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Introduction: Most of the world's part, including India comes under stone belt area, where incidences and frequency of kidney stone are high. Presence and diversity of bacteria inside the Calcium-Oxalate (CaOx) stones and its role in kidney stone formation is poorly studied. Aim: The aim of the present study was to report the presence and diversity of bacteria in CaOx kidney stones. Materials and Methods: A total 120 kidney stone samples from 24 subjects (having symptomatic recurrent kidney stone episodes) had been collected from a retrospective study. These were subjected to Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) spectral analysis. Bacterial diversity inside the kidney stone nidus anticipated with making gene library clones and sequencing of 16S rRNA gene as a molecular marker. Results: The FTIR spectral analysis revealed that the stones were of pure CaOx in nature. Successful clone library preparation for 16S rRNA gene confirmed the bacterial imprints in the kidney stones. The present analyses indicate that the microbes present in stones are diverse in origin. Bacillus was found to be the major genus whiles the other five genera viz., Acinetobacter, Enterococcus, Leucobacter, Prolinoborus, and Streptococcus as diversity prospects in CaOx stone nidus. Conclusion: The present study report the presence of bacteria inside the nidus of CaOx stones through the molecular approach; which may help urologist to understand that bacteria can be associated with formation of CaOx stones. Further, we suggest that these bacteria may be associated with recurrent episodes of stones; hence, underscores the need for use of suitable antibacterial therapy along with surgical procedures to remove them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxalates are toxic secondary metabolites found in a variety of plant taxa and are consumed by numerous organisms. Termites have a heterogeneous food habit and consume oxalate producing plants. Intestinal microbes have been reported to be instrumental in metabolizing oxalate in mammals. The present study dwells on the idea that termite gut microbiota plays crucial role in detoxifying oxalate compounds. To implore upon this hypothesis, we investigated gut eubacterial community structure of Odontotermes species through constructing and analyzing 16S rRNA gene clone library. Total of twenty four bacterial genera belonging to ten bacterial phyla were detected. In addition, three bacterial isolates having oxalate metabolizing ability were isolated through enrichment that belonged to Citrobacter species (OX_T1) and two Rhizobium species (OX_T2 & OX_T3), these isolate showed promising potential for oxalate metabolism. Further, metabolic prediction using PICRUSt, illustrated a variety of genes participating in the oxalate degradation pathways in termite gut. The present study attempts to catalogue Odontotermes gut microbiome and their plausible role in oxalate degradation and detoxification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motility is widely distributed across the tree of life and can be recognized by microscopy regardless of phylogenetic affiliation, biochemical composition, or mechanism. Microscopy has thus been proposed as a potential tool for detection of biosignatures for extraterrestrial life; however, traditional light microscopy is poorly suited for this purpose, as it requires sample preparation, involves fragile moving parts, and has a limited volume of view. In this study, we deployed a field-portable digital holographic microscope (DHM) to explore microbial motility in Badwater Spring, a saline spring in Death Valley National Park, and complemented DHM imaging with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics. The DHM identified diverse morphologies and distinguished run-reverse-flick and run-reverse types of flagellar motility. PICRUSt2- and literature-based predictions based on 16S rRNA gene amplicons were used to predict motility genotypes/phenotypes for 36.0–60.1% of identified taxa, with the predicted motile taxa being dominated by members of Burkholderiaceae and Spirochaetota. A shotgun metagenome confirmed the abundance of genes encoding flagellar motility, and a Ralstonia metagenome-assembled genome encoded a full flagellar gene cluster. This study demonstrates the potential of DHM for planetary life detection, presents the first microbial census of Badwater Spring and brine pool, and confirms the abundance of mobile microbial taxa in an extreme environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxalic acids are widely distributed in tissues of various plants that can exacerbate the effect on other plant-grazing animals including humans. Bacterial communities had been demonstrated to specify with the rhizosphere of host type and which can differ with oxalogenic plant. The present study has been conducted with the primary objective of understanding the root-associated microbial communities in Colocasia esculenta, an oxalogenic plant and to recognize possible bacterial species that present the potential of having their capability to metabolize oxalates. Of the 852 sequences obtained, 311 corresponded to rhizosphere (S), 250 to rhizoplane (P) and 291 were from non-rhizospheric (NS) soil. Flavobacteriaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Moraxellaceae and Pseudomonadaceae were the major contributors in the rhizoplane microbial community assemblage. Paenibacillaceae was the major contributor to the rhizospheric microbial community. The findings of the study showed that the rhizoplane, owing to the characteristic root exudates, has a distinctive composition of microbial partners as compared to the rhizosphere and bulk soil communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are crucial for proper functioning of an ecosystem. They provide various important services to ecosystem and environment. While, bats are