Search results for "microbial diversity"

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Lung Microbiota Diversity May Be Mediated by Age or Inhaled Corticosteroid Use

2015

We read with great interest the paper by Garcia-Nunez et al. ([1][1]) published in the December 2014 issue of this journal, where the authors investigated the sputum microbiota of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The authors found decreased microbial diversity in patients with

Utilization of microbial abundance and diversity as indicators of the origin of soil aggregates produced by earthworms

2013

This study aimed at testing the capability of microbial community structure and abundance to be used as bioindicators of the origin of earthworm cast aggregates. Compact surface casts produced by Amynthas khami and surrounding aggregates lacking visible signs of biological activity (control) were left to disaggregate by natural rainfall and separated into four size classes (5-2, 2-0.5, 0.5-0.25 and <0.25 mm). The genetic structure and the abundance of the bacterial and fungal communities were characterized using B- and F-ARISA fingerprinting approach and quantitative PCR directly from DNA extracted from soil. Bacteria and to a lesser extent fungi were more abundant in casts than in control …

Association of Maternal Secretor Status and Human Milk Oligosaccharides With Milk Microbiota: An Observational Pilot Study

2019

Background and Objectives: Breast milk contains several bioactive factors including oligosaccharides (HMO) and microbes that shape the infant gut microbiota. HMO profile is determined by secretor status, however their influence on milk microbiota is still uncovered. This study is aimed to determine the impact of the FUT2 genotype on the milk microbiota during the first month of lactation and the association with HMO. Methods: Milk microbiota from 25 healthy lactating women was determined by quantitative PCR and 16S gene pyrosequencing. Secretor genotype was obtained by PCR-RFLPs and by HMO identification and quantification. Results: The most abundant bacteria were Staphylococcus and Strepto…

Microbial diversity of traditional Sicilian cheeses

2017

Traditional Sicilian cheeses are manufactured in small size farms with raw milk from animals of indigenous breeds and without the addition of starter cultures. In order to transform milk into cheese, the presence of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is required. The main sources of desirable LAB are generally the milk, the rennet, the equipment used during processing and the dairy environment. In the last years, the microbial characterisation of traditional Sicilian cheeses, such as Caciocavallo Palermitano, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Siciliano and PDO Vastedda della valle del Belìce have been the object of different studies conducted by our research group. To this purpose, the…

Soil microbial diversity has an impact on plant diversity and safeguard

2015

Diversity of microbial plant symbionts has an impact on plant diversity. Examples are given for Mediterranean species.

Platform GenoSol: a new tool for conserving and exploring soil microbial diversity

2009

International audience; Soils are the principal reservoirs of microbial diversity and represent a core component of terrestrial ecosystems. There is an increasing demand for assessing the impact of agricultural and industrial practices on the environment at large scales in a context of global change. To address this demand, taxonomic and functional diversity of soil microbial communities, and their stability over time need to be characterized for predicting soil quality upon human activities, the evolution of this quality being expected to affect environment quality and public health. Recent methodological progresses have led to the development and automation of molecular biological tools (…

2020

Microbial communities are continuously exposed to the arrival of alien species. In complex environments such as soil, the success of invasion depends on the characteristics of the habitat, especially the diversity and structure of the residing bacterial communities. While most data available on microbial invasion relies on experiments run under constant conditions, the fate of invading species when the habitat faces disturbances has not yet been addressed. Here, we designed experiments to assess the consequences of habitat disturbance on the success of ongoing microbial invasion. We investigated (i) if disturbance-induced alterations in resident microbial communities could mitigate or facil…

History and services of culture collections.

2003

Microbial culture collections aim at collecting, maintaining and distributing microbial strains among microbiologists, and are considered to be a means to preserve microbial diversity ex situ. This article reviews the early history of culture collections, which were first set up in the late nineteenth century, with the introduction of pure culture techniques. It also describes the international connections between culture collections, which led to the foundation of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) and the International Congress of Culture Collections (ICCC). An overview of the Spanish Type Culture Collection (CECT) is included, as well as a description of the services tha…

High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert.

2020

One of the most diverse ecological niches for microbial bioprospecting is soil, including that of drylands. Drylands are one of the most abundant biomes on Earth, but extreme cases, such as deserts, are considered very rare in Europe. The so-called Tabernas Desert is one of the few examples of a desert area in continental Europe, and although some microbial studies have been performed on this region, a comprehensive strategy to maximize the isolation of environmental bacteria has not been conducted to date. We report here a culturomics approach to study the bacterial diversity of this dryland by using a simple strategy consisting of combining different media, using serial dilutions of the n…

Investigation of Spaceflight Induced Changes to Astronaut Microbiomes

2021

The International Space Station (ISS) is a uniquely enclosed environment that has been continuously occupied for the last two decades. Throughout its operation, protecting the health of the astronauts on-board has been a high priority. The human microbiome plays a significant role in maintaining human health, and disruptions in the microbiome have been linked to various diseases. To evaluate the effects of spaceflight on the human microbiome, body swabs and saliva samples were collected from four ISS astronauts on consecutive expeditions. Astronaut samples were analyzed using shotgun metagenomic sequencing and microarrays to characterize the microbial biodiversity before, during, and after …