Sargassum spp. flood the Caribbean coastline, causing damage to the local economy and environment. Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been proposed as an attractive option for turning macroalgae into ...valuable resources. Sargassum spp. has a complex composition that affects the microbial composition involved in AD which generates a low methane yield. This study aimed to improve the methane yield of pelagic Sargassum, using different energy-saving pretreatments and identifying the microbial community associated with methane production. We applied different energy-saving pretreatments to algal biomass and assessed the methane yield using a biomethane potential (BMP) test. The microbial communities involved in the AD of the best- and worst-performing methanogenic systems were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that pretreatment modified the content of inorganic compounds, fibers, and the C:N ratio, which had a strong positive correlation with BMP. The water washing pretreatment resulted in the best methane yield, with an increase of 38%. DNA metabarcoding analysis revealed that the bacterial genera Marinilabiliaceae_uncultured, DMER64, Treponema, and Hydrogenispora, as well as the archaea genera Methanosarcina, RumEn_M2, Bathyarchaeia, and Methanomassiliicocus, dominated the microbial community with a high methane yield. This study is the first to demonstrate the microbial community structure involved in the AD of Sargassum spp. The pretreatments presented in this study can help overcome the limitations associated with methane yield.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis (TB) is the most important infectious disease worldwide, based on the number of new cases and deaths reported by the World Health Organization. Several vaccine candidates ...against TB have been characterized at preclinical and clinical levels. The BCGΔBCG1419c vaccine candidate, which lacks the BCG1419c gene that encodes for a c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase, provides improved efficacy against chronic TB, reactivation from latent-like infection and against chronic TB in the presence of type 2 diabetes in murine models. We previously reported that compared with wild type BCG, BCGΔBCG1419c changed levels of several proteins. Here, using a label-free proteomic approach, we confirmed that a novel, second-generation version of BCGΔBCG1419c maintains changes in antigenic proteins already reported, and here we further found differences in secreted proteins, as well as that this new BCGΔBCG1419c version modifies its production of proteins involved in redox and nitrogen/protein metabolism compared with wild type BCG. This work contributes to the proteomic characterization of a novel vaccine candidate that is more effective against TB than parental BCG in diverse murine models.
Proteomic characterization of the second-generation version of the BCG vaccine candidate that is effective against chronic tuberculosis.
Retinol plays a significant role in several physiological processes through their nuclear receptors, whose expression depends on retinol cytoplasmic concentration. Loss of expression of nuclear ...receptors and low retinol levels have been correlated with lung cancer development. Stimulated by retinoic acid 6 (STRA6) is the only described cell membrane receptor for retinol uptake. Some chronic diseases have been linked with specific polymorphisms in STRA6. This study aimed to evaluate four STRA6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs4886578, rs736118, rs351224, and rs97445) among 196 patients with locally-advanced and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Genotyping, through a validated SNP assay and determined using real time-PCR, was correlated with clinical features and outcomes. NSCLC patients with a TT SNP rs4886578 and rs736118 genotype were more likely to be >60 years, non-smokers, and harboring EGFR mutations. Patients with a TT genotype compared with a CC/CT SNP rs974456 genotype had a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 3.2 vs. 4.8 months, p = 0.044, under a platinum-based regimen in the first-line. Furthermore, patients with a TT rs351224 genotype showed a prolonged overall survival (OS), 47.5 months vs. 32.0 months, p = 0.156. This study showed a correlation between clinical characteristics, such as age, non-smoking history, and EGFR mutational status and oncological outcomes depending on STRA6 SNPs. The STRA6 TT genotype SNP rs4886578 and rs736118 might be potential biomarkers in locally-advanced and metastatic NSCLC patients.
Thalassobacillus
is a moderately halophilic genus that has been isolated from several sites worldwide, such as hypersaline lakes, saline soils, salt flats, and volcanic mud. Halophilic bacteria have ...provided functional stable biomolecules in harsh conditions for industrial purposes. Despite its potential biotechnological applications,
Thalassobacillus
has not been fully characterized yet. This review describes the
Thalassobacillus
genus, with the few species reported, pointing out its possible applications in enzymes (amylases, cellulases, xylanases, and others), biosurfactants, bioactive compounds, biofuels production, bioremediation, and plant growth promotion. The
Thalassobacillus
genus represents a little-explored biological resource but with a high potential.
