Browsing by Author "Liu L"

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    Advancing science and creating a scientifically informed community at JCASP
    (John Wiley and Sons Ltd., 2023-07-13) Vezzali L; Hodgetts D; Liu L; Pettersson K; Trifiletti E; Wakefield JRH
    The present editorial team has now coordinated the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology (JCASP) for 3 years. We have taken the journal in a precise direction towards increasing the volume and quality of articles, many of which articulate clear and positive societal and community impacts. In this editorial, we present JCASP's revised and expanded scope and the orientations and activities that are being undertaken in support of new initiatives. The editorial team welcomes research from all areas of community and social psychology. We accept empirical, theoretical, and methodological articles, and welcome a wide range of methodologies, including quantitative (Pecini et al., 2022), qualitative (Varma & Siromahov, 2023), and mixed methods research (Kothari, Fischer, Mullican, Lipscomb, & Jaramillo, 2022), as well as correlational (Gray, Randell, Manning, & Cleveland, 2023), longitudinal (Joshanloo, 2022), and experimental designs (Mäkinen et al., 2022). Relatedly, we have expanded the types of articles that we accept. In addition to research papers and commentaries traditionally accepted by this journal, we will now consider meta-analyses and reviews (Cadamuro et al., 2021). Importantly, however, these should be directly relevant for the advancement of community and social psychology praxis. Reviews should not just be a summary of research, they should also provide an analysis that creates a framework for understanding the literature regarding the focal topic and present potential to advance the field. Now we also welcome replication studies, which can strengthen the external validity of research results, and registered reports (requiring authors to submit the theoretical rationale and study plan before collecting the data), which contribute to increasing the transparency of research. In the case of registered reports, full articles will be published, independently of whether results support the hypotheses. Finally, we also welcome short research-based policy briefs that summarise key findings and present options for application at the level of policy and/or community action.
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    The Flagellar Transcriptional Regulator FtcR Controls Brucella melitensis 16M Biofilm Formation via a betI-Mediated Pathway in Response to Hyperosmotic Stress
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-09) Guo J; Deng X; Zhang Y; Song S; Zhao T; Zhu D; Cao S; Baryshnikov PI; Cao G; Blair HT; Chen C; Gu X; Liu L; Zhang H
    The expression of flagellar proteins in Brucella species likely evolved through genetic transference from other microorganisms, and contributed to virulence, adaptability, and biofilm formation. Despite significant progress in defining the molecular mechanisms behind flagellar gene expression, the genetic program controlling biofilm formation remains unclear. The flagellar transcriptional factor (FtcR) is a master regulator of the flagellar system’s expression, and is critical for B. melitensis 16M’s flagellar biogenesis and virulence. Here, we demonstrate that FtcR mediates biofilm formation under hyperosmotic stress. Chromatin immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing for FtcR and RNA sequencing of ftcR-mutant and wild-type strains revealed a core set of FtcR target genes. We identified a novel FtcR-binding site in the promoter region of the osmotic-stress-response regulator gene betI, which is important for the survival of B. melitensis 16M under hyperosmotic stress. Strikingly, this site autoregulates its expression to benefit biofilm bacteria’s survival under hyperosmotic stress. Moreover, biofilm reduction in ftcR mutants is independent of the flagellar target gene fliF. Collectively, our study provides new insights into the extent and functionality of flagellar-related transcriptional networks in biofilm formation, and presents phenotypic and evolutionary adaptations that alter the regulation of B. melitensis 16M to confer increased tolerance to hyperosmotic stress.