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Qualitative and also quantitative evaluation involving steatite using calibration-free laser-induced dysfunction spectroscopy in partnership with x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy along with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.
Previous studies proved that heavy metals could increase the risk of disease by acting on the gut microbiota. Meanwhile, gut microbiota played important roles in detoxifying heavy metals. However, the response of gut microbiota to heavy metals and which microbes dominated this detoxification processes are still unclear. This study investigated the difference of high-fat-diet (HFD) and normal-diet (ND) gut microbiota and their response to and detoxification effects on arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) exposure. Results showed that gut microbiota of ND and HFD was significantly different and responded to As, Pb, and Cd exposure differently, too. When exposed to 100 ppm As, Cd, or Pb, HFD-fed mice accumulated more heavy metals in the liver and kidney along with more severe functional damage than ND-fed mice, indicated by a more dramatic increase of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities and urinary total protein (TPU), urinary uric acid (UUA), and urinary creatinine (Ucrea) content. Encorafenib Among ND gut microbiota, relative abundance of Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Butyricimonas, and Dorea was significantly increased by arsenic (As) exposure; relative abundance of Faecoccus and Lactobacillus was significantly increased by Cd exposure; relative abundance of Desulfovibrio, Plasmodium, and Roseburia were significantly increased by Pb exposure. However, among HFD gut microbiota, those microbes were not significantly changed. Bivariate association analysis found weak positive correlations between content of fecal excreted heavy metals and richness of total fecal microbiota as well as abundance of some of the heavy metal-enriched microbes. Our study concluded that HFD increased disease risk of heavy metal exposure probably via its gut microbiota which excreted less heavy metal through feces.Fusarium graminearum is a phytopathogenic fungus that causes Fusarium head blight in small-grain cereals, such as wheat, with significant yield reductions. Moreover, it contaminates the cereal grains with health-threatening mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON), jeopardizing food and feed safety. Plant-based biopesticides, i.e. botanicals, have recently gained increased interest in crop protection as alternatives to synthetic chemical products. The main objective of this study was to test the control efficacy of botanicals based on white or Indian/Oriental mustard seed flours (Tillecur - Ti, Pure Yellow Mustard - PYM, Pure Oriental Mustard - POM, Oriental Mustard Bran - OMB) on F. graminearum infection and mycotoxin accumulation in wheat grain. Botanicals at 2% concentration showed a higher efficacy in inhibiting mycelium growth in vitro compared with a prothioconazole fungicide (F). In the growth chamber experiment under controlled conditions, the spraying agents reduced DON content in grain in the follownd prolong the antifungal activity, especially against ascospores.Natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are potential antibiotic alternatives. Marine crustaceans are thought to generate more powerful and various AMPs to protect themselves from infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms in their complex aquatic habitat, thus becoming one of the most promising sources of AMPs or other bioactive substances. In the study, a novel protein was identified as an interacting partner of male-specific AMP SCY2 in Scylla paramamosain and named scyreprocin. The recombinant product of scyreprocin (rScyreprocin) was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. rScyreprocin exerted potent, broad-spectrum antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-biofilm activity (minimum inhibitory concentrations from 0.5 to 32 μM) through differential modes of action, including disruption of cell membrane integrity and induction of cell apoptosis, and has rapid bactericidal (in 0.5-2 h) and fungicidal (in 8-10 h) kinetics. In addition to its fungicidal activity against planktonic fungi, rScyreprocin also prevented the adhesion of fungal cells, inhibited biofilm formation, and eradicated the mature biofilms. Moreover, rScyreprocin showed a profound inhibitory effect on spore germination of Aspergillus spp. (minimum inhibitory concentrations from 4 to 8 μM). This peptide was not cytotoxic to murine and mammalian cells and could increase the survival rate of Oryzias melastigma under the challenge of Vibrio harveyi. Taken together, the novel AMP scyreprocin would be a promising alternative to antibiotics used in aquaculture and medicine.The rhizosphere hosts a complex web of prokaryotes interacting with one another that may modulate crucial functions related to plant growth and health. Identifying the key factors structuring the prokaryotic community of the plant rhizosphere is a necessary step toward the enhancement of plant production and crop yield with beneficial associative microorganisms. We used a long-term field experiment conducted at three locations in the Canadian prairies to verify that (1) the level of cropping system diversity influences the α- and β-diversity of the prokaryotic community of canola (Brassica napus) rhizosphere; (2) the canola rhizosphere community has a stable prokaryotic core; and (3) some highly connected taxa of this community fit the description of hub-taxa. We sampled the rhizosphere of canola grown in monoculture, in a 2-phase rotation (canola-wheat), in a 3-phase rotation (pea-barley-canola), and in a highly diversified 6-phase rotation, five and eight years after cropping system establishment. We detected only one core bacterial Amplicon Sequence Variant (ASV) in the prokaryotic component of the microbiota of canola rhizosphere, a hub taxon identified as cf. Pseudarthrobacter sp. This ASV was also the only hub taxon found in the networks of interactions present in both years and at all three sites. We highlight a cohort of bacteria and archaea that were always connected with the core taxon in the network analyses.Rhinovirus (RV) and influenza virus are the most frequently detected respiratory viruses among adult patients with community acquired pneumonia. Previous clinical studies have identified major differences in the clinical presentations and inflammatory or immune response during these infections. A systematic transcriptomic analysis directly comparing influenza and RV is lacking. Here, we sought to compare the transcriptomic response to these viral infections. Human airway epithelial Calu-3 cells were infected with contemporary clinical isolates of RV, influenza A virus (IAV), or influenza B virus (IBV). Host gene expression was determined using RNA-seq. