Biology subjects

Maurya, G. K.

Publications and source records attributed to Maurya, G. K..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Assessment of antimicrobial potential of cell-free supernatant from Lacticaseibacillus paracasei SRG isolated from the vaginal microbiota of healthy women against uropathogens

Among women, urinary tract infection (UTI) represents a major health concern. Approximately 50% of the adult female population experienced an episode of UTI at least once. UTI and recurrent UTIs caused by resistant bacteria are very common in clinical settings. The treatment and management of UTI is becoming more challenging because of the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Lactobacillus spp are the dominant bacterial genus in urinary and vaginal microbiota, which are also used as probiotics. In this study, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei SRG isolated from the vagina of healthy women were evaluated for its probiotic-associated properties and cell-free supernatant (CFS)-mediated antibacterial activity against eight uropathogens. The antibacterial activity of CFS was concentration- and pH-dependent, which was significantly evident at CFS/2 and CFS/4 concentrations and acidic pH values of 4 and 5. The antibacterial activity in CFS remains unaltered even after heat and proteinase K treatment, which suggests the role of heat- and protease-resistant metabolites beside the contributions from acidic conditions. L. paracasei SRG showed strong autoaggregation (85.32%) and cell-surface hydrophobicity (55.60%). In addition, it also exhibits co-aggregation with all indicator strains, suggesting substantial interaction with diverse pathogenic bacteria. These observations highlighted the L. paracasei SRG as a potential probiotic candidate developed from indigenous vaginal microbiota.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

A comparative analysis of urinary microbiome identifies putative probiotics

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most prevalent bacterial infections globally, and their management increasingly challenged by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Probiotics offer a promising approach to mitigate AMR by competitively excluding uropathogens and enhancing host immunity by producing immune modulators. Despite being potential, key gaps persist between the discovery of uroprotective probiotic strains and optimization of formulations for urinary tract delivery. Here, we analyzed the urinary microbiome of UTI patients and healthy individuals to identify potential probiotic candidates for the prevention and management of UTIs. Publicly available 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data of the urinary tract were processed using a standardized pipeline for sequence quality assessment, taxonomic assignment, and microbial function prediction. Comparative analysis showed a significant shift in microbial composition between UTI patients and healthy controls. The dominated phyla identified included Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, Campylobacterota, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Fusobacteriota, Patescibacteria, Proteobacteria, and Synergistota. Overall differential abundance analysis revealed Escherichia coli as the predominant UTI-associated species, while Lactobacillus crispatus was enriched in healthy samples. Additionally, predictive functional analysis indicated that metabolic pathways associated with beneficial microbes were enriched in the healthy group. Overall, the study highlights the association of distinct urinary microbiome signatures with infection status, which supports L. crispatus as the most promising probiotic for UTI prevention and control.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2022

FtsZ phosphorylation brings about growth arrest upon DNA damage in Deinococcus radiodurans

The polymerization/depolymerization dynamics of FtsZ plays the pivotal role in cell division in majority bacteria. Deinococcus radiodurans, a radiation resistant bacterium, shows an arrest of growth in response to DNA damage, despite no change in the level of FtsZ. This bacterium does not deploy LexA/RecA type of DNA damage response and cell cycle regulation, and its genome does not encode homologs of E. colis SulA, which attenuate FtsZ functions in response to DNA damage in different bacteria. A radiation responsive Ser/Thr quinoprotein kinase (RqkA) characterized for its role in radiation resistance in this bacterium, could phosphorylate several cognate proteins including FtsZ (drFtsZ) at Serine 235 (S235) and Serine 335 (S335) residues. Here, we report the detailed characterization of S235 and S335 phosphorylation effect in the regulation of drFtsZ functions, and demonstrated that the phospho-mimetic replacements of these residues in drFtsZ had grossly affected its functions that could result in cell cycle arrest in response to DNA damage in D. radiodurans. Interestingly, the phospho-ablative replacements were found to be nearly similar to drFtsZ while phospho-mimetic mutant showed the loss of signatures characteristics to wild type enzyme including the arrest in its dynamics under normal conditions. The post-bleaching recovery kinetics for drFtsZ and phospho-mimetic mutant was nearly similar at 2h post irradiation recovery but found to be different under normal conditions. These results highlighted the role of S/T phosphorylation in the regulation of drFtsZ functions and cell cycle arrest in response to DNA damage and is first time demonstrated in this prokaryote.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Overlapping oriC and centromere-like functions in secondary genome replicons determine their maintenance independent of chromosome I in Deinococcus radiodurans

The Deinococcus radiodurans multipartite genome system (MGS) consists of chromosome I (ChrI) and secondary genome elements; Chr II and megaplasmid (MP). The sequences upstream to parAB operons in Chr II (cisII) and MP (cisMP) helped an E. coli plasmid maintenance in D. radiodurans and showed sequence specific interactions with DnaA and ParBs. The cells devoid of cisII ({Delta}cisII) or cisMP ({Delta}cisMP) showed reduced {gamma} radiation resistance and copy number of Chr II and MP. Fluorescent Reporter-Operator System (FROS) developed for ChrI, ChrII and MP in {Delta}cisII or {Delta}cisMP mutants showed no change in wild type pattern of Chr I localization. However, the relative copy numbers of Chr II and MP had reduced while anucleate cells had increased in mutants. These results suggested that cisII and cisMP elements contain both ori and centromere-like functions, and like other MGS bacteria, the Chr I and secondary genome are maintained independently in D. radiodurans.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2020

PprA interacts with replication proteins and affects their physicochemical properties required for replication initiation in Deinococcus radiodurans

The deletion mutant of pprA, a gene encoding pleiotropic functions in radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, showed an increased genomic content and ploidy in chromosome I and chromosome II. We identified oriC in chromosome I (oriCI) and demonstrated the sequence specific interaction of deinococcal DnaA (drDnaA) with oriCI. drDnaA and drDnaB showed ATPase activity while drDnaB catalyzed 5'[->]3' dsDNA helicase activity. These proteins showed both homotypic and heterotypic interactions. The roles of C-terminal domain of drDnaA in oriCI binding and its stimulation of ATPase activity were demonstrated. Notably, PprA showed ~2 times higher affinity to drDnaA as compared to drDnaB and attenuated both homotypic and heterotypic interactions of these proteins. Interestingly, the ATPase activity of drDnaA but not drDnaB was inhibited in presence of PprA. These results suggested that PprA influences the physicochemical properties of drDnaA and drDnaB that are required for initiation of DNA replication at oriCI site in this bacterium.

molecular biology↗