@article {pmid37245359,
year = {2023},
author = {Chen, JY and Liu, S and Deng, WK and Niu, SH and Liao, XD and Xiang, L and Xing, SC},
title = {The effect of manure-borne doxycycline combined with different types of oversized microplastic contamination layers on carbon and nitrogen metabolism in sandy loam.},
journal = {Journal of hazardous materials},
volume = {456},
number = {},
pages = {131612},
doi = {10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131612},
pmid = {37245359},
issn = {1873-3336},
abstract = {The different forms and properties of microplastics (MPs) have different effects on the elemental cycles in soil ecosystems, and this is further complicated when the soil contains antibiotics; meanwhile, oversized microplastic (OMP) in soil is always ignored in studies of environmental behavior. In the context of antibiotic action, the effects of OMP on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling have rarely been explored. In this study, we created four types of oversized microplastic (thick fibers, thin fibers, large debris, and small debris) composite doxycycline (DOX) contamination layers (5-10 cm) in sandy loam, hoping to reveal the effects on soil C and N cycling and potential microbial mechanisms when exposed to the combination of manure-borne DOX and different types of OMP from the perspective of metagenomics in the longitudinal soil layer (0-30 cm). The results showed that all different forms of OMP, when combined with DOX, reduced the soil C content in each layer, but only reduced the soil N content in the upper layer of the OMP contamination layer. The microbial structure of the surface soil (0-10 cm) was more noteworthy than that of the deeper soil (10-30 cm). The genera Chryseolinea and Ohtaekwangia were key microbes involved in C and N cycling in the surface layer and regulated carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms (K00134), carbon fixation pathways in prokaryotes (K00031), methane metabolism (K11212 and K14941), assimilatory nitrate reduction (K00367), and denitrification (K00376 and K04561). The present study is the first to reveal the potential microbial mechanism of C and N cycling under OMP combined with DOX in different layers, mainly the OMP contamination layer and its upper layer, and the OMP shape plays an important role in this process.},
}

@article {pmid37245312,
year = {2023},
author = {Gong, X and Ge, Z and Ma, Z and Li, Y and Huang, D and Zhang, J},
title = {Effect of different size microplastic particles on the construction of algal-bacterial biofilms and microbial communities.},
journal = {Journal of environmental management},
volume = {343},
number = {},
pages = {118246},
doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118246},
pmid = {37245312},
issn = {1095-8630},
abstract = {Algal-bacterial symbiotic system is a biological purification system that combines sewage treatment with resource utilization and has the dual effects of carbon sequestration and pollution reduction. In this study, an immobilized algal-bacterial biofilm system was constructed for the treatment of natural sewage. Effects of exposure to microplastics (MPs) with different particle diameters (0.065 μm, 0.5 μm and 5 μm) were determined in terms of algal biomass recovery efficiency, the composition of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and morphologic characteristics. The impacts of MPs on the bacterial diversity and community structure of biofilms were also examined. The metagenomic analysis of key microorganisms and related metabolism pathways involved in system was further investigated. Results showed that following exposure to 5 μm MP, a maximum algal recovery efficiency of 80% was achieved, with a minimum PSII primary light energy conversion efficiency (Fv/Fm ratio) of 0.513. Furthermore, 5 μm MP caused the highest level of damage to the algal-bacterial biofilm, enhancing the secretion of protein-rich EPS. The biofilm morphology became rough and loose following exposure to 0.5 μm and 5 μm MP. Community diversity and richness were significantly high in biofilms exposed to 5 μm MP. Proteobacteria (15.3-24.1%), Firmicutes (5.0-7.8%) and Actinobacteria (4.2-4.9%) were dominant in all groups, with exposure to 5 μm MP resulting in the highest relative abundance for these species. The addition of MPs promoted the related metabolic functions while inhibited the degradation of harmful substances by algal-bacterial biofilms. The findings have environmental significance for the practical application of algal-bacterial biofilms for sewage treatment, providing novel insights into the potential effects of MPs on immobilized algal-bacterial biofilm systems.},
}

@article {pmid37245209,
year = {2023},
author = {Zhao, B and Osbelt, L and Lesker, TR and Wende, M and Galvez, EJC and Hönicke, L and Bublitz, A and Greweling-Pils, MC and Grassl, GA and Neumann-Schaal, M and Strowig, T},
title = {Helicobacter spp. are prevalent in wild mice and protect from lethal Citrobacterrodentium infection in the absence of adaptive immunity.},
journal = {Cell reports},
volume = {42},
number = {6},
pages = {112549},
doi = {10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112549},
pmid = {37245209},
issn = {2211-1247},
abstract = {Transfer of the gut microbiota from wild to laboratory mice alters the host's immune status and enhances resistance to infectious and metabolic diseases, but understanding of which microbes and how they promote host fitness is only emerging. Our analysis of metagenomic sequencing data reveals that Helicobacter spp. are enriched in wild compared with specific-pathogen-free (SPF) and conventionally housed mice, with multiple species commonly co-colonizing their hosts. We create laboratory mice harboring three non-SPF Helicobacter spp. to evaluate their effect on mucosal immunity and colonization resistance to the enteropathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Our experiments reveal that Helicobacter spp. interfere with C. rodentium colonization and attenuate C. rodentium-induced gut inflammation in wild-type (WT) mice, even preventing lethal infection in Rag2[-/-] SPF mice. Further analyses suggest that Helicobacter spp. interfere with tissue attachment of C. rodentium, putatively by reducing the availability of mucus-derived sugars. These results unveil pivotal protective functions of wild mouse microbiota constituents against intestinal infection.},
}

@article {pmid37244920,
year = {2023},
author = {Das, AJ and Sarangi, AN and Ravinath, R and Talambedu, U and Krishnareddy, PM and Nijalingappa, R and Middha, SK},
title = {Improved species level bacterial characterization from rhizosphere soil of wilt infected Punica granatum.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {13},
number = {1},
pages = {8653},
pmid = {37244920},
issn = {2045-2322},
abstract = {Pomegranate crops are prone to wilt complex disease, which is known to severely hamper the crop yield. There have been limited studies that have explored bacteria-plant-host associations in wilt complex disease affecting pomegranate crops. In the present study, wilt infected rhizosphere soil samples (ISI, ASI) in pomegranate were studied in comparison to a healthy control (HSC). The 16S metagenomics sequencing approach using the MinION platform was employed for screening of bacterial communities and predictive functional pathways. Altered physicochemical properties in the soil samples were recorded showing a comparatively acidic pH in the ISI (6.35) and ASI (6.63) soil samples to the HSC soil (7.66), along with higher electrical conductivity in the ISI (139.5 µS/cm), ASI soil (180 µS/cm), HSC soil sample (123.33 µS/cm). While concentration of micronutrients such as Cl and B were significantly higher in the ISI and ASI soil as compared to the HSC, Cu and Zn were significantly higher in the ASI soil. The effectiveness and accuracy of 16S metagenomics studies in identifying beneficial and pathogenic bacterial communities in multi-pathogen-host systems depend on the completeness and consistency of the available 16S rRNA sequence repositories. Enhancing these repositories could significantly improve the exploratory potential of such studies. Thus, multiple 16S rRNA data repositories (RDP, GTDB, EzBioCloud, SILVA, and GreenGenes) were benchmarked, and the findings indicated that SILVA yields the most reliable matches. Consequently, SILVA was chosen for further analysis at the species level. Relative abundance estimates of bacterial species showed variations of growth promoting bacteria, namely, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megatarium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas stutzeri and Micrococcus luteus. Functional profiling predictions employing PICRUSt2 revealed a number of enriched pathways such as transporter protein families involved in signalling and cellular processes, iron complex transport system substrate binding protein, peptidoglycan biosynthesis II (staphylococci) and TCA cycle VII (acetate-producers). In line with past reports, results suggest that an acidic pH along with the bioavailability of micronutrients such as Fe and Mn could be facilitating the prevalence and virulence of Fusarium oxysporum, a known causative pathogen, against the host and beneficial bacterial communities. This study identifies bacterial communities taking into account the physicochemical and other abiotic soil parameters in wilt-affected pomegranate crops. The insights obtained could be instrumental in developing effective management strategies to enhance crop yield and mitigate the impact of wilt complex disease on pomegranate crops.},
}

@article {pmid37244805,
year = {2023},
author = {Everhart, J and Henshaw, NG},
title = {Updates in Molecular Diagnostics in Solid Organ Transplantation Recipients.},
journal = {Infectious disease clinics of North America},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.idc.2023.04.002},
pmid = {37244805},
issn = {1557-9824},
abstract = {Advances in molecular diagnostics have the potential to improve patient care among solid organ transplant recipients by reducing time to pathogen identification and informing directed therapy. Although cultures remain the cornerstone of traditional microbiology, advanced molecular diagnostics, such as metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), may increase detection of pathogens. This is particularly true in the settings of prior antibiotic exposure, and when causative organisms are fastidious. mNGS also offers a hypothesis-free diagnostic method of testing. This is useful in situations whereby the differential is broad or when the infectious agent is unlikely to be detected by routine methods.},
}

@article {pmid37244770,
year = {2023},
author = {Mincer, TJ and Bos, RP and Zettler, ER and Zhao, S and Asbun, AA and Orsi, WD and Guzzetta, VS and Amaral-Zettler, LA},
title = {Sargasso Sea Vibrio bacteria: Underexplored potential pathovars in a perturbed habitat.},
journal = {Water research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {120033},
doi = {10.1016/j.watres.2023.120033},
pmid = {37244770},
issn = {1879-2448},
abstract = {We fully sequenced the genomes of 16 Vibrio cultivars isolated from eel larvae, plastic marine debris (PMD), the pelagic brown macroalga Sargassum, and seawater samples collected from the Caribbean and Sargasso Seas of the North Atlantic Ocean. Annotation and mapping of these 16 bacterial genome sequences to a PMD-derived Vibrio metagenome-assembled genome created for this study showcased vertebrate pathogen genes closely-related to cholera and non-cholera pathovars. Phenotype testing of cultivars confirmed rapid biofilm formation, hemolytic, and lipophospholytic activities, consistent with pathogenic potential. Our study illustrates that open ocean vibrios represent a heretofore undescribed group of microbes, some representing potential new species, possessing an amalgam of pathogenic and low nutrient acquisition genes, reflecting their pelagic habitat and the substrates and hosts they colonize.},
}

@article {pmid37244571,
year = {2023},
author = {Pfennig, A and Lomsadze, A and Borodovsky, M},
title = {MgCod: Gene Prediction in Phage Genomes with Multiple Genetic Codes.},
journal = {Journal of molecular biology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {168159},
doi = {10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168159},
pmid = {37244571},
issn = {1089-8638},
abstract = {Massive sequencing of microbiomes has led to the discovery of a large number of phage genomes with intermittent stop codon recoding. We have developed a computational tool, MgCod, that identifies genomic regions (blocks) with distinct stop codon recoding simultaneously with the prediction of protein-coding regions. When MgCod was used to scan a large volume of human metagenomic contigs hundreds of viral contigs with intermittent stop codon recoding were revealed. Many of these contigs originated from genomes of known crAssphages. Further analyses had shown that intermittent recoding was associated with subtle patterns in the organization of protein-coding genes, such as 'single-coding' and 'dual-coding'. The dual-coding genes, clustered into blocks, could be translated by two alternative codes producing nearly identical proteins. It was observed that the dual-coded blocks were enriched with the early-stage phage genes, while the late-stage genes were residing in the single-coded blocks. MgCod can identify types of stop codon recoding in novel genomic sequences in parallel with gene prediction. It is available for download from https://github.com/gatech-genemark/MgCod.},
}

@article {pmid37244468,
year = {2023},
author = {Hogan, CA and Miller, S and Piantadosi, A and Gaston, DC and Simner, PJ and Nash, S and Babady, NE},
title = {Which Trial Do We Need? Plasma Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing to Diagnose Infections in Patients with Hematological Malignancies and Febrile Neutropenia: Proposal for A Randomized-controlled Trial.},
journal = {Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.cmi.2023.05.024},
pmid = {37244468},
issn = {1469-0691},
}

@article {pmid37244312,
year = {2023},
author = {Zhou, Z and Sun, Y and Fu, L and Zuo, Y and Shao, Y and Wang, L and Zhou, C and An, Y},
title = {Unravelling roles of the intermediate settler in a microaerobic hydrolysis sludge in situ reduction process.},
journal = {Bioresource technology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {129228},
doi = {10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129228},
pmid = {37244312},
issn = {1873-2976},
abstract = {The roles of the intermediate settler in the sludge process reduction activated sludge process (SPRAS), and the influences of its hydraulic retention time (HRTST) on pollutant removal and sludge reduction were investigated. Prolonging HRTST from 3.0 to 4.5 and 6.0 h resulted in sludge reduction efficiencies increased from 46.8% to 61.5% and 62.7%. The sludge accumulation in the intermediate settler formed an anaerobic zone but inhibited methane production, and the alternating microaerobic and anaerobic environment in the sludge process reduction (SPR) module increased the microbial diversity and enriched the hydrolytic and fermentative bacteria. Prolonging HRTST accelerated dissolved organic matter release and elevated the degradation of refractory fraction, and improved the sludge properties of the SPRAS. Metagenomic analysis showed that the SPR module enhanced the glycolysis pathway and decoupling metabolism for sludge reduction. The results revealed that the intermediate settler plays dual roles in solid-liquid separation and sludge reduction metabolism.},
}

@article {pmid37243505,
year = {2023},
author = {Bruggeling, CE and Te Groen, M and Garza, DR and van Heeckeren Tot Overlaer, F and Krekels, JPM and Sulaiman, BC and Karel, D and Rulof, A and Schaaphok, AR and Hornikx, DLAH and Nagtegaal, ID and Dutilh, BE and Hoentjen, F and Boleij, A},
title = {Bacterial oncotraits rather than spatial organization are associated with dysplasia in ulcerative colitis.},
journal = {Journal of Crohn's & colitis},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjad092},
pmid = {37243505},
issn = {1876-4479},
abstract = {BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Colonic bacterial biofilms are frequently present in ulcerative colitis (UC) and may increase dysplasia risk through pathogens expressing oncotraits. This prospective cohort study aimed to determine (1) the association of oncotraits and longitudinal biofilm presence with dysplasia risk in UC, and (2) the relation of bacterial composition with biofilms and dysplasia risk.

METHODS: Feces and left- and right-sided colonic biopsies were collected from 80 UC patients and 35 controls. Oncotraits (FadA of Fusobacterium, BFT of Bacteroides fragilis, colibactin (ClbB) and Intimin (Eae) of Escherichia coli) were assessed in fecal DNA with multiplex qPCR. Biopsies were screened for biofilms (n=873) with 16S rRNA fluorescent in situ hybridization. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing (n=265), and ki67-immunohistochemistry were performed. Associations were determined with a mixed-effects regression model.

RESULTS: Biofilms were highly prevalent in UC patients (90.8%) with a median persistence of 3 years (IQR 2-5 years). Biofilm-positive biopsies showed increased epithelial hypertrophy (p=0.025), a reduced Shannon diversity independent of disease status (p=0.015), however, were not significantly associated with dysplasia in UC (aOR 1.45(95%CI0.63-3.40). In contrast, ClbB independently associated with dysplasia (aOR 7.16 (95%CI1.75-29.28), while FadA and Fusobacteriales were associated with a decreased dysplasia risk in UC (aOR 0.23 (95%CI0.06-0.83), and p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Biofilms are a hallmark of UC, however, because of their high prevalence a poor biomarker for dysplasia. In contrast, colibactin presence and FadA absence independently associate with dysplasia in UC and might therefore be valuable biomarkers for future risk stratification and intervention strategies.},
}

@article {pmid37243298,
year = {2023},
author = {Latka, A and Aertsen, A and Boeckaerts, D and Blasdel, B and Ceyssens, PJ and Garcia-Pino, A and Gillis, A and Lavigne, R and Lima-Mendez, G and Matthijnssens, J and Onsea, J and Peeters, E and Pirnay, JP and Thiry, D and Vandenheuvel, D and Van Mechelen, E and Venneman, J and Verbeken, G and Wagemans, J and Briers, Y},
title = {Foundation of the Belgian Society for Viruses of Microbes and Meeting Report of Its Inaugural Symposium.},
journal = {Viruses},
volume = {15},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/v15051213},
pmid = {37243298},
issn = {1999-4915},
abstract = {The Belgian Society for Viruses of Microbes (BSVoM) was founded on 9 June 2022 to capture and enhance the collaborative spirit among the expanding community of microbial virus researchers in Belgium. The sixteen founders are affiliated to fourteen different research entities across academia, industry and government. Its inaugural symposium was held on 23 September 2022 in the Thermotechnical Institute at KU Leuven. The meeting program covered three thematic sessions launched by international keynote speakers: (1) virus-host interactions, (2) viral ecology, evolution and diversity and (3) present and future applications. During the one-day symposium, four invited keynote lectures, ten selected talks and eight student pitches were given along with 41 presented posters. The meeting hosted 155 participants from twelve countries.},
}

@article {pmid37243295,
year = {2023},
author = {Lee, E and Vansia, R and Phelan, J and Lofano, A and Smith, A and Wang, A and Bilodeau, GJ and Pernal, SF and Guarna, MM and Rott, M and Griffiths, JS},
title = {Area Wide Monitoring of Plant and Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Viruses in Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) Agroecosystems Facilitated by Honey Bee Pollination.},
journal = {Viruses},
volume = {15},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/v15051209},
pmid = {37243295},
issn = {1999-4915},
abstract = {Healthy agroecosystems are dependent on a complex web of factors and inter-species interactions. Flowers are hubs for pathogen transmission, including the horizontal or vertical transmission of plant-viruses and the horizontal transmission of bee-viruses. Pollination by the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is critical for industrial fruit production, but bees can also vector viruses and other pathogens between individuals. Here, we utilized commercial honey bee pollination services in blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) farms for a metagenomics-based bee and plant virus monitoring system. Following RNA sequencing, viruses were identified by mapping reads to a reference sequence database through the bioinformatics portal Virtool. In total, 29 unique plant viral species were found at two blueberry farms in British Columbia (BC). Nine viruses were identified at one site in Ontario (ON), five of which were not identified in BC. Ilarviruses blueberry shock virus (BlShV) and prune dwarf virus (PDV) were the most frequently detected viruses in BC but absent in ON, while nepoviruses tomato ringspot virus and tobacco ringspot virus were common in ON but absent in BC. BlShV coat protein (CP) nucleotide sequences were nearly identical in all samples, while PDV CP sequences were more diverse, suggesting multiple strains of PDV circulating at this site. Ten bee-infecting viruses were identified, with black queen cell virus frequently detected in ON and BC. Area-wide bee-mediated pathogen monitoring can provide new insights into the diversity of viruses present in, and the health of, bee-pollination ecosystems. This approach can be limited by a short sampling season, biased towards pollen-transmitted viruses, and the plant material collected by bees can be very diverse. This can obscure the origin of some viruses, but bee-mediated virus monitoring can be an effective preliminary monitoring approach.},
}

@article {pmid37243191,
year = {2023},
author = {Habili, N and Wu, Q and Rinaldo, A and Constable, F},
title = {A Chronological Study on Grapevine Leafroll-Associated Virus 2 in Australia.},
journal = {Viruses},
volume = {15},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/v15051105},
pmid = {37243191},
issn = {1999-4915},
abstract = {Grapevine leafroll disease affects the health status of grapevines worldwide. Most studies in Australia have focused on grapevine leafroll-associated viruses 1 and 3, while little attention has been given to other leafroll virus types, in particular, grapevine leafroll-associated virus 2 (GLRaV-2). A chronological record of the temporal occurrence of GLRaV-2 in Australia since 2001 is reported. From a total of 11,257 samples, 313 tested positive, with an overall incidence of 2.7%. This virus has been detected in 18 grapevine varieties and Vitis rootstocks in different regions of Australia. Most varieties were symptomless on their own roots, while Chardonnay showed a decline in virus-sensitive rootstocks. An isolate of GLRaV-2, on own-rooted Vitis vinifera cv. Grenache, clone SA137, was associated with severe leafroll symptoms after veraison with abnormal leaf necrosis. The metagenomic sequencing results of the virus in two plants of this variety confirmed the presence of GLRaV-2, as well as two inert viruses, grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (GRSPaV) and grapevine rupestris vein feathering virus (GRVFV). No other leafroll-associated viruses were detected. Among the viroids, hop stunt viroid and grapevine yellow speckle viroid 1 were detected. Of the six phylogenetic groups identified in GLRaV-2, we report the presence of four groups in Australia. Three of these groups were detected in two plants of cv. Grenache, without finding any recombination event. The hypersensitive reaction of certain American hybrid rootstocks to GLRaV-2 is discussed. Due to the association of GLRaV-2 with graft incompatibility and vine decline, the risk from this virus in regions where hybrid Vitis rootstocks are used cannot be overlooked.},
}

@article {pmid37243173,
year = {2023},
author = {Kaiser, FK and de le Roi, M and Jo, WK and Gerhauser, I and Molnár, V and Osterhaus, ADME and Baumgärtner, W and Ludlow, M},
title = {First Report of Skunk Amdoparvovirus (Species Carnivore amdoparvovirus 4) in Europe in a Captive Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis).},
journal = {Viruses},
volume = {15},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/v15051087},
pmid = {37243173},
issn = {1999-4915},
abstract = {Skunk amdoparvovirus (Carnivore amdoparvovirus 4, SKAV) is closely related to Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) and circulates primarily in striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) in North America. SKAV poses a threat to mustelid species due to reported isolated infections of captive American mink (Neovison vison) in British Columbia, Canada. We detected SKAV in a captive striped skunk in a German zoo by metagenomic sequencing. The pathological findings are dominated by lymphoplasmacellular inflammation and reveal similarities to its relative Carnivore amdoparvovirus 1, the causative agent of Aleutian mink disease. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome demonstrated 94.80% nucleotide sequence identity to a sequence from Ontario, Canada. This study is the first case description of a SKAV infection outside of North America.},
}

