Abstract Background Weaning of piglets in commercial production involves a sudden separation from the sow and an abrupt switch to a grain-based feed. During this phase of gut microbiota adaptation, disease-associated bacteria, such as enterotoxin-producing Escherichia coli , can proliferate, causing post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD). An observational cohort study of the faecal microbiota development during the first three weeks post-weaning in apparently healthy piglets from three farms was conducted. Four sample series were made, where Farm 1, which had no clinical signs of PWD, was sampled twice. Farm 2 had intermittent PWD problems, and Farm 3 used high-dose zinc oxide (ZnO) after weaning. Rectal swab samples were collected before weaning and on days 3, 7, 10, 14 and 21 after weaning. The bacterial faecal microbiota was assessed using 16S rRNA V3-V4 variable region sequencing. Results Of the identified amplicon sequence variants, 99% and 84% could be classified at the phylum and family level, respectively. Firmicutes and Bacteroidota were the two dominant phyla in all study groups. In Farm 2, with intermittent PWD problems, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria was significantly higher compared to the other study groups ( P < 0.05). There was a significantly higher relative abundance of bacteria from the family Prevotellaceae in the second study group from Farm 1. The alpha diversity increased post-weaning in all study groups except for Farm 3, which used ZnO. Beta diversity showed an increased similarity between the piglets’ microbiota over time and across farms. Conclusions A difference between the gut microbiota of piglets before and after weaning was found in all study groups. Weaning led to an imbalance in gut microbiota and changes to the faecal consistency, even in piglets without clinical PWD. The faecal microbiota composition differed between study groups and across the study period, also between repeated samplings of the same farm. The higher relative abundance of Proteobacteria in the herd with intermittent PWD problems could be a contributing factor to the recurring issues with PWD in this herd. The use of ZnO seemed to have delayed the maturation of the microbiota, although further studies are needed to confirm this. Overall, the results show that no single microbiota composition can predict weaning without gut disturbances.
Host-associated gut microbiota are hypothesized to facilitate acclimation to fluctuating environments; yet, how predictable seasonal changes and smaller-scale habitat variation interact to shape the microbiome of intertidal bivalves remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of the gut bacterial community of the commercially important clam Mactra veneriformis across four seasons and two tidal zones (middle vs. low) in the northern Yellow River Delta using 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Although gut microbial alpha diversity showed no consistent directional change across seasons and tidal zones, we observed marked shifts in community composition (beta diversity) and co-occurrence network structure. Seasonal variation was the dominant driver, with autumn samples forming a distinct compositional cluster, irrespective of tidal zone. The winter community exhibited the highest network complexity (more nodes, edges, and a greater average clustering coefficient), indicative of intensified microbial interactions under cold stress. Functional predictions revealed season-specific pathway enrichment: energy and glycan metabolism pathways were enriched in autumn and winter, whereas lipid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways were more prominent in spring and summer. Furthermore, Procrustes analysis demonstrated a strong, significant concordance between stomach content (diet) composition and gut microbiota structure in both tidal zones. Our findings reveal that seasonal environmental shifts and tidal position restructure the gut bacterial community and its functional potential in M. veneriformis. This study provides critical baseline insights into the eco-evolutionary dynamics of the bivalve gut microbiome in a rapidly changing temperate intertidal ecosystem.
Brucellosis poses a significant threat to people who are in direct contact with livestock. Traditional diagnostic methods rely on isolation and cultivation, which can be time-consuming. The development of LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) and other molecular techniques offers the potential for faster diagnosis with high sensitivity and specificity compared to conventional culture-based methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of LAMP for diagnosing Brucella spp. in patients’ blood samples. A total of 60 patients presenting with clinical signs suggestive of brucellosis and with positive initial serological test results were enrolled in the study. Ten milliliters of blood were collected from each patient under sterile conditions: 5 mL was designated for blood culture, and 5 mL was collected in EDTA for molecular analyses. Culture samples were inoculated into BACTEC aerobic bottles and sub cultured onto Brucella Agar (Merck, Germany), upon instrument alert, with incubation at 37°C for up to one weeks.LAMP assay was performed on part of the sample using Brucella-specific primers to enable rapid detection at a constant temperature, with results interpreted within 60 minutes. Additionally, conventional PCR targeting Brucella-specific genes was conducted on DNA extracted from peripheral blood samples. A commercial kit (Bioneer Co., South Korea) was used to extract the DNA and confirm the presence of Brucella DNA. Amplification products were analyzed by gel electrophoresis or real-time detection. The results from each patient's culture, LAMP, and PCR were recorded and compared to assess diagnostic concordance, sensitivity, and specificity using SPSS version 17. Of the 60 blood samples examined using the culture method, 9 (15
The present study aimed to investigate the genomic insights into the genus Halalkalibacter and evaluate the taxonomic positions of haloalkaliphilic strains HAAS-P013T and HAAS-P014T, isolated from saline-alkali soil using a polyphasic approach. Strains HAAS-P013T and HAAS-P014T were Gram-positive, aerobic, motile, and rod-shaped. Phylogenetic and 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses assigned both strains to the genus Halalkalibacter. Strain HAAS-P013T grew at 12-45 °C (optimum at 32 °C), pH 6.0–11.0 (optimum at pH 10.0) and demonstrates tolerance to NaCl concentration up to 15
Osteoarticular tuberculosis (OATB) exhibits substantial host-response heterogeneity that is not captured by anatomical classification alone. This study sought to derive clinically interpretable phenotypes from routinely available data and to determine whether the dominant immune signal was reproducible in independent transcriptomic cohorts. In this retrospective clinical phenotyping study, 254 patients were retained following source-record deduplication, retrospective cohort reconstruction, and exclusion of cases with insufficiently documented diagnostic eligibility. Twenty-four baseline variables spanning systemic inflammation, hematology, electrolyte homeostasis, and nutritional status were winsorized, median-imputed, standardized, and subjected to K-means clustering; candidate solutions from K = 2 to K = 6 were compared using silhouette analysis. Phenotypes were clinically characterized, and LASSO regression and random-forest importance were used for feature exploration. A clinically parsimonious three-variable phenotype-assignment model was evaluated using repeated stratified 10-fold cross-validation, while a nested cross-validation sensitivity analysis repeated preprocessing and feature selection entirely within the training folds. Robustness and uncertainty were examined using age-, anatomical-site-, sex-, temporal-, neutrophil-excluded, and missing-data sensitivity analyses. Neutrophil single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis in GSE83456 and GSE28623 was used solely for independent biological corroboration. The selected exploratory two-cluster solution comprised OATB-ML1 (n = 175) and OATB-ML2 (n = 79). OATB-ML2 displayed a coordinated neutrophil-enriched inflammatory–nutritional profile characterized by higher C-reactive protein, leukocyte and platelet counts, neutrophil percentage, monocyte count, and globulin, together with lower hemoglobin, lymphocyte percentage, selected electrolytes, and albumin. Median neutrophil percentage, calculated absolute neutrophil count, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio were 71.35
