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) for treatment of seeds and plants to prevent the development of bacterial infections is a promising approach for bioprotection in agriculture. Phage control has been successfully tested for a number of staple crops. However, this approach has never been applied to treat bacterial diseases of legumes caused by Cff, and no specific bacteriophages have been known to date. This paper presents detailed characteristics of the first lytic bacteriophage infecting this pathogen. Phage Ayka, related to φ29-like (Salasmaviridae) viruses, but representing a new subfamily, was shown to control the development of bacterial wilt and tan spot in vitro and in greenhouse plants.

Frontiers in Genetics, 2020

Editorial on the Research Topic Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Systems Biology This Rese... more Editorial on the Research Topic Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Systems Biology This Research Topic presents the studies in the field of computational genomics. These papers were discussed at BGRS\SB-2018 (Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Structure Systems Biology) multi-conference, along with the hybrid wet-lab/computational genetics studies focused on genome-wide gene expression regulation. The BGRS is the major event in the computational biology field, which has been held in Novosibirsk, Russia biannually since 1998. The main conference is typically followed by a series of special post-conference journal issues covering contemporary computational genetics and genomics applications (Orlov et al.,

PLOS ONE, 2021

The causative agent of the pandemic identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads to a severe respiratory illnes... more The causative agent of the pandemic identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads to a severe respiratory illness similar to SARS and MERS with fever, cough, and shortness of breath symptoms and severe cases that can often be fatal. In our study, we report our findings based on molecular docking analysis which could be the new effective way for controlling the SARS-CoV-2 virus and additionally, another manipulative possibilities involving the mimicking of immune system as occurred during the bacterial cell recognition system. For this purpose, we performed molecular docking using computational biology techniques on several SARS-CoV-2 proteins that are responsible for its pathogenicity against N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. A similar molecular dynamics analysis has been carried out on both SARS-CoV-2 and anti-Staphylococcus aureus neutralizing antibodies to establish the potential of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine which likely induces the immune response against the virus. The results of molecular dynamic analysi...

BMC Microbiology, 2020

This Special Issue of BMC Microbiology "Systems Biology and Bioinformatics" presents the material... more This Special Issue of BMC Microbiology "Systems Biology and Bioinformatics" presents the materials discussed at the 11-th Young Scientists School "Systems Biology and Bioinformatics"-2019 (SBB-2019) in Novosibirsk, Russia (http://conf.bionet.nsc.ru/sbb2019/en/). These Young Scientists' Schools on bioinformatics have been organized every year since 2008 by the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Novosibirsk State University [1, 2]. To accompany this Special Issue on microbiology, parallel special journal issues in the fields of genomics, bioinformatics, and medical genomics were published as a part of SBB-2019 series in BioMed Central journals: BMC Genomics, BMC Medical Genomics, BMC Genetics, BMC Medical Genetics, and BMC Bioinformatics (https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral. com/articles/supplements/volume-21-supplement-11). The SBB Schools in Novosibirsk are satellite training meetings for young scientists and PhD students, which are organized either as satellite events for BGRS\SB (Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Structure \ Systems Biology) conferences series [3, 4] or as independent events [2, 5]. The Schools were accompanied and complemented by the publication of special journal issues in BMC Microbiology [6] and other BioMed Central journals [3, 4].

Genome announcements, Jan 23, 2014

Sclerotinia borealis is a necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus notable for its wide host range and... more Sclerotinia borealis is a necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus notable for its wide host range and environmental persistence. It grows at low temperatures, causing snow mold disease of crop plants. To understand the molecular mechanisms of its pathogenesis and adaptation to the psychrophilic lifestyle, we determined the 39.3-Mb draft genome sequence of S. borealis F-4128.

Plants, 2022

Bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) have been considered as potential agents for the biological co... more Bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) have been considered as potential agents for the biological control of bacterial phytopathogens due to their safety and host specificity. Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. glycinea (Psg) is a causative agent of the bacterial spotting of soybean (Glycine max Willd). The harm caused by this bacterium to crop production and the development of antibiotic resistance in Psg and other pathogenic microorganisms has led to the pursuit of alternative management strategies. In this study, three Psg-specific lytic bacteriophages were isolated from soybean field soil in geographically distant regions of Russia, and their potential for protective action on plants was assessed. Sequencing of phage genomes has revealed their close relatedness and attribution to the genus Ghunavirus, subfamily Studiervirinae, family Autographiviridae. Extensive testing of the biological properties of P421, the representative of the isolated phage group, has demonstrated a relatively broad...