@article {pmid37242607,
year = {2023},
author = {Adnan, A and Borman, AM and Tóth, Z and Forgács, L and Kovács, R and Balázsi, D and Balázs, B and Udvarhelyi, G and Kardos, G and Majoros, L},
title = {In Vitro Killing Activities of Anidulafungin and Micafungin with and without Nikkomycin Z against Four Candida auris Clades.},
journal = {Pharmaceutics},
volume = {15},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/pharmaceutics15051365},
pmid = {37242607},
issn = {1999-4923},
abstract = {Candida auris is a multidrug-resistant pathogen against which echinocandins are the drug of choice. However, information on how the chitin synthase inhibitor nikkomycin Z influences the killing activities of echinocandins against C. auris is currently lacking. We determined the killing activities of anidulafungin and micafungin (0.25, 1, 8, 16 and 32 mg/L each) with and without nikkomycin Z (8 mg/L) against 15 isolates representing four C. auris clades (South Asian n = 5; East Asian n = 3; South African n = 3; South American n = 4, two of which were of environmental origin). Two and one isolates from the South Asian clade harbored mutations in the hot-spot 1 (S639Y and S639P) and 2 (R1354H) regions of the FKS1 gene, respectively. The anidulafungin, micafungin and nikkomycin Z MIC ranges were 0.015-4, 0.03-4 and 2->16 mg/L, respectively. Anidulafungin and micafungin alone exerted weak fungistatic activity against wild-type isolates and the isolate with a mutation in the hot-spot 2 region of FKS1 but was ineffective against the isolates with a mutation in the hot-spot 1 region. The nikkomycin Z killing curves were always similar to their respective controls. Twenty-two of sixty (36.7%) anidulafungin plus nikkomycin Z and twenty-four of sixty (40%) micafungin plus nikkomycin Z combinations produced at least 100-fold decreases in the CFUs (synergy), with a 41.7% and 20% fungicidal effect, respectively, against wild-type isolates. Antagonism was never observed. Similar results were found with the isolate with a mutation in hot-spot 2 of FKS1, but the combinations were ineffective against the two isolates with prominent mutations in hot-spot 1 of FKS1. The simultaneous inhibition of β-1,3 glucan and chitin synthases in wild-type C. auris isolates produced significantly greater killing rates than either drug alone. Further studies are warranted to verify the clinical efficacy of echinocandin plus nikkomycin Z combinations against echinocandin susceptible C. auris isolates.},
}

@article {pmid37242478,
year = {2023},
author = {Chaiyasut, C and Sivamaruthi, BS and Lailerd, N and Sirilun, S and Thangaleela, S and Khongtan, S and Bharathi, M and Kesika, P and Saelee, M and Choeisoongnern, T and Fukngoen, P and Peerajan, S and Sittiprapaporn, P},
title = {Influence of Bifidobacterium breve on the Glycaemic Control, Lipid Profile and Microbiome of Type 2 Diabetic Subjects: A Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial.},
journal = {Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)},
volume = {16},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/ph16050695},
pmid = {37242478},
issn = {1424-8247},
abstract = {Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most highly prevalent metabolic disorders worldwide. Uncontrolled T2DM can lead to other health threats such as cardiac arrest, lower-limb amputation, blindness, stroke, impaired kidney function, and microvascular and macrovascular complications. Many studies have demonstrated the association between gut microbiota and diabetes development and probiotic supplementation in improving glycemic properties in T2DM. The study aimed to evaluate the influence of Bifidobacterium breve supplementation on glycemic control, lipid profile, and microbiome of T2DM subjects. Forty participants were randomly divided into two groups, and they received probiotics (50 × 10[9] CFU/day) or placebo interventions (corn starch; 10 mg/day) for 12 weeks. The changes in the blood-urea nitrogen (BUN), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), creatinine levels, and other factors such as body-mass index, visceral fat, body fat, and body weight were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks. B. breve supplementation significantly reduced BUN, creatinine, LDL, TG, and HbA1c levels compared to the placebo group. Significant changes were observed in the microbiome of the probiotic-treated group compared to the placebo group. Firmicutes and proteobacteria were predominant in the placebo and probiotic-treated groups. Genera Streptococcus, Butyricicoccus, and species Eubacterium hallii were significantly reduced in the probiotic-treated group compared to the placebo. Overall results suggested that B. breve supplementation could prevent worsening of representative clinical parameters in T2DM subjects. The current study has limitations, including fewer subjects, a single probiotic strain, and fewer metagenomic samples for microbiome analysis. Therefore, the results of the current study require further validation using more experimental subjects.},
}

@article {pmid37242392,
year = {2023},
author = {Capozza, P and Buonavoglia, A and Pratelli, A and Martella, V and Decaro, N},
title = {Old and Novel Enteric Parvoviruses of Dogs.},
journal = {Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland)},
volume = {12},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/pathogens12050722},
pmid = {37242392},
issn = {2076-0817},
abstract = {Parvovirus infections have been well known for around 100 years in domestic carnivores. However, the use of molecular assays and metagenomic approaches for virus discovery and characterization has led to the detection of novel parvovirus species and/or variants in dogs. Although some evidence suggests that these emerging canine parvoviruses may act as primary causative agents or as synergistic pathogens in the diseases of domestic carnivores, several aspects regarding epidemiology and virus-host interaction remain to be elucidated.},
}

@article {pmid37241797,
year = {2023},
author = {Rajkowska, K and Otlewska, A and Broncel, N and Kunicka-Styczyńska, A},
title = {Microbial Diversity and Bioactive Compounds in Dried Lycium barbarum Fruits (Goji): A Comparative Study.},
journal = {Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)},
volume = {28},
number = {10},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/molecules28104058},
pmid = {37241797},
issn = {1420-3049},
abstract = {This study compares the microbial diversity and content of bioactive compounds in dried goji berries available on the Polish market to those of the most highly valued goji berries from the Ningxia region in China. The content of phenols, flavonoids, and carotenoids were determined, as well as the antioxidant capacities of the fruits. The quantitative and qualitative composition of the microbiota inhabiting the fruits was assessed using metagenomics by high-throughput sequencing on the Illumina platform. The highest quality was demonstrated by naturally dried fruits from the Ningxia region. These berries were characterized by a high content of polyphenols and high antioxidant activity, as well as high microbial quality. The lowest antioxidant capacity was shown by goji berries cultivated in Poland. However, they contained a high amount of carotenoids. The highest microbial contamination was found in the goji berries available in Poland (>10[6] CFU/g), which is important in terms of consumer safety. Despite the widely accepted benefits of consuming goji berries, both the country of cultivation and the preservation method may influence their composition, bioactivity, and microbial quality.},
}

@article {pmid37240180,
year = {2023},
author = {Lafleur, S and Bodein, A and Mbuya Malaïka Mutombo, J and Mathieu, A and Joly Beauparlant, C and Minne, X and Chandad, F and Droit, A and Houde, VP},
title = {Multi-Omics Data Integration Reveals Key Variables Contributing to Subgingival Microbiome Dysbiosis-Induced Inflammatory Response in a Hyperglycemic Microenvironment.},
journal = {International journal of molecular sciences},
volume = {24},
number = {10},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/ijms24108832},
pmid = {37240180},
issn = {1422-0067},
abstract = {Subgingival microbiome dysbiosis promotes the development of periodontitis, an irreversible chronic inflammatory disease associated with metabolic diseases. However, studies regarding the effects of a hyperglycemic microenvironment on host-microbiome interactions and host inflammatory response during periodontitis are still scarce. Here, we investigated the impacts of a hyperglycemic microenvironment on the inflammatory response and transcriptome of a gingival coculture model stimulated with dysbiotic subgingival microbiomes. HGF-1 cells overlaid with U937 macrophage-like cells were stimulated with subgingival microbiomes collected from four healthy donors and four patients with periodontitis. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases were measured while the coculture RNA was submitted to a microarray analysis. Subgingival microbiomes were submitted to 16s rRNA gene sequencing. Data were analyzed using an advanced multi-omics bioinformatic data integration model. Our results show that the genes krt76, krt27, pnma5, mansc4, rab41, thoc6, tm6sf2, and znf506 as well as the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, GM-CSF, FGF2, IL-10, the metalloproteinases MMP3 and MMP8, and bacteria from the ASV 105, ASV 211, ASV 299, Prevotella, Campylobacter and Fretibacterium genera are key intercorrelated variables contributing to periodontitis-induced inflammatory response in a hyperglycemic microenvironment. In conclusion, our multi-omics integration analysis unveiled the complex interrelationships involved in the regulation of periodontal inflammation in response to a hyperglycemic microenvironment.},
}

@article {pmid37239456,
year = {2023},
author = {Sun, Q and Zhang, X and Ouyang, Y and Yu, P and Man, Y and Guo, S and Liu, S and Chen, Y and Wang, Y and Tan, X},
title = {Appressoria Formation in Phytopathogenic Fungi Suppressed by Antimicrobial Peptides and Hybrid Peptides from Black Soldier Flies.},
journal = {Genes},
volume = {14},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/genes14051096},
pmid = {37239456},
issn = {2073-4425},
abstract = {Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from black solider flies (Hermetia illucens, BSF) exhibiting broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity are the most promising green substitutes for preventing the infection of phytopathogenic fungi; therefore, AMPs have been a focal topic of research. Recently, many studies have focused on the antibacterial activities of BSF AMPs against animal pathogens; however, currently, their antifungal activities against phytopathogenic fungi remain unclear. In this study, 7 AMPs selected from 34 predicted AMPs based on BSF metagenomics were artificially synthesized. When conidia from the hemibiotrophic phytopathogenic fungi Magnaporthe oryzae and Colletotrichum acutatum were treated with the selected AMPs, three selected AMPs-CAD1, CAD5, and CAD7-showed high appressorium formation inhibited by lengthened germ tubes. Additionally, the MIC50 concentrations of the inhibited appressorium formations were 40 μM, 43 μM, and 43 μM for M. oryzae, while 51 μM, 49 μM, and 44 μM were observed for C. acutatum, respectively. A tandem hybrid AMP named CAD-Con comprising CAD1, CAD5, and CAD7 significantly enhanced antifungal activities, and the MIC50 concentrations against M. oryzae and C. acutatum were 15 μM and 22 μM, respectively. In comparison with the wild type, they were both significantly reduced in terms of virulence when infection assays were performed using the treated conidia of M. oryzae or C. acutatum by CAD1, CAD5, CAD7, or CAD-Con. Meanwhile, their expression levels of CAD1, CAD5, and CAD7 could also be activated and significantly increased after the BSF larvae were treated with the conidia of M. oryzae or C. acutatum, respectively. To our knowledge, the antifungal activities of BSF AMPs against plant pathogenic fungi, which help us to seek potential AMPs with antifungal activities, provide proof of the effectiveness of green control strategies for crop production.},
}

@article {pmid37239442,
year = {2023},
author = {Choudhury, N and Sahu, TK and Rao, AR and Rout, AK and Behera, BK},
title = {An Improved Machine Learning-Based Approach to Assess the Microbial Diversity in Major North Indian River Ecosystems.},
journal = {Genes},
volume = {14},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/genes14051082},
pmid = {37239442},
issn = {2073-4425},
abstract = {The rapidly evolving high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies generate voluminous genomic and metagenomic sequences, which can help classify the microbial communities with high accuracy in many ecosystems. Conventionally, the rule-based binning techniques are used to classify the contigs or scaffolds based on either sequence composition or sequence similarity. However, the accurate classification of the microbial communities remains a major challenge due to massive data volumes at hand as well as a requirement of efficient binning methods and classification algorithms. Therefore, we attempted here to implement iterative K-Means clustering for the initial binning of metagenomics sequences and applied various machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to classify the newly identified unknown microbes. The cluster annotation was achieved through the BLAST program of NCBI, which resulted in the grouping of assembled scaffolds into five classes, i.e., bacteria, archaea, eukaryota, viruses and others. The annotated cluster sequences were used to train machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to develop prediction models to classify unknown metagenomic sequences. In this study, we used metagenomic datasets of samples collected from the Ganga (Kanpur and Farakka) and the Yamuna (Delhi) rivers in India for clustering and training the MLA models. Further, the performance of MLAs was evaluated by 10-fold cross validation. The results revealed that the developed model based on the Random Forest had a superior performance compared to the other considered learning algorithms. The proposed method can be used for annotating the metagenomic scaffolds/contigs being complementary to existing methods of metagenomic data analysis. An offline predictor source code with the best prediction model is available at (https://github.com/Nalinikanta7/metagenomics).},
}

@article {pmid37238082,
year = {2023},
author = {Matthews, C and Walsh, AM and Gordon, SV and Markey, B and Cotter, PD and O' Mahony, J},
title = {Differences in Faecal Microbiome Taxonomy, Diversity and Functional Potential in a Bovine Cohort Experimentally Challenged with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP).},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
volume = {13},
number = {10},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/ani13101652},
pmid = {37238082},
issn = {2076-2615},
abstract = {Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative agent of Johne's disease in ruminants, a chronic enteritis which results in emaciation and eventual loss of the animal. Recent advances in metagenomics have allowed a more in-depth study of complex microbiomes, including that of gastrointestinal tracts, and have the potential to provide insights into consequences of the exposure of an animal to MAP or other pathogens. This study aimed to investigate taxonomic diversity and compositional changes of the faecal microbiome of cattle experimentally challenged with MAP compared to an unexposed control group. Faecal swab samples were collected from a total of 55 animals [exposed group (n = 35) and a control group (n = 20)], across three time points (months 3, 6 and 9 post-inoculation). The composition and functional potential of the faecal microbiota differed across time and between the groups (p < 0.05), with the primary differences, from both a taxonomic and functional perspective, occurring at 3 months post inoculation. These included significant differences in the relative abundance of the genera Methanobrevibacter and Bifidobacterium and also of 11 other species (4 at a higher relative abundance in the exposed group and 7 at a higher relative abundance in the control group). Correlations were made between microbiome data and immunopathology measurements and it was noted that changes in the microbial composition correlated with miRNA-155, miR-146b and IFN-ɣ. In summary, this study illustrates the impact of exposure to MAP on the ruminant faecal microbiome with a number of species that may have relevance in veterinary medicine for tracking exposure to MAP.},
}

@article {pmid37238063,
year = {2023},
author = {Hasan, I and Rimoldi, S and Saroglia, G and Terova, G},
title = {Sustainable Fish Feeds with Insects and Probiotics Positively Affect Freshwater and Marine Fish Gut Microbiota.},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
volume = {13},
number = {10},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/ani13101633},
pmid = {37238063},
issn = {2076-2615},
abstract = {Aquaculture is the fastest-growing agricultural industry in the world. Fishmeal is an essential component of commercial fish diets, but its long-term sustainability is a concern. Therefore, it is important to find alternatives to fishmeal that have a similar nutritional value and, at the same time, are affordable and readily available. The search for high-quality alternatives to fishmeal and fish oil has interested researchers worldwide. Over the past 20 years, different insect meals have been studied as a potential alternate source of fishmeal in aquafeeds. On the other hand, probiotics-live microbial strains-are being used as dietary supplements and showing beneficial effects on fish growth and health status. Fish gut microbiota plays a significant role in nutrition metabolism, which affects a number of other physiological functions, including fish growth and development, immune regulation, and pathogen resistance. One of the key reasons for studying fish gut microbiota is the possibility to modify microbial communities that inhabit the intestine to benefit host growth and health. The development of DNA sequencing technologies and advanced bioinformatics tools has made metagenomic analysis a feasible method for researching gut microbes. In this review, we analyze and summarize the current knowledge provided by studies of our research group on using insect meal and probiotic supplements in aquafeed formulations and their effects on different fish gut microbiota. We also highlight future research directions to make insect meals a key source of proteins for sustainable aquaculture and explore the challenges associated with the use of probiotics. Insect meals and probiotics will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the long-term sustainability and profitability of aquaculture.},
}

@article {pmid37237835,
year = {2023},
author = {Azuma, T and Katagiri, M and Sasaki, N and Kuroda, M and Watanabe, M},
title = {Performance of a Pilot-Scale Continuous Flow Ozone-Based Hospital Wastewater Treatment System.},
journal = {Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)},
volume = {12},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/antibiotics12050932},
pmid = {37237835},
issn = {2079-6382},
abstract = {Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming a global concern. Recently, research has emerged to evaluate the human and environmental health implications of wastewater from medical facilities and to identify acceptable wastewater treatment methods. In this study, a disinfection wastewater treatment system using an ozone-based continuous flow system was installed in a general hospital located in Japan. The effectiveness of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antimicrobials in mitigating the environmental impact of hospital wastewater was evaluated. Metagenomic analysis was conducted to characterize the microorganisms in the wastewater before and after treatment. The results demonstrated that ozone treatment enables effective inactivation of general gut bacteria, including Bacteroides, Prevotella, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, DNA molecules, and ARGs, as well as antimicrobials. Azithromycin and doxycycline removal rates were >99% immediately after treatment, and levofloxacin and vancomycin removal rates remained between 90% and 97% for approximately one month. Clarithromycin was more readily removed than the other antimicrobials (81-91%), and no clear removal trend was observed for ampicillin. Our findings provide a better understanding of the environmental management of hospital wastewater and enhance the effectiveness of disinfection wastewater treatment systems at medical facilities for mitigating the discharge of pollutants into aquatic environments.},
}

@article {pmid37237590,
year = {2023},
author = {Koh, WLC and Poh, SE and Lee, CK and Chan, THM and Yan, G and Kong, KW and Lau, L and Lee, WYT and Cheng, C and Hoon, S and Seow, Y},
title = {Towards a Rapid-Turnaround Low-Depth Unbiased Metagenomics Sequencing Workflow on the Illumina Platforms.},
journal = {Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland)},
volume = {10},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/bioengineering10050520},
pmid = {37237590},
issn = {2306-5354},
abstract = {Unbiased metagenomic sequencing is conceptually well-suited for first-line diagnosis as all known and unknown infectious entities can be detected, but costs, turnaround time and human background reads in complex biofluids, such as plasma, hinder widespread deployment. Separate preparations of DNA and RNA also increases costs. In this study, we developed a rapid unbiased metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS) workflow with a human background depletion method (HostEL) and a combined DNA/RNA library preparation kit (AmpRE) to address this issue. We enriched and detected bacterial and fungal standards spiked in plasma at physiological levels with low-depth sequencing (<1 million reads) for analytical validation. Clinical validation also showed 93% of plasma samples agreed with the clinical diagnostic test results when the diagnostic qPCR had a Ct < 33. The effect of different sequencing times was evaluated with the 19 h iSeq 100 paired end run, a more clinically palatable simulated iSeq 100 truncated run and the rapid 7 h MiniSeq platform. Our results demonstrate the ability to detect both DNA and RNA pathogens with low-depth sequencing and that iSeq 100 and MiniSeq platforms are compatible with unbiased low-depth metagenomics identification with the HostEL and AmpRE workflow.},
}

@article {pmid37237535,
year = {2023},
author = {Kadnikov, VV and Mardanov, AV and Beletsky, AV and Karnachuk, OV and Ravin, NV},
title = {Prokaryotic Life Associated with Coal-Fire Gas Vents Revealed by Metagenomics.},
journal = {Biology},
volume = {12},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/biology12050723},
pmid = {37237535},
issn = {2079-7737},
abstract = {The natural combustion of underground coal seams leads to the formation of gas, which contains molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide. In places where hot coal gases are released to the surface, specific thermal ecosystems are formed. Here, 16S rRNA gene profiling and shotgun metagenome sequencing were employed to characterize the taxonomic diversity and genetic potential of prokaryotic communities of the near-surface ground layer near hot gas vents in an open quarry heated by a subsurface coal fire. The communities were dominated by only a few groups of spore-forming Firmicutes, namely the aerobic heterotroph Candidatus Carbobacillus altaicus, the aerobic chemolitoautotrophs Kyrpidia tusciae and Hydrogenibacillus schlegelii, and the anaerobic chemolithoautotroph Brockia lithotrophica. Genome analysis predicted that these species can obtain energy from the oxidation of hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide in coal gases. We assembled the first complete closed genome of a member of uncultured class-level division DTU015 in the phylum Firmicutes. This bacterium, 'Candidatus Fermentithermobacillus carboniphilus' Bu02, was predicted to be rod-shaped and capable of flagellar motility and sporulation. Genome analysis showed the absence of aerobic and anaerobic respiration and suggested chemoheterotrophic lifestyle with the ability to ferment peptides, amino acids, N-acetylglucosamine, and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates. Bu02 bacterium probably plays the role of a scavenger, performing the fermentation of organics formed by autotrophic Firmicutes supported by coal gases. A comparative genome analysis of the DTU015 division revealed that most of its members have a similar lifestyle.},
}

@article {pmid37237391,
year = {2023},
author = {Wang, Z and Peters, BA and Bryant, M and Hanna, DB and Schwartz, T and Wang, T and Sollecito, CC and Usyk, M and Grassi, E and Wiek, F and Peter, LS and Post, WS and Landay, AL and Hodis, HN and Weber, KM and French, A and Golub, ET and Lazar, J and Gustafson, D and Sharma, A and Anastos, K and Clish, CB and Burk, RD and Kaplan, RC and Knight, R and Qi, Q},
title = {Gut microbiota, circulating inflammatory markers and metabolites, and carotid artery atherosclerosis in HIV infection.},
journal = {Microbiome},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {119},
pmid = {37237391},
issn = {2049-2618},
support = {R01HL140976/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Alterations in gut microbiota have been implicated in HIV infection and cardiovascular disease. However, how gut microbial alterations relate to host inflammation and metabolite profiles, and their relationships with atherosclerosis, have not been well-studied, especially in the context of HIV infection. Here, we examined associations of gut microbial species and functional components measured by shotgun metagenomics with carotid artery plaque assessed by B-mode carotid artery ultrasound in 320 women with or at high risk of HIV (65% HIV +) from the Women's Interagency HIV Study. We further integrated plaque-associated microbial features with serum proteomics (74 inflammatory markers measured by the proximity extension assay) and plasma metabolomics (378 metabolites measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry) in relation to carotid artery plaque in up to 433 women.

