Overview of current detection methods and microRNA potential in Clostridioides difficile infection screening

Clostridioides difficile(formerly called Clostridium difficile,C.difficile)infection(CDI)is listed as an urgent threat on the 2019 antibiotic resistance threats report in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Early detection and appropriate disease management appear to be essential.Meanwhile,although the majority of cases are hospital-acquired CDI,community-acquired CDI cases are also on the rise,and this vulnerability is not limited to immunocompromised patients.Gastrointestinal treatments and/or gastrointestinal tract surgeries may be required for patients diagnosed with digestive diseases.Such treatments could suppress or interfere with the patient’s immune system and disrupt gut flora homeostasis,creating a suitable microecosystem for C.difficile overgrowth.Currently,stool-based non-invasive screening is the first-line approach to CDI diagnosis,but the accuracy is varied due to different clinical microbiology detection methods;therefore,improving reliability is clearly required.In this review,we briefly summarised the life cycle and toxicity of C.difficile,and we examined existing diagnostic approaches with an emphasis on novel biomarkers such as microRNAs.These biomarkers can be easily detected through noninvasive liquid biopsy and can yield crucial information about ongoing pathological phenomena,particularly in CDI.

A dicistrovirus increases pupal mortality in Spodoptera frugiperda by suppressing protease activity and inhibiting larval diet consumption

Understanding interactions between viruses and their hosts is conducive to enabling better application of viruses as biocontrol agents.Certain viruses carried by parasitic wasps enhance the parasitic efficiency of wasp-larvae by protecting them against the immune system of their Lepidopteran host.However,the relationship between prey pests and viruses found in predatory natural enemies remains unclear.Herein,we report the interaction between Arma chinensis virus-1(AcV-1),originally isolated from a predatory natural enemy,Arma chinensis(Hemiptera:Pentatomidae),and one of its prey species,Spodoptera frugiperda(Lepidoptera:Noctuidae).The results showed that the AcV-1 virus appeared harmful to the novel host S.frugiperda by inhibiting larval diet consumption and increasing pupal mortality.Meanwhile,sequencing data indicated that the virus altered the gene expression profiles of S.frugiperda.KEGG analysis showed that the proteasome and phagosome pathways related to protein degradation and immune response were significantly enriched.Although the expression levels of digestive enzyme genes did not change significantly,the total protease activity of AcV-1 virus-positive individuals was significantly decreased,suggesting that the virus inhibited diet consumption of S.frugiperda via the down-regulation of digestive enzyme activities.These results indicate that a virus initially isolated in a predatory natural enemy can decrease the fitness of its prey species.The virus was found to impact the host proteasome and phagosome pathways related to protein degradation and immunity,providing a potential mechanism to enhance controlling efficiency.