Natural variation in wild tomato trichomes; selecting metabolites that contribute to insect resistance using a random forest approach.

Background: Plant-produced specialised metabolites are a powerful part of a plant's first line of defence against herbivorous insects, bacteria and fungi. Wild ancestors of present-day cultivated tomato produce a plethora of acylsugars in their type-I/IV trichomes and volatiles in their type-VI trichomes that have a potential role in plant resistance against insects. However, metabolic profiles are often complex mixtures making identification of the functionally interesting metabolites challenging.

Correction: Supplementation of diet with non-digestible oligosaccharides alters the intestinal microbiota, but not arthritis development, in IL-1 receptor antagonist deficient mice.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

A generic workflow for Single Locus Sequence Typing (SLST) design and subspecies characterization of microbiota.

We present TaxPhlAn, a new method and bioinformatics pipeline for design and analysis of single-locus sequence typing (SLST) markers to type and profile bacteria beyond the species-level in a complex microbial community background. TaxPhlAn can be applied to any group of phylogenetically-related bacteria, provided reference genomes are available. As TaxPhlAn requires the SLST targets identified to fit the phylogenetic pattern as determined through comprehensive evolutionary reconstruction of input genomes, TaxPhlAn allows for the identification and phylogenetic inference of new biodiversity.

Targeting the Cutaneous Microbiota in Atopic Dermatitis by Coal Tar via AHR-Dependent Induction of Antimicrobial Peptides.

Skin colonization by Staphylococcus aureus and its relative abundance is associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) disease severity and treatment response. Low levels of antimicrobial peptides in AD skin may be related to the microbial dysbiosis. Therapeutic targeting of the skin microbiome and antimicrobial peptide expression can, therefore, restore skin homeostasis and combat AD.

Transcriptional response of Lactococcus lactis during bacterial emulsification.

Microbial surface properties are important for interactions with the environment in which cells reside. Surface properties of lactic acid bacteria significantly vary and some strains can form strong emulsions when mixed with a hydrocarbon. Lactococcus lactis NCDO712 forms oil-in-water emulsions upon mixing of a cell suspension with petroleum.