RESULTS: Fusobacterium nucleatum, a potentially pathogenic bacteria, was positively associated with carotid artery plaque, while five microbial species (Roseburia hominis, Roseburia inulinivorans, Johnsonella ignava, Odoribacter splanchnicus, Clostridium saccharolyticum) were inversely associated with plaque. Results were consistent between women with and without HIV. Fusobacterium nucleatum was positively associated with several serum proteomic inflammatory markers (e.g., CXCL9), and the other plaque-related species were inversely associated with proteomic inflammatory markers (e.g., CX3CL1). These microbial-associated proteomic inflammatory markers were also positively associated with plaque. Associations between bacterial species (especially Fusobacterium nucleatum) and plaque were attenuated after further adjustment for proteomic inflammatory markers. Plaque-associated species were correlated with several plasma metabolites, including the microbial metabolite imidazole-propionate (ImP), which was positively associated with plaque and several pro-inflammatory markers. Further analysis identified additional bacterial species and bacterial hutH gene (encoding enzyme histidine ammonia-lyase in ImP production) associated with plasma ImP levels. A gut microbiota score based on these ImP-associated species was positively associated with plaque and several pro-inflammatory markers.

CONCLUSION: Among women living with or at risk of HIV, we identified several gut bacterial species and a microbial metabolite ImP associated with carotid artery atherosclerosis, which might be related to host immune activation and inflammation. Video Abstract.},
}

@article {pmid37237317,
year = {2023},
author = {Coutinho, FH and Silveira, CB and Sebastián, M and Sánchez, P and Duarte, CM and Vaqué, D and Gasol, JM and Acinas, SG},
title = {Water mass age structures the auxiliary metabolic gene content of free-living and particle-attached deep ocean viral communities.},
journal = {Microbiome},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {118},
pmid = {37237317},
issn = {2049-2618},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Viruses play important roles in the ocean's biogeochemical cycles. Yet, deep ocean viruses are one of the most under-explored fractions of the global biosphere. Little is known about the environmental factors that control the composition and functioning of their communities or how they interact with their free-living or particle-attached microbial hosts.

RESULTS: We analysed 58 viral communities associated with size-fractionated free-living (0.2-0.8 μm) and particle-attached (0.8-20 μm) cellular metagenomes from bathypelagic (2150-4018 m deep) microbiomes obtained during the Malaspina expedition. These metagenomes yielded 6631 viral sequences, 91% of which were novel, and 67 represented high-quality genomes. Taxonomic classification assigned 53% of the viral sequences to families of tailed viruses from the order Caudovirales. Computational host prediction associated 886 viral sequences to dominant members of the deep ocean microbiome, such as Alphaproteobacteria (284), Gammaproteobacteria (241), SAR324 (23), Marinisomatota (39), and Chloroflexota (61). Free-living and particle-attached viral communities had markedly distinct taxonomic composition, host prevalence, and auxiliary metabolic gene content, which led to the discovery of novel viral-encoded metabolic genes involved in the folate and nucleotide metabolisms. Water mass age emerged as an important factor driving viral community composition. We postulated this was due to changes in quality and concentration of dissolved organic matter acting on the host communities, leading to an increase of viral auxiliary metabolic genes associated with energy metabolism among older water masses.

CONCLUSIONS: These results shed light on the mechanisms by which environmental gradients of deep ocean ecosystems structure the composition and functioning of free-living and particle-attached viral communities. Video Abstract.},
}

@article {pmid37237239,
year = {2023},
author = {Huang, H and Shi, J and Zheng, M and Su, S and Chen, W and Ming, J and Ren, T and Qu, D},
title = {Pathogen detection in suspected spinal infection: metagenomic next-generation sequencing versus culture.},
journal = {European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37237239},
issn = {1432-0932},
abstract = {PURPOSE: The aim is to compare the pathogen detection performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and the culturing of percutaneous needle biopsy samples obtained from an individual with a suspected spinal infection.

METHODS: A retrospective study of 141 individuals with a suspected spinal infection was conducted, and mNGS was performed. The microbial spectra and detection performance between mNGS and the culturing-based method were compared, and the effects of antibiotic intervention and biopsy on the detection performance were assessed.

RESULTS: The microorganisms isolated most commonly via the culturing-based method were Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n = 21), followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 13). The most common microorganisms detected via mNGS were Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) (n = 39), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (n = 15). The difference in the type of detected microorganisms between culturing and mNGS was observed only in Mycobacterium (P = 0.001). mNGS helped identify potential pathogens in 80.9% of cases, which was significantly higher than the positivity rate of 59.6% observed for the culturing-based method (P < 0.001). Moreover, mNGS had a sensitivity of 85.7% (95% CI, 78.4% to 91.3%), a specificity of 86.7% (95% CI, 59.5% to 98.3%), and sensitivity gains of 35% (85.7% vs. 50.8%; P < 0.001) during culturing, while no differences were observed in the specificity (86.7% vs. 93.3%; P = 0.543). In addition, antibiotic interventions significantly lowered the positivity rate of the culturing-based method (66.0% vs. 45.5%, P = 0.021) but had no effects on the results of mNGS (82.5% vs. 77.3%, P = 0.467).

CONCLUSION: The use of mNGS could result in a higher detection rate compared to that observed with the culturing-based method in an individual with spinal infection and is particularly valuable for evaluating the effects of a mycobacterial infection or previous antibiotic intervention.},
}

@article {pmid37237157,
year = {2023},
author = {Aziz, G and Zaidi, A and Sullivan, DJO'},
title = {Insights from metagenome-assembled genomes on the genetic stability and safety of over-the-counter probiotic products.},
journal = {Current genetics},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37237157},
issn = {1432-0983},
abstract = {The demand for and acceptance of probiotics is determined by their quality and safety. Illumina NGS sequencing and analytics were used to examine eight marketed probiotics. Up to the species level, sequenced DNA was taxonomically identified, and relative abundances were determined using Kaiju. The genomes were constructed using GTDB and validated through PATRICK and TYGS. A FastTree 2 phylogenetic tree was constructed using several type strain sequences from relevant species. Bacteriocin and ribosomally synthesized polypeptide (RiPP) genes were discovered, and a safety check was performed to test for toxins, antibiotic resistance, and genetic drift genes. Except for two products with unclaimed species, the labeling was taxonomically correct. In three product formulations, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Limosilactobacillus reuteri, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, and Bifidobacterium animalis exhibited two to three genomic alterations, while Streptococcus equinus was found in one. TYGS and GDTB discovered E. faecium and L. paracasei in distinctly different ways. All the bacteria tested had the genetic repertoire to tolerate GIT transit, although some exhibited antibiotic resistance, and one strain had two virulence genes. Except for Bifidobacterium strains, the others revealed a variety of bacteriocins and ribosomally synthesized polypeptides (RiPP), 92% of which were unique and non-homologous to known ones. Plasmids and mobile genetic elements are present in strains of L. reuteri (NPLps01.et_L.r and NPLps02.uf_L.r), Lactobacillus delbrueckii (NPLps01.et_L.d), Streptococcus thermophilus (NPLps06.ab_S.t), and E. faecium (NPLps07.nf_E.f). Our findings support the use of metagenomics to build better and efficient production and post-production practices for probiotic quality and safety assessment.},
}

@article {pmid37237073,
year = {2023},
author = {Malla, MA and Dubey, A and Kori, RK and Sharma, V and Kumar, A and Yadav, S and Kumari, S},
title = {GC-MS based untargeted metabolomics reveals the metabolic response of earthworm (Eudrilus eugeniae) after chronic combinatorial exposure to three different pesticides.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {13},
number = {1},
pages = {8583},
pmid = {37237073},
issn = {2045-2322},
abstract = {In this study GC-MS-based untargeted metabolomics was used to identify the metabolic response of earthworm; Eudrilus eugeniae exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of chlorpyrifos-CHL, cypermethrin-CYP, Glyphosate-GLY, and Combined-C (all three pesticides) at the concentrations of 3, 6, and 12 mg/kg. Principal component analysis of the obtained datasets revealed a clear distinction between the control and treatment groups. The mean weight of the worms in the treated groups decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Among the identified metabolites, oleic acid (~ 93.47%), lysine (~ 92.20%), glutamic acid (~ 91.81%), leucine (~ 90.20%), asparagine (~ 94.20%), methionine (~ 92.27%), malic acid (~ 93.37%), turanose (~ 95.04%), maltose (~ 92.36%), cholesta-3,5-diene (~ 86.11%), galactose (~ 93.20%), cholesterol (~ 91.56%), tocopherol (~ 85.09%), decreased significantly (p < 0.05), whereas myoinositol (~ 83%) and isoleucine (78.09%) increased significantly (p < 0.05) upon exposure to the CHL, CYP, GLY, and C. Overall, the findings suggest that earthworms might be a new entry point for the pesticides into the food chain. The present study highlights that metabolomics can be a reliable approach to understand the effect of different xenobiotics including pesticides on the metabolic response of earthworms.},
}

@article {pmid37236880,
year = {2023},
author = {Malard, LA and Guisan, A},
title = {Into the microbial niche.},
journal = {Trends in ecology & evolution},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.015},
pmid = {37236880},
issn = {1872-8383},
abstract = {The environmental niche concept describes the distribution of a taxon in the environment and can be used to understand community dynamics, biological invasions, and the impact of environmental changes. The uses and applications are still restricted in microbial ecology, largely due to the complexity of microbial systems and associated methodological limitations. The development of shotgun metagenomics and metatranscriptomics opens new ways to investigate the microbial niche by focusing on the metabolic niche within the environmental space. Here, we propose the metabolic niche framework, which, by defining the fundamental and realised metabolic niche of microorganisms, has the potential to not only provide novel insights into habitat preferences and the metabolism associated, but also to inform on metabolic plasticity, niche shifts, and microbial invasions.},
}

@article {pmid37236370,
year = {2023},
author = {Řezanka, T and Kyselová, L and Murphy, DJ},
title = {Archaeal lipids.},
journal = {Progress in lipid research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {101237},
doi = {10.1016/j.plipres.2023.101237},
pmid = {37236370},
issn = {1873-2194},
abstract = {The major archaeal membrane glycerolipids are distinguished from those of bacteria and eukaryotes by the contrasting stereochemistry of their glycerol backbones, and by the use of ether-linked isoprenoid-based alkyl chains rather than ester-linked fatty acyl chains for their hydrophobic moieties. These fascinating compounds play important roles in the extremophile lifestyles of many species, but are also present in the growing numbers of recently discovered mesophilic archaea. The past decade has witnessed significant advances in our understanding of archaea in general and their lipids in particular. Much of the new information has come from the ability to screen large microbial populations via environmental metagenomics, which has revolutionised our understanding of the extent of archaeal biodiversity that is coupled with a strict conservation of their membrane lipid compositions. Significant additional progress has come from new culturing and analytical techniques that are gradually enabling archaeal physiology and biochemistry to be studied in real time. These studies are beginning to shed light on the much-discussed and still-controversial process of eukaryogenesis, which probably involved both bacterial and archaeal progenitors. Puzzlingly, although eukaryotes retain many attributes of their putative archaeal ancestors, their lipid compositions only reflect their bacterial progenitors. Finally, elucidation of archaeal lipids and their metabolic pathways have revealed potentially interesting applications that have opened up new frontiers for biotechnological exploitation of these organisms. This review is concerned with the analysis, structure, function, evolution and biotechnology of archaeal lipids and their associated metabolic pathways.},
}

@article {pmid37236002,
year = {2023},
author = {Wu, Y and Hu, W and Zheng, X and Liu, Y and Niu, Q and Chen, Y},
title = {Valorization of food waste into short-chain fatty acids via enzymatic pretreatment: Effects of fermentation-pH on acid-producing processes and microbial metabolic functions.},
journal = {Waste management (New York, N.Y.)},
volume = {167},
number = {},
pages = {22-30},
doi = {10.1016/j.wasman.2023.05.016},
pmid = {37236002},
issn = {1879-2456},
abstract = {Food waste (FW) has been widely considered as an essential resource for the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), an important class of chemicals with wide applications and over 20 million tons of annual market demand, by anaerobic fermentation. Although enzymatic pre-treatment could improve the FW biodegradation efficiency, resulting in enhanced efficiency of solubilization and hydrolysis, the influence of fermentation-pH on the SCFAs production and the metabolic functions, have rarely been reported. This study demonstrated that the uncontrolled pH could efficiently lead to an increase in the SCFAs production (33011 mgCOD/L) during long-term fermentation of FW (mainly consisting of 48.8% carbohydrates, 20.6% proteins, and 17.4% lipids) after enzymatic pre-treatment compared to the control (16413 mgCOD/L). Meanwhile, the acid-producing processes (i.e., solubilization, hydrolysis, and acidification) were synchronously enhanced by the enzymatic pre-treatment and no control over fermentation-pH. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the acid-forming microorganisms (i.e., Olsenella sp. and Sporanaerobacter) were significantly accumulated, and the corresponding genetic expressions related to extracellular hydrolysis (i.e., aspB and gltB), membrane transport (i.e., metL and glnH), and intracellular material metabolism (i.e., pfkA and ackA) were evidently stimulated, thereby promoting ultimate SCFAs generation. Although the alkaline conditions could further slightly increase the SCFAs yield slightly (37100 mgCOD/L) and also stimulate the metabolic activities, it might not be suitable for large-scale practical applications due to additional costs associated with alkaline chemical additives.},
}

@article {pmid37235682,
year = {2023},
author = {Conrey, PE and Denu, L and O'Boyle, KC and Rozich, I and Green, J and Maslanka, J and Lubin, JB and Duranova, T and Haltzman, BL and Gianchetti, L and Oldridge, DA and De Luna, N and Vella, LA and Allman, D and Spergel, JM and Tanes, C and Bittinger, K and Henrickson, SE and Silverman, MA},
title = {IgA deficiency destabilizes homeostasis toward intestinal microbes and increases systemic immune dysregulation.},
journal = {Science immunology},
volume = {8},
number = {83},
pages = {eade2335},
doi = {10.1126/sciimmunol.ade2335},
pmid = {37235682},
issn = {2470-9468},
abstract = {The ability of most patients with selective immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency (SIgAD) to remain apparently healthy has been a persistent clinical conundrum. Compensatory mechanisms, including IgM, have been proposed, yet it remains unclear how secretory IgA and IgM work together in the mucosal system and, on a larger scale, whether the systemic and mucosal anti-commensal responses are redundant or have unique features. To address this gap in knowledge, we developed an integrated host-commensal approach combining microbial flow cytometry and metagenomic sequencing (mFLOW-Seq) to comprehensively define which microbes induce mucosal and systemic antibodies. We coupled this approach with high-dimensional immune profiling to study a cohort of pediatric patients with SIgAD and household control siblings. We found that mucosal and systemic antibody networks cooperate to maintain homeostasis by targeting a common subset of commensal microbes. In IgA-deficiency, we find increased translocation of specific bacterial taxa associated with elevated levels of systemic IgG targeting fecal microbiota. Associated features of immune system dysregulation in IgA-deficient mice and humans included elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines, enhanced follicular CD4 T helper cell frequency and activation, and an altered CD8 T cell activation state. Although SIgAD is clinically defined by the absence of serum IgA, the symptomatology and immune dysregulation were concentrated in the SIgAD participants who were also fecal IgA deficient. These findings reveal that mucosal IgA deficiency leads to aberrant systemic exposures and immune responses to commensal microbes, which increase the likelihood of humoral and cellular immune dysregulation and symptomatic disease in patients with IgA deficiency.},
}

@article {pmid37235649,
year = {2023},
author = {Jurdzinski, KT and Mehrshad, M and Delgado, LF and Deng, Z and Bertilsson, S and Andersson, AF},
title = {Large-scale phylogenomics of aquatic bacteria reveal molecular mechanisms for adaptation to salinity.},
journal = {Science advances},
volume = {9},
number = {21},
pages = {eadg2059},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.adg2059},
pmid = {37235649},
issn = {2375-2548},
abstract = {The crossing of environmental barriers poses major adaptive challenges. Rareness of freshwater-marine transitions separates the bacterial communities, but how these are related to brackish counterparts remains elusive, as do the molecular adaptations facilitating cross-biome transitions. We conducted large-scale phylogenomic analysis of freshwater, brackish, and marine quality-filtered metagenome-assembled genomes (11,248). Average nucleotide identity analyses showed that bacterial species rarely existed in multiple biomes. In contrast, distinct brackish basins cohosted numerous species, but their intraspecific population structures displayed clear signs of geographic separation. We further identified the most recent cross-biome transitions, which were rare, ancient, and most commonly directed toward the brackish biome. Transitions were accompanied by systematic changes in amino acid composition and isoelectric point distributions of inferred proteomes, which evolved over millions of years, as well as convergent gains or losses of specific gene functions. Therefore, adaptive challenges entailing proteome reorganization and specific changes in gene content constrains the cross-biome transitions, resulting in species-level separation between aquatic biomes.},
}

@article {pmid37235235,
year = {2023},
author = {Yuan, X and Lv, Z and Zhang, Z and Han, Y and Liu, Z and Zhang, H},
title = {A Review of Antibiotics, Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, and Resistance Genes in Aquaculture: Occurrence, Contamination, and Transmission.},
journal = {Toxics},
volume = {11},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/toxics11050420},
pmid = {37235235},
issn = {2305-6304},
abstract = {Antibiotics are commonly used to prevent and control diseases in aquaculture. However, long-term/overuse of antibiotics not only leaves residues but results in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs are widespread in aquaculture ecosystems. However, their impacts and interaction mechanisms in biotic and abiotic media remain to be clarified. In this paper, we summarized the detection methods, present status, and transfer mechanisms of antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs in water, sediment, and aquaculture organisms. Currently, the dominant methods of detecting antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs are UPLC-MS/MS, 16S rRNA sequencing, and metagenomics, respectively. Tetracyclines, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and sulfonamides are most frequently detected in aquaculture. Generally, antibiotic concentrations and ARG abundance in sediment are much higher than those in water. Yet, no obvious patterns in the category of antibiotics or ARB are present in organisms or the environment. The key mechanisms of resistance to antibiotics in bacteria include reducing the cell membrane permeability, enhancing antibiotic efflux, and structural changes in antibiotic target proteins. Moreover, horizontal transfer is a major pathway for ARGs transfer, including conjugation, transformation, transduction, and vesiculation. Identifying, quantifying, and summarizing the interactions and transmission mechanisms of antibiotics, ARGs, and ARB would provide useful information for future disease diagnosis and scientific management in aquaculture.},
}

@article {pmid37235042,
year = {2023},
author = {Stepanova, N},
title = {The Gut-Peritoneum Axis in Peritoneal Dialysis and Peritoneal Fibrosis.},
journal = {Kidney medicine},
volume = {5},
number = {6},
pages = {100645},
doi = {10.1016/j.xkme.2023.100645},
pmid = {37235042},
issn = {2590-0595},
abstract = {Peritoneal fibrosis is an important cause of peritoneal dialysis (PD) discontinuation worldwide and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rate. Although the era of metagenomics has provided new insights into the interactions between the gut microbiota and fibrosis in various organs and tissues, its role in peritoneal fibrosis has rarely been discussed. This review provides a scientific rationale and points out the potential role of gut microbiota in peritoneal fibrosis. In addition, the interaction between the gut, circulatory, and peritoneal microbiota is highlighted, with an emphasis on the relationship to PD outcomes. More research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the role of gut microbiota in peritoneal fibrosis and potentially unveil new target options for the management of PD technique failure.},
}

@article {pmid37234911,
year = {2023},
author = {Holm, JB and Carter, KA and Ravel, J and Brotman, RM},
title = {Lactobacillus iners and genital health: molecular clues to an enigmatic vaginal species.},
journal = {Current infectious disease reports},
volume = {25},
number = {4},
pages = {67-75},
doi = {10.1007/s11908-023-00798-5},
pmid = {37234911},
issn = {1523-3847},
abstract = {PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Vaginal lactobacilli are recognized as important drivers of genital health including protection against bacterial vaginosis and sexually transmitted infections. Lactobacillus iners is distinct from L. crispatus, L. gasseri, and L. jensenii by its high global prevalence in vaginal microbiomes, relatively small genome, production of only L-lactic acid, and inconsistent associations with genital health outcomes. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of the role of L. iners in the vaginal microbiome, highlight the importance of strain-level consideration for this species, and explain that while marker gene-based characterization of the composition of the vaginal microbiota does not capture strain-level resolution, whole metagenome sequencing can aid in expanding our understanding of this species in genital health.

RECENT FINDINGS: L. iners exists in the vaginal microbiome as a unique combination of strains. The functional repertoires of these strain combinations are likely wide and contribute to the survival of this species in a variety of vaginal microenvironments. In published studies to date, strain-specific effects are aggregated and may yield imprecise estimates of risk associated with this species.

