We have developed technologies for creating saturating libraries of sequence-defined transposon insertion mutants in which each strain is maintained. Phenotypic analysis of such libraries should provide a virtually complete identification of nonessential genes required for any process for which a suitable screen can be devised. The approach was applied to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen with a 6.3-Mbp genome. The library that was generated consists of 30,100 sequence-defined mutants, corresponding to an average of five insertions per gene. About 12% of the predicted genes of this organism lacked insertions; many of these genes are likely to be essential for growth on rich media. Based on statistical analyses and bioinformatic comparison to known essential genes in E. coli, we estimate that the actual number of essential genes is 300 -400. Screening the collection for strains defective in two defined multigenic processes (twitching motility and prototrophic growth) identified mutants corresponding to nearly all genes expected from earlier studies. Thus, phenotypic analysis of the collection may produce essentially complete lists of genes required for diverse biological activities. The transposons used to generate the mutant collection have added features that should facilitate downstream studies of gene expression, protein localization, epistasis, and chromosome engineering.hole-genome sequences provide the foundation for the creation of relatively complete collections of strains carrying defined mutations in individual genes. Such libraries should facilitate the comprehensive identification of genes required for a wide range of biological processes. A nearly complete library of single-gene deletions of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been assembled by an international consortium using a PCR-based mutagenesis approach (1). Other projects, also following a strategy of gene-by-gene disruption, are underway for Escherichia coli (E. coli genome project, www. genome.wisc.edu͞functional͞tnmutagenesis.htm), and have recently been completed for Bacillus subtilis (2).An alternative strategy for generating mutant libraries consists of ''random'' whole-genome transposon-insertion mutagenesis followed by sequence-based identification of insertion sites. The approach is cost-effective and applicable to a wide variety of microbes (3, 4). Studies with yeast, in which a collection of mutants corresponding to about one-third of the genes were represented, have illustrated that the generation of large, arrayed collections of insertion mutants is feasible (5). Other studies with bacteria have analyzed large numbers of transposon insertion mutants to identify genes essential for growth, although the mutants were analyzed within populations rather than being archived in a format allowing additional phenotypes to be examined (6)(7)(8). In this report, we describe the generation and initial phenotypic analysis of a near-saturation library of transposon insertion mutants of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginos...

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Recently, in situ detection of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) generated from live cells have caused tremendous attention, because it is of great significance in the control of multiple biological processes. Herein, Fe−N−C single-atom nanozymes (Fe−N−C SAzymes) with intrinsic peroxidase-like activity were successfully prepared via high-temperature calcination using FeCl 2 , glucose, and dicyandiamide as precursors. The Fe−N−C SAzymes with FeN x as active sites were similar to natural metalloproteases, which can specifically enhance the peroxidase-like activity rather than oxidase-like activity. Accordingly, owing to the excellent catalytic efficiency of the Fe−N−C SAzymes, colorimetric biosensing of H 2 O 2 in vitro was performed via a typical 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine induced an allochroic reaction, demonstrating the satisfactory specificity and sensitivity. With regard to the practical application, in situ detection of H 2 O 2 generated from the Hela cells by the Fe−N−C SAzymes was also performed, which can expand the applications of the newborn SAzymes.

A sulfane sulfur mediated benzodithiolone formation was developed. Based on this reaction, two fluorescent probes (SSP1 and SSP2) for the detection of sulfane sulfur species (persulfide, polysulfide, and elemental sulfur) were prepared and evaluated. The probes showed high selectivity and sensitivity to sulfane sulfurs. Moreover, SSP2 was successfully applied for bioimaging sulfane sulfurs in living cells.

The design, synthesis, properties, and cell imaging applications of a series of pyridine-disulfide based fluorescent probes (WSP1, WSP2, WSP3, WSP4 and WSP5) for hydrogen sulfide detection are reported. The strategy is based on the dual-nucleophilicity of hydrogen sulfide. A hydrogen sulfide mediated tandem nucleophilic substitution-cyclization reaction is used to release the fluorophores and turn on the fluorescence. The probes showed high sensitivity and selectivity for hydrogen sulfide over other reactive sulfur species including cysteine and glutathione.

Reactive sulfur species have received considerable attention due to their various biological functions. Among these molecules, hydrogen polysulfides (H2Sn, n > 1) are recently suggested to be the actual signaling molecules derived from hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Hydrogen polysulfides may also have their own biosynthetic pathways. The research on H2Sn is rapidly growing. However, the detection of H2Sn is still challenging. In this work we report a H2Sn-mediated benzodithiolone formation under mild conditions. Based on this reaction, specific fluorescent probes for H2Sn are prepared and evaluated. The probe DSP-3 shows good selectivity and sensitivity for H2Sn.

A reaction based fluorescence turn-on strategy for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was developed. This strategy was based on a H2S-specific Michael addition-cyclization sequence. Other biological thiols such as cysteine and glutathione did not pursue the reaction and therefore did not turn on the fluorescence/consume the substrates. The probes showed good selectivity and sensitivity for hydrogen sulfide.

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