Molecular Identification of Gallibacterium from Hen and Analysis of Its 16S rRNA Gene

Two strains of Gallibacterium, isolated from one laying hen flock in Zhengzhou City of Henan Province, were identified by the morphological observation, genus -specific PCR, and analysis of 16S rRNA gene, which was used to generate the phylogenetic tree, with the 21 members of the 12 genera belonging to Pasteurellaceae to analyze the homology. Two strains were named Yu-ZZ-HL-I-SLG and Yu-ZZ-HL-II-GZ. The comparative result of the 16S rDNA sequence shows that the 2 isolated strains are identical in sequence; the highest identity （99.9%） was observed between the isolated strain and one of the strains of Gallibacterium anatis （AF22.8002）, the homologies between the isolated strain and 3 strains of gallibacterium accessed in NCBI （AF22.8016, Gallibacterium genomosp. 1, AF228017, Gallibacterium genomosp. 2, AF22.8018, Gal- libacterium genomosp. 1 ） were above 97.1%, higher than that of the isolated strain and the other strains of the other 11 genera which were between 90.7% -93.2%. It can be seen from the phylogenetic tree that the 2 isolated strains and the other 4 strain of gallibacterium fell into the same branch, furthermore the 2 isolated strains and the strain of Gallibacterium anatis locate in an internal branch, indicating that the 2 isolated strains belong to Gallibacterium anatis.

Effects of (–)-5-hydroxy-equol on the lifespan and stress resistance of Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans （C. elegans） was used as an animal model to study the effect of （-）-5-hydroxy-equol, a microbialmetabolite of isoflavone genistein, on the lifespan, fecundity and resistance against thermal and oxidative stress. The resultsshowed that （-）-5-hydroxy-equol not only significantly increased the lifespan of C. elegans but also significantly enhancedthe resistance against thermal and oxidative stress at the concentrations of 0.1 mmol/L and 0.2 mmol/L. However, the fecundityof C. elegans was not obviously influenced after being exposed to the same concentrations of （-）-5-hydroxy-equol. Further studieson comparative transcriptome analyses and the lifespan ofdaf-16 （mu86） mutant and daf-2 （e1370） mutant indicated that（-）-5-hydroxy-equol prolonged the lifespan of C. elegans through DAF-2/DAF-16 Insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway. This isthe first report that （-）-5-hydroxy-equol was able to increase the lifespan and improve the thermal and oxidative stress toleranceof C. elegans.

Evaluation of the antioxidant property and effects in Caenorhabditis elegans of Xiangxi flavor vinegar,a Hunan local traditional vinegar

Xiangxi flavor vinegar（XV） is one of Hunan Province＇s traditional fermented vinegars.It is produced from herb,rice,and spring water with spontaneous liquid-state fermentation techniques.In this study,we investigated the antioxidant property of XV by analyzing its antioxidant compounds,its free radical scavenging property in vitro and in vivo,and its effects on antioxidant enzyme activity and apoptosis in Caenorhabditis elegans.The results showed that XV is rich in antioxidants.In particular,ligustrazine reached 6.431 μg/ml.The in vitro 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical（DPPH＊）,hydroxyl radical（＊OH）,and superoxide anion radical（O2^（＊-）） scavenging rates of XV were 95.85%,97.22%,and 63.33%,respectively.The reactive oxygen species（ROS） content in XV-treated C.elegans decreased significantly（P0.01） compared to the control group.Giutathione peroxidase（GSH-Px）,superoxide dismutase（SOD）,and catalase（CAT） activities were remarkably increased（P0.01） in C.elegans after XV treatment.In addition,XV could upreguiate CED-9 protein expression and downreguiate CED-3 protein expression in C.elegans.These results prove that XV is rich in antioxidants and scavenges radicals in vitro efficiently.XV inhibits apoptosis in C.elegans probably by scavenging ROS and increasing the activities of its antioxidant enzymes.