Haematococcus pluvialis is one of the main commercially cultivated microalgae used for the production of natural astaxanthin. This potent antioxidant is naturally accumulated under stressful conditions, including high light intensity, nutrient deprivation, and osmotic stress. Nevertheless, high production costs, primarily associated with culture medium ingredients, remain a major bottleneck in industrial production. This study first evaluated carbon supplementation (NaHCO₃) and increased nitrogen (NaNO₃) concentrations to identify conditions that enhance biomass production, followed by the substitution of conventional N, P, K, and Mg sources with agricultural fertilizers to develop a cost-effective formulation for pilot-scale applications. The highest astaxanthin accumulation was achieved when 1.5 g/L carbon was added to the growth medium. Nitrogen supply had a lesser impact. Agricultural fertilizers, including ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃, 33.5
The Mannheimia genus, which is part of the upper respiratory tract microbiota, harbours species that have the potential to cause progressive infections, such as haemorrhagic septicaemia and enzootic pneumonia, when the host immune system is suppressed. Among these species, Mannheimia haemolytica is considered the most pathogenic, and horses can be a host for this agent. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of Mannheimia haemolytica in horses with and without respiratory clinical signs and to assess the potential pathogenic significance of isolates recovered from animals through serotyping, detection of virulence-associated genes, and phylogenetic analysis. In this study, a total of 134 nasal swab samples were collected from horses reared in 15 farms in five provinces of Türkiye. Of these animals, 20 exhibited clinical signs of respiratory disease, while 114 were clinically healthy. All samples were analysed using cultural, phenotypic, and molecular methods for the detection of M. haemolytica. Ten (7.46
The genus Aervacomprises diverse medicinal plant species traditionally used for various therapeutic purposes, yet their pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles remain largely uncharacterized. This study aimed to evaluate a library of 125 phytochemicals derived from Aerva species using comprehensive in silico approaches. Drug-likeness, ADME parameters, and toxicity profiles were assessed using SwissADME and ProTox-II platforms. Six compounds (AJ26, AJ30, AJ39, AJ43, AJ47, AJ55) exhibited optimal pharmacokinetic properties, including high gastrointestinal absorption, favorable lipophilicity (log P: 1.54–2.56), and acceptable water solubility. All selected compounds met multiple drug-likeness criteria and showed no PAINS alerts. Toxicity analysis revealed low risk for hepatotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and immunotoxicity. Three GEO datasets (GSE22529, GSE26725 and GSE50006) were examined to investigate their therapeutic relevance in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). 164 common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, which were primarily associated with pathways of B-cell activation and immunity. The protein–protein interaction analysis identified the CD22, CD38, and CCR6 as strong hub genes, with CD22 had the highest diagnostic performance (average AUC = 0.939). Molecular docking showed that all the molecules showed good interactions with the corresponding receptors such as AJ26–CD38, AJ30–CD22 and AJ43–CCR6. These findings show that Aerva-derived compounds as interesting candidates for future preclinical development in phytochemical-based therapeutics. This study provides the first large-scale in silico pharmacokinetic-toxicological cohort profiling of phytochemicals of the genus Aerva. Multi-parameter screening identified six promising phytochemicals with favorable drug-likeness and safety profile. Integrated transcriptomic analysis identified CD22, CD38, CCR6 as robust hub genes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Molecular docking revealed favorable interactions between selected Aerva phytochemicals and CLL- associated target proteins. The study establishes an integrated computational pipeline for natural product-based anticancer drug discovery.
Arid inland rivers are important components of the land-water-ocean continuum, yet the linkages among sediment texture, microbial-mediated processes, and greenhouse gas (GHG) production remain poorly understood in sandy systems. Here, we investigated surface (0-5 cm) and subsurface (5-10 cm) sediments from the Niya River Basin, a desert-oasis agricultural river in northwestern China, by integrating sediment particle-size characterization, physicochemical measurements, extracellular enzyme assays, GHG production experiments, and multivariate analyses. We examined how sediment texture and carbon-nitrogen substrate availability regulate enzyme activities and CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O production potentials. Sediments were dominated by sand (>78%) but exhibited pronounced spatial heterogeneity in enzyme activities and GHG production. Localized hotspots of enzyme activities and CH₄/N₂O production were associated with enriched TOC, TN, and NH₄+. Multivariate analyses revealed depth-dependent environmental associations: surface processes were primarily linked to TOC and pH, whereas very coarse sand showed increased relative importance in subsurface sediments, particularly for GHG production. These findings demonstrate that sandy sediments in arid inland rivers are not inert environments; rather, carbon-nitrogen substrate availability and particle-size heterogeneity jointly shape microbial enzyme-mediated transformation processes and spatially variable GHG production potentials.
