0000000000203920

AUTHOR

Vicente Sentandreu

In vitro colonic fermentation of a plant sterol-enriched beverage in a dynamic-colonic gastrointestinal digester

Abstract The impact of a plant sterol-enriched beverage on the sterol metabolism, organic acid production and microbiota composition was evaluated by means of a dynamic gastrointestinal and colonic fermentation model. After one week of fermentation, an absence of sterol metabolites was reported, in accordance with the lack of microbiota related to their metabolism. Although total organic acid content was lower in the ascending colon (AC) compared to the transversal (TC) and descending colon (DC) (28–57 mmol/L vs. 55-87 and 44–64 mmol/L, respectively), its increments, with respect to the initial value, were higher (2-fold vs. 1.6- and 1.5-fold). Increments of acetate, butyrate and propionate…

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Exploring the genome of Mycobacterium brumae, a species of bacterium with therapeutic potential

Resumen del trabajo presentado al XLII Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Genética (SEG), celebrado de forma virtual del 14 al 18 de junio de 2021.

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Unequal distribution of RT-PCR artifacts along the E1-E2 region of Hepatitis C virus.

Although viral variability studies have focused traditionally on consensus sequences, the relevance of molecular clone sequences for studying viral evolution at the intra-host level is being increasingly recognized. However, for this approach to be reliable, RT-PCR artifacts do not have to contribute excessively to the observed variability. Molecular clone sequences were obtained from an in vitro transcript to estimate the maximum error rate associated to RT-PCR for the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) E1-E2 region. On average, the frequency of RT-PCR errors was one order of magnitude lower than the level of intra-host genetic variability observed in samples from an HCV outbreak. However, RT-PCR err…

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Impact of a Plant Sterol- and Galactooligosaccharide-Enriched Beverage on Colonic Metabolism and Gut Microbiota Composition Using an In Vitro Dynamic Model

This document is he Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.9b04796

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Unveiling gene expression regulation of the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3Aa toxin receptor ADAM10 by the potato dietary miR171c in Colorado potato beetle

Background The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) is a worldwide devastating pest of potato plants and other Solanaceae characterized by its remarkable ability to evolve resistance to insecticides. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry3Aa toxin represents an environmentally-safe alternative for CPB control but larvae susceptibility to this toxin has been reported to vary depending on the host plant on which larvae feed. To gain more insight into how nutrition mediates Bt tolerance through effects on gene expression here we explored the post-transcriptional regulation by miRNAs of the CPB-ADAM10 gene encoding the Cry3Aa toxin functional receptor ADAM10. Results The lower CPB-ADAM10 gene expression in CP…

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Evidence of Recombination in Intrapatient Populations of Hepatitis C Virus.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver disease worldwide and a potential cause of substantial morbidity and mortality in the future. HCV is characterized by a high level of genetic heterogeneity. Although homologous recombination has been demonstrated in many members of the family Flaviviridae, to which HCV belongs, there are only a few studies reporting recombination on natural populations of HCV, suggesting that these events are rare in vivo. Furthermore, these few studies have focused on recombination between different HCV genotypes/subtypes but there are no reports on the extent of intra-genotype or intra-subtype recombination between viral strains infecting the same patient.…

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Effect of antiviral treatment and host susceptibility on positive selection in hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Abstract We have conducted a large sequence study of the E1–E2 and NS5A regions of the HCV, subtypes 1a and b, both in patients previously treated with interferon, and untreated patients, who later responded, or not, to a combination therapy based on interferon plus ribavirin. We have examined the role played by the number of positively selected sites on disease progression and its relationship with several variables such as patients’ age, sex and their risk of acquiring the disease. We have detected three groups of patients that respond or not to combination therapy: responders of intermediate age, older non-responders and young non-responders, they possess an increasing average number of …

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Identification of Stress Associated microRNAs in Solanum lycopersicum by High-Throughput Sequencing

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important crops around the world and also a model plant to study response to stress. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyse the microRNA (miRNA) profile of tomato plants undergoing five biotic and abiotic stress conditions (drought, heat, P. syringae infection, B. cinerea infection, and herbivore insect attack with Leptinotarsa decemlineata larvae) and one chemical treatment with a plant defence inducer, hexanoic acid. We identified 104 conserved miRNAs belonging to 37 families and we predicted 61 novel tomato miRNAs. Among those 165 miRNAs, 41 were stress-responsive. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to valida…

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Myriocin-induced adaptive laboratory evolution of an industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals its potential to remodel lipid composition and heat tolerance

The modification of lipid composition allows cells to adjust membrane biophysical properties in response to changes in environmental temperature. Here, we use adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) in the presence of myriocin, a sphingolipid (SLs) biosynthesis inhibitor, to remodel the lipid profile of an industrial yeast strain (LH) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The approach enabled to obtain a heterogeneous population (LHev) of myriocin‐tolerant evolved clones characterized by its growth capacity at high temperature. Myriocin exposure also caused tolerance to soraphen A, an inhibitor of the acetyl‐CoA carboxylase Acc1, the rate‐limiting enzyme in fatty acid de novo production, supporting a ch…

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Expression of regulatory genes in the embryonic brain of a lizard and implications for understanding pallial organization and evolution

The comparison of gene expression patterns in the embryonic brain of mouse and chicken is being essential for understanding pallial organization. However, the scarcity of gene expression data in reptiles, crucial for understanding evolution, makes it difficult to identify homologues of pallial divisions in different amniotes. We cloned and analyzed the expression of the genes Emx1, Lhx2, Lhx9, and Tbr1 in the embryonic telencephalon of the lacertid lizard Psammodromus algirus. The comparative expression patterns of these genes, critical for pallial development, are better understood when using a recently proposed six-part model of pallial divisions. The lizard medial pallium, expressing all…

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Bacteria from acidic to strongly alkaline insect midguts: Potential sources of extreme cellulolytic enzymes

Abstract Bacterial isolates from the European Corn Borer (ECB) Ostrinia nubilalis and the coleopteran Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB) Leptinotarsa decemlineata midguts were identified and characterized. Twenty-four colonies, selected on solid media with cellulose as the sole carbon source and pH values ranging from 5 to 12, were identified through 16S sequencing as members of the genera Acinetobacter , Comamonas , Klebsiella , Microbacterium , Micrococcus and Sphingobacterium . A complete enzymatic characterization revealed widespread – albeit moderate – cellulase properties in all but one isolate and high xylanase activity in the four CPB isolates. Different enzymatic patterns in terms of opt…

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Different rates of spontaneous mutation of chloroplastic and nuclear viroids as determined by high-fidelity ultra-deep sequencing

[EN] Mutation rates vary by orders of magnitude across biological systems, being higher for simpler genomes. The simplest known genomes correspond to viroids, subviral plant replicons constituted by circular non-coding RNAs of few hundred bases. Previous work has revealed an extremely high mutation rate for chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid, a chloroplastreplicating viroid. However, whether this is a general feature of viroids remains unclear. Here, we have used high-fidelity ultra-deep sequencing to determine the mutation rate in a common host (eggplant) of two viroids, each representative of one family: the chloroplastic eggplant latent viroid (ELVd, Avsunviroidae) and the nuclear pot…

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