The Bacterial Microbiome of the Coral Skeleton Algal Symbiont Ostreobium Shows Preferential Associations and Signatures of Phylosymbiosis.

Ostreobium, the major algal symbiont of the coral skeleton, remains understudied despite extensive research on the coral holobiont. The enclosed nature of the coral skeleton might reduce the dispersal and exposure of residing bacteria to the outside environment, allowing stronger associations with the algae. Here, we describe the bacterial communities associated with cultured strains of 5 Ostreobium clades using 16S rRNA sequencing.

Unravelling microalgal-bacterial interactions in aquatic ecosystems through 16S rRNA gene-based co-occurrence networks.

Interactions between microalgae and bacteria can directly influence the global biogeochemical cycles but the majority of such interactions remain unknown. 16S rRNA gene-based co-occurrence networks have potential to help identify microalgal-bacterial interactions. Here, we used data from 10 Earth microbiome projects to identify potential microalgal-bacterial associations in aquatic ecosystems.

Preliminary data on the presence of an alternate vanadium nitrogenase in a culturable cyanobiont of R. Brown: Implications on Chronic Kidney Disease of an unknown etiology (CKDu).

In a recent paper titled "How a taxonomically-ambiguous cyanobiont and vanadate assist in the phytoremediation of cadmium by : implications for CKDu" (Atugoda et al., 2018) [1] it was shown by us, that plant health and phytoremediation capacities, of R. Brown, were elevated in the presence of vanadate, a vanadium containing ion.

Prevalence of prolonged and chronic poliovirus excretion among persons with primary immune deficiency disorders in Sri Lanka.

Background: The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, established in 1988, has made substantial progress toward achieving this target, with only 3 countries never having eliminated wild poliovirus. Persons with primary immune deficiency disorders (PIDD) exposed to OPV are at increased risk of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) and of prolonged excretion of Sabin polioviruses. However, the risk for prolonged excretion is not known.