SUMMARY: The worldwide high prevalence of Lactobacillus iners warrants more research into its functional roles in the vaginal microbiome and how it may directly impact susceptibility to infections. By incorporating strain-level resolution into future research endeavors, we may begin to appreciate L. iners more thoroughly and identify novel therapeutic targets for a variety of genital health challenges.},
}

@article {pmid37234610,
year = {2023},
author = {Kimisto, AK and Muia, AW and Ong'ondo, GO and Ndung'u, KC},
title = {Molecular characterization of microorganisms with industrial potential for methane production in sludge from Kangemi sewage treatment plant, Nyeri county-Kenya.},
journal = {Heliyon},
volume = {9},
number = {5},
pages = {e15715},
doi = {10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15715},
pmid = {37234610},
issn = {2405-8440},
abstract = {Microbial consortia under anaerobic conditions are involved in oxidizing organic matter in the sludge to produce methane gas. However, in developing countries like Kenya, these microbes have not been fully identified to target them for the efficient harnessing of biofuel. This study collected wet sludge from two anaerobic digestion lagoons 1 and 2 that were operational during sampling at Kangemi Sewage Treatment Plant, in Nyeri County, Kenya. DNA was extracted from samples using commercially available ZymoBIOMICS™ DNA Miniprep Kit and sequenced using Shotgun metagenomics. Samples were analyzed using MG-RAST software (Project ID: mgp100988), which allowed for identifying microorganisms directly involved in various stages of methanogenesis pathways. The study found hydrogenotrophic methanogens, such as Methanospirillum (32%), Methanobacterium (27%), Methanobrevibacter (27%), and Methanosarcina (32%), being predominant in the lagoon communities, whereas acetoclastic microorganisms such as the Methanoregula (22%) and the acetate oxidazing bacteria such as Clostridia (68%) were the key microbes for that pathway in the sewage digester sludge. Furthermore, Methanothermobacter (18%), Methanosarcina (21%), Methanosaeta (15%), and Methanospirillum (13%) carried out the methylotrophic pathway. In contrast, Methanosarcina (23%),Methanoregula (14%), methanosaeta (13%), and methnanoprevibacter (13%) seemed to play an important role in the final step of methane release. This study concluded that the sludge produced from the Nyeri-Kangemi WWTP harbors microbes with significant potential for biogas production. The study recommends a pilot study to investigate the efficiency of the identified microbes for biogas production.},
}

@article {pmid37234538,
year = {2023},
author = {Sarrocco, S and Herrera-Estrella, A and Collinge, DB},
title = {Editorial: Plant disease management in the post-genomic era: from functional genomics to genome editing, Volume II.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1203870},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1203870},
pmid = {37234538},
issn = {1664-302X},
}

@article {pmid37234535,
year = {2023},
author = {Ghelardi, E and Mazzantini, D and Celandroni, F and Calvigioni, M and Panattoni, A and Lupetti, A and Bois De Fer, B and Perez, M},
title = {Analysis of the microbial content of probiotic products commercialized worldwide and survivability in conditions mimicking the human gut environment.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1127321},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1127321},
pmid = {37234535},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Probiotics are living microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Adequate number of living microbes, the presence of specific microorganisms, and their survival in the gastrointestinal (GI) environment are important to achieve desired health benefits of probiotic products. In this in vitro study, 21 leading probiotic formulations commercialized worldwide were evaluated for their microbial content and survivability in simulated GI conditions.

METHODS: Plate-count method was used to determine the amount of living microbes contained in the products. Culture-dependent Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry and culture-independent metagenomic analysis through 16S and 18S rDNA sequencing were applied in combination for species identification. To estimate the potential survivability of the microorganisms contained in the products in the harsh GI environment, an in vitro model composed of different simulated gastric and intestinal fluids was adopted.

RESULTS: The majority of the tested probiotic products were concordant with the labels in terms of number of viable microbes and contained probiotic species. However, one product included fewer viable microbes than those displayed on the label, one product contained two species that were not declared, and another product lacked one of the labeled probiotic strains. Survivability in simulated acidic and alkaline GI fluids was highly variable depending on the composition of the products. The microorganisms contained in four products survived in both acidic and alkaline environments. For one of these products, microorganisms also appeared to grow in the alkaline environment.

CONCLUSION: This in vitro study demonstrates that most globally commercialized probiotic products are consistent with the claims described on their labels with respect to the number and species of the contained microbes. Evaluated probiotics generally performed well in survivability tests, although viability of microbes in simulated gastric and intestinal environments showed large variability. Although the results obtained in this study indicate a good quality of the tested formulations, it is important to stress that stringent quality controls of probiotic products should always be performed to provide optimal health benefits for the host.},
}

@article {pmid37234531,
year = {2023},
author = {Zhao, Q and Li, J and Tay, A and Wang, L},
title = {Editorial: Computational predictions, dynamic tracking, and evolutionary analysis of antibiotic resistance through the mining of microbial genomes and metagenomic data, volume II.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1203297},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1203297},
pmid = {37234531},
issn = {1664-302X},
}

@article {pmid37234526,
year = {2023},
author = {Roda-Garcia, JJ and Haro-Moreno, JM and López-Pérez, M},
title = {Evolutionary pathways for deep-sea adaptation in marine planktonic Actinobacteriota.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1159270},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1159270},
pmid = {37234526},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {The deep ocean, one of the largest ecosystems on earth, is dominated by microorganisms that are keystones in the regulation of biogeochemical cycles. However, the evolutionary pathways underlying the specific adaptations required (e.g., high pressure and low temperature) by this unique niche remain understudied. Here, we analyzed the first representatives belonging to the order Acidimicrobiales, a group of marine planktonic Actinobacteriota, that specifically inhabits the aphotic zone of the oceanic water column (>200 m). Compared with their epipelagic counterparts, deep-sea representatives showed the same evolution in genome architecture with higher GC content, longer intergenic spaces as well as higher nitrogen (N-ARSC) and lower carbon (C-ARSC) content in encoded amino acid residue side chains consistent with the higher nitrogen concentration and lower carbon concentration in deep waters compared to the photic zone. Metagenomic recruitment showed distribution patterns that allowed the description of different ecogenomic units within the three deep water-associated genera defined by our phylogenomic analyses (UBA3125, S20-B6 and UBA9410). The entire genus UBA3125 was found exclusively associated with oxygen minimum zones linked to the acquisition of genes involved in denitrification. Genomospecies of genus S20-B6 recruited in samples from both mesopelagic (200-1,000 m) and bathypelagic (1000-4,000 m) zones, including polar regions. Diversity in the genus UBA9410 was higher, with genomospecies widely distributed in temperate zones, others in polar regions, and the only genomospecies associated with abyssal zones (>4,000 m). At the functional level, groups beyond the epipelagic zone have a more complex transcriptional regulation including in their genomes a unique WhiB paralog. In addition, they showed higher metabolic potential for organic carbon and carbohydrate degradation as well as the ability to accumulate glycogen as a source of carbon and energy. This could compensate for energy metabolism in the absence of rhodopsins, which is only present in genomes associated with the photic zone. The abundance in deep samples of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases associated with the genomes of this order suggests an important role in remineralization of recalcitrant compounds throughout the water column.},
}

@article {pmid37234150,
year = {2023},
author = {Zhang, Y and Han, S and Xiao, X and Zheng, L and Chen, Y and Zhang, Z and Gao, X and Zhou, S and Yu, K and Huang, L and Fu, J and Hong, Y and Jiang, J and Qian, W and Yang, H and Shen, J},
title = {Integration analysis of tumor metagenome and peripheral immunity data of diffuse large-B cell lymphoma.},
journal = {Frontiers in immunology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1146861},
doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2023.1146861},
pmid = {37234150},
issn = {1664-3224},
abstract = {BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: It has been demonstrated that gut microbes are closely associated with the pathogenesis of lymphoma, but the gut microbe landscape and its association with immune cells in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remain largely unknown. In this study, we explored the associations between gut microbiota, clinical features and peripheral blood immune cell subtypes in DLBCL.

METHOD: A total of 87 newly diagnosed DLBCL adults were enrolled in this study. The peripheral blood samples were collected from all patients and then submitted to immune cell subtyping using full-spectral flow cytometry. Metagenomic sequencing was applied to assess the microbiota landscape of 69 of 87 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients. The microbiotas and peripheral blood immune cell subsets with significant differences between different National Comprehensive Center Network-International Prognostic Indexes (NCCN-IPIs) (low-risk, low-intermediate-risk, intermediate-high-risk, high-risk) groups were screened.

RESULTS: A total of 10 bacterial phyla, 31 orders and 455 bacteria species were identified in 69 patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL. The abundances of 6 bacteria, including Blautia sp.CAG 257, Actinomyces sp.S6 Spd3, Streptococcus parasanguinis, Bacteroides salyersiae, Enterococcus faecalls and Streptococcus salivarius were significantly different between the low-risk, low-intermediate-risk, intermediate-high-risk and high-risk groups, among which Streptococcus parasanguinis and Streptococcus salivarius were markedly accumulated in the high-risk group. The different bacteria species were mostly enriched in the Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthesis I pathway. In addition, we found that 2 of the 6 bacteria showed close associations with the different immune cell subtypes which were also identified from different NCCN-IPIs. In detail, the abundance of Bacteroides salyersiae was negatively correlated with Treg cells, CD38+ nonrescue exhausted T cells, nature killer 3 cells and CD38+CD8+ effector memory T cells, while the abundance of Streptococcus parasanguinis was negatively correlated with HLA-DR+ NK cells, CD4+ Treg cells, HLA-DR+ NKT cells and HLA-DR+CD94+CD159c+ NKT cells.

CONCLUSION: This study first reveals the gut microbiota landscape of patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL and highlights the association between the gut microbiota and immunity, which may provide a new idea for the prognosis assessment and treatment of DLBCL.},
}

@article {pmid37234090,
year = {2023},
author = {Zhu, X and Yang, P and Xiong, G and Wei, H and Zhang, L and Wang, Z and Ning, K},
title = {Microbial biogeochemical cycling reveals the sustainability of the rice-crayfish co-culture model.},
journal = {iScience},
volume = {26},
number = {5},
pages = {106769},
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2023.106769},
pmid = {37234090},
issn = {2589-0042},
abstract = {Aquaculture has great potential in nourishing the global growing population, while such staggering yields are coupled with environmental pollution. Rice-crayfish co-culture models (RCFP) have been widely adopted in China due to their eco-friendliness. However, little is known about RCFP's microbiome pattern, which hinders our understanding of its sustainability. This study has conducted metagenomic analysis across aquaculture models and habitats, which revealed aquaculture model-specific biogeochemical cycling pattern (e.g., nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and carbon (C)): RCFP is advantageous in N-assimilation, N-contamination, and S-pollutants removal, while non-RCFP features N denitrification process and higher S metabolism ability, producing several hazardous pollutants in non-RCFP (e.g., nitric oxide, nitrogen monoxide, and sulfide). Moreover, RCFP has greater capacity for carbohydrate enzyme metabolism compared with non-RCFP in environmental habitats, but not in crayfish gut. Collectively, RCFP plays an indispensable role in balancing aquaculture productivity and environmental protection, which might be applied to the blue transformation of aquaculture.},
}

@article {pmid37233731,
year = {2023},
author = {D'Agostino, PM},
title = {Highlights of biosynthetic enzymes and natural products from symbiotic cyanobacteria.},
journal = {Natural product reports},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1039/d3np00011g},
pmid = {37233731},
issn = {1460-4752},
abstract = {Covering: up to 2023Cyanobacteria have long been known for their intriguing repertoire of natural product scaffolds, which are often distinct from other phyla. Cyanobacteria are ecologically significant organisms that form a myriad of different symbioses including with sponges and ascidians in the marine environment or with plants and fungi, in the form of lichens, in terrestrial environments. Whilst there have been several high-profile discoveries of symbiotic cyanobacterial natural products, genomic data is scarce and discovery efforts have remained limited. However, the rise of (meta-)genomic sequencing has improved these efforts, emphasized by a steep increase in publications in recent years. This highlight focuses on selected examples of symbiotic cyanobacterial-derived natural products and their biosyntheses to link chemistry with corresponding biosynthetic logic. Further highlighted are remaining gaps in knowledge for the formation of characteristic structural motifs. It is anticipated that the continued rise of (meta-)genomic next-generation sequencing of symbiontic cyanobacterial systems will lead to many exciting discoveries in the future.},
}

@article {pmid37233257,
year = {2023},
author = {Ahmad, N and Ritz, M and Calchera, A and Otte, J and Schmitt, I and Brueck, T and Mehlmer, N},
title = {Biosynthetic Potential of Hypogymnia Holobionts: Insights into Secondary Metabolite Pathways.},
journal = {Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland)},
volume = {9},
number = {5},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/jof9050546},
pmid = {37233257},
issn = {2309-608X},
abstract = {Lichens are symbiotic associations consisting of a photobiont (algae or cyanobacteria) and a mycobiont (fungus). They are known to produce a variety of unique secondary metabolites. To access this biosynthetic potential for biotechnological applications, deeper insights into the biosynthetic pathways and corresponding gene clusters are necessary. Here we provide a comprehensive view of the biosynthetic gene clusters of all organisms comprising a lichen thallus: fungi, green algae, and bacteria. We present two high-quality PacBio metagenomes, in which we identified a total of 460 biosynthetic gene clusters. Lichen mycobionts yielded 73-114 clusters, other lichen associated ascomycetes 8-40, green algae of the genus Trebouxia 14-19, and lichen-associated bacteria 101-105 clusters. The mycobionts contained mainly T1PKSs, followed by NRPSs, and terpenes; Trebouxia reads harbored mainly clusters linked to terpenes, followed by NRPSs and T3PKSs. Other lichen-associated ascomycetes and bacteria contained a mix of diverse biosynthetic gene clusters. In this study, we identified for the first time the biosynthetic gene clusters of entire lichen holobionts. The yet untapped biosynthetic potential of two species of the genus Hypogymnia is made accessible for further research.},
}

@article {pmid37231976,
year = {2023},
author = {Gao, H and Jiang, F and Zhang, J and Chi, X and Song, P and Li, B and Cai, Z and Zhang, T},
title = {Effects of ex situ conservation on diversity and function of the gut microbiota of the Tibetan wild ass (Equus kiang).},
journal = {Integrative zoology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1111/1749-4877.12726},
pmid = {37231976},
issn = {1749-4877},
abstract = {Ex situ conservation is the main method for the protection of endangered wildlife. To explore the effect of ex situ conservation on the gut microbiota of the kiang (Equus kiang), metagenomic sequencing combined with bioinformatics analysis was used to investigate the composition and function of the gut microbiota of the kiang. The results showed that ex situ conservation not only protected wildlife, but also affected the composition and function of gut microbiota, as well as the health of animals. In the zoo, the ratio of the relative abundance of Firmicutes to that of Bacteroidetes (F/B) is higher, clusters of potentially pathogenic bacteria (such as Catonella, Catonella, and Mycoplasma) are more numerous, the abundance of resistance genes is higher, and the abundance of metabolic functions is increased. The dynamic changes of the gut microbiota also played an important role in the nutritional absorption, energy metabolism, and environmental adaptation of the kiang. Improving the rearing environment and increasing food diversity play important roles for increasing the diversity of gut microbiota, reducing the spread of potentially pathogenic bacteria, and reducing diseases. In the wild, especially in winter and in food-deficient areas, food supplementation can enhance the gut microbial homeostasis of wild animals and reduce the impact of crises. In depth studies of the gut microbial function of wildlife have important implications for improving ex situ conservation.},
}

@article {pmid37231829,
year = {2023},
author = {Kawasaki, Y and Kakimoto, K and Tanaka, Y and Shimizu, H and Nishida, K and Numa, K and Kinoshita, N and Tatsumi, Y and Nakazawa, K and Koshiba, R and Hirata, Y and Ota, K and Sakiyama, N and Terazawa, T and Takeuchi, T and Miyazaki, T and Goto, M and Yokota, H and Makizaki, Y and Tanaka, Y and Nakajima, S and Ohno, H and Higuchi, K and Nakamura, S and Nishikawa, H},
title = {Relationship between Chemotherapy-Induced Diarrhea and Intestinal Microbiome Composition.},
journal = {Digestion},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {1-13},
doi = {10.1159/000528282},
pmid = {37231829},
issn = {1421-9867},
abstract = {BACKGROUND AND AIM: Fluoropyrimidines (FPs) are key drugs in many chemotherapy regimens; however, recipients are often prone to diarrhea due to gastrointestinal toxicity. Disruption of the intestinal epithelial barrier function by FPs leads to dysbiosis, which may exacerbate intestinal epithelial cell damage as a secondary effect and trigger diarrhea. However, despite studies on chemotherapy-induced changes in the intestinal microbiome of humans, the relationship between dysbiosis and diarrhea is unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between chemotherapy-induced diarrhea and the intestinal microbiome.

METHODS: We conducted a single-center prospective observational study. Twenty-three patients who received chemotherapy, including FPs as first-line chemotherapy for colorectal cancer, were included. Stool samples were collected before the start of chemotherapy and after one cycle of treatment to analyze intestinal microbiome composition and perform PICRUSt predictive metagenomic analysis.

RESULTS: Gastrointestinal toxicity was observed in 7 of 23 patients (30.4%), diarrhea was observed in 4 (17.4%), and nausea and anorexia were observed in 3 (13.0%). In 19 patients treated with oral FPs, the α diversity of the microbial community decreased significantly following chemotherapy only in the diarrheal group. At the phylum level, the diarrheal group showed a significant decrease in the abundance of Firmicutes and a significant increase in the abundance of Bacteroidetes with chemotherapy (p = 0.013 and 0.011, respectively). In the same groups, at the genus level, Bifidobacterium abundance was significantly decreased (p = 0.019). In contrast, in the non-diarrheal group, Actinobacteria abundance increased significantly with chemotherapy at the phylum level (p = 0.011). Further, Bifidobacterium, Fusicatenibacter, and Dorea abundance significantly increased at the genus level (p = 0.006, 0.019, and 0.011, respectively). The PICRUSt predictive metagenomic analysis revealed that chemotherapy caused significant differences in membrane transport in KEGG pathway level 2 and in 8 KEGG pathway level 3, including transporters and oxidative phosphorylation in the diarrhea group.

CONCLUSION: Organic-acid-producing bacteria seem to be involved in diarrhea associated with chemotherapy, including FPs.},
}

@article {pmid37231629,
year = {2023},
author = {Li, S and Liao, Y and Jiang, Z and Ji, G},
title = {Life strategies and metabolic interactions of core microbes during thiosulphate-based denitrification.},
journal = {Environmental microbiology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1111/1462-2920.16430},
pmid = {37231629},
issn = {1462-2920},
abstract = {Sulphur-driven denitrification is a low-cost process for the treatment of nitrate-contaminated water. However, a comprehensive understanding of core populations and microbial interactions of a sulphur-based denitrifying system is lacking. This study presents results from three replicated denitrifying systems amended with thiosulphate and operated under a low C/N ratio. Amplicon sequencing revealed gradual enrichments of a few abundant denitrifiers. Based on genome-centred metagenomics and metatranscriptomics, a core set of microbes was identified in the systems, with Pseudomonas 1 and Thauera 2 being the most abundant ones. Although the replicates showed different enrichments, generalized observations were summarized. Most core populations conserved energy from denitrification coupled with sulphur. Pseudomonas 1 and Thauera 2 were able to finish complete denitrification. Surprisingly, they were also able to synthesize almost all amino acids and vitamins. In contrast, less abundant members, including Pseudomonas 2, were relatively auxotrophic and required an exogenous supply of amino acids and vitamins. The high expression of enzymes involved in biosynthesis and transport systems indicated their syntrophic relationships. The genomic findings suggested life strategies and interactions of the core thiosulphate-based denitrifying microbiome, with implications for nitrate-polluted water remediation.},
}

@article {pmid37231259,
year = {2023},
author = {Pinto, Y and Chakraborty, M and Jain, N and Bhatt, AS},
title = {Phage-inclusive profiling of human gut microbiomes with Phanta.},
journal = {Nature biotechnology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37231259},
issn = {1546-1696},
abstract = {Due to technical limitations, most gut microbiome studies have focused on prokaryotes, overlooking viruses. Phanta, a virome-inclusive gut microbiome profiling tool, overcomes the limitations of assembly-based viral profiling methods by using customized k-mer-based classification tools and incorporating recently published catalogs of gut viral genomes. Phanta's optimizations consider the small genome size of viruses, sequence homology with prokaryotes and interactions with other gut microbes. Extensive testing of Phanta on simulated data demonstrates that it quickly and accurately quantifies prokaryotes and viruses. When applied to 245 fecal metagenomes from healthy adults, Phanta identifies ~200 viral species per sample, ~5× more than standard assembly-based methods. We observe a ~2:1 ratio between DNA viruses and bacteria, with higher interindividual variability of the gut virome compared to the gut bacteriome. In another cohort, we observe that Phanta performs equally well on bulk versus virus-enriched metagenomes, making it possible to study prokaryotes and viruses in a single experiment, with a single analysis.},
}

@article {pmid37231159,
year = {2023},
author = {Irazoqui, JM and Eberhardt, MF and Santiago, GM and Amadio, AF},
title = {Characterization of novel proteases identified by metagenomic analysis from dairy stabilization ponds.},
journal = {Applied microbiology and biotechnology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37231159},
issn = {1432-0614},
abstract = {Cheese whey is the main by-product of dairy industries. It is used as a raw material for other value-added products, like whey protein concentrate. By using enzymes, this product can be further treated to obtain new higher value products, like whey protein hydrolysates. Proteases (EC: 3.4) represent a large segment of industrial enzymes, since they are used in several industries, including food. In this work, we describe three novel enzymes identified using a metagenomic approach. Metagenomic DNA from dairy industry stabilization ponds were sequenced, and the predicted genes were compared against the MEROPS database, focusing on families commercially used to produce whey protein hydrolysates. From a total of 849 candidates, 10 were selected for cloning and expression and three showed activities with both the chromogenic substrate, azocasein, and whey proteins. Particularly, Pr05, an enzyme from the yet uncultured phylum Patescibacteria, showed activity that is comparable to a commercial protease. All these novel enzymes could represent an alternative for dairy industries to produce value-added products from industrial by-products. KEY POINTS: • Over 19,000 proteases were predicted in a sequence-based metagenomic analysis. • Three proteases were successfully expressed and showed activity with whey proteins. • The enzyme Pr05 showed hydrolysis profiles of interest for food industry.},
}

