Spatiotemporal dynamics of the microbial diversity on salt-preserved goatskins assessed by culturing and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing

Wet-salted skin,as a special artificial high-salt environment,is rich in protein,fat,collagen and other nutrient substrates,and is a rich resource of halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms.However,knowledge gaps regarding the microbial community structure and inter taxa associations of wet-salted skin are large.In this study,the spatiotemporal dynamics and community structure of microorganisms present on wet-salted goatskins were investigated using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and culturable technique.Alpha diversity analysis based on Sobs,Chao,Ace and Shannon indices revealed that microbial diversity on the wet-salted goatskins exhibited a trend of‘down→up→down→flat’with time.During preservation,genera belonging to the bacteria domain such as Aci-netobacter,Weissella and Streptococcus were slowly dying out,whereas those belonging to halophilic archaea such as Natrialba and Haloterrigena were gradually flourishing.Moreover,to resist high-salt stress,microorganisms on the wet-salted goatskin gradually migrated from the outside to the inside,eventually leading to the microbial diversity inside the skin being the same as or even higher than that on the skin surface.Venn diagram analysis revealed that the strains of some genera,including Psychrobacter,Salimicrobium,Salinicola,Ornithinibacillus,Halomonas,Bacillus and Chromohalobacter,were distributed throughout the interior and exterior of the wet-salted goatskin and existed during various periods.Accordingly,45 protease-producing halophilic or halotolerant microorganisms were isolated and screened from the wet-salted goatskin using the gradient dilution plate method.Importantly,16S rRNA genes of some bacteria exhibited less than 99.5%similarity to valid published species,indicating that they likely are novel spe-cies and have a good potential for application.

Effects of enrichmemt planting with native tree species on bacterial community structure and potential impact on Eucalyptus plantations in southern China

Multi-generational planting of Eucalyptus species degrades soil quality but the introduction of legumes can improve soil fertility and microbial diversity.However,the effects of introducing non-legume native tree species on soil nutrients and bacterial community structure remain poorly understood.This study investigated the impacts of the conversion of third generation monoculture Eucalyptus plantations to mixed systems including Eucalyptus urograndis with Cinnamomum camphora(EC)and E.urograndis with Castanopsis hystrix(EH),on soil chemical and biochemical properties and bacterial community structure,diversity and functions.First generation E.urophylla plantations were the control.Results show that planting the third generation Eucalyptus led to a significant decrease in p H,organic matter,nutrient content,enzyme activities(invertin,acid phosphataes,and urease),and bacterialα-diversity compare to the controls.However,the mixed planting showed significant improvement in soil chemical and biochemical attributes and bacterialα-diversity,although the E.urograndis and C.hystrix planting had no improvement.Chloroflexi(oligotrophic bacteria)were significantly enriched in third generation Eucalyptus and Eucalyptus+C.hystrix,while proteobacteria increased significantly in the E.urograndis with C.camphora plantings.The relative abundance of multiple metabolic pathways increased significantly in the third generation Eucalyptus plantations whereas membrane transportrelated genes were enriched in soils of the mixed systems.The changes in bacterial community structures in the two mixed systems were driven by diversity,organic matter and acid phosphatase,while bacterial functions were affected by invertase,NO_(3)^(-)-N,diversity and urease.These results suggest that the transformation of successive monoculture Eucalyptus plantations into mixed plantations reduces the depletion of soil nutrients and enhances the ecological function of soil microorganisms.

Alterations in gut microbiota are related to metabolite profiles in spinal cord injury

Studies have shown that gut microbiota metabolites can enter the central nervous system via the blood-spinal cord barrier and cause neuroinflammation, thus constituting secondary injury after spinal cord injury. To investigate the correlation between gut microbiota and metabolites and the possible mechanism underlying the effects of gut microbiota on secondary injury after spinal cord injury, in this study, we established mouse models of T8–T10 traumatic spinal cord injury. We used 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metabolomics to reveal the changes in gut microbiota and metabolites in fecal samples from the mouse model. Results showed a severe gut microbiota disturbance after spinal cord injury, which included marked increases in pro-inflammatory bacteria, such as Shigella, Bacteroides, Rikenella, Staphylococcus, and Mucispirillum and decreases in anti-inflammatory bacteria, such as Lactobacillus, Allobaculum, and Sutterella. Meanwhile, we identified 27 metabolites that decreased and 320 metabolites that increased in the injured spinal cord. Combined with pathway enrichment analysis, five markedly differential amino acids(L-leucine, L-methionine, L-phenylalanine, L-isoleucine and L-valine) were screened out, which play a pivotal role in activating oxidative stress and inflammatory responses following spinal cord injury. Integrated correlation analysis indicated that the alteration of gut microbiota was related to the differences in amino acids, which suggests that disturbances in gut microbiota might participate in the secondary injury through the accumulation of partial metabolites that activate oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. Findings from this study provide a new theoretical basis for improving the secondary injury after spinal cord injury through fecal microbial transplantation.

