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Hydrogen (H2) is the primary electron donor for methane formation in ruminants, but the H2-producing organisms involved are largely uncharacterized. This work integrated studies of microbial physiology and genomics to characterize rumen bacterial isolate NK3A20 of the family Lachnospiraceae. Isolate NK3A20 was the first recognized isolate of the NK3A20 group, which is among the ten most abundant bacterial genera in 16S rRNA gene surveys of rumen microbiota. NK3A20 produced acetate, butyrate, H2, and formate from glucose. The end product ratios varied when grown with different substrates and at different H2 partial pressures. NK3A20 produced butyrate as a major product using glucose or under high H2 partial pressures and switched to mainly acetate in the presence of galacturonic acid (an oxidized sugar) or in coculture with a methanogen. Growth with galacturonic acid was faster at elevated H2 concentrations, while elevated H2 slowed growth with glucose. Genome analyses revealed the presence of multiple hydrogenases including a membrane-bound Ech hydrogenase, an electron bifurcating butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (Bcd-Etf), and an Rnf complex that may be involved in modulating the observed metabolic pathway changes, providing insight into H2 formation in the rumen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma-related symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common during pregnancy and have adverse effects on pregnancy and birth outcomes, post-partum maternal mental health, and child development. The arousal symptoms associated with PTSD, including heightened or dysregulated physiology, may contribute to these adverse outcomes. Low-income minoritized women may be at highest risk given more lifetime exposure to trauma and limited access to mental health care. While evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD exist, none are targeted to non-treatment seeking individuals nor specifically integrated with prenatal care. Thus, we developed and tested the efficacy of a short-term (four sessions) brief (30-45 min) psychotherapeutic intervention designed to address PTSD symptoms in pregnant women receiving prenatal care at two urban medical centers. Participants were 32 pregnant women with an average gestational age of 18.5 weeks at the time of enrollment. The sample was overwhelmingly non-Caucasian, single, and reported very low income. Participants completed measures of trauma-related symptoms (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, PCL), and depression (Edinburgh post-natal Depression Scale, EPDS) at baseline, twice during treatment, post-treatment, and at 10-14 weeks post-partum. The intervention was successful at significantly decreasing symptoms of PTSD (PCL score = -20.27, 95% CI: -25.62, -14.92, P < 0.001, W = -7.43) and depression (EPDS score = -4.81, 95% CI: -7.55, -2.06, P = 0.001, W = -3.23) by the final session. These benefits were sustained at post-treatment and post-partum follow ups. Future research should further explore the effectiveness of this treatment in a randomized controlled trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of pasture soils to the New Zealand economy and global food security cannot be understated. Additionally, the importance of soil biodiversity to soil ecosystem functioning and, consequently, food production is becoming apparent. Despite this, our understanding of soil biodiversity is still developing. Here, we review the literature on soil microbial communities inhabiting pasture soils across New Zealand in order to summarise the key properties that impact microbial distributions. This work also includes an examination of 16S rRNA sequencing data from