@article {pmid37230981,
year = {2023},
author = {Feehily, C and O'Neill, IJ and Walsh, CJ and Moore, RL and Killeen, SL and Geraghty, AA and Lawton, EM and Byrne, D and Sanchez-Gallardo, R and Nori, SRC and Nielsen, IB and Wortmann, E and Matthews, E and O'Flaherty, R and Rudd, PM and Groeger, D and Shanahan, F and Saldova, R and McAuliffe, FM and Van Sinderen, D and Cotter, PD},
title = {Detailed mapping of Bifidobacterium strain transmission from mother to infant via a dual culture-based and metagenomic approach.},
journal = {Nature communications},
volume = {14},
number = {1},
pages = {3015},
pmid = {37230981},
issn = {2041-1723},
abstract = {A significant proportion of the infant gut microbiome is considered to be acquired from the mother during and after birth. Thus begins a lifelong and dynamic relationship with microbes that has an enduring impact on host health. Based on a cohort of 135 mother-infant (F = 72, M = 63) dyads (MicrobeMom: ISRCTN53023014), we investigated the phenomenon of microbial strain transfer, with a particular emphasis on the use of a combined metagenomic-culture-based approach to determine the frequency of strain transfer involving members of the genus Bifidobacterium, including species/strains present at low relative abundance. From the isolation and genome sequencing of over 449 bifidobacterial strains, we validate and augment metagenomics-based evidence to reveal strain transfer in almost 50% of dyads. Factors important in strain transfer include vaginal birth, spontaneous rupture of amniotic membranes, and avoidance of intrapartum antibiotics. Importantly, we reveal that several transfer events are uniquely detected employing either cultivation or metagenomic sequencing, highlighting the requirement for a dual approach to obtain an in-depth insight into this transfer process.},
}

@article {pmid37230923,
year = {2023},
author = {Marchand, S and Rodriguez, C and Woerther, PL},
title = {[High-throughput sequencing for infectious disease diagnoses: Example of shotgun metagenomics in central nervous system infections].},
journal = {La Revue de medecine interne},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.revmed.2023.05.002},
pmid = {37230923},
issn = {1768-3122},
abstract = {The advent of high-throughput sequencing in clinical microbiology is opening the way to new diagnostic and prognostic approaches in infectious diseases. Detection, identification and characterisation of pathogenic microorganisms are essential steps in diagnosis and implementation of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. However, standard methods of microbiological diagnosis are failing in some cases. In addition, the emergence of new infections, facilitated by international travel and global warming, requires the implementation of innovative diagnostic methods. Among the different strategies used in clinical microbiology and reviewed in this article, shotgun metagenomics is the only technique that allows today a panpathogenic and unbiased detection of all microorganisms potentially responsible for an infectious disease, including those still unknown. The aims of this article are to present the different possible strategies of high-throughput sequencing used in the microbiological diagnosis of infectious diseases and to highlight the diagnostic contribution of shotgun metagenomics in the field of central nervous system infections.},
}

@article {pmid37230382,
year = {2023},
author = {Ruan, H and Wang, Y and Zhang, J and Huang, Y and Yang, Y and Wu, C and Guo, M and Luo, J and Yang, M},
title = {Zearalenone-14-Glucoside Specifically Promotes Dysplasia of Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue: A Natural Product for Constructing Intestinal Nodular Lymphatic Hyperplasia Model.},
journal = {Journal of advanced research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.jare.2023.05.006},
pmid = {37230382},
issn = {2090-1224},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Zearalenone-14-glucoside (Z14G) is a modified mycotoxin that widely contaminates food across the world. Our preliminary experiment showed that Z14G degrades to zearalenone (ZEN) in the intestine exerting toxicity. Notably, oral administration of Z14G in rats induces intestinal nodular lymphatic hyperplasia.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the mechanism of Z14G intestinal toxicity and how it differs from ZEN toxicity. We conducted a precise toxicology study on the intestine of rats exposed to Z14G and ZEN using multi-omics technology.

METHODS: Rats were exposed to ZEN (5 mg/kg), Z14G-L (5 mg/kg), Z14G-H (10 mg/kg), and pseudo germ free (PGF)-Z14G-H (10 mg/kg) for 14 days. Histopathological studies were performed on intestines from each group and compared. Metagenomic, metabolomic, and proteomic analyses were performed on rat feces, serum, and intestines, respectively.

RESULTS: Histopathological studies showed that Z14G exposure resulted in dysplasia of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) compared to ZEN exposure. The elimination of gut microbes in the PGF-Z14G-H group alleviated or eliminated Z14G-induced intestinal toxicity and GALT dysplasia. Metagenomic analysis revealed that Z14G exposure significantly promoted the proliferation of Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides compared to ZEN. Metabolomic analysis showed that Z14G exposure significantly reduced bile acid, while proteomic analysis found that Z14G exposure significantly reduced the expression of C-type lectins compared to ZEN.

CONCLUSIONS: Our experimental results and previous research suggest that Z14G is hydrolyzed to ZEN by Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides promoting their co-trophic proliferation. This leads to inactivation of lectins by hyperproliferative Bacteroides when ZEN caused intestinal involvement, resulting in abnormal lymphocyte homing and ultimately GALT dysplasia. It is noteworthy that Z14G is a promising model drug to establish rat models of intestinal nodular lymphatic hyperplasia (INLH), which is of great significance for studying the pathogenesis, drug screening and clinical application of INLH.},
}

@article {pmid37229851,
year = {2023},
author = {Guo, H and Jia, W and Chen, Z and Cai, Y and Wang, Y and Zhao, S and Zhao, W},
title = {Analysis on methane production from various coal slime fermentations based on metagenomics.},
journal = {Journal of environmental management},
volume = {343},
number = {},
pages = {118058},
doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118058},
pmid = {37229851},
issn = {1095-8630},
abstract = {Metagenomic sequencing technology was applied to evaluate differences in the anaerobic fermentation process of coal slimes by analyzing microbial diversity, functional activity structure, and cooperative relationship during the anaerobic fermentation of coal slimes with different coal ranks. The obtained results showed that the production of biomethane from coal slime was decreased by increasing metamorphism degree. Internal reason was higher abundance of microbial community in low rank coal slimes compared to that in high rank coal which had higher activity in the gene expression of key steps such as hydrolysis and acidification, methanation and the production of hydrogen and acetic acid. Acetic acid decarboxylation and CO2 reduction are two key pathways of methanation process. At the same time, K11261 (formylmethanofuran dehydrogenase subunit) and K01499 (methenyltetrahydromethanopterin cyclohydrolase) genes were further enriched in low rank slime systems, which enhanced the proportion of CO2 reduction in methanation pathway and was beneficial to biomethane production. Research revealed the roles of different coal slime ranks in biomethane production process and is considered as an important reference significance for further exploration of coal slime resource utilization.},
}

@article {pmid37228720,
year = {2023},
author = {Du, R and Feng, Y and Wang, Y and Huang, J and Tao, Y and Mao, H},
title = {Metagenomic next-generation sequencing confirms the diagnosis of Legionella pneumonia with rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury in a limited resource area: a case report and review.},
journal = {Frontiers in public health},
volume = {11},
number = {},
pages = {1145733},
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2023.1145733},
pmid = {37228720},
issn = {2296-2565},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Legionella pneumonia, rhabdomyolysis, and acute kidney injury are called the Legionella triad, which is rare and associated with a poor outcome and even death. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are essential for these patients.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 63-year-old man with cough, fever, and fatigue was initially misdiagnosed with common bacterial infection and given beta-lactam monotherapy but failed to respond to it. Conventional methods, including the first Legionella antibody test, sputum smear, and culture of sputum, blood, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were negative. He was ultimately diagnosed with a severe infection of Legionella pneumophila by metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS). This patient, who had multisystem involvement and manifested with the rare triad of Legionella pneumonia, rhabdomyolysis, and acute kidney injury, finally improved after combined treatment with moxifloxacin, continuous renal replacement therapy, and liver protection therapy.

CONCLUSION: Our results showed the necessity of early diagnosis of pathogens in severe patients, especially in Legionnaires' disease, who manifested with the triad of Legionella pneumonia, rhabdomyolysis, and acute kidney injury. mNGS may be a useful tool for Legionnaires' disease in limited resource areas where urine antigen tests are not available.},
}

@article {pmid37228418,
year = {2023},
author = {Babalola, OO and Akanmu, AO and Fadiji, AE},
title = {Dataset of shotgun metagenomic evaluation of lettuce (Lactuta sativa L.) rhizosphere microbiome.},
journal = {Data in brief},
volume = {48},
number = {},
pages = {109214},
doi = {10.1016/j.dib.2023.109214},
pmid = {37228418},
issn = {2352-3409},
abstract = {Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is an important vegetable grown and consumed across the world, including South Africa and its rhizosphere constitutes a dynamic community of root associated microbes. Dataset of the microbial community profile of the lettuce rhizospheric soils obtained from Talton, Gauteng Province of South Africa was subjected to metagenomic evaluation using the shotgun approach. The whole DNA isolated from the community was sequenced using NovaSeq 6000 system (Illumina). The raw data obtained consists of 129,063,513.33 sequences with an average length of 200 base pairs and 60.6% Guanine + Cytosine content. The metagenome data has been deposited to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information SRA under the bioproject number PRJNA763048. The downstream analysis alongside taxonomical annotation carried out using an online server MG-RAST, showed the community analysis as being made up of archaea (0.95%), eukaryotes (1.36%), viruses (0.04%), while 97.65% of the sequences were classified as bacteria. A sum of 25 bacteria, 20 eukaryotic and 4 archaea phyla were identified. The predominant genera were Acinetobacter (4.85%), Pseudomonas (3.41%), Streptomyces (2.79%), Candidatus solibacter (1.93%), Burkholderia (1.65%), Bradyrhizobium (1.51%) and Mycobacterium (1.31%). Annotation using Cluster of Orthologous Group (COG) showed 23.91% of the sequenced data were for metabolic function, 33.08% for chemical process and signaling while 6.42% were poorly characterized. Furthermore, the subsystem annotation method showed that sequences were majorly associated with carbohydrates (12.86%), clustering-based subsystems (12.68%), and genes coding for amino acids and derivatives (10.04%), all of which could serve in growth promotion and plant management.},
}

@article {pmid37228377,
year = {2023},
author = {Yang, C and Zhang, H and Zhao, X and Liu, P and Wang, L and Wang, W},
title = {A functional metagenomics study of soil carbon and nitrogen degradation networks and limiting factors on the Tibetan plateau.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1170806},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1170806},
pmid = {37228377},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: The Three-River Source Nature Reserve is located in the core area of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, with the alpine swamp, meadow and steppe as the main ecosystem types. However, the microbial communities in these alpine ecosystems, and their carbon and nitrogen degrading metabolic networks and limiting factors remain unclear.

METHODS: We sequenced the diversity of bacteria and fungi in alpine swamps, meadows, steppes, and their degraded and artificially restored ecosystems and analyzed soil environmental conditions.

RESULTS: The results indicated that moisture content had a greater influence on soil microbial community structure compared to degradation and restoration. Proteobacteria dominated in high moisture alpine swamps and alpine meadows, while Actinobacteria dominated in low moisture alpine steppes and artificial grasslands. A metabolic network analysis of carbon and nitrogen degradation and transformation using metagenomic sequencing revealed that plateau microorganisms lacked comprehensive and efficient enzyme systems to degrade organic carbon, nitrogen, and other biological macromolecules, so that the short-term degradation of alpine vegetation had no effect on the basic composition of soil microbial community. Correlation analysis found that nitrogen fixation was strong in meadows with high moisture content, and their key nitrogen-fixing enzymes were significantly related to Sphingomonas. Denitrification metabolism was enhanced in water-deficient habitats, and the key enzyme, nitrous oxide reductase, was significantly related to Phycicoccus and accelerated the loss of nitrogen. Furthermore, Bacillus contained a large number of amylases (GH13 and GH15) and proteases (S8, S11, S26, and M24) which may promote the efficient degradation of organic carbon and nitrogen in artificially restored grasslands.

DISCUSSION: This study illustrated the irrecoverability of meadow degradation and offered fundamental information for altering microbial communities to restore alpine ecosystems.},
}

@article {pmid37228371,
year = {2023},
author = {Galisteo, C and de la Haba, RR and Sánchez-Porro, C and Ventosa, A},
title = {A step into the rare biosphere: genomic features of the new genus Terrihalobacillus and the new species Aquibacillus salsiterrae from hypersaline soils.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1192059},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1192059},
pmid = {37228371},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {Hypersaline soils are a source of prokaryotic diversity that has been overlooked until very recently. The phylum Bacillota, which includes the genus Aquibacillus, is one of the 26 phyla that inhabit the heavy metal contaminated soils of the Odiel Saltmarshers Natural Area (Southwest Spain), according to previous research. In this study, we isolated a total of 32 strains closely related to the genus Aquibacillus by the traditional dilution-plating technique. Phylogenetic studies clustered them into two groups, and comparative genomic analyses revealed that one of them represents a new species within the genus Aquibacillus, whereas the other cluster constitutes a novel genus of the family Bacillaceae. We propose the designations Aquibacillus salsiterrae sp. nov. and Terrihalobacillus insolitus gen. nov., sp. nov., respectively, for these two new taxa. Genome mining analysis revealed dissimilitude in the metabolic traits of the isolates and their closest related genera, remarkably the distinctive presence of the well-conserved pathway for the biosynthesis of molybdenum cofactor in the species of the genera Aquibacillus and Terrihalobacillus, along with genes that encode molybdoenzymes and molybdate transporters, scarcely found in metagenomic dataset from this area. In-silico studies of the osmoregulatory strategy revealed a salt-out mechanism in the new species, which harbor the genes for biosynthesis and transport of the compatible solutes ectoine and glycine betaine. Comparative genomics showed genes related to heavy metal resistance, which seem required due to the contamination in the sampling area. The low values in the genome recruitment analysis indicate that the new species of the two genera, Terrihalobacillus and Aquibacillus, belong to the rare biosphere of representative hypersaline environments.},
}

@article {pmid37228370,
year = {2023},
author = {Thijssen, M and Tacke, F and Van Espen, L and Cassiman, D and Naser Aldine, M and Nevens, F and Van Ranst, M and Matthijnssens, J and Pourkarim, MR},
title = {Plasma virome dynamics in chronic hepatitis B virus infected patients.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1172574},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1172574},
pmid = {37228370},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {The virome remains an understudied domain of the human microbiome. The role of commensal viruses on the outcome of infections with known pathogens is not well characterized. In this study we aimed to characterize the longitudinal plasma virome dynamics in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients. Eighty-five longitudinal plasma samples were collected from 12 chronic HBV infected individuals that were classified in the four stages of HBV infection. The virome was characterized with an optimized viral extraction protocol and deep-sequenced on a NextSeq 2500 platform. The plasma virome was primarily composed of members of the Anello- Flavi-, and Hepadnaviridae (HBV) families. The virome structure and dynamics did not correlate with the different stages of chronic HBV infection nor with the administration of antiviral therapy. We observed a higher intrapersonal similarity of viral contigs. Genomic analysis of viruses observed in multiple timepoint demonstrated the presence of a dynamic community. This study comprehensively assessed the blood virome structure in chronic HBV infected individuals and provided insights in the longitudinal development of this viral community.},
}

@article {pmid37228368,
year = {2023},
author = {Wang, L and Lv, WQ and Yang, JT and Lin, X and Liu, HM and Tan, HJ and Quan, RP and Long, PP and Shen, H and Shen, J and Deng, HW and Xiao, HM},
title = {Enteric nervous system damage caused by abnormal intestinal butyrate metabolism may lead to functional constipation.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1117905},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2023.1117905},
pmid = {37228368},
issn = {1664-302X},
abstract = {Functional constipation (FC) is a high morbidity gastrointestinal disease for which dysfunction in the enteric nervous system is a major pathogenesis mechanism. To enhance our understanding of the involvement of intestinal microbiota and its metabolites in the pathogenesis of FC, we conducted a shotgun metagenomic sequencing analysis of gut microbiota and serum short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) analysis in 460 Chinese women with different defecation frequencies. We observed that the abundance ofFusobacterium_varium, a butyric acid-producing bacterium, was positively correlated (P = 0.0096) with the frequency of defecation; however, the concentrations of serum butyric acid was negatively correlated (P = 3.51E-05) with defecation frequency. These results were verified in an independent cohort (6 patients with FC and 6 controls). To further study the effects of butyric acid on intestinal nerve cells, we treated mouse intestinal neurons in vitro with various concentrations of butyrate (0.1, 0.5, 1, and 2.5 mM). We found that intestinal neurons treated with 0.5 mM butyrate proliferated better than those in the other treatment groups, with significant differences in cell cycle and oxidative phosphorylation signal pathways. We suggest that the decreased butyrate production resulting from the reduced abundance of Fusobacterium in gut microbiota affects the proliferation of intestinal neurons and the energy supply of intestinal cells. However, with FC disease advancing, the consumption and excretion of butyric acid reduce, leading to its accumulation in the intestine. Moreover, the accumulation of an excessively high amount of butyric acid inhibits the proliferation of nerve cells and subsequently exacerbates the disease.},
}

@article {pmid37228141,
year = {2023},
author = {Young, BD and Rosales, SM and Enochs, IC and Kolodziej, G and Formel, N and Moura, A and D'Alonso, GL and Traylor-Knowles, N},
title = {Different disease inoculations cause common responses of the host immune system and prokaryotic component of the microbiome in Acropora palmata.},
journal = {PloS one},
volume = {18},
number = {5},
pages = {e0286293},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0286293},
pmid = {37228141},
issn = {1932-6203},
abstract = {Reef-building corals contain a complex consortium of organisms, a holobiont, which responds dynamically to disease, making pathogen identification difficult. While coral transcriptomics and microbiome communities have previously been characterized, similarities and differences in their responses to different pathogenic sources has not yet been assessed. In this study, we inoculated four genets of the Caribbean branching coral Acropora palmata with a known coral pathogen (Serratia marcescens) and white band disease. We then characterized the coral's transcriptomic and prokaryotic microbiomes' (prokaryiome) responses to the disease inoculations, as well as how these responses were affected by a short-term heat stress prior to disease inoculation. We found strong commonality in both the transcriptomic and prokaryiomes responses, regardless of disease inoculation. Differences, however, were observed between inoculated corals that either remained healthy or developed active disease signs. Transcriptomic co-expression analysis identified that corals inoculated with disease increased gene expression of immune, wound healing, and fatty acid metabolic processes. Co-abundance analysis of the prokaryiome identified sets of both healthy-and-disease-state bacteria, while co-expression analysis of the prokaryiomes' inferred metagenomic function revealed infected corals' prokaryiomes shifted from free-living to biofilm states, as well as increasing metabolic processes. The short-term heat stress did not increase disease susceptibility for any of the four genets with any of the disease inoculations, and there was only a weak effect captured in the coral hosts' transcriptomic and prokaryiomes response. Genet identity, however, was a major driver of the transcriptomic variance, primarily due to differences in baseline immune gene expression. Despite genotypic differences in baseline gene expression, we have identified a common response for components of the coral holobiont to different disease inoculations. This work has identified genes and prokaryiome members that can be focused on for future coral disease work, specifically, putative disease diagnostic tools.},
}

@article {pmid37227602,
year = {2023},
author = {Roldán, DM and Menes, RJ},
title = {Characterisation of 'Candidatus Methylobacter titanis' sp. nov., a putative novel species of Methylobacter clade 2 and their distribution in sediments of freshwater lakes in maritime Antarctica.},
journal = {Antonie van Leeuwenhoek},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37227602},
issn = {1572-9699},
abstract = {Global warming has a strong impact on the polar regions, in particular, the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands. Methane (CH4) is a major factor in climate change and mitigation of CH4 emissions can be accomplished through microbial oxidation by methanotrophic bacteria. Understanding this biological process is crucial given the shortage of research carried out in this geographical area. The aim of this study was to characterise psychrophilic enrichment cultures of aerobic methanotrophs obtained from lake sediments of the Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, South Shetland Islands) and revealing the distribution of the genus Methylobacter in different lake sediments of the peninsula. Four stable methanotrophic enrichment cultures were obtained and analysed by metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). The phylogeny of methanotroph MAGs recovered from these enrichment cultures based on the 16S rRNA gene showed that K-2018 MAG008 and D1-2020 MAG004[Ts] clustered within the Methylobacter clade 2, with high similarity to Methylobacter tundripaludum SV96[T] (97.88 and 98.56% respectively). However, the average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values with M. tundripaludum were < 95% (84.8 and 85.0%, respectively) and < 70% (30.2 and 30.3%, respectively), suggesting that they represent a putative novel species for which the name 'Ca. Methylobacter titanis' is proposed. This is the first species of clade 2 of the genus Methylobacter obtained from Antarctica. The bacterial diversity assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 21 samples of different lakes (water column and sediments) revealed 54 ASVs associated with methanotrophs and the genus Methylobacter as the most abundant. These results suggest that aerobic methanotrophs belonging to the Methylobacter clade 2 would be the main responsible for CH4 oxidation in these sediments.},
}