The production of biogas as a strategy for biotransforming large volumes of waste into bioenergy is one of the alternatives for reducing greenhouse gases. Metabarcoding analysis aims to understand the role of microbiota from the beginning of the process in the success of biogas production. This study compared microbial diversity and metabolic prediction in a pilot plant producing biogas for vehicular use, utilizing organic solid waste and customs-seized organic products, across the stationary phase (SP), initial phase (IP), and batch phase (BP). In 14 days of operation (IP), the daily production was 126 Nm3/day. In the BP, it reached 207 Nm³/day, with 65
Auxins are plant growth regulators, and Actinobacteria, particularly Streptomyces, can synthesize indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), the most prevalent auxin, contributing to plant growth promotion. In this study, three auxin-producing Streptomyces isolates (CLV45, CLV104, and CLV194) were characterized, and auxin biosynthesis was evaluated under different cultivation conditions. Isolates were cultivated in ISP2 broth, and auxin-related compounds were quantified using the Salkowski assay and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Isolates were assigned to the genus Streptomyces based on morphological characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. All isolates produced auxin, albeit with distinct metabolic responses. A One Factor at a Time (OFAT) approach was used to identify favorable culture conditions for each isolate. CLV45 achieved maximal production (day 7, 182.3 µg mL⁻1) with 0.05 g L⁻1 L-tryptophan, 1
Mangrove endophytic fungi are recognized as prolific sources of structurally diverse and bioactive natural products. In this study, 19 cultivable endophytic fungal strains were isolated and taxonomically characterized from mangrove plant tissues collected at the Shankou Mangrove Nature Reserve (Guangxi, China). One isolate, Aspergillus sclerotiorum BM19, exhibited broad-spectrum inhibitory activity against multiple aquatic pathogenic Vibrio strains. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of its ethyl acetate crude extract led to the isolation of penicillic acid (1), whose structure was fully elucidated by 1D/2D NMR and HRESIMS. Penicillic acid showed potent anti Vibrio parahaemolyticus activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 6.25 μg/mL and displayed no obvious cytotoxicity toward human HaCaT keratinocytes. Growth curve assays revealed a concentration-dependent antibacterial effect: 0.5 × MIC delayed logarithmic growth, whereas 1 × and 2 × MIC completely suppressed bacterial proliferation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) visualized cellular distortion, compromised cell envelopes, and cytoplasmic leakage at MIC, with severe envelope disruption at 2 × MIC. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) combined with SYTO 9/PI double staining further confirmed the concentration-dependent impairment of cell envelope integrity, as evidenced by reduced green fluorescence (intact cells) and increased red fluorescence (damaged cells). Collectively, these findings indicate that penicillic acid inhibits V. parahaemolyticus and is associated with concentration-dependent impairment of cell-envelope integrity. Although penicillic acid is a known mycotoxin, its selective activity against pathogenic vibrios and low toxicity to human keratinocytes highlight its potential as a lead compound for aquaculture applications. Nevertheless, further systematic evaluation of in vivo efficacy and biosafety is required prior to translational development.
The diverse and often complex challenges arising from climate change, severe soil degradation and agricultural intensification due to increased use of synthetic agrochemicals, have exacerbated the need for sustainable agricultural systems that can sustain crop productivity with less reliance on agrochemicals. Plant microbe interactions really help in this transition as they influence plant growth, nutrient access, adaptation to stress, and defense against pathogens. Plants interact with many belowground microbes in the rhizosphere through an incredibly diverse set of root exudates that act as chemical cues for microbial community assembly, root colonization, nutrient cycling, and mutualistic relationships. So, the rhizosphere offers a heavily populated environment for co-evolutionary interactions among plants, microbes, and their environment that ultimately benefits plant health, soil productivity, and ecosystem sustainability. Although there have been tremendous advances in understanding the microbial component of plant microbe interactions, our mechanistic knowledge of how plants communicate with microbes, establish microbes in the root and adapt to diverse field environments has lagged behind. This discrepancy in current understanding has contributed to the ineffective use of microbial biofertilizers in agricultural systems and raises the need to revisit the fundamental mechanisms of plant microbe mutualisms to develop new biostimulants. In this review, we critically synthesize current understanding of rhizosphere communication and root exudate-mediated signalling mechanisms that promote beneficial plant microbe interactions, while examining the biological and technological challenges that affect their application in the field. We considered emerging strategies like microbial consortia, multi-omics techniques, synthetic biology and formulation technologies that aim to develop robust scalable field-validated microbial biostimulants for sustainable and climate-smart agriculture.
