Genomes of from Panama and from Brazil: Expansion of Multigene Families in Leishmaniinae Parasites That Are Close Relatives of spp.

The Leishmaniinae subfamily of the Trypanosomatidae contains both genus (monoxenous) and (dixenous). They are amongst the nearest known relatives of , which comprises many human pathogens widespread in the developing world. These closely related lineages are models for the genomic biology of monoxenous and dixenous parasites.

Formation of secondary allo-bile acids by novel enzymes from gut Firmicutes.

The gut microbiome of vertebrates is capable of numerous biotransformations of bile acids, which are responsible for intestinal lipid digestion and function as key nutrient-signaling molecules. The human liver produces bile acids from cholesterol predominantly in the A/B- orientation in which the sterol rings are "kinked", as well as small quantities of A/B- oriented "flat" stereoisomers known as "primary allo-bile acids". While the complex multi-step bile acid 7α-dehydroxylation pathway has been well-studied for conversion of "kinked" primary bile acids such as cholic acid (CA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) to deoxycholic acid (DCA) and lithocholic acid (LCA), respectively, the enzymatic basis for the formation of "flat" stereoisomers allo-deoxycholic acid (allo-DCA) and allo-lithocholic acid (allo-LCA) by Firmicutes has remained unsolved for three decades.