@article {pmid37227475,
year = {2023},
author = {Bou Orm, E and Sauvagère, S and Rocher, J and Benezet, JC and Bayle, S and Siatka, C and Bergeret, A and Malhautier, L},
title = {Estimating the bias related to DNA recovery from hemp stems for retting microbial community investigation.},
journal = {Applied microbiology and biotechnology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37227475},
issn = {1432-0614},
abstract = {The industrial hemp plant Cannabis sativa is a source of vegetable fiber for both textiles and biocomposite applications. After harvesting, the plant stems are laid out on the ground and colonized by microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) naturally present in the soil and on the stems. By producing hydrolytic enzymes that degrade the plant wall polymers, the natural cement that binds the fiber bundles together is removed, thus facilitating their dissociation (retting process) which is required for producing high-performant fibers. To investigate temporal dynamics of retting microbial communities (density levels, diversity, and structure), a reliable protocol for extracting genomic DNA from stems is mandatory. However, very little attention has been paid to the methodological aspects of nucleic acid extraction, although they are crucial for the significance of the final result. Three protocols were selected and tested: a commercial kit (FastDNA™ Spin Kit for soil), the Gns-GII procedure, and a custom procedure from the Genosol platform. A comparative analysis was carried out on soil and two different varieties of hemp stem. The efficiency of each method was measured by evaluating both the quantity and quality of the extracted DNA and the abundance and taxonomy of bacterial and fungal populations. The Genosol protocol provides interesting yields in terms of quantity and quality of genomic DNA compared to the other two protocols. However, no major difference was observed in microbial diversity between the two extraction procedures (FastDNA™ SPIN Kit and Genosol protocol). Based on these results, the FastDNA™ SPIN kit or the Genosol procedure seems to be suitable for studying bacterial and fungal communities of the retting process. It should be noted that this work has demonstrated the importance of evaluating biases associated with DNA recovery from hemp stems. KEY POINTS: • Metagenomic DNA was successfully extracted from hemp stem samples using three different protocols. • Further evaluation was performed in terms of DNA yield and purity, abundance level, and microbial community structure. • This work exhibited the crucial importance of DNA recovery bias evaluation.},
}

@article {pmid37227439,
year = {2023},
author = {Guo, Y and Yang, Z and Mo, C and Li, H and Li, P},
title = {First Report of Banana mild mosaic virus Infecting Banana in China.},
journal = {Plant disease},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1094/PDIS-03-23-0410-PDN},
pmid = {37227439},
issn = {0191-2917},
abstract = {Banana (Musa spp.) is an important fruit in tropical and subtropical regions and an essential food crop in some developing countries. China has a long history of banana cultivation and ranks second in global banana production, with a planting area exceeding 11 million hectares (FAOSTAT, 2023). Banana mild mosaic virus (BanMMV) is a flexuous filamentous virus infecting bananas and a banmivirus in the Betaflexiviridae family. Its infection often results in symptomless plants of Musa spp., and the virus has a worldwide distribution, which can explain its high prevalence (Kumar et al., 2015). BanMMV infection often causes transitory symptoms, such as mild chlorotic streaks and mosaics, on young leaves (Thomas, 2015). The mixed infection of BanMMV with other banana-infecting viruses such as banana streak viruses (BSV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), can exacerbate the mosaic symptoms of BanMMV (Fidan et al., 2019). In October 2021, we collected twenty-six leaf samples of suspected viral disease of bananas from four cities (Huizhou, Qingyuan, Zhanjiang, and Yangjiang) in Guangdong province, two cities (Hekou and Jinghong) in Yunnan province, two cities (Yulin and Wuming) in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. After fully mixing these infected samples, we divided them into two pools and sent them to Shanghai Biotechnology Corporation (China) for metatranscriptome sequencing. Each sample contained about 5 g of leaves in total. Zymo-Seq RiboFree Total RNA Library Prep Kit (Zymo Research, USA) was used for ribosomal RNA depletion and library preparations. Illumina sequencing (Illumina NovaSeq 6000) was carried out by Shanghai Biotechnology Corporation (China). Paired-end (150 bp) sequencing of the RNA library was performed on an Illumina HiSeq 2000/2500 platform. Clean reads were assembled by a metagenomic de novo assembly using the CLC Genomics Workbench (version: 6.0.4). Then the non-redundant protein database in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) was used for BLASTx annotation. A total of 79,528 contigs were generated from the clean reads (68,878,162) through de novo assembly. A contig of 7265 nucleotides (nts) showed the highest nucleotide sequence identity (90.08%) to the genome of BanMMV isolate EM4-2 (GenBank accession no. OL826745.1). We designed specific primers according to the BanMMV CP gene (Table S1), tested the twenty-six leaf samples collected from the above-mentioned eight cities, and found that only one sample of Fenjiao (Musa ABB Pisang Awak) in Guangzhou city was infected with this virus. The symptoms of banana leaves containing BanMMV were slight chlorosis and yellowing of leaf edges (Fig. S1). We failed to detect other banana viruses, such as BSV, CMV, and banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) in the BanMMV-infected banana leaves. RNA from the infected leaves was extracted, and the assembled contig was confirmed by overlapping PCR amplification across the whole sequence (Table S1). All ambiguous regions were amplified by PCR and RACE, and the products were subjected to Sanger sequencing. The complete genome of the virus candidate was 7310 nts in length, excluding the poly (A) tail. The sequence was deposited in GenBank under accession number ON227268 (isolate BanMMV-GZ from Guangzhou). A schematic representation of the genome organization of BanMMV-GZ is shown in Fig. S2. Its genome has five open reading frames (ORF) encoding RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), three triple gene block proteins necessary for cell-to-cell movement (TGBp1 to TGBp3) and a coat protein (CP), similar to other BanMMV isolates (Kondo et al., 2021). Phylogenetic analyses of the complete nt sequence of the full genome and RdRp gene using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method also clearly placed the BanMMV-GZ firmly within all isolates of BanMMV (Fig. S3). To our knowledge, this is the first report of BanMMV infecting bananas in China, extending the geographical range of this viral disease around the world. Accordingly, larger-scale BanMMV investigations must be conducted to determine the distribution and prevalence of BanMMV in China.},
}

@article {pmid37227290,
year = {2023},
author = {Wang, Y and Xu, H and Wei, M and Wang, Y and Wang, W and Ju, J and Liu, Y and Wang, X},
title = {Identification of Putative Bacterial Pathogens for Orofacial Granulomatosis Based on 16S rRNA Metagenomic Analysis.},
journal = {Microbiology spectrum},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e0226622},
doi = {10.1128/spectrum.02266-22},
pmid = {37227290},
issn = {2165-0497},
abstract = {Orofacial granulomatosis (OFG) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by nontender swelling of the orofacial tissues, the underlying cause of which remains unknown. Our previous study demonstrated that tooth apical periodontitis (AP) is involved in the development of OFG. To characterize the AP bacterial signatures of OFG patients and identify possible pathogenic bacteria that cause OFG, the compositions of the AP microbiotas in OFG patients and controls were compared using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Pure cultures of putative bacterial pathogens were established by growing bacteria as colonies followed by purification, identification, and enrichment and then were injected into animal models to determine the causative bacteria contributing to OFG. A specific AP microbiota signature in the OFG patients was shown, characterized by the predominance of phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, notably members of the genera Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Neisseria, were found. Streptococcus spp., Lactobacillus casei, Neisseria subflava, Veillonella parvula, and Actinomyces spp. from OFG patients were isolated and successfully cultured in vitro and then injected into mice. Ultimately, footpad injection with N. subflava elicited granulomatous inflammation. IMPORTANCE Infectious agents have long been considered to play a role in the initiation of OFG; however, a direct causal relationship between microbes and OFG has not yet been established. In this study, a unique AP microbiota signature was identified in OFG patients. Moreover, we successfully isolated candidate bacteria from AP lesions of OFG patients and assessed their pathogenicity in laboratory mice. Findings from this study may help provide in-depth insights into the role of microbes in OFG development, providing the basis for targeted therapeutic approaches for OFG.},
}

@article {pmid37226493,
year = {2023},
author = {Knowles, S and Dennis, M and McElwain, A and Leis, E and Richard, J},
title = {Pathology and infectious agents of unionid mussels: A primer for pathologists in disease surveillance and investigation of mortality events.},
journal = {Veterinary pathology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {3009858231171666},
doi = {10.1177/03009858231171666},
pmid = {37226493},
issn = {1544-2217},
abstract = {Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of organisms in the world, and more than 30 species have gone extinct in the last century. While habitat alteration and destruction have contributed to the declines, the role of disease in mortality events is unclear. In an effort to involve veterinary pathologists in disease surveillance and the investigation of freshwater mussel mortality events, we provide information on the conservation status of unionids, sample collection and processing techniques, and unique and confounding anatomical and physiological differences. We review the published accounts of pathology and infectious agents described in freshwater mussels including neoplasms, viruses, bacteria, fungi, fungal-like agents, ciliated protists, Aspidogastrea, Digenea, Nematoda, Acari, Diptera, and Odonata. Of the identified infectious agents, a single viral disease, Hyriopsis cumingii plague disease, that occurs only in cultured mussels is known to cause high mortality. Parasites including ciliates, trematodes, nematodes, mites, and insects may decrease host fitness, but are not known to cause mortality. Many of the published reports identify infectious agents at the light or ultrastructural microscopy level with no lesion or molecular characterization. Although metagenomic analyses provide sequence information for infectious agents, studies often fail to link the agents to tissue changes at the light or ultrastructural level or confirm their role in disease. Pathologists can bridge this gap between identification of infectious agents and confirmation of disease, participate in disease surveillance to ensure successful propagation programs necessary to restore decimated populations, and investigate mussel mortality events to document pathology and identify causality.},
}

@article {pmid37226095,
year = {2023},
author = {Li, R and Duan, W and Ran, Z and Chen, X and Yu, H and Fang, L and Guo, L and Zhou, J},
title = {Diversity and correlation analysis of endophytes and metabolites of Panax quinquefolius L. in various tissues.},
journal = {BMC plant biology},
volume = {23},
number = {1},
pages = {275},
pmid = {37226095},
issn = {1471-2229},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Panax quinquefolius L. (American ginseng) is widely used in medicine due to its wealth of diverse pharmacological effects. Endophytes colonize within P. quinquefolius in multiple tissue types. However, the relationship between endophytes and the production of their active ingredients in different parts of the plant is not clear.

RESULTS: In this study, the relationship of endophytic diversity and the metabolites produced in different plant tissues of P. quinquefolius were analyzed using metagenomic and metabolomic approaches. The results showed relatively similar endophyte composition in roots and fibrils, but obvious differences between endophyte populations in stems and leaves. Species abundance analysis showed that at the phylum level, the dominant bacterial phylum was Cyanobacteria for roots, fibrils, stems and leaves, Ascomycota forroots and fibrils roots, and Basidiomycota for stems and leaves. LC-MS/MS technology was used to quantitatively analyze the metabolites in different tissues of P. quinquefolius. A total of 398 metabolites and 294 differential metaboliteswere identified, mainly organic acids, sugars, amino acids, polyphenols, and saponins. Most of the differential metabolites were enriched in metabolic pathways such as phenylpropane biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, citric acid cycle, and amino acid biosynthesis. Correlation analysis showed a positive and negative correlation between the endophytes and the differential metabolites. Conexibacter significantly enriched in root and fibril was significantly positively correlated with saponin differential metabolites, while cyberlindnera significantly enriched in stem and leaf was significantly negatively correlated with differential metabolites (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The endophytic communities diversity were relatively similar in the roots and fibrils of P. quinquefolius, while there were greater differences between the stems and leaves. There was significant difference in metabolite content between different tissues of P. quinquefolius. Correlation analysis methods demonstrated a correlation between endophytes and differential metabolism.},
}

@article {pmid37225687,
year = {2023},
author = {Zhao, F and Yang, L and Zhang, T and Zhuang, D and Wu, Q and Yu, J and Tian, C and Zhang, Z},
title = {Gut microbiome signatures of extreme environment adaption in Tibetan pig.},
journal = {NPJ biofilms and microbiomes},
volume = {9},
number = {1},
pages = {27},
pmid = {37225687},
issn = {2055-5008},
abstract = {Tibetan pigs (TPs) can adapt to the extreme environments in the Tibetan plateau implicated by their self-genome signals, but little is known about roles of the gut microbiota in the host adaption. Here, we reconstructed 8210 metagenome-assembled genomes from TPs (n = 65) living in high-altitude and low-altitude captive pigs (87 from China-CPs and 200 from Europe-EPs) that were clustered into 1050 species-level genome bins (SGBs) at the threshold of 95% average nucleotide identity. 73.47% of SGBs represented new species. The gut microbial community structure analysis based on 1,048 SGBs showed that TPs was significantly different from low-altitude captive pigs. TP-associated SGBs enabled to digest multiple complex polysaccharides, including cellulose, hemicellulose, chitin and pectin. Especially, we found TPs showed the most common enrichment of phyla Fibrobacterota and Elusimicrobia, which were involved in the productions of short- and medium-chain fatty acids (acetic acid, butanoate and propanoate; octanomic, decanoic and dodecanoic acids), as well as in the biosynthesis of lactate, 20 essential amino acids, multiple B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B7 and B9) and cofactors. Unexpectedly, Fibrobacterota solely showed powerful metabolic capacity, including the synthesis of acetic acid, alanine, histidine, arginine, tryptophan, serine, threonine, valine, B2, B5, B9, heme and tetrahydrofolate. These metabolites might contribute to host adaptation to high-altitude, such as energy harvesting and resistance against hypoxia and ultraviolet radiation. This study provides insights into understanding the role of gut microbiome played in mammalian high-altitude adaptation and discovers some potential microbes as probiotics for improving animal health.},
}

@article {pmid37225100,
year = {2023},
author = {Shuai, W and Itzhari, D and Ronen, Z and Hartmann, EM},
title = {Mitigation of antimicrobial resistance genes in greywater treated at household level.},
journal = {The Science of the total environment},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {164136},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164136},
pmid = {37225100},
issn = {1879-1026},
abstract = {Greywater often contains microorganisms carrying antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Reuse of greywater thus potentially facilitates the enrichment and spread of multidrug resistance, posing a possible hazard for communities that use it. As water reuse becomes increasingly necessary, it is imperative to determine how greywater treatment impacts ARGs. In this study, we characterize ARG patterns in greywater microbial communities before and after treatment by a recirculating vertical flow constructed wetland (RVFCW). This greywater recycling method has been adopted by some small communities and households for greywater treatment; however, its ability to remove ARGs is unknown. We examined the taxonomic and ARG compositions of microbial communities in raw and treated greywater from five households using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Total ARGs decreased in abundance and diversity in greywater treated by the RVFCW. In parallel, the microbial communities decreased in similarity in treated greywater. Potentially pathogenic bacteria associated with antimicrobial resistance and mobile genetic elements were detected in both raw and treated water, with a decreasing trend after treatment. This study indicates that RVFCW systems have the potential to mitigate antimicrobial resistance-related hazards when reusing treated greywater, but further measures need to be taken regarding persistent mobile ARGs and potential pathogens.},
}

@article {pmid37224782,
year = {2023},
author = {Xu, M and Su, S and Jiang, S and Li, W and Zhang, Z and Zhang, J and Hu, X},
title = {Short-term arecoline exposure affected the systemic health state of mice, in which gut microbes played an important role.},
journal = {Ecotoxicology and environmental safety},
volume = {259},
number = {},
pages = {115055},
doi = {10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115055},
pmid = {37224782},
issn = {1090-2414},
abstract = {Arecoline is a critical bioactive component in areca nuts with toxicity and pharmacological activities. However, its effects on body health remain unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of arecoline on physiologic and biochemical parameters in mouse serum, liver, brain, and intestine. The effect of arecoline on gut microbiota was investigated based on shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The results showed that arecoline promoted lipid metabolism in mice, manifested as significantly reduced serum TC and TG and liver TC levels and a reduction in abdominal fat accumulation. Arecoline intake significantly modulated the neurotransmitters 5-HT and NE levels in the brain. Notably, arecoline intervention significantly increased serum IL-6 and LPS levels, leading to inflammation in the body. High-dose arecoline significantly reduced liver GSH levels and increased MDA levels, which led to oxidative stress in the liver. Arecoline intake promoted the release of intestinal IL-6 and IL-1β, causing intestinal injury. In addition, we observed a significant response of gut microbiota to arecoline intake, reflecting significant changes in diversity and function of the gut microbes. Further mechanistic exploration suggested that arecoline intake can regulate gut microbes and ultimately affect the host's health. This study provided technical help for the pharmacochemical application and toxicity control of arecoline.},
}

@article {pmid37224315,
year = {2021},
author = {Claro, IM and Ramundo, MS and Coletti, TM and da Silva, CAM and Valenca, IN and Candido, DS and Sales, FCS and Manuli, ER and de Jesus, JG and de Paula, A and Felix, AC and Andrade, PDS and Pinho, MC and Souza, WM and Amorim, MR and Proenca-Modena, JL and Kallas, EG and Levi, JE and Faria, NR and Sabino, EC and Loman, NJ and Quick, J},
title = {Rapid viral metagenomics using SMART-9N amplification and nanopore sequencing.},
journal = {Wellcome open research},
volume = {6},
number = {},
pages = {241},
doi = {10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17170.2},
pmid = {37224315},
issn = {2398-502X},
abstract = {Emerging and re-emerging viruses are a global health concern. Genome sequencing as an approach for monitoring circulating viruses is currently hampered by complex and expensive methods. Untargeted, metagenomic nanopore sequencing can provide genomic information to identify pathogens, prepare for or even prevent outbreaks. SMART (Switching Mechanism at the 5' end of RNA Template) is a popular approach for RNA-Seq but most current methods rely on oligo-dT priming to target polyadenylated mRNA molecules. We have developed two random primed SMART-Seq approaches, a sequencing agnostic approach 'SMART-9N' and a version compatible rapid adapters available from Oxford Nanopore Technologies 'Rapid SMART-9N'. The methods were developed using viral isolates, clinical samples, and compared to a gold-standard amplicon-based method. From a Zika virus isolate the SMART-9N approach recovered 10kb of the 10.8kb RNA genome in a single nanopore read. We also obtained full genome coverage at a high depth coverage using the Rapid SMART-9N, which takes only 10 minutes and costs up to 45% less than other methods. We found the limits of detection of these methods to be 6 focus forming units (FFU)/mL with 99.02% and 87.58% genome coverage for SMART-9N and Rapid SMART-9N respectively. Yellow fever virus plasma samples and SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal samples previously confirmed by RT-qPCR with a broad range of Ct-values were selected for validation. Both methods produced greater genome coverage when compared to the multiplex PCR approach and we obtained the longest single read of this study (18.5 kb) with a SARS-CoV-2 clinical sample, 60% of the virus genome using the Rapid SMART-9N method. This work demonstrates that SMART-9N and Rapid SMART-9N are sensitive, low input, and long-read compatible alternatives for RNA virus detection and genome sequencing and Rapid SMART-9N improves the cost, time, and complexity of laboratory work.},
}

@article {pmid37223792,
year = {2023},
author = {Bertola, M and Righetti, L and Gazza, L and Ferrarini, A and Fornasier, F and Cirlini, M and Lolli, V and Galaverna, G and Visioli, G},
title = {Perenniality, more than genotypes, shapes biological and chemical rhizosphere composition of perennial wheat lines.},
journal = {Frontiers in plant science},
volume = {14},
number = {},
pages = {1172857},
pmid = {37223792},
issn = {1664-462X},
abstract = {Perennial grains provide various ecosystem services compared to the annual counterparts thanks to their extensive root system and permanent soil cover. However, little is known about the evolution and diversification of perennial grains rhizosphere and its ecological functions over time. In this study, a suite of -OMICSs - metagenomics, enzymomics, metabolomics and lipidomics - was used to compare the rhizosphere environment of four perennial wheat lines at the first and fourth year of growth in comparison with an annual durum wheat cultivar and the parental species Thinopyrum intermedium. We hypothesized that wheat perenniality has a greater role in shaping the rhizobiome composition, biomass, diversity, and activity than plant genotypes because perenniality affects the quality and quantity of C input - mainly root exudates - hence modulating the plant-microbes crosstalk. In support of this hypothesis, the continuous supply of sugars in the rhizosphere along the years created a favorable environment for microbial growth which is reflected in a higher microbial biomass and enzymatic activity. Moreover, modification in the rhizosphere metabolome and lipidome over the years led to changes in the microbial community composition favoring the coexistence of more diverse microbial taxa, increasing plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Despite the dominance of the perenniality effect, our data underlined that the OK72 line rhizobiome distinguished from the others by the increase in abundance of Pseudomonas spp., most of which are known as potential beneficial microorganisms, identifying this line as a suitable candidate for the study and selection of new perennial wheat lines.},
}

@article {pmid37222807,
year = {2023},
author = {Broman, E and Abdelgadir, M and Bonaglia, S and Forsberg, SC and Wikström, J and Gunnarsson, JS and Nascimento, FJA and Sjöling, S},
title = {Long-Term Pollution Does Not Inhibit Denitrification and DNRA by Adapted Benthic Microbial Communities.},
journal = {Microbial ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37222807},
issn = {1432-184X},
abstract = {Denitrification in sediments is a key microbial process that removes excess fixed nitrogen, while dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) converts nitrate to ammonium. Although microorganisms are responsible for essential nitrogen (N) cycling, it is not yet fully understood how these microbially mediated processes respond to toxic hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) and metals. In this study, we sampled long-term polluted sediment from the outer harbor of Oskarshamn (Baltic Sea), measured denitrification and DNRA rates, and analyzed taxonomic structure and N-cycling genes of microbial communities using metagenomics. Results showed that denitrification and DNRA rates were within the range of a national reference site and other unpolluted sites in the Baltic Sea, indicating that long-term pollution did not significantly affect these processes. Furthermore, our results indicate an adaptation to metal pollution by the N-cycling microbial community. These findings suggest that denitrification and DNRA rates are affected more by eutrophication and organic enrichment than by historic pollution of metals and organic contaminants.},
}