'Los Negritos" is an extremophile geothermal site from Michoacan State, Mexico. Evidence of the diversity of its microbiota and its potential is still lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the ...bacterial communities by 16S metagenomics of the site and the potential of culturable bacteria isolated from the site by promoting growth plants (PGP) traits. Gemmatimonadetes phylum was the most abundant, followed by Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes. A total of 15 culturable strains were isolated and identified. They belong to five different species: Bacillus seohaeanensis, Jeotgalibacillus alkaliphilus, Halobacillus andaensis, Thalassobacillus devorans, and Halobacillus campisalis. The phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production was in the interval from 14.78 to 46.52 mg L
−1
. The best IAA producers were T. devorans E18 and H. campisalis E20 with tryptophan and H. andaensis, T. devorans, and H. campisalis without tryptophan ranging 39.8 to 51.5 mg L
−1
. Phosphorous solubilization capability was detected in J. alkaliphilus and T. devorans, whereas B. seohaeanensis was the highest ammonium producer (34.1 ± 0.52 mg L
−1
) and H. andaensis was positive for siderophore production. These results demonstrate that, despite the low diversity, bacteria isolated from 'Los Negritos' have the potential for plant growth promotion.
The molecular explanation about why some pancreatic cancer (PaCa) patients die early and others die later is poorly understood. This study aimed to discover potential novel markers and drug targets ...that could be useful to stratify and extend expected survival in prospective early-death patients. We deployed a deep learning algorithm and analyzed the gene copy number, gene expression, and protein expression data of death versus alive PaCa patients from the GDC cohort. The genes with higher relative amplification (copy number >4 times in the dead compared with the alive group) were
,
,
,
,
, and
. The most highly up-regulated genes (>8.5-fold change) in the death group were
,
,
,
,
_
,
,
,
-
,
, and
. None of their corresponding proteins were up or down-regulated in the death group. The mRNA of the
pseudogene could act as ceRNA sponging the miRNA that was originally directed to the parental gene
. We propose
mRNA as the most druggable target that can be modulated with small molecules or the RNA technology approach. These markers could be added as criteria to patient stratification in future PaCa drug trials, but further validation in the target populations is encouraged.
The management difficulties implied at field-scale composting make difficult to perform kinetic studies, leading to a gap in the literature at real enterprise conditions. Although composting has been ...reported to show a three-phase kinetics regarding the temperature, for organic matter, an exponential decay kinetics has been described. Organic matter decay, internal temperature of sugar-cane bagasse compost windrows along the time at enterprise (field-scale) level and the microbial community of the final product were analyzed. Final compost was achieved at 12-17 weeks with 41-47 % humidity and 31-47 % organic matter content. Kinetics model of organic matter biodegradation showed R2 ≥ 0.6 and no differences between exponential or linear model R2 were observed. Linear biodegradation constant was 2.5 % of organic matter loss/week, ranging from 2.2 to 3.7 %/week. The most abundant bacterial classes were Bacilli and Anaerolineae from metagenomic analysis. Bacterial cultures isolated showed plant-growth promoting and aromatic degradation capabilities. This shed light to future prospection studies on real-world composting for enterprises and scientists.
Objective: This study evaluates the effects of exposure to pesticides on the health of pesticide retailers. Methods: The study population comprised 83-male pesticide retailers and 98 controls. Serum ...butyrylcholinesterase levels and complete blood analysis were performed in a certified laboratory and each subject completed a structured questionnaire. Results: Butyrylcholinesterase activity and hematological parameters such as hemoglobin and hematocrit were significantly lower in pesticide retailers than in control subjects. In contrast, platelet count as well as hepatic parameters such as glutamic-pyruvate transaminase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activities was higher in pesticide retailers. Furthermore, pesticide retailers experienced burning sensations in the skin more frequently than controls. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest the importance of evaluating further toxicological biomarkers in these populations.
Bacillus Calmette-Guèrin (BCG) remains as the only vaccine employed to prevent tuberculosis (TB) during childhood. Among factors likely contributing to the variable efficacy of BCG is the ...modification in its antigenic repertoire that may arise from in vitro growth conditions. Our vaccine candidate, BCGΔBCG1419c, improved protection against TB in mice and guinea pigs with bacteria grown in either 7H9 OADC Tween 80 or in Proskauer Beck Tween 80 media in independent studies. Here, we compared the proteomes of planktonic cultures of BCG and BCGΔBCG1419c, grown in both media. Further to this, we compared systemic immunogenicity ex vivo elicited by both types of BCG strains and cultures when used to vaccinate BALB/c mice. Both the parental strain BCG Pasteur ATCC 35734, and its isogenic mutant BCGΔBCG1419c, had several medium-dependent changes. Moreover, ex vivo immune responses to a multiantigenic (PPD) or a single antigenic (Ag85A) stimulus were also medium-dependent. Then, not only the presence or absence of the BCG1419c gene in our strains under study affected the proteome produced in vitro but also that this was affected by culture medium, potentially leading to changes in the capacity to induce ex vivo immune responses.
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