Microorganisms, 2021

The study of the ecological and evolutionary traits of Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP) comprisin... more The study of the ecological and evolutionary traits of Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP) comprising genera Pectobacterium and Dickeya often involves bacterial viruses (bacteriophages). Bacteriophages are considered to be a prospective tool for the ecologically safe and highly specific protection of plants and harvests from bacterial diseases. Information concerning bacteriophages has been growing rapidly in recent years, and this has included new genomics-based principles of taxonomic distribution. In this review, we summarise the data on phages infecting Pectobacterium and Dickeya that are available in publications and genomic databases. The analysis highlights not only major genomic properties that assign phages to taxonomic families and genera, but also the features that make them potentially suitable for phage control applications. Specifically, there is a discussion of the molecular mechanisms of receptor recognition by the phages and problems concerning the evolution of phage-r...

International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020

Phytopathogenic bacteria belonging to the Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera (soft-rot Pectobacter... more Phytopathogenic bacteria belonging to the Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera (soft-rot Pectobacteriaceae) are in the focus of agriculture-related microbiology because of their diversity, their substantial negative impact on the production of potatoes and vegetables, and the prospects of bacteriophage applications for disease control. Because of numerous amendments in the taxonomy of P. carotovorum, there are still a few studied sequenced strains among this species. The present work reports on the isolation and characterization of the phage infectious to the type strain of P. carotovorum. The phage Arno 160 is a lytic Podovirus representing a potential new genus of the subfamily Autographivirinae. It recognizes O-polysaccahride of the host strain and depolymerizes it in the process of infection using a rhamnosidase hydrolytic mechanism. Despite the narrow host range of this phage, it is suitable for phage control application.

BIO Web of Conferences, 2020

Global climate warming and involvement of new regions with endemic populations of microorganisms ... more Global climate warming and involvement of new regions with endemic populations of microorganisms in commercial seed production have led to an increase in the diversity of phytopathogenic bacteria that are affecting major crops, including the fruit trees. As a rule, emergence of new pathogens is associated with importation of infected seeds and planting material, cultivation of new species and varieties of plants, and expansion of agricultural trade with foreign countries. One of the leaders in diversity among phytopathogens is the genus Xanthomonas bacteria, affecting more than 400 plant species. Among the characteristic signs of xanthomonads is the high frequency of horizontal gene transfer both within the genus and between phylogenetically removed bacterial taxa – up to 25% of the genes are of this origin. In this paper, we consider another source of increasing the number of phytopathogenic species – by the epiphytic populations. These bacteria are the likely ancestral form of the...

Microorganisms, 2020

Black leg and soft rot are devastating diseases causing up to 50% loss of potential potato yield.... more Black leg and soft rot are devastating diseases causing up to 50% loss of potential potato yield. The search for, and characterization of, bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) suitable for the control of these diseases is currently a sought-after task for agricultural microbiology. Isolated lytic Pectobacterium bacteriophages Q19, PP47 and PP81 possess a similar broad host range but differ in their genomic properties. The genomic features of characterized phages have been described and compared to other Studiervirinae bacteriophages. Thorough phylogenetic analysis has clarified the taxonomy of the phages and their positioning relative to other genera of the Autographiviridae family. Pectobacterium phage Q19 seems to represent a new genus not described previously. The genomes of the phages are generally similar to the genome of phage T7 of the Teseptimavirus genus but possess a number of specific features. Examination of the structure of the genes and proteins of the phages, including ...

Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020

Frontiers in Microbiology, 2019

Dickeya solani is a recently emerged virulent bacterial potato pathogen that poses a major threat... more Dickeya solani is a recently emerged virulent bacterial potato pathogen that poses a major threat to world agriculture. Because of increasing antibiotic resistance and growing limitations in antibiotic use, alternative antibacterials such as bacteriophages are being developed. Myoviridae bacteriophages recently re-ranked as a separate Ackermannviridae family, such as phage PP35 described in this work, are the attractive candidates for this bacterial biocontrol. PP35 has a very specific host range due to the presence of tail spike protein PP35 gp156, which can depolymerize the O-polysaccharide (OPS) of D. solani. The D. solani OPS structure, →2)-β-D-6-deoxy-D-altrose-(1→, is so far unique among soft-rot Pectobacteriaceae, though it may exist in non-virulent environmental Enterobacteriaceae. The phage tail spike depolymerase degrades the shielding polysaccharide, and launches the cell infection process. We hypothesize that non-pathogenic commensal bacteria may maintain the population of the phage in soil environment.

