Alcohol consumption and oral microbiome composition in a sample of healthy young adults.

The oral microbiomes of 24 healthy adults (50% female; mean age = 24.3) were examined using 16 s ribosomal RNA sequencing and compared between light and heavy drinkers. Beta diversity was related at the trend level to drinking group, and light drinkers had significantly higher abundances of key oral taxa such as Lactobacillales.

Streptozotocin-Induced Hyperglycemia Is Associated with Unique Microbiome Metabolomic Signatures in Response to Ciprofloxacin Treatment.

It is well recognized that the microbiome plays key roles in human health, and that damage to this system by, for example, antibiotic administration has detrimental effects. With this, there is collective recognition that off-target antibiotic susceptibility within the microbiome is a particularly troublesome side effect that has serious impacts on host well-being. Thus, a pressing area of research is the characterization of antibiotic susceptibility determinants within the microbiome, as understanding these mechanisms may inform the development of microbiome-protective therapeutic strategies.

Inter-species geographic signatures for tracing horizontal gene transfer and long-term persistence of carbapenem resistance.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are an urgent global health threat. Inferring the dynamics of local CRE dissemination is currently limited by our inability to confidently trace the spread of resistance determinants to unrelated bacterial hosts. Whole-genome sequence comparison is useful for identifying CRE clonal transmission and outbreaks, but high-frequency horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of carbapenem resistance genes and subsequent genome rearrangement complicate tracing the local persistence and mobilization of these genes across organisms.

Streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia alters the cecal metabolome and exacerbates antibiotic-induced dysbiosis.

It is well established in the microbiome field that antibiotic (ATB) use and metabolic disease both impact the structure and function of the gut microbiome. But how host and microbial metabolism interacts with ATB susceptibility to affect the resulting dysbiosis remains poorly understood. In a streptozotocin-induced model of hyperglycemia (HG), we use a combined metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, and metabolomic approach to profile changes in microbiome taxonomic composition, transcriptional activity, and metabolite abundance both pre- and post-ATB challenge.

Oxygen and Metabolism: Digesting Determinants of Antibiotic Susceptibility in the Gut.

Microbial metabolism is a major determinant of antibiotic susceptibility. Environmental conditions that modify metabolism, notably oxygen availability and redox potential, can directly fine-tune susceptibility to antibiotics. Despite this, relatively few studies have discussed these modifications within the gastrointestinal tract and their implication on drug activity and the off-target effects of antibiotics in the gut.

Consumption of a Western-Style Diet Modulates the Response of the Murine Gut Microbiome to Ciprofloxacin.

Dietary composition and antibiotic use have major impacts on the structure and function of the gut microbiome, often resulting in dysbiosis. Despite this, little research has been done to explore the role of host diet as a determinant of antibiotic-induced microbiome disruption. Here, we utilize a multi-omic approach to characterize the impact of Western-style diet consumption on ciprofloxacin-induced changes to gut microbiome structure and transcriptional activity.

Microbial Metabolism Modulates Antibiotic Susceptibility within the Murine Gut Microbiome.

Although antibiotics disturb the structure of the gut microbiota, factors that modulate these perturbations are poorly understood. Bacterial metabolism is an important regulator of susceptibility in vitro and likely plays a large role within the host. We applied a metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approach to link antibiotic-induced taxonomic and transcriptional responses within the murine microbiome.

Staphylococcus aureus from ocular and otolaryngology infections are frequently resistant to clinically important antibiotics and are associated with lineages of community and hospital origins.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen that causes serious antibiotic-resistant infections. Its population structure is marked by the appearance and dissemination of successful lineages across different settings. To begin understanding the population structure of S.

Identification of TOEFAZ1-interacting proteins reveals key regulators of Trypanosoma brucei cytokinesis.

The protist parasite Trypanosoma brucei is an obligate extracellular pathogen that retains its highly polarized morphology during cell division and has evolved a novel cytokinetic process independent of non-muscle myosin II. The polo-like kinase homolog TbPLK is essential for transmission of cell polarity during division and for cytokinesis. We previously identified a putative TbPLK substrate named Tip of the Extending FAZ 1 (TOEFAZ1) as an essential kinetoplastid-specific component of the T.

Microbial Community Analysis of Sauerkraut Fermentation Reveals a Stable and Rapidly Established Community.

Despite recent interest in microbial communities of fermented foods, there has been little inquiry into the bacterial community dynamics of sauerkraut, one of the world’s oldest and most prevalent fermented foods. In this study, we utilize 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to profile the microbial community of naturally fermented sauerkraut throughout the fermentation process while also analyzing the bacterial communities of the starting ingredients and the production environment. Our results indicate that the sauerkraut microbiome is rapidly established after fermentation begins and that the community is stable through fermentation and packaging for commercial sale.

The impact of vegan production on the kimchi microbiome.

Despite previous inquiry into the fermentative bacterial community of kimchi, there has been little insight into the impacts of starting ingredients on the establishment and dynamics of the microbial community. Recently some industrial producers have begun to utilize vegan production methods that omit fermented seafood ingredients. The community-level impacts of this change are unknown.

Antibiotic Persistence as a Metabolic Adaptation: Stress, Metabolism, the Host, and New Directions.

Persistence is a phenomenon during which a small fraction of a total bacterial population survives treatment with high concentrations of antibiotics for an extended period of time. In conjunction with biofilms, antibiotic persisters represent a major cause of recalcitrant and recurring infections, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. In this review, we discuss the clinical significance of persister cells and the central role of bacterial metabolism in their formation, specifically with respect to carbon catabolite repression, sugar metabolism, and growth regulation.

Absence of the Filarial Endosymbiont Wolbachia in Seal Heartworm (Acanthocheilonema spirocauda) but Evidence of Ancient Lateral Gene Transfer.

The symbiotic relationship of Wolbachia spp. was first observed in insects and subsequently in many parasitic filarial nematodes. This bacterium is believed to provide metabolic and developmental assistance to filarial parasitic nematodes, although the exact nature of this relationship remains to be fully elucidated.