Background:Since 2022, mpox has expanded globally with sustained human-to-human transmission and increasing evidence of MPXV genomic diversification. In mainland China, mpox evidence has accumulated rapidly, but clinical, epidemiological, and genomic findings remain fragmented. Methods:We conducted a scoping review of PubMed, CNKI, and WanFang databases up to March 2, 2026, and integrated literature-derived evidence with public MPXV sequences from GenBank, GenBase, and GISAID. Literature-derived data were used to map clinical-epidemiological characteristics, study-level genomic evidence, sequencing coverage, and reported lineage distribution. Curated public MPXV sequences were used for phylogenetic reconstruction, amino acid mutation profiling, and APOBEC-like substitution analysis. Results:Fifty-eight studies were included: 32 addressed clinical or epidemiological evidence only, 25 addressed genomic evidence only, and one contributed to both domains. Fourteen hospital-based studies summarized 951 cases, showing that reported cases were concentrated among young adult men, with frequent MSM exposure (798/897, 89.0%; 95% CI 86.7-90.9%) and HIV co-infection (469/951, 49.3%; 95% CI 46.1-52.5%). Public sequence curation identified 231 unique mainland China MPXV sequences, of which 230 were used for phylogenetic and mutation analyses. Literature-based genomic evidence comprised 26 genomic studies, 37 study-level genomic records, and 31 reported-case units, including 414 sequenced cases among 530 reported cases (78.1%; 95% CI 74.4-81.4%). Clade IIb predominated among sequenced cases (412/414, 99.5%; 95% CI 98.3-99.9%), with C.1.1 and C.1 most frequently represented. Within the available dataset, public genomes represented multiple lineages and were unevenly distributed across regions and time. Mutation analysis revealed dispersed amino acid variation and a predominance of G>A and C>T transitions (73.0%). After collapsing recurrent substitutions to unique genomic sites, the proportion of G>A/C>T transitions decreased to 35.8% and further to 17.8% under a strict APOBEC3 motif definition, indicating that the observed mutation spectrum includes both shared lineage-associated substitutions and sequence-context-based APOBEC-like patterns. Conclusion:Available evidence indicates multi-lineage MPXV circulation and in mainland China, but interpretation remains constrained by uneven sequencing and lack of individual-level clinical-genomic linkage. Integrated genomic surveillance and standardized data linkage are needed to better characterize MPXV transmission and evolution.
Gastric acid is essential for digestion, host defense, and maintenance of gastrointestinal homeostasis; however, its excessive or inappropriate secretion contributes to the development and progression of several acid-related disorders. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have remained the cornerstone of acid-suppressive therapies for more than four decades owing to their potent blockade of gastric H+/K+-ATPases. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the pharmacological properties, clinical applications, and current limitations of the most widely used PPIs, including omeprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole, dexlansoprazole, pantoprazole, and rabeprazole. Particular emphasis is placed on their role in the management of Helicobacter pylori infection, a strong risk factor for the development of severe gastric diseases and one of the most clinically important indications for PPI-based antibiotic therapy. Beyond elevating intragastric pH to enhance antibiotic stability and efficacy, accumulating evidence indicates that PPIs exert direct antibacterial activity against H. pylori and may act synergistically with selected antibiotics. The review also discusses emerging evidence for interindividual variability in PPI metabolism, drug-drug interactions, and concerns regarding long-term adverse effects of the current treatments. Finally, it highlights potassium-competitive acid blockers (P-CABs), a newer class of acid-suppressive agents that provide sustained acid inhibition and represent a promising alternative to PPI-based regimens for H. pylori eradication.
Gastric cancer (GC) is a highly prevalent malignancy associated with substantial mortality worldwide. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is closely linked to the pathogenesis, clinical characteristics, and therapeutic responses of GC, making it a central focus of research in the field of tumor microecology. However, existing reviews mainly focus on microbial compositional features, individual mechanisms, or specific microbiota-based interventions, while lacking an integrated theoretical framework that incorporates Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, multi-layer tissue injury, and systematic clinical strategies. Therefore, this review establishes a three-dimensional integrated framework encompassing etiology, injury, and intervention to provide a critical and comprehensive analysis. In the etiological dimension, we systematically summarize GC-associated gut microbiota alterations and their clinical relevance. In the injury dimension, we integrate multiple pathogenic processes, including mucosal barrier disruption, chronic inflammation, carcinogenic metabolite accumulation, epigenetic damage, tumor immunosuppression, and cancer-promoting signaling pathways, to elucidate the potential mechanisms by which the gut microbiota contributes to GC initiation and progression. In the intervention dimension, we systematically evaluate microbiota-modulating strategies, including probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, antibiotics, and microbial metabolites, and comparatively assess the evidence levels, advantages, and clinical limitations of these approaches. By integrating clinical studies, experimental models, and translational medical evidence, this review aims to establish a systematic and critical theoretical framework for GC microecological regulation, elucidate the potential and limitations of gut microbiota-based approaches in GC prevention and treatment, and provide new perspectives for the development of precision microecological intervention strategies in the future.