well-known carrier of pathogenic viruses, their possible role as a potential carrier of pathogenic bacteria is under-explored. Here, using culture-based approach, employing multiple bacteriological media, over thousand bacteria were cultivated and identified from Rousettus leschenaultii (a frugivorous bat species), the majority of which were from the family Enterobacteriaceae and putative pathogens. Next, pathogenic potential of most frequently cultivated component of microbiome i.e. Escherichia coli was assessed to identify its known pathotypes which revealed the presence of virulent factors in many cultivated E. coli isolates. Applying in-depth bacterial community analysis using high-throughput 16 S rRNA gene sequencing, a high inter-individual variation was observed among the studied guano samples. Interestingly, a higher diversity of bacterial communities was observed in decaying guano representative. The search against human pathogenic bacteria database at 97% identity, a small proportion of sequences were found associated to well-known human pathogens. The present study thus indicates that this bat species may carry potential bacterial pathogens and advice to study the effect of these pathogens on bats itself and the probable mode of transmission to humans and other animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermus species are thermophilic heterotrophs, with most capable of using a variety of organic and inorganic electron donors for respiration. Here, a combined cultivation-independent and -dependent approach was used to explore the diversity of Thermus in Great Boiling Spring (GBS) and Little Hot Creek (LHC) in the US Great Basin. A cultivation-independent 16S rRNA gene survey of ten LHC sites showed that Thermus made up 0–3.5% of sequences and were predominately Thermus thermophilus. 189 Thermus isolates from GBS and LHC were affiliated with T. aquaticus (73.0%), T. oshimai (25.4%), T. sediminis (1.1%), and T. thermophilus (0.5%), with T. aquaticus and T. oshimai forming biogeographic clusters. 22 strains were selected for characterization, including chemolithotrophic oxidation of thiosulfate and arsenite, and reduction of ferric iron, polysulfide, and nitrate, revealing phenotypic diversity and broad respiratory capability within each species. PCR demonstrated the wide distribution of aerobic arsenite oxidase genes. A GBS sediment metaproteome contained sulfite oxidase and Fe3+ ABC transporter permease peptides, suggesting sulfur and iron transformations in situ. This study expands our knowledge of the physiological diversity of Thermus, suggesting widespread chemolithotrophic and anaerobic respiration phenotypes, and providing a foundation for better understanding the ecology of this genus in thermal ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollinosis caused by several allergenic proteins in pollen grains has been a major problem of healthcare in most parts of the world. Environmental factors such as air pollution are known to alter the release of allergenic pollen proteins from a variety of the plant species.Cassia siameais commonly planted along roadsides and in industrialised areas in many parts of India. The present study reports the findings of animal experiments demonstrating the effect of air pollution on the allergenicity ofCassia siameapollen proteins. Total white blood cell (WBC) count and lymphocyte count were significantly higher in animals that received protein extract of pollen collected from a polluted site compared to those that received protein extract of pollen collected from a non-polluted site. This was concomitant with increased production of IgE antibodies; followed by marked degranulation of mast cell leading to heighten type I hypersensitivity in these animals. These results are important for the development of a consensus linking ever-increasing pollution due to industrialisation and an increase in associated pollinosis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Probiotic Lactobacillus species offer various health benefits, thus have been employed in treatment and prevention of various diseases. Due to the differences in the isolation source and the site of action, most of the lactobacilli tested in-vitro for probiotics properties fail to extend similar effects in-vivo. Consequently, the search of autochthonous, efficacious and probably population specific probiotics is a high priority in the probiotics research. In this regards, whole genome sequencing of as many Lactobacillus as possible will help to deepen our understanding of biology and their health effects. Here, we provide the genomic insights of two coherent oxalic acid tolerant Lactobacillus species (E2C2 and E2C5) isolated from two different healthy human gut flora. These two isolates were found to have higher tolerance towards oxalic acid (300 mM sodium oxalate). The draft genome of strain E2C2 consists of 3,603,563 bp with 3289 protein-coding genes, 94 RNA genes, and 43.99% GC content, while E2C5 contained 3,615,168 bp, 3293 coding genes (93.4% of the total genes), 95 RNA genes and 43.97% GC content. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis followed by in silico DNA-DNA hybridization studies, both the strains were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum belonging to family Lactobacillaceae within the phylum Firmicutes. Both the strains were genomically identical, sharing 99.99% CDS that showed 112 SNPs. Both the strains also exhibited deconjugation activity for the bile salts while genome analysis revealed that the L. plantarum strains E2C2 and E2C5 also have the ability to produce vitamins, biotin, alpha- and beta-glucosidase suggesting potential probiotic activities of the isolates. The description presented here is based on the draft genomes of strains E2C2 and E2C5 which are submitted to GenBank under the accession numbers LSST00000000.1 and LTCD00000000.1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]