Strainy: phasing and assembly of strain haplotypes from long-read metagenome sequencing.

Bacterial species in microbial communities are often represented by mixtures of strains, distinguished by small variations in their genomes. Short-read approaches can be used to detect small-scale variation between strains but fail to phase these variants into contiguous haplotypes. Long-read metagenome assemblers can generate contiguous bacterial chromosomes but often suppress strain-level variation in favor of species-level consensus.

Enterotype-Dependent Probiotic-Mediated Changes in the Male Rat Intestinal Microbiome In Vivo and In Vitro.

Beneficial properties of lactic acid bacteria have been known long ago, but particular interest in probiotics has arisen in the last two decades due to the understanding of the important role of intestinal microflora in human life. Thus, the ability of probiotics to support healthy homeostasis of gut microbiomes has received particular attention. Here, we evaluated the effect of a probiotic consisting of and on the gut microbiome of male rats, assessed their persistence in the fecal biota, and compared probiotic-mediated changes in vitro and in vivo.

Establishment of a Pilot Newborn Screening Program for Spinal Muscular Atrophy in Saint Petersburg.

Spinal muscular atrophy 5q (SMA) is one of the most common neuromuscular inherited diseases and is the most common genetic cause of infant mortality. SMA is associated with homozygous deletion of exon 7 in the gene. Recently developed drugs can improve the motor functions of infants with SMA when they are treated in the pre-symptomatic stage.

Systematic Evaluation of Clinical, Nutritional, and Fecal Microbial Factors for Their Association With Colorectal Polyps.

Introduction: The identification of risk factors for precursor lesions of colorectal cancer (CRC) holds great promise in the context of prevention. With this study, we aimed to identify patient characteristics associated with colorectal polyps (CPs) and polyp features of potential malignant progression. Furthermore, a potential association with gut microbiota in this context was investigated.