Soman Poisoning Alters Fecal Bacterial Biota and Urine Metabolites
Organic derivatives of phosphorus-containing acids have a wide range of applications in modern society, but they are in excessive use for the control of agricultural and household pests throughout the world and pose a serious health threat to communities. Getnet et al. (e00978-18) described an altered fecal bacterial biota and urine metabolome that follows intoxication with soman, a lipophilic G class chemical warfare nerve agent, demonstrating that fecal bacterial biota and urine metabolites are two separate biospecimens rich in surrogate indicators suitable for monitoring organophosphorus exposure. Assays developed around these observations can be used to enable better diagnostics and administration of neuroprotective therapies of the future.
Particle Size of Dietary Fibers Can Be of Importance
Prebiotic dietary fibers are known to improve the gastrointestinal health of both humans and animals in many different ways. Wheat bran is a readily available by-product of flour processing and is a highly concentrated source of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Vermeulen et al. (e01343-18) showed that applying only 1% of wheat bran, which was reduced in particle size, reduces the concentration of Enterobacteriaceae while stimulating the butyrate-producing community. This could imply that in future intervention studies, both in animals and humans, one should take the particle size of dietary fibers into account.
Vector Competence of Borrelia turicatae Differs Based on Geographical Populations of Ornithodoros turicata
Tick-borne pathogens are emerging throughout the United States, but little is known regarding vector competence. Studies by Krishnavajhala et al. (e01505-18) evaluated vector colonization and transmission of the tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia turicatae. In this tick-pathogen system, the authors assessed the colonization and transmission from geographically isolated populations of Ornithodoros turicata ticks. They discovered that while the tick populations were colonized similarly with B. turicatae, successful vector transmission and infection of the murine host significantly differed. This work poses important questions regarding the interplay between tick salivary glands and successful transmission of B. turicatae.
Gut Microbes Utilize Dietary Fats for Growth
While a substantial amount of dietary fats escape absorption in the human small intestine and reach the colon, the ability of resident microbiota to utilize these dietary fats for growth has not been investigated in detail. Agans et al. (e01525-18) show that human gut microbes are able to maintain a complex community when supplied with dietary fatty acids as the only nutrient and carbon sources. Such fatty acid-based growth promotes specific microbiota members but resulted in reduced production of short-chain fatty acids and antioxidants, which might potentially have negative health consequences on the host.
Probing Salmonella Serovar Diversity Using CRISPRs
Salmonella serovars can exhibit differential phenotypes, including virulence, antibiotic resistance, and host restriction. Due to the culture-based protocols employed, only the most abundant serovars are detected and characterized during routine Salmonella surveillance. Thus, minority serovars, which are present at a lower frequency, and their cognate phenotypes remain undetected. Thompson et al. (e01859-18) developed an amplicon-based next-generation sequencing approach that exploits serovar patterns of the Salmonella CRISPR loci to rapidly identify multiple serovars in a single sample. This tool, CRISPR-SeroSeq, now allows investigation of Salmonella dynamics in different ecosystems.
- Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.
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- Soman Poisoning Alters Fecal Bacterial Biota and Urine Metabolites
- Particle Size of Dietary Fibers Can Be of Importance
- Vector Competence of Borrelia turicatae Differs Based on Geographical Populations of Ornithodoros turicata
- Gut Microbes Utilize Dietary Fats for Growth
- Probing Salmonella Serovar Diversity Using CRISPRs
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