@article {pmid37222803,
year = {2023},
author = {Malesevic, M and Stanisavljevic, N and Matijasevic, D and Curcic, J and Tasic, V and Tasic, S and Kojic, M},
title = {Metagenomic Analysis of Bacterial Community and Isolation of Representative Strains from Vranjska Banja Hot Spring, Serbia.},
journal = {Microbial ecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37222803},
issn = {1432-184X},
abstract = {The hot spring Vranjska Banja is the hottest spring on the Balkan Peninsula with a water temperature of 63-95 °C and a pH value of 7.1, in situ. According to the physicochemical analysis, Vranjska Banja hot spring belongs to the bicarbonated and sulfated hyperthermal waters. The structures of microbial community of this geothermal spring are still largely unexplored. In order to determine and monitor the diversity of microbiota of the Vranjska Banja hot spring, a comprehensive culture-independent metagenomic analysis was conducted in parallel with a culture-dependent approach for the first time. Microbial profiling using amplicon sequencing analysis revealed the presence of phylogenetically novel taxa, ranging from species to phyla. Cultivation-based methods resulted in the isolation of 17 strains belonging to the genera Anoxybacillus, Bacillus, Geobacillus, and Hydrogenophillus. Whole-genome sequencing of five representative strains was then performed. The genomic characterization and OrthoANI analysis revealed that the Vranjska Banja hot spring harbors phylogenetically novel species of the genus Anoxybacillus, proving its uniqueness. Moreover, these isolates contain stress response genes that enable them to survive in the harsh conditions of the hot springs. The results of the in silico analysis show that most of the sequenced strains have the potential to produce thermostable enzymes (proteases, lipases, amylases, phytase, chitinase, and glucanase) and various antimicrobial molecules that can be of great importance for industrial, agricultural, and biotechnological applications. Finally, this study provides a basis for further research and understanding of the metabolic potential of these microorganisms.},
}

@article {pmid37222623,
year = {2023},
author = {Ariyadasa, S and Taylor, W and Weaver, L and McGill, E and Billington, C and Pattis, I},
title = {Nonbacterial Microflora in Wastewater Treatment Plants: an Underappreciated Potential Source of Pathogens.},
journal = {Microbiology spectrum},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e0048123},
doi = {10.1128/spectrum.00481-23},
pmid = {37222623},
issn = {2165-0497},
abstract = {Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) receive and treat large volumes of domestic, industrial, and urban wastewater containing pathogenic and nonpathogenic microorganisms, chemical compounds, heavy metals, and other potentially hazardous substances. WWTPs play an essential role in preserving human, animal, and environmental health by removing many of these toxic and infectious agents, particularly biological hazards. Wastewater contains complex consortiums of bacterial, viral, archaeal, and eukaryotic species, and while bacteria in WWTP have been extensively studied, the temporal and spatial distribution of nonbacterial microflora (viruses, archaea, and eukaryotes) is less understood. In this study, we analyzed the viral, archaeal, and eukaryotic microflora in wastewater throughout a treatment plant (raw influent, effluent, oxidation pond water, and oxidation pond sediment) in Aotearoa (New Zealand) using Illumina shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our results suggest a similar trend across many taxa, with an increase in relative abundance in oxidation pond samples compared to influent and effluent samples, except for archaea, which had the opposite trend. Additionally, some microbial families, such as Podoviridae bacteriophages and Apicomplexa alveolates, appeared largely unaffected by the treatment process, with their relative abundance remaining stable throughout. Several groups encompassing pathogenic species, such as Leishmania, Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Apicomplexa, Cryptococcus, Botrytis, and Ustilago, were identified. If present, these potentially pathogenic species could be a threat to human and animal health and agricultural productivity; therefore, further investigation is warranted. These nonbacterial pathogens should be considered when assessing the potential for vector transmission, distribution of biosolids to land, and discharge of treated wastewater to waterways or land. IMPORTANCE Nonbacterial microflora in wastewater remain understudied compared to their bacterial counterparts despite their importance in the wastewater treatment process. In this study, we report the temporal and spatial distributions of DNA viruses, archaea, protozoa, and fungi in raw wastewater influent, effluent, oxidation pond water, and oxidation pond sediments by using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our study indicated the presence of groups of nonbacterial taxa which encompass pathogenic species that may have potential to cause disease in humans, animals, and agricultural crops. We also observed higher alpha diversity in viruses, archaea, and fungi in effluent samples than in influent samples. This suggests that the resident microflora in the wastewater treatment plant may be making a greater contribution to the diversity of taxa observed in wastewater effluent than previously thought. This study provides important insights to better understand the potential human, animal, and environmental health impacts of discharged treated wastewater.},
}

@article {pmid37222601,
year = {2023},
author = {Bösch, Y and Pold, G and Saghaï, A and Karlsson, M and Jones, CM and Hallin, S},
title = {Distribution and Environmental Drivers of Fungal Denitrifiers in Global Soils.},
journal = {Microbiology spectrum},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e0006123},
doi = {10.1128/spectrum.00061-23},
pmid = {37222601},
issn = {2165-0497},
abstract = {The microbial process of denitrification is the primary source of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) from terrestrial ecosystems. Fungal denitrifiers, unlike many bacteria, lack the N2O reductase, and thereby are sources of N2O. Still, their diversity, global distribution, and environmental determinants, as well as their relative importance, compared to bacterial and archaeal denitrifiers, remain unresolved. Employing a phylogenetically informed approach to analyze 1,980 global soil and rhizosphere metagenomes for the denitrification marker gene nirK, which codes for the copper dependent nitrite reductase in denitrification, we show that fungal denitrifiers are sparse, yet cosmopolitan and that they are dominated by saprotrophs and pathogens. Few showed biome-specific distribution patterns, although members of the Fusarium oxysporum species complex, which are known to produce substantial amounts of N2O, were proportionally more abundant and diverse in the rhizosphere than in other biomes. Fungal denitrifiers were most frequently detected in croplands, but they were most abundant in forest soils when normalized to metagenome size. Nevertheless, the overwhelming dominance of bacterial and archaeal denitrifiers suggests a much lower fungal contribution to N2O emissions than was previously estimated. In relative terms, they could play a role in soils that are characterized by a high carbon to nitrogen ratio and a low pH, especially in the tundra as well as in boreal and temperate coniferous forests. Because global warming predicts the proliferation of fungal pathogens, the prevalence of potential plant pathogens among fungal denitrifiers and the cosmopolitan distribution of these organisms suggest that fungal denitrifier abundance may increase in terrestrial ecosystems. IMPORTANCE Fungal denitrifiers, in contrast to their bacterial counterparts, are a poorly studied functional group within the nitrogen cycle, even though they produce the greenhouse gas N2O. To curb soil N2O emissions, a better understanding of their ecology and distribution in soils from different ecosystems is needed. Here, we probed a massive amount of DNA sequences and corresponding soil data from a large number of samples that represented the major soil environments for a broad understanding of fungal denitrifier diversity at the global scale. We show that fungal denitrifiers are predominantly cosmopolitan saprotrophs and opportunistic pathogens. Fungal denitrifiers constituted, on average, 1% of the total denitrifier community. This suggests that earlier estimations of fungal denitrifier abundance, and, thereby, it is also likely that the contributions of fungal denitrifiers to N2O emissions have been overestimated. Nevertheless, with many fungal denitrifiers being plant pathogens, they could become increasingly relevant, as soilborne pathogenic fungi are predicted to increase with ongoing climate change.},
}

@article {pmid37222548,
year = {2023},
author = {González-Orozco, BD and García-Cano, I and Escobar-Zepeda, A and Jiménez-Flores, R and Álvarez, VB},
title = {Metagenomic analysis and antibacterial activity of kefir microorganisms.},
journal = {Journal of food science},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1111/1750-3841.16614},
pmid = {37222548},
issn = {1750-3841},
support = {P30 CA016058/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; },
abstract = {The microbiota composition of kefir grain and milk kefir was assessed via a metagenomic approach. Significant microorganisms were isolated and identified using molecular methods. A safety assessment was conducted based on antibiotic susceptibility and blood hemolysis. Probiotic traits such as resistance to gastric tract conditions, surface characteristics, adhesion to intestinal cells, and antibacterial activity were also assessed. Metagenomic analysis revealed that kefir grains are a more stable community with clear dominant species as compared to milk kefir. Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens BDGO-A1, Lactobacillus helveticus BDGO-AK2, and Lactobacillu kefiri strains showed tolerance to acidic pH and the presence of bile salts, adhesion capability to Caco-2 cells, in vitro antibacterial activity, and the production of antibacterial proteins. In the metagenomic analysis, contigs associated with these species showed the presence of genes involved in exporting polyketide antibiotics and bacteriocin production. To fully exploit the potential probiotic properties of these microorganisms to help human health, further investigation is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms behind the biological activity and the genotypic characteristics of the isolated strains.},
}

@article {pmid37222519,
year = {2023},
author = {Haro-Moreno, JM and López-Pérez, M and Alekseev, A and Podoliak, E and Kovalev, K and Gordeliy, V and Stepanauskas, R and Rodriguez-Valera, F},
title = {Flotillin-associated rhodopsin (FArhodopsin), a widespread paralog of proteorhodopsin in aquatic bacteria with streamlined genomes.},
journal = {mSystems},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e0000823},
doi = {10.1128/msystems.00008-23},
pmid = {37222519},
issn = {2379-5077},
abstract = {Microbial rhodopsins are found more than once in a single genome (paralogs) often have different functions. We screened a large dataset of open ocean single-amplified genomes (SAGs) for co-occurrences of multiple rhodopsin genes. Many such cases were found among Pelagibacterales (SAR11), HIMB59, and the Gammaproteobacteria Pseudothioglobus SAGs. These genomes always had a bona fide proteorhodopsin and a separate cluster of genes containing a second rhodopsin associated with a predicted flotillin coding gene and have thus been named flotillin-associated rhodopsins (FArhodopsins). Although they are members of the proteorhodopsin protein family, they form a separate clade within that family and are quite divergent from known proton-pumping proteorhodopsins. They contain either DTT, DTL, or DNI motifs in their key functional amino acids. FArhodopsins are mainly associated with the lower layers of the epipelagic zone. All marine FArhodopsins had the retinal binding lysine, but we found relatives in freshwater metagenomes lacking this key amino acid. AlphaFold predictions of marine FArhodopsins indicate that their retinal pocket might be very reduced or absent, hinting that they are retinal-less. Freshwater FArhodopsins were more diverse than marine ones, but we could not determine if there were other rhodopsins in the genome due to the lack of SAGs or isolates. Although the function of FArhodopsins could not be established, their conserved genomic context indicated involvement in the formation of membrane microdomains. The conservation of FArhodopsins in diverse and globally abundant microorganisms suggests that they may be important in the adaptation to the twilight zone of aquatic environments.IMPORTANCERhodopsins have been shown to play a key role in the ecology of aquatic microbes. Here, we describe a group of widespread rhodopsins in aquatic microbes associated with dim light conditions. Their characteristic genomic context found in both marine and freshwater environments indicates a novel potential involvement in membrane microstructure that could be important for the function of the coexisting proteorhodopsin proton pumps. The absence or reduction of the retinal binding pocket points to a drastically different physiological role.},
}

@article {pmid37222510,
year = {2023},
author = {Baba, H and Kuroda, M and Sekizuka, T and Kanamori, H},
title = {Highly sensitive detection of antimicrobial resistance genes in hospital wastewater using the multiplex hybrid capture target enrichment.},
journal = {mSphere},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e0010023},
doi = {10.1128/msphere.00100-23},
pmid = {37222510},
issn = {2379-5042},
abstract = {Wastewater can be useful in monitoring the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within a hospital. The abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in hospital effluent was assessed using metagenomic sequencing (mDNA-seq) and hybrid capture (xHYB). mDNA-seq analysis and subsequent xHYB targeted enrichment were conducted on two effluent samples per month from November 2018 to May 2021. Reads per kilobase per million (RPKM) values were calculated for all 1,272 ARGs in the constructed database. The monthly numbers of patients with presumed extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-producing bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) were compared with the monthly RPKM values of blaCTX-M, blaIMP, mecA, vanA, and vanB by xHYB. The average RPKM value for all ARGs detected by xHYB was significantly higher than that of mDNA-seq (665, 225, and 328, respectively, and P < 0.05). The average number of patients with ESBL producers and RPKM values of blaCTX-M-1 genes in 2020 were significantly higher than that in 2019 (17 and 13 patients per month and 921 vs 232 per month, respectively, both P < 0.05). The average numbers of patients with MBL-producers, MRSA, and VRE were 1, 28, and 0 per month, respectively, while the average RPKM values of blaIMP, mecA, vanA, and vanB were 6,163, 6, 0, and 126 per month, respectively. Monitoring ARGs in hospital effluent using xHYB was found to be more useful than conventional mDNA-seq in detecting ARGs including blaCTX-M, blaIMP, and vanB, which are important for infection control.IMPORTANCEEnvironmental ARGs play a crucial role in the emergence and spread of AMR that constitutes a significant global health threat. One major source of ARGs is effluent from healthcare facilities, where patients are frequently administered antimicrobials. Culture-independent methods, including metagenomics, can detect environmental ARGs carried by non-culturable bacteria and extracellular ARGs. mDNA-seq is one of the most comprehensive methods for environmental ARG surveillance; however, its sensitivity is insufficient for wastewater surveillance. This study demonstrates that xHYB appropriately monitors ARGs in hospital effluent for sensitive identification of nosocomial AMR dissemination. Correlations were observed between the numbers of inpatients with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the ARG RPKM values in hospital effluent over time. ARG surveillance in hospital effluent using the highly sensitive and specific xHYB method could improve our understanding of the emergence and spread of AMR within a hospital.},
}

@article {pmid37222264,
year = {2023},
author = {Carr, RM and Li, Y and Chau, L and Friedman, ES and Lee, JJ and Adorini, L and Erickson, M and Zaru, L and Shringarpure, R and MacConell, L and Bittinger, K and Li, H and Wu, GD},
title = {An integrated analysis of fecal microbiome and metabolomic features distinguish Non-cirrhotic NASH from healthy control populations.},
journal = {Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1097/HEP.0000000000000474},
pmid = {37222264},
issn = {1527-3350},
abstract = {There is great interest in identifying microbiome features as reliable noninvasive diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers for non-cirrhotic NASH fibrosis. Several cross-sectional studies have reported gut microbiome features associated with advanced NASH fibrosis and cirrhosis, where the most prominent features are associated with cirrhosis. However, no large, prospectively collected data exist establishing microbiome features that discern non-cirrhotic NASH fibrosis, integrate the fecal metabolome as disease biomarkers, and are unconfounded by BMI and age. Results from shotgun metagenomic sequencing performed on fecal samples prospectively collected from 279 US patients with biopsy-proven NASH (F1-F3 fibrosis) enrolled in the REGENERATE I303 study were compared to those from three healthy control cohorts and integrated with the absolute quantification of fecal bile acids. Microbiota beta-diversity was different, and BMI- and age-adjusted logistic regression identified 12 NASH-associated species. Random forest prediction models resulted in an AUC of 0.75 to 0.81 in a receiver operator characteristic analysis. Additionally, specific fecal bile acids were significantly lower in NASH and correlated with plasma C4 levels. Microbial gene abundance analysis revealed 127 genes increased in controls, many involving protein synthesis, whereas 362 genes were increased in NASH many involving bacterial environmental responses (FDR < 0.01). Finally, we provide evidence that fecal bile acid levels may be a better discriminator of non-cirrhotic NASH versus health than either plasma bile acids or gut microbiome features. These results may have value as a set of baseline characteristics of non-cirrhotic NASH against which therapeutic interventions to prevent cirrhosis can be compared and microbiome-based diagnostic biomarkers identified.},
}

@article {pmid37222046,
year = {2023},
author = {Doss, RK and Palmer, M and Mead, DA and Hedlund, BP},
title = {Functional biology and biotechnology of thermophilic viruses.},
journal = {Essays in biochemistry},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1042/EBC20220209},
pmid = {37222046},
issn = {1744-1358},
abstract = {Viruses have developed sophisticated biochemical and genetic mechanisms to manipulate and exploit their hosts. Enzymes derived from viruses have been essential research tools since the first days of molecular biology. However, most viral enzymes that have been commercialized are derived from a small number of cultivated viruses, which is remarkable considering the extraordinary diversity and abundance of viruses revealed by metagenomic analysis. Given the explosion of new enzymatic reagents derived from thermophilic prokaryotes over the past 40 years, those obtained from thermophilic viruses should be equally potent tools. This review discusses the still-limited state of the art regarding the functional biology and biotechnology of thermophilic viruses with a focus on DNA polymerases, ligases, endolysins, and coat proteins. Functional analysis of DNA polymerases and primase-polymerases from phages infecting Thermus, Aquificaceae, and Nitratiruptor has revealed new clades of enzymes with strong proofreading and reverse transcriptase capabilities. Thermophilic RNA ligase 1 homologs have been characterized from Rhodothermus and Thermus phages, with both commercialized for circularization of single-stranded templates. Endolysins from phages infecting Thermus, Meiothermus, and Geobacillus have shown high stability and unusually broad lytic activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, making them targets for commercialization as antimicrobials. Coat proteins from thermophilic viruses infecting Sulfolobales and Thermus strains have been characterized, with diverse potential applications as molecular shuttles. To gauge the scale of untapped resources for these proteins, we also document over 20,000 genes encoded by uncultivated viral genomes from high-temperature environments that encode DNA polymerase, ligase, endolysin, or coat protein domains.},
}

@article {pmid37221274,
year = {2023},
author = {Megremis, S and Constantinides, B and Xepapadaki, P and Yap, CF and Sotiropoulos, AG and Bachert, C and Finotto, S and Jartti, T and Tapinos, A and Vuorinen, T and Andreakos, E and Robertson, DL and Papadopoulos, NG},
title = {Respiratory eukaryotic virome expansion and bacteriophage deficiency characterize childhood asthma.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {13},
number = {1},
pages = {8319},
pmid = {37221274},
issn = {2045-2322},
abstract = {Asthma development and exacerbation is linked to respiratory virus infections. There is limited information regarding the presence of viruses during non-exacerbation/infection periods. We investigated the nasopharyngeal/nasal virome during a period of asymptomatic state, in a subset of 21 healthy and 35 asthmatic preschool children from the Predicta cohort. Using metagenomics, we described the virome ecology and the cross-species interactions within the microbiome. The virome was dominated by eukaryotic viruses, while prokaryotic viruses (bacteriophages) were independently observed with low abundance. Rhinovirus B species consistently dominated the virome in asthma. Anelloviridae were the most abundant and rich family in both health and asthma. However, their richness and alpha diversity were increased in asthma, along with the co-occurrence of different Anellovirus genera. Bacteriophages were richer and more diverse in healthy individuals. Unsupervised clustering identified three virome profiles that were correlated to asthma severity and control and were independent of treatment, suggesting a link between the respiratory virome and asthma. Finally, we observed different cross-species ecological associations in the healthy versus the asthmatic virus-bacterial interactome, and an expanded interactome of eukaryotic viruses in asthma. Upper respiratory virome "dysbiosis" appears to be a novel feature of pre-school asthma during asymptomatic/non-infectious states and merits further investigation.},
}

@article {pmid37221272,
year = {2023},
author = {Hsia, K and Zhao, N and Chung, M and Algarrahi, K and Kouhsari, LM and Fu, M and Chen, H and Singh, S and Michaud, DS and Jangi, S},
title = {Alterations in the Fungal Microbiome in Ulcerative Colitis.},
journal = {Inflammatory bowel diseases},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/ibd/izad082},
pmid = {37221272},
issn = {1536-4844},
support = {KL2TR002545/NH/NIH HHS/United States ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Although gut fungi have been implicated in the immunopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, the fungal microbiome has not been deeply explored across endohistologic activity and treatment exposure in ulcerative colitis.

METHODS: We analyzed data from the SPARC IBD (Study of a Prospective Adult Research Cohort with Inflammatory Bowel Disease) registry. We evaluated the fungal composition of fecal samples from 98 patients with ulcerative colitis across endoscopic activity (n = 43), endohistologic activity (n = 41), and biologic exposure (n = 82). Across all subgroups, we assessed fungal diversity and differential abundance of taxonomic groups.

RESULTS: We identified 500 unique fungal amplicon sequence variants across the cohort of 82 patients, dominated by phylum Ascomycota. Compared with endoscopic remission, patients with endoscopic activity had increased Saccharomyces (log2 fold change = 4.54; adjusted P < 5 × 10-5) and increased Candida (log2 fold change = 2.56; adjusted P < .03). After adjusting for age, sex, and biologic exposure among patients with endoscopic activity, Saccharomyces (log2 fold change = 7.76; adjusted P < 1 × 10-15) and Candida (log2 fold change = 7.28; adjusted P< 1 × 10-8) remained enriched during endoscopic activity compared with quiescence.

CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic inflammation in ulcerative colitis is associated with an expansion of Saccharomyces and Candida compared with remission. The role of these fungal taxa as potential biomarkers and targets for personalized approaches to therapeutics in ulcerative colitis should be evaluated.},
}

@article {pmid37079883,
year = {2023},
author = {Gollnisch, R and Wallenius, J and Gribble, KE and Ahrén, D and Rengefors, K},
title = {SAG-RAD: A Method for Single-Cell Population Genomics of Unicellular Eukaryotes.},
journal = {Molecular biology and evolution},
volume = {40},
number = {5},
pages = {},
pmid = {37079883},
issn = {1537-1719},
mesh = {*Metagenomics ; *Eukaryota/genetics ; Genomics/methods ; Genome ; Sequence Analysis, DNA/methods ; },
abstract = {Sequencing of reduced representation libraries enables genotyping of many individuals for population genomic studies. However, high amounts of DNA are required, and the method cannot be applied directly on single cells, preventing its use on most microbes. We developed and implemented the analysis of single amplified genomes followed by restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing to bypass labor-intensive culturing and to avoid culturing bias in population genomic studies of unicellular eukaryotes. This method thus opens the way for addressing important questions about the genetic diversity, gene flow, adaptation, dispersal, and biogeography of hitherto unexplored species.},
}

*Metagenomics
*Eukaryota/genetics
Genomics/methods
Genome
Sequence Analysis, DNA/methods

@article {pmid37223356,
year = {2022},
author = {Rigou, S and Christo-Foroux, E and Santini, S and Goncharov, A and Strauss, J and Grosse, G and Fedorov, AN and Labadie, K and Abergel, C and Claverie, JM},
title = {Metagenomic survey of the microbiome of ancient Siberian permafrost and modern Kamchatkan cryosols.},
journal = {microLife},
volume = {3},
number = {},
pages = {uqac003},
pmid = {37223356},
issn = {2633-6693},
abstract = {In the context of global warming, the melting of Arctic permafrost raises the threat of a reemergence of microorganisms some of which were shown to remain viable in ancient frozen soils for up to half a million years. In order to evaluate this risk, it is of interest to acquire a better knowledge of the composition of the microbial communities found in this understudied environment. Here, we present a metagenomic analysis of 12 soil samples from Russian Arctic and subarctic pristine areas: Chukotka, Yakutia and Kamchatka, including nine permafrost samples collected at various depths. These large datasets (9.2 × 10[11] total bp) were assembled (525 313 contigs > 5 kb), their encoded protein contents predicted, and then used to perform taxonomical assignments of bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic organisms, as well as DNA viruses. The various samples exhibited variable DNA contents and highly diverse taxonomic profiles showing no obvious relationship with their locations, depths or deposit ages. Bacteria represented the largely dominant DNA fraction (95%) in all samples, followed by archaea (3.2%), surprisingly little eukaryotes (0.5%), and viruses (0.4%). Although no common taxonomic pattern was identified, the samples shared unexpected high frequencies of β-lactamase genes, almost 0.9 copy/bacterial genome. In addition to known environmental threats, the particularly intense warming of the Arctic might thus enhance the spread of bacterial antibiotic resistances, today's major challenge in public health. β-Lactamases were also observed at high frequency in other types of soils, suggesting their general role in the regulation of bacterial populations.},
}

@article {pmid37220973,
year = {2023},
author = {Dreher, TW and Matthews, R and Davis, EW and Mueller, RS},
title = {Woronichinia naegeliana: A common nontoxigenic component of temperate freshwater cyanobacterial blooms with 30% of its genome in transposons.},
journal = {Harmful algae},
volume = {125},
number = {},
pages = {102433},
doi = {10.1016/j.hal.2023.102433},
pmid = {37220973},
issn = {1878-1470},
abstract = {Monitoring in the U.S. state of Washington across the period 2007-2019 showed that Woronichinia has been present in many lakes state-wide. This cyanobacterium was commonly dominant or sub-dominant in cyanobacterial blooms in the wet temperate region west of the Cascade Mountains. In these lakes, Woronichinia often co-existed with Microcystis, Dolichospermum and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and the cyanotoxin microcystin has often been present in those blooms, although it has not been known whether Woronichinia is a toxin producer. We report the first complete genome of Woronichinia naegeliana WA131, assembled from the metagenome of a sample collected from Wiser Lake, Washington, in 2018. The genome contains no genes for cyanotoxin biosynthesis or taste-and-odor compounds, but there are biosynthetic gene clusters for other bioactive peptides, including anabaenopeptins, cyanopeptolins, microginins and ribosomally produced, post-translationally modified peptides. Genes for photosynthesis, nutrient acquisition, vitamin synthesis and buoyancy that are typical of bloom-forming cyanobacteria are present, although nitrate and nitrite reductase genes are conspicuously absent. However, the 7.9 Mbp genome is 3-4 Mbp larger than those of the above-mentioned frequently co-existing cyanobacteria. The increased genome size is largely due to an extraordinary number of insertion sequence elements (transposons), which account for 30.3% of the genome and many of which are present in multiple copies. The genome contains a relatively large number of pseudogenes, 97% of which are transposase genes. W. naegeliana WA131 thus seems to be able to limit the potentially deleterious effects of high rates of recombination and transposition to the mobilome fraction of its genome.},
}

@article {pmid37220151,
year = {2023},
author = {Rios-Martinez, C and Bhattacharya, N and Amini, AP and Crawford, L and Yang, KK},
title = {Deep self-supervised learning for biosynthetic gene cluster detection and product classification.},
journal = {PLoS computational biology},
volume = {19},
number = {5},
pages = {e1011162},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011162},
pmid = {37220151},
issn = {1553-7358},
abstract = {Natural products are chemical compounds that form the basis of many therapeutics used in the pharmaceutical industry. In microbes, natural products are synthesized by groups of colocalized genes called biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). With advances in high-throughput sequencing, there has been an increase of complete microbial isolate genomes and metagenomes, from which a vast number of BGCs are undiscovered. Here, we introduce a self-supervised learning approach designed to identify and characterize BGCs from such data. To do this, we represent BGCs as chains of functional protein domains and train a masked language model on these domains. We assess the ability of our approach to detect BGCs and characterize BGC properties in bacterial genomes. We also demonstrate that our model can learn meaningful representations of BGCs and their constituent domains, detect BGCs in microbial genomes, and predict BGC product classes. These results highlight self-supervised neural networks as a promising framework for improving BGC prediction and classification.},
}

@article {pmid37219969,
year = {2023},
author = {Lamothe, RC and Storlie, MD and Espinosa, DA and Rudlaff, R and Browne, P and Liu, J and Rivas, A and Devoto, A and Oki, J and Khoubyari, A and Goltsman, DSA and Lin, JL and Butterfield, CN and Brown, CT and Thomas, BC and Cost, GJ},
title = {Novel CRISPR-Associated Gene-Editing Systems Discovered in Metagenomic Samples Enable Efficient and Specific Genome Engineering.},
journal = {The CRISPR journal},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1089/crispr.2022.0089},
pmid = {37219969},
issn = {2573-1602},
abstract = {Development of medicines using gene editing has been hampered by enzymological and immunological impediments. We described previously the discovery and characterization of improved, novel gene-editing systems from metagenomic data. In this study, we substantially advance this work with three such gene-editing systems, demonstrating their utility for cell therapy development. All three systems are capable of reproducible, high-frequency gene editing in primary immune cells. In human T cells, disruption of the T cell receptor (TCR) alpha-chain was induced in >95% of cells, both paralogs of the TCR beta-chain in >90% of cells, and >90% knockout of β2-microglobulin, TIGIT, FAS, and PDCD1. Simultaneous double knockout of TRAC and TRBC was obtained at a frequency equal to that of the single edits. Gene editing with our systems had minimal effect on T cell viability. Furthermore, we integrate a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) construct into TRAC (up to ∼60% of T cells), and demonstrate CAR expression and cytotoxicity. We next applied our novel gene-editing tools to natural killer (NK) cells, B cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells, generating similarly efficient cell-engineering outcomes including the creation of active CAR-NK cells. Interrogation of our gene-editing systems' specificity reveals a profile comparable with or better than Cas9. Finally, our nucleases lack preexisting humoral and T cell-based immunity, consistent with their sourcing from nonhuman pathogens. In all, we show these new gene-editing systems have the activity, specificity, and translatability necessary for use in cell therapy development.},
}

@article {pmid37219423,
year = {2023},
author = {Xi, Y and Jiang, X and Xie, X and Zhao, M and Zhang, H and Qin, K and Wang, X and Liu, Y and Yang, S and Shen, Q and Ji, L and Shang, P and Zhang, W and Shan, T},
title = {Viromics Reveals the High Diversity of Viruses from Fishes of the Tibet Highland.},
journal = {Microbiology spectrum},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e0094623},
doi = {10.1128/spectrum.00946-23},
pmid = {37219423},
issn = {2165-0497},
abstract = {Aquaculture is important for food security and nutrition. The economy has recently been significantly threatened and the risk of zoonoses significantly increased by aquatic diseases, and the ongoing introduction of new aquatic pathogens, particularly viruses, continues to represent a hazard. Yet, our knowledge of the diversity and abundance of fish viruses is still limited. Here, we conducted a metagenomic survey of different species of healthy fishes caught in the Lhasa River, Tibet, China, and sampled intestinal contents, gills, and tissues. To be more precise, by identifying and analyzing viral genomes, we aim to determine the abundance, diversity, and evolutionary relationships of viruses in fish with other potential hosts. Our analysis identified 28 potentially novel viruses, 22 of which may be associated with vertebrates, across seven viral families. During our research, we found several new strains of viruses in fish, including papillomavirus, hepadnavirus, and hepevirus. Additionally, we discovered two viral families, Circoviridae and Parvoviridae, which were prevalent and closely related to viruses that infect mammals. These findings further expand our understanding of highland fish viruses and highlight the emerging view that fish harbor large, unknown viruses. IMPORTANCE The economy and zoonoses have recently been significantly threatened by aquatic diseases. Yet, our knowledge of the diversity and abundance of fish viruses is still limited. We identified the wide genetic diversity of viruses that these fish were harboring. Since there are currently few studies on the virome of fish living in the Tibet highland, our research adds to the body of knowledge. This discovery lays the groundwork for future studies on the virome of fish species and other highland animals, preserving the ecological equilibrium on the plateau.},
}

@article {pmid37219419,
year = {2023},
author = {Whidbey, C and Konopaski, AN and Teshome, R and Dhaliwal, S and Peters, MQ and Mejia, ME and Ballard, MB and Patras, KA},
title = {Complete Genome Sequences of 37 Bacteria from the Human Vaginal Tract.},
journal = {Microbiology resource announcements},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {e0035823},
doi = {10.1128/mra.00358-23},
pmid = {37219419},
issn = {2576-098X},
abstract = {Microorganisms colonizing the human vaginal mucosa are associated with healthy states, as well as conditions such as bacterial vaginosis and infection-associated preterm birth. Here, we report complete genome sequences of 37 bacterial isolates from the human vaginal tract.},
}

@article {pmid37219409,
year = {2023},
author = {Fisher, AM and Airey, G and Liu, Y and Gemmell, M and Thomas, J and Bentley, EG and Whitehead, MA and Paxton, WA and Pollakis, G and Paterson, S and Viney, M},
title = {The Ecology of Viruses in Urban Rodents with a Focus on SARS-CoV-2.},
journal = {Emerging microbes & infections},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {2217940},
doi = {10.1080/22221751.2023.2217940},
pmid = {37219409},
issn = {2222-1751},
abstract = {Wild animals are naturally infected with a range of viruses, some of which may be zoonotic for humans. During the human COVID pandemic there was also the possibility of rodents acquiring SARS-CoV-2 from people, so-called reverse zoonoses. To investigate this we sampled rats (Rattus norvegicus) and mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) from urban environments in 2020 during the human COVID-19 pandemic. We metagenomically sequenced lung and gut tissue and faeces for viruses, PCR screened for SARS-CoV-2, and serologically surveyed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike antibodies. We describe the range of viruses that we found in these two rodent species. We found no molecular evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, though in rats we found lung antibody responses and evidence of neutralisation ability, that are consistent with rats being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and / or exposed to other viruses that result in cross-reactive antibodies.},
}

@article {pmid37218009,
year = {2023},
author = {Lin, MJ and Su, TH and Chen, CC and Wu, WK and Hsu, SJ and Tseng, TC and Liao, SH and Hong, CM and Yang, HC and Liu, CJ and Wu, MS and Kao, JH},
title = {Diversity and composition of gut microbiota in healthy individuals and patients at different stages of hepatitis B virus-related liver disease.},
journal = {Gut pathogens},
volume = {15},
number = {1},
pages = {24},
pmid = {37218009},
issn = {1757-4749},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes chronic hepatitis B (CHB), liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The evolution of human gut microbiota during the progression of HBV-related liver diseases remains unclear. Therefore, we prospectively enrolled patients with HBV-related liver diseases and healthy individuals. Through 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing, we characterized the gut microbiota of the participants and predicted the functions of microbial communities.

RESULTS: We analyzed the gut microbiota of 56 healthy controls and 106 patients with HBV-related liver disease [14 with resolved HBV infection, 58 with CHB, and 34 with advanced liver disease (15 with liver cirrhosis and 19 with hepatocellular carcinoma)]. Patients with HBV-related liver disease exhibited a higher degree of bacterial richness (all P < 0.05) than did healthy controls. Beta diversity analyses revealed a distinct clustering pattern between healthy controls and patients with HBV-related liver disease (all P < 0.05). The composition of bacteria (from the phylum level to the genus level) varied across the stages of liver disease. Linear discriminant analysis effect size revealed multiple taxa that differ significantly in abundance between healthy controls and patients with HBV-related liver disease; however, fewer differences were observed among patients with resolved HBV infection, those with CHB, and those with advanced liver disease. The ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes was increased in all three patient groups compared with the ratio in healthy controls (all P < 0.001). The analysis of the sequencing data by using PICRUSt2 revealed the changes in microbial functions with disease progression.

CONCLUSIONS: The diversity and composition of gut microbiota appear to vary significantly between healthy controls and patients at different stages of HBV-related liver disease. The understanding of gut microbiota may provide novel therapeutic options in these patients.},
}

@article {pmid37217817,
year = {2023},
author = {Srivastava, A and Verma, D},
title = {Urbanization led to the abundance of Gram-negative, chemo-organo-heterotrophs, and antibiotic resistance genes in the downstream regions of the Ganga River water of India.},
journal = {Environmental science and pollution research international},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37217817},
issn = {1614-7499},
abstract = {The present investigation assesses the bacterial microbiome and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of the river Ganga from Uttarakhand (upstream region; US group) and Uttar Pradesh (downstream region; DS group) regions using a 16S rRNA amplicon-based metagenomic approach. Gram-negative, aerobic, and chemo-organotrophic bacteria made up the majority of the bacterial genera during the overall analysis. Physicochemical analysis revealed a higher concentration of nitrate and phosphate in the downstream sites of the Ganga River. The prevalence of Gemmatimonas, Flavobacterium, Arenimonas, and Verrucomicrobia in the water of the DS region indicates a high organic load. Pseudomonas and Flavobacterium emerged as the most prevalent genera among the 35 significantly different shared genera (p-value < 0.05) in the US and DS regions, respectively. Overall antibiotic resistance analysis of the samples showed the dominance of β-lactam resistance (33.92%) followed by CAMP (cationic antimicrobial peptide) resistance (27.75%), and multidrug resistance (19.17%), vancomycin resistance (17.84%), and tetracycline resistance (0.77%). While comparing, the DS group exhibited a higher abundance of ARGs over the US group, where the CAMP resistance and β-lactam ARGs were dominant in the respective regions. The correlation (p-value < 0.05) analysis showed that most bacteria exhibit a significant correlation with tetracycline resistance followed by the phenicol antibiotic. The present findings draw attention to the need for regulated disposal of multiform human-derived wastes into the Ganga River to reduce the irrepressible ARGs dissemination.},
}

@article {pmid37217593,
year = {2023},
author = {Takuhei, S and Nishimura, Y and Yoshizawa, S and Takami, H and Hamasaki, K and Fujiwara, A and Nishino, S and Harada, N},
title = {Distribution and survival strategies of endemic and cosmopolitan diazotrophs in the Arctic Ocean.},
journal = {The ISME journal},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37217593},
issn = {1751-7370},
abstract = {Dinitrogen (N2) fixation is the major source of reactive nitrogen in the ocean and has been considered to occur specifically in low-latitude oligotrophic oceans. Recent studies have shown that N2 fixation also occurs in the polar regions and thus is a global process, although the physiological and ecological characteristics of polar diazotrophs are not yet known. Here, we successfully reconstructed diazotroph genomes, including that of cyanobacterium UCYN-A (Candidatus 'Atelocyanobacterium thalassa'), from metagenome data corresponding to 111 samples isolated from the Arctic Ocean. These diazotrophs were highly abundant in the Arctic Ocean (max., 1.28% of the total microbial community), suggesting that they have important roles in the Arctic ecosystem and biogeochemical cycles. Further, we show that diazotrophs within genera Arcobacter, Psychromonas, and Oceanobacter are prevalent in the <0.2 µm fraction in the Arctic Ocean, indicating that current methods cannot capture their N2 fixation. Diazotrophs in the Arctic Ocean were either Arctic-endemic or cosmopolitan species from their global distribution patterns. Arctic-endemic diazotrophs, including Arctic UCYN-A, were similar to low-latitude-endemic and cosmopolitan diazotrophs in genome-wide function, however, they had unique gene sets (e.g., diverse aromatics degradation genes), suggesting adaptations to Arctic-specific conditions. Cosmopolitan diazotrophs were generally non-cyanobacteria and commonly had the gene that encodes the cold-inducible RNA chaperone, which presumably makes their survival possible even in deep, cold waters of global ocean and polar surface waters. This study shows global distribution pattern of diazotrophs with their genomes and provides clues to answering the question of how diazotrophs can inhabit polar waters.},
}

@article {pmid37217592,
year = {2023},
author = {Waldrop, MP and Chabot, CL and Liebner, S and Holm, S and Snyder, MW and Dillon, M and Dudgeon, SR and Douglas, TA and Leewis, MC and Walter Anthony, KM and McFarland, JW and Arp, CD and Bondurant, AC and Taş, N and Mackelprang, R},
title = {Permafrost microbial communities and functional genes are structured by latitudinal and soil geochemical gradients.},
journal = {The ISME journal},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
pmid = {37217592},
issn = {1751-7370},
abstract = {Permafrost underlies approximately one quarter of Northern Hemisphere terrestrial surfaces and contains 25-50% of the global soil carbon (C) pool. Permafrost soils and the C stocks within are vulnerable to ongoing and future projected climate warming. The biogeography of microbial communities inhabiting permafrost has not been examined beyond a small number of sites focused on local-scale variation. Permafrost is different from other soils. Perennially frozen conditions in permafrost dictate that microbial communities do not turn over quickly, thus possibly providing strong linkages to past environments. Thus, the factors structuring the composition and function of microbial communities may differ from patterns observed in other terrestrial environments. Here, we analyzed 133 permafrost metagenomes from North America, Europe, and Asia. Permafrost biodiversity and taxonomic distribution varied in relation to pH, latitude and soil depth. The distribution of genes differed by latitude, soil depth, age, and pH. Genes that were the most highly variable across all sites were associated with energy metabolism and C-assimilation. Specifically, methanogenesis, fermentation, nitrate reduction, and replenishment of citric acid cycle intermediates. This suggests that adaptations to energy acquisition and substrate availability are among some of the strongest selective pressures shaping permafrost microbial communities. The spatial variation in metabolic potential has primed communities for specific biogeochemical processes as soils thaw due to climate change, which could cause regional- to global- scale variation in C and nitrogen processing and greenhouse gas emissions.},
}

@article {pmid37217495,
year = {2023},
author = {Cho, H and Ren, Z and Divaris, K and Roach, J and Lin, BM and Liu, C and Azcarate-Peril, MA and Simancas-Pallares, MA and Shrestha, P and Orlenko, A and Ginnis, J and North, KE and Zandona, AGF and Ribeiro, AA and Wu, D and Koo, H},
title = {Selenomonas sputigena acts as a pathobiont mediating spatial structure and biofilm virulence in early childhood caries.},
journal = {Nature communications},
volume = {14},
number = {1},
pages = {2919},
pmid = {37217495},
issn = {2041-1723},
abstract = {Streptococcus mutans has been implicated as the primary pathogen in childhood caries (tooth decay). While the role of polymicrobial communities is appreciated, it remains unclear whether other microorganisms are active contributors or interact with pathogens. Here, we integrate multi-omics of supragingival biofilm (dental plaque) from 416 preschool-age children (208 males and 208 females) in a discovery-validation pipeline to identify disease-relevant inter-species interactions. Sixteen taxa associate with childhood caries in metagenomics-metatranscriptomics analyses. Using multiscale/computational imaging and virulence assays, we examine biofilm formation dynamics, spatial arrangement, and metabolic activity of Selenomonas sputigena, Prevotella salivae and Leptotrichia wadei, either individually or with S. mutans. We show that S. sputigena, a flagellated anaerobe with previously unknown role in supragingival biofilm, becomes trapped in streptococcal exoglucans, loses motility but actively proliferates to build a honeycomb-like multicellular-superstructure encapsulating S. mutans, enhancing acidogenesis. Rodent model experiments reveal an unrecognized ability of S. sputigena to colonize supragingival tooth surfaces. While incapable of causing caries on its own, when co-infected with S. mutans, S. sputigena causes extensive tooth enamel lesions and exacerbates disease severity in vivo. In summary, we discover a pathobiont cooperating with a known pathogen to build a unique spatial structure and heighten biofilm virulence in a prevalent human disease.},
}

@article {pmid37217150,
year = {2023},
author = {Khanthong, K and Kadam, R and Kim, T and Park, J},
title = {Synergetic effects of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and algae on biogas production.},
journal = {Bioresource technology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {129208},
doi = {10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129208},
pmid = {37217150},
issn = {1873-2976},
abstract = {Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and algae was assessed to offset the drawbacks of anaerobic mono-digestion of each substrate. Batch test results indicated that a food waste and algae mixture ratio of 8:2 facilitated the highest CH4 yield (334 mL CH4/g CODInput). This ratio was applied to the anaerobic co-digestion reactor, resulting in a CH4 yield that was twice that of the anaerobic mono-digestion reactors, thereby facilitating high operational stability. In contrast to the anaerobic mono-digestion, anaerobic co-digestion resulted in stable CH4 production by overcoming volatile fatty acid accumulation and a decreased pH, even under a high organic loading rate (3 kg COD/m[3]∙d). Furthermore, a comparative metagenomic analysis revealed that the abundance of volatile fatty acid-oxidizing bacteria and hydrogenotrophic and methylotrophic methanogens was significantly increased in the anaerobic co-digestion reactor. These findings indicate that the anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and algae significantly improves CH4 production and process stability.},
}