Introduction:Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other members of the M. tuberculosis-complex are obligate pathogens of mammals. Their unique life and transmission cycle finds them in micro-environments with extremes in concentration of zinc. In the macrophage, zinc is pumped into the phagosome by the host cell causing zinc poisoning. However once M. tuberculosis exits from the phagosome and macrophage, the extracellular milieu and caseum of the tubercle lesion are zinc restricted due to zinc sequestration by the neutrophil protein calprotectin. To counter low zinc levels, M. tuberculosis expresses genes that are members of the "Zur" regulon. These include zinc uptake transporters, and five "alternative" ribosome paralogues that are zinc-independent. Under zinc replete conditions, the Zur protein is bound to zinc and acts as a transcriptional repressor, binding to conserved DNA sites in promoter regions of the Zur regulon. During zinc limiting conditions, the apo form of Zur dissociates from promoter regions allowing transcription of the Zur regulon including alternative ribosome proteins. The expression of alternative ribosomes by mycobacteria is of considerable interest due to the association of expression with antibiotic tolerance. Methods:In this study, we have utilised a fluorescent reporter construct and flow cytometry to evaluate alternative ribosome expression in M. bovis BCG under a range of culture conditions and laboratory media. Results:Our data show two general scenarios under which alternative ribosome expression is induced - under zinc restriction and in extended stationary phase under certain culture conditions. Zinc-restricted bacilli were not found to be more tolerant to antibiotic treatment than those grown in zinc-replete media. For bacilli in extended stationary phase, alternative ribosome expression did not consistently correlate with tolerance to streptomycin or rifampicin. Discussion:Our data suggest that rather than causing antibiotic tolerance, expression of alternative ribosomes can occur concurrently with other physiological changes that result in antibiotic tolerance.
Background:Acinetobacter non-baumannii (Anb) species are reported worldwide to cause infections in both adults and neonates, although less frequently than Acinetobacter baumannii. However, limited information is available on their genomic diversity, resistance mechanisms, and virulence potential. This study investigates novel Anb isolates causing neonatal septicemia in India to characterize their resistance and pathogenic traits. Methods:Anb isolates from neonatal blood cultures (2007-2025) were identified by VITEK2 Compact system, MALDI-TOF MS, and Whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by VITEK2. Genomic analysis included MLST, resistome, virulome, plasmid typing, integrons, and core-genome phylogeny analysis. In vitro and in vivo studies assessed pathogenic potential of Anb species. Results:Anb infections were low (11%) among the neonates during the study period. WGS revealed 11 novel Sequence Types (STs) which include A. indicus, A. variabilis, A. schindleri, and A. bereziniae. Six out of these eleven Anbs harbored carbapenemases such as bla NDM-1 and/or bla OXA-58-like genes (bla OXA-58, bla OXA-420). bla NDM-1 was acquired via Tn125 transposon. ISAba125 was located upstream of bla NDM-1, and a conserved structure extending to IS91 family transposase was detected in bla NDM-1-harboring genomes. bla OXA-58-like genes were found to be associated with ISAba3. Most carbapenemases were likely located on chromosome. Class 1 integrons carrying multiple antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and diverse plasmid replicase families were detected in Anbs. Core genome phylogeny showed that the study Anbs were not closely related to the global Anbs. In vitro virulence-associated assays (biofilm formation, surface motility, adherence/invasion, apoptosis) and in vivo lethality in murine infection model showed reduced pathogenicity, reinforcing earlier observations that Anb species are generally less virulent than A. baumannii. Several virulence factors (VFs) were detected; however, no clear correlation was observed between virulence genes, in vitro pathogenicity, and in vivo lethality. Conclusion:These results indicate the multifactorial nature of Anb pathogenicity and the current limitations of knowledge of its VFs. However, the presence of numerous VFs suggests a capacity to cause disease, particularly in vulnerable host populations such as neonates. Furthermore, the presence of multiple ARGs indicates a strong potential for persistence and dissemination in hospital environments with high antibiotic pressure. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of continued AMR surveillance, genome characterization and further investigations into Anb pathogenicity.
