Glycolipid biosurfactants such as mannosylerythriol lipids, sophorolipids, and rhamnolipids are made sustainably by employing agro-industrial wastes as substrates. This study assesses the microbial conversion of several agro-residues under both Solid-State Fermentation (SSF) and Submerged Fermentation (SmF) systems, including waste frying oils, potato peels, cassava wastewater, and soybean oil refinery wastes. According to research, SSF is a very effective and affordable solution for valorizing solid residues like peanut meal, wheat bran, and maize straw, while SmF is frequently utilized for large-scale manufacturing. Glycolipid biosurfactants are an effective way to suppress phytopathogenic fungi that cause significant harm to plants, such as Fusarium, Botrytis cinerea, Phytophthora capsici, and Aspergillus. Moreover, glycolipids are efficient to the biocontrol of larvae, nematodes and insects. These compounds work either directly against pathogens or by inducing defense-related systemic resistance in plants. A strong basis for creating environmentally friendly, bio-based products for contemporary agriculture is provided by combining these production techniques with agrowaste valuation. Glycolipids are also effective for biocontrolling insects, nematodes, and larvae. These substances either directly combat infections or cause plants to develop defense-related systemic resistance. Combining these production methods with agrowaste valuation provides a solid foundation for producing bio-based, environmentally acceptable goods for modern agriculture.
Accumulating evidence points to Akkermansia muciniphila as a promising candidate to improve obesity-associated metabolic disorders. However, studies on the isolation, identification, and functional validation of Akkermansia strains from the intestines of animals occupying specialized ecological niches (such as camel and horse) remain limited. In this study, we isolated an Akkermansia muciniphila strain Muc_T9 and an Akkermansia massiliensis strain Mas_DA from camel and horse feces, respectively. In vitro assessment revealed divergent probiotic adaptive traits between the two strains, particularly in gastrointestinal stress tolerance. Genomic analysis revealed the presence of genes encoding the functionally related effector proteins P9 and Amuc_1100. In high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice, supplementing with Muc_T9 and Mas_DA significantly ameliorated HFD-induced obesity, dyslipidemia, glucose intolerance, and alleviated colonic inflammation and histological damage. Notably, divergent expression patterns of key genes involved in lipid metabolism and adipose tissue remodeling suggest potential differences in host metabolic regulatory modes. Furthermore, both strains restored gut microbial diversity and increased the relative abundance of putative short-chain fatty acids (SCFA)-producing bacteria. Collectively, Muc_T9 and Mas_DA effectively alleviate HFD-induced metabolic disturbances, providing a theoretical foundation for preventing obesity and metabolic diseases. However, due to the relatively short intervention period and the limitations of functional predictions, extended intervention combined with multi-omics approaches is warranted to further clarify the strain-specific regulatory mechanisms and sustained effects.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a major global public health threat due to excessive use of antibiotics, requiring urgent attention to combat multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. In this context, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a clinically important opportunistic microbe, is widely known for causing persistent nosocomial infections due to its ability to form biofilms and secrete multiple quorum sensing (QS)-associated virulence factors. QS is a density-dependent communication system in bacteria that controls biofilm formation and pathogenic potential. Moreover, biofilm provides physical protection to the embedded bacteria from unfavorable conditions like chemicals, antimicrobial agents, pH, temperature, and UV light. In this study, we evaluated hinokitiol (HT) for its antimicrobial, anti-QS, and anti-biofilm activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We also explored the underlying mechanism of action responsible for its growth and QS inhibition. Hinokitiol disrupted the membrane integrity and respiratory chain activity of bacteria at 50 and 100 µg/mL concentrations. In addition, it hinders biofilm formation at sub-inhibitory doses, which was confirmed by crystal violet assay, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and fluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis showed that all four QS-related genes were downregulated in the presence of hinokitiol. Cytotoxicity analysis revealed that it shows dose-dependent toxicity towards mammalian cell lines, while lower concentrations (less than 25 µg/mL) exhibited no significant toxicity towards L6 cells even after prolonged exposure. These findings indicate that hinokitiol is a promising candidate to combat P. aeruginosa-associated infections.
Salmonella Derby is a major pork-associated foodborne pathogen, yet its genomic diversity across pork-producing countries has not been systematically compared. This study aimed to compare antimicrobial resistance (AMR) landscapes, population structures, and geographic genomic signatures. We analyzed all publicly available pork-associated genomes in the National Center for Biotechnology Information Pathogen Detection database (January 2025) from China (n = 235), France (n = 83), Mexico (n = 38), and the United States (n = 109), using co-occurrence and pairwise association analyses, core-genome phylogeny, and a random forest classifier trained on pan-genome gene presence/absence. Chinese isolates carried the most AMR determinants (15.3 per isolate), followed by Mexican (7.6), French (3.5), and American (3.0) isolates; this difference, and most country-associated AMR genes (ARGs), persisted within sequence type 40 (ST40). Moreover, fosA7.3 and tet(A) were hub ARGs in all countries, and in France ARG and virulence gene profiles were almost perfectly partitioned between ST39 and ST40. Phylogenetic analysis resolved two clades separated by 37,107–38,674 core-genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs); the dominant subclade was overwhelmingly ST40. One American ST40 isolate differed by only 18–20 SNPs from three French ST40 isolates. The classifier discriminated country with accuracy of 0.93–0.99 across 21 training:testing splits, remaining ≥ 0.96 when closely related isolates (≤ 10 SNPs) were kept in the same partition; an unannotated gene cluster (group 52) and the efflux pump gene acrF were the most informative features. These findings show strong country-level genomic structuring in pork-associated S. Derby, with implications for global surveillance and source attribution.
Functional constipation is increasingly recognized as a microbiota-associated disorder involving impaired motility, low-grade inflammation, epithelial barrier dysfunction, and abnormal intestinal water transport. This study evaluated whether a defined probiotic consortium composed of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA15 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bi66 (AB consortium; 1:1) could alleviate loperamide-induced constipation and clarified its microbiota-metabolite-barrier mechanism. Male KM mice were allocated to a normal control group, loperamide model group, positive-control group, and low- and high-dose AB consortium groups for 21 days. Gastrointestinal transit, defecation parameters, inflammatory cytokines, gastrointestinal hormones and neurotransmitters, colonic histopathology, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), barrier- and aquaporin-related gene expression, and 16 S rRNA microbial profiles were systematically assessed. The AB consortium markedly shortened the time to first black stool, increased small intestinal transit, and improved weight gain in constipated mice. Mechanistically, the consortium suppressed colonic interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) while restoring interleukin-10 (IL-10), rebalanced gastrin (GAS), motilin (MTL), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) levels, improved mucosal architecture and goblet-cell-associated mucus secretion, upregulated zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), Claudin-3, and Mucin-2, and normalized the constipation-induced overexpression of aquaporin 3 (AQP3), aquaporin 4 (AQP4), and aquaporin 8 (AQP8). These effects were accompanied by increased acetic, propionic, butyric, and valeric acids and by a shift of the gut microbiota toward a healthier configuration, characterized by higher microbial richness, enrichment of beneficial genera, and suppression of opportunistic pathogens. Correlation analysis further linked beneficial taxa with SCFA production, anti-inflammatory signaling, barrier repair, and reduced aquaporin-associated water absorption. Collectively, these findings indicate that the AB consortium mitigates constipation through an integrated microbiota-SCFA-barrier-water transport axis, supporting its development as a next-generation functional food candidate for constipation management.