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with respect to mock-infected cells were identified using the overlapping gene-set of four different statistical models. Transcriptomic analysis showed that RV-infected cells have a more blunted host response with fewer DEGs than IAV or IBV-infected cells. IFNL1 and CXCL10 were among the most upregulated DEGs during RV, IAV, and IBV infection. Other DEGs that were highly expressed for all 3 viruses were mainly genes related to type I or type III interferons (RSAD2, IDO1) and chemokines (CXCL11). Notably, ICAM5, a known receptor for enterovirus D68, was highly expressed during RV infection only. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) confirmed that pathways associated with interferon response, innate immunity, or regulation of inflammatory response, were most perturbed for all three viruses. Network analysis showed that steroid-related pathways were enriched. Taken together, our data using contemporary virus strains suggests that genes related to interferon and chemokine predominated the host response associated with RV, IAV, and IBV infection. Several highly expressed genes, especially ICAM5 which is preferentially-induced during RV infection, deserve further investigation.Heat shock cognate 71-kDa protein (HSC70), a constitutively expressed molecular chaperon within the heat shock protein 70 family, plays crucial roles in maintaining cellular environmental homeostasis through implicating in a wide variety of physiological processes, such as ATP metabolism, protein folding and transporting, antigen processing and presentation, endocytosis, and autophagy. Notably, HSC70 also participates in multiple non-communicable diseases and some pathogen-caused infectious diseases. It is known that virus is an obligatory intracellular parasite and heavily relies on host machineries to self-replication. Undoubtedly, HSC70 is a striking target manipulated by virus to ensure the successful propagation. In this review, we summarize the recent advances of the regulatory mechanisms of HSC70 during viral infections, which will be conducive to further study viral pathogenesis.Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is one of the most important processes in prokaryote evolution. The sharing of DNA can spread neutral or beneficial genes, as well as genetic parasites across populations and communities, creating a large proportion of the variability acted on by natural selection. Here, we highlight the role of HGT in enhancing the opportunities for conflict and cooperation within and between prokaryote genomes. We discuss how horizontally acquired genes can cooperate or conflict both with each other and with a recipient genome, resulting in signature patterns of gene co-occurrence, avoidance, and dependence. We then describe how interactions involving horizontally transferred genes may influence cooperation and conflict at higher levels (populations, communities, and symbioses). Finally, we consider the benefits and drawbacks of HGT for prokaryotes and its fundamental role in understanding conflict and cooperation from the gene-gene to the microbiome level.Multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, particularly the ESKAPE group (Enterococcus faecalis/faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacter spp.), have become a public health threat worldwide. Development of new antimicrobial classes and the use of drugs in combination are potential strategies to treat MDR ESKAPE pathogen infections and promote optimal antimicrobial stewardship. Here, the in vitro antimicrobial activity of robenidine analog NCL195 alone or in combination with different concentrations of three outer membrane permeabilizers [ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), polymyxin B nonapeptide (PMBN), and polymyxin B (PMB)] was further evaluated against clinical isolates and reference strains of key Gram-negative bacteria. NCL195 alone was bactericidal against Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (MIC/MBC = 32 μg/mL) and demonstrated synergistic activity against P. aeruginosa, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, ated mice. However, further medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical development to improve potency, solubility, and selectivity is required before efficacy testing in Gram-negative infection models.The analysis of the interaction between Helicobacter pylori (HP) and the host in vivo is an extremely informative way to enlighten the molecular mechanisms behind the persistency/latency of the bacterium as well as in the progression of the infection. An important source of information is represented by circulating antibodies targeting the bacteria that define a specific "disease signature" with prospective diagnostic implications. The diagnosis of some of the HP induced diseases such as gastric cancer (GC), MALT lymphoma (MALT), and autoimmune gastritis (AIG) is not easy because patients do not show symptoms of illness in early-onset stages, at the same time they progress rapidly. The possibility of identifying markers able to provide an early diagnosis would be extremely beneficial since a late diagnosis results in a delay in undergoing active therapy and reduces the survival rate of patients. With the aim to identify the HP antigens recognized during the host immune-response to the infection and possibly disease progression, we applied a discovery-driven approach, that combines "phage display" and deep sequencing.
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