Thriving in the freezing polar seas forces organisms, in particular the unicellular ones directly exposed to the extracellular environment, to adaptively modify the lipid composition of their cellular membranes in function of maintaining an appropriate degree of fluidity. To seek into these modifications, we carried out a comparative analysis of the membrane lipid composition in four marine species of the globally distributed ciliate, Euplotes. Two, E. focardii and E. nobilii, are polar species that differ ecologically and physiologically from one another. The former is endemic to the Antarctic coastal waters and strictly psychrophilic (it does not survive over 10 °C), while the latter is characterized by a bipolar distribution and a psychrotrophic (rather than psychrophilic) behavior (it reproduces up to 15 °C). The two other species, E. crassus and E. raikovi, are widespread in temperate seas and phylogenetically closely related, the former, to E. focardii and, the latter, to E. nobilii. With respect to their temperate-water relatives, E. focardii and E. nobilii appear to similarly rely on significantly increased concentrations of lipid molecules with higher unsaturation indices and a conical shape to maintain an appropriate degree of membrane fluidity and curvature. Nevertheless, they markedly differ from one another in the membrane lipid composition. In the E. focardii membranes, a single lysophosphatidylcholine molecular species accounts for 17.8% of total glycerophospholipids and only 118 structurally distinct lipid molecules are identified, of which 38 are phosphatidylcholines and eight are phosphatidylethanolamines. In the E. nobilii membranes, phosphatidylethanolamines represent 47.3% of total glycerophospholipids and 226 distinct lipid molecules are identified, of which 115 are phosphatidylcholines and 55 are phosphatidylethanolamines. These functionally significant differences in the lipid membrane composition between the two polar species likely reflect a more stringent cold-adaptation strategy evolved by E. focardii which is exposed to a constantly subzero temperature in relation to its Antarctic endemism, and a more flexible strategy adopted by E. nobilii to face more variable temperatures in relation to its bipolar distribution and trans-equatorial migration via the deep ocean currents.
Background:Aeromonas species are ubiquitous aquatic bacteria that have emerged as significant foodborne enteric pathogens worldwide, yet their genomic landscape in clinical settings remains poorly delineated, particularly in Beijing. Methods:To address this gap, we performed active surveillance for Aeromonas among 691 consecutive diarrheal outpatients in a Beijing district from January to December 2024. Isolates were recovered using enrichment culture coupled with PCR screening and identified by MALDI-TOF MS. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested against 17 agents. Whole-genome sequencing was conducted on all isolates, enabling average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis, comprehensive annotation of antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and core-genome SNP (cgSNP)-based phylogenetics. Results:Aeromonas was detected in 3.3% (23/691) of patients, with Aeromonas veronii (56.52%, 13/23) and Aeromonas caviae (26.09%, 6/23) predominating. Co-infections with other enteric pathogens occurred in 65.2% of positive cases. Resistance rates were notably high for ampicillin/ampicillin-sulbactam (78.26%), nalidixic acid (56.52%), and ertapenem (21.73%), and 65.21% of isolates were multidrug-resistant. Genotypic-phenotypic concordance was robust, with β-lactamase genes ampS (60.87%) and blaCEPH-A3 (47.83%) being most prevalent. Strikingly, mcr-3.25 and mcr-3.3, which belong to the mcr family (originally described as mobile colistin resistance genes), were identified in 8.70% of isolates, exhibiting perfect correlation with phenotypic resistance. Plasmer analysis suggested both mcr genes to be chromosomally encoded. Comparative genomic analysis of virulence-associated genes revealed striking species-specific specialization: A. veronii predominantly carried complete T3SS clusters (61.5%), A. caviae and Aeromonas enteropelogenes were enriched in T6SS genes, and a single A. dhakensis isolate possessed an extensive arsenal including T3SS, T6SS, and a full RTX toxin cluster. MLST resolved the 23 isolates into 22 sequence types, 18 of which were novel. Phylogenetic reconstruction identified a tight monophyletic cluster of three A. veronii isolates (9-27 SNP differences) recovered within a 96-h window, suggestive of a potential cluster that warrants further epidemiological investigation. Comparative genomic analysis of the rare species Aeromonas allosaccharophila demonstrated that the Beijing clinical isolate S14 differs from the U.S. clinical strain ATCC 35942 by 42,099 SNPs, confirming its distinct genetic lineage. Conclusion:Collectively, this study delineates high genetic diversity, emerging chromosomal colistin resistance, and species-specific virulence specialization among Aeromonas isolates from diarrheal patients in Beijing. The detection of a potential outbreak cluster and a rare clinical isolate underscores the power of genomics-based surveillance for detecting and mitigating foodborne pathogen threats.