Disruption of bacterial balance in the gut of Portunus trituberculatus induced by Vibrio alginolyticus infection

A bstract Gut microbiota impacts the health of crustaceans. V ibrio alginolyticus is a main causative pathogen that induces the vibriosis in farmed swimming crabs, Portunus trituberculatus. However, it remains unknown whether gut bacteria perform functions during the progression of vibriosis. In this study, 16 SrRNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to investigate temporal alteration of gut bacterial community in swimming crabs in response to 72-h V. alginolyticus challenge. Our results show that V. alginolyticus infection resulted in dynamic changes of bacterial community composition in swimming crabs. Such changes were highlighted by the overwhelming overabundance of V ibrio and a significant fluctuation in the gut bacteria including the bacteria with high relative abundance and especially those with low relative abundance. These findings reveal that crab vibriosis gradually develops with the infection time of V. alginolyticus and tightly relates to the dysbiosis of gut bacterial community structure. This work contributes to our appreciation of the importance of the balance of gut bacterial community structure in maintaining the health of crustaceans.

Influence of group B streptococcus and vaginal cleanliness on the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women

BACKGROUND The vaginal microbiome plays a critical role in the health of pregnant women and their newborns.Group B Streptococcus(GBS)and vaginal cleanliness significantly affect the vaginal microecosystem and are closely associated with vaginal diseases.AIM To explore the effects of GBS status and vaginal cleanliness on vaginal microecosystems.METHODS We collected 160 vaginal swabs from pregnant women and divided them into the following four groups based on GBS status and vaginal cleanliness:GBS-positive+vaginal cleanliness I–II degree,GBS-negative+vaginal cleanliness I–II degree,GBS-positive+vaginal cleanliness III–IV degree,and GBS-negative+vaginal cleanliness III–IV degree.Samples were subjected to 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.RESULTS Alpha diversity analysis showed that the Shannon index did not significantly differ between the four groups.We identified significant variation in taxa abundance between the GBS-positive and GBS-negative groups and between the vaginal cleanliness I–II degree and III–IV degree groups.Principal coordinate analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis further confirmed the microbial diversity of the four groups.Moreover,the linear discriminant analysis demonstrated that Lactobacillus jensenii and Actinobacteria were strongly associated with GBS-positive status,and Lactobacillus iners,Lactobacillaceae,Lactobacillus,Lactobacillales,Bacilli and Firmicutes were closely correlated with GBS-negative status.CONCLUSION GBS status and vaginal cleanliness significantly affect vaginal microbiome differences in pregnant women.Our findings provide instructional information for clinical antibiotic treatment in pregnant women with different GBS statuses and vaginal cleanliness degrees.

Catalog of operational taxonomic units and unified amplicon sequencing data for the microbiomes of medicinal plant roots

China has a rich history of cultivating medicinal plants,whose root microbial communities closely interact with the medicinal plants,thereby influencing their growth,health,and medicinal properties.Currently,researchers widely use 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to study these root microbial communities.However,publicly available sequence datasets often lack essential sample information or contain errors,impeding the reuse of the datasets in the future.In this study,we aimed to create a united,reliable,and readily usable source of 16S rRNA gene sequences for medicinal plant root microbiomes.We compiled a catalog of 1392 microbiome samples for 58 medicinal plants from 58 studies,and manually provided essential sample information based on the experimental setup described in the associated papers.We then processed the sequences using a custom pipeline,generating a united catalog of operational taxonomic units(OTUs)and conducting taxonomic classification.We also pre-dicted the ecological functions of the communities for each sample.Finally,we used this dataset,to compare the rhizosphere bacterial communities of Pseudostellaria heterophylla from Fujian and Guizhou Provinces,revealing significant differences in the community composition of the same plant from different geographic locations.By providing a comprehensive and united catalog of amplicon sequences and OTUs for medicinal plant root bacterial communities,this study offers an invaluable resource for future comparative studies and data mining.