Genome announcements, Jan 5, 2018

We present the draft genome sequence of strain PB72 infecting potatoes in Russia. PB72 is similar... more We present the draft genome sequence of strain PB72 infecting potatoes in Russia. PB72 is similar to the previously reported strain 21A. Considering potential biocontrol of this pathogen, an infectious bacteriophage was isolated and characterized. Phage vB_PatP_PP90 is a lytic podovirus of narrow host range belonging to the genus.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Novel, closely related phages Possum and Horatius infect Pectobacterium versatile, a phytopathoge... more Novel, closely related phages Possum and Horatius infect Pectobacterium versatile, a phytopathogen causing soft rot in potatoes and other essential plants. Their properties and genomic composition define them as N4-like bacteriophages of the genus Cbunavirus, a part of a recently formed family Schitoviridae. It is proposed that the adsorption apparatus of these phages consists of tail fibers connected to the virion through an adapter protein. Tail fibers possess an enzymatic domain. Phage Possum uses it to deacetylate O-polysaccharide on the surface of the host strain to provide viral attachment. Such an infection mechanism is supposed to be common for all Cbunavirus phages and this feature should be considered when designing cocktails for phage control of soft rot.

Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a s... more Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a severe respiratory illness like SARS and MERS. The pathogen spreading has turned into a pandemic dissemination and increased the mortality rate. Therefore, useful information is urgently necessary for effective control of the disease. Our study shows the existence of unvarying sequence with no mutation, including ORF1ab regions in 134 high-quality filtered genome sequences of SARS-CoV2 downloaded from the GISAID database. We have detected this sequence stability by using MAUVE analysis and pairwise alignment with Global Needleman Wunsch algorithm for each two different sequences, reciprocally. They also confirmed all these results were also with the Clustal W analysis. The first 6500 bp including ORF1ab region is an unvarying sequence. According to the highest TM-score of predicted protein structure analysis, the results showed it is very similar to spike protein of feline infectious peri...

Full paper , 2021

The causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the world identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads t... more The causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the world identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads to a severe respiratory illness like SARS and MERS. The pathogen spreading has turned into a pandemic dissemination and increased the mortality rate. Therefore, any useful information is essential for effective control of the disease. Our findings show the existence of unvarying sequence with no mutation in ORF1ab regions from 134 high-quality filtered genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 downloaded from the GISAID database. We have detected this sequence region by using MAUVE analysis and pairwise alignment using Global Needleman Wunsch algorithm. All these results were also confirmed with the Clustal W analysis. The first 6500 bp of the consensus genome including ORF1ab region is an unvarying sequence in SARS-CoV-2 genome. Unvarying sequence in SARS-CoV-2 genome has been very similar to another spike protein, which belongs to feline infectious peritonitis virus strain UU4 (PDB 6JX7), depending on amino acid sequences encoded, and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is the ligand of this protein according to the highest TM-score of predicted protein structure analysis. These results have confirmed that N-acetyl-D-glucosamine could play an important effect on pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Also, our molecular docking analysis data supports a strong protein-ligand interaction of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine with spike receptor-binding domain bound with ACE2 (PDB 6M0J) and RNA-binding domain of nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (PDB 6WKP) from SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, binding of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine to these proteins could inhibit SARS-CoV-2's replication. In the present work, we have suggested providing a repurposing compound for further in vitro and in vivo studies and new insights for ongoing clinical treatments as a new strategy to control of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

BIO Web of Conferences, 2020

Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas display high levels of genetic diversity and c... more Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas display high levels of genetic diversity and cause remarkable damage to about 400 plant species. In 2001–2008, a new group of strains of Xanthomonas arboricola has been found as pathogens on novel host plants such as wheat, rye, barley, tomato, sunflower, and brassicas in Russia. Physiological tests and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis confirmed their position within the Xanthomonas arboricola species. The obtained draft genome sequence of Xanthomonas arboricola strain 3004 from barley plants, also virulent to sunflower, brassicas, and chestnut, has demonstrated an evidence for the lateral gene transfer (LGT) of the virulence genes. It can be suggested that the virE and other genes of T4SS, obtained due to LGT, may contribute to the host range extension. Thus, T4SS genes can be used as the target for group-specific PCR analysis of this emerging pathogen of cereals and oilseeds. We propose to use virB3, virB4, and virB9 gen...

Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a s... more Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a severe respiratory illness like SARS and MERS. The pathogen spreading has turned into a pandemic dissemination and increased the mortality rate. Therefore, useful information is urgently necessary for effective control of the disease. Our study shows the existence of unvarying sequence with no mutation, including ORF1ab regions in 134 high-quality filtered genome sequences of SARS-CoV2 downloaded from the GISAID database. We have detected this sequence stability by using MAUVE analysis and pairwise alignment with Global Needleman Wunsch algorithm for each two different sequences, reciprocally. They also confirmed all these results were also with the Clustal W analysis. The first 6500 bp including ORF1ab region is an unvarying sequence. According to the highest TM-score of predicted protein structure analysis, the results showed it is very similar to spike protein of feline infectious peri...