Differential effects of various soy isoflavone dietary supplements (nutraceuticals) on bacterial growth and human fibroblast viability.

Flavonoids, polyphenolic compounds present in many food products, affect growth of different bacterial species when tested as purified or synthetic substances. They can also influence gene expression in human cells, like fibroblasts. Here, we asked if soy isoflavone extracts, commonly used in many products sold as anti-menopausal dietary supplements, influence bacterial growth similarly to a synthetic isoflavone, genistein.

The choice of the DNA extraction method may influence the outcome of the soil microbial community structure analysis.

Metagenomics approaches and recent improvements in the next-generation sequencing methods, have become a method of choice in establishing a microbial population structure. Many commercial soil DNA extraction kits are available and due to their efficiency they are replacing traditional extraction protocols. However, differences in the physicochemical properties of soil samples require optimization of DNA extraction techniques for each sample separately.