Search results for "Biota"

Wastewaters from citrus processing industry as natural biostimulants for soil microbial community

2020

Abstract Citrus fruit processing wastewaters (CWWs), being rich in organic matter, may be a valuable resource for agricultural irrigation and, possibly, for the improvement of soil organic carbon (TOC). This issue is becoming crucial for soils of arid and semiarid environments increasingly experiencing water scarcity and continuous decline of TOC towards levels insufficient to sustain crop production. However, before using CWWs in agriculture their effects on the soil living component have to be clarified. Therefore, in this study we assessed the impact of CWWs on soil chemical and biochemical properties. Under laboratory conditions, lemon, orange and tangerine wastewaters were separately a…

Patterns of soil microbial biomass and diversity across Mediterranean agroecosystems in areas under desertification risk

2022

EXTRACELLULAR VESCICLES DERIVED FROM GUT MICROBIOTA IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE AND COLORECTAL CANCER

2021

The human gut microbiome encompasses inter alia, the myriad bacterial species that create the optimal host-micro-organism balance essential for normal metabolic and immune function. Various lines of evidence suggest that dys-regulation of the microbiota-host interaction is linked to pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Extracellular vesicles (EVs), found in virtually all body fluids and produced by both eukaryotic cells and bacteria are involved in cell-cell communication and crosstalk mechanisms, such as the immune response, barrier function and intestinal flora. This review highlights advancements in knowledge of the functional role that EVs ma…

Mucosal immunology and probiotics.

2013

The cross-talk between the mucosa-associated immune system and microbiota is critical in mucosal tissue homeostasis as well as in protection against infectious and inflammatory diseases occurring at mucosal sites. This recent evidence has paved the way to therapeutic approaches aimed at modulating the mucosa-associated immune system using probiotics. Different strains of probiotics possess the ability to finely regulate dendritic cell (DC) activation, polarizing the subsequent T cell activity toward Th1 (e.g. Lactobacillus (Lb) acidophilus), Th2 (Lb.reuteri and Bifidobacterium bifidum) or, as more recently demonstrated, Th17 responses induced by specific strains such as Lb.rhamnosus GG and …

Ecosystem restoration with teeth: what role for predators?

2011

Recent advances highlight the potential for predators to restore ecosystems and confer resilience against globally threatening processes, including climate change and biological invasions. However, releasing the ecological benefits of predators entails significant challenges. Here, we discuss the economic, environmental and social considerations affecting predator-driven ecological restoration programmes, and suggest approaches for reducing the undesirable impacts of predators. Because the roles of predators are context dependent, we argue for increased emphasis on predator functionality in ecosystems and less on the identities and origins of species and genotypes. We emphasise that insuffi…

Probiotics in transition: novel strategies

2015

Regulations regarding health claims made for probiotics demand their proven effectiveness and limit the array of microbial species regarded as safe for live consumption. Novel strategies such as moving to postbiotics and genetically modified probiotics may be necessary to increase the effectiveness of microbial products.

Multivariate analysis in the identification of biological targets for designed molecular structures: The BIOTA protocol

2013

In this work the new protocol BIOlogical Target Assignation (BIOTA) for the prediction of the biological target from molecular structures is proposed. BIOTA is based on the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) application on a matrix of ligands versus molecular descriptors. The application of BIOTA could allow to hypothesize the mechanism of action of a candidate drug prior to its biological evaluation or to repurpose old drugs. The protocol can be fine-tuned by choosing opportune targets (biological or not) and molecular descriptors, and it can be useful in every fields in with it is possible to collect set of compounds with known properties. The robustness of the protocol depends from diff…

Midgut microbiota and host immunocompetence underlie Bacillus thuringiensis killing mechanism

2016

Bacillus thuringiensis is a widely used bacterial entomopathogen producing insecticidal toxins, some of which are expressed in insect-resistant transgenic crops. Surprisingly, the killing mechanism of B. thuringiensis remains controversial. In particular, the importance of the septicemia induced by the host midgut microbiota is still debated as a result of the lack of experimental evidence obtained without drastic manipulation of the midgut and its content. Here this key issue is addressed by RNAi-mediated silencing of an immune gene in a lepidopteran host Spodoptera littoralis, leaving the midgut microbiota unaltered. The resulting cellular immunosuppression was characterized by a reduced …

Bronchial microbiome, PA biofilm-forming capacity and exacerbation in severe COPD patients colonized by P. aeruginosa

2017

Aim: The bronchial microbiome of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients colonized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing to identify differences related to biofilm-forming capacity. Patients & methods: Patient sputum samples from 21 patients were studied. Results: Statistically significant differences related to biofilm-forming capacity were only found for genera with relative abundances <1%, and Fusobacterium was over-represented when biofilm-forming capacity was high. Genera with relative abundances >50% which increased from baseline were observed in 10/14 exacerbations, but corresponded to Pseudomonas only in three episodes, while …

Investigating bacterial populations in styrene-degrading biofilters by 16S rDNA tag pyrosequencing

2014

Microbial biofilms are essential components in the elimination of pollutants within biofilters, yet still little is known regarding the complex relationships between microbial community structure and biodegradation function within these engineered ecosystems. To further explore this relationship, 16S rDNA tag pyrosequencing was applied to samples taken at four time points from a styrene-degrading biofilter undergoing variable operating conditions. Changes in microbial structure were observed between different stages of biofilter operation, and the level of styrene concentration was revealed to be a critical factor affecting these changes. Bacterial genera Azoarcus and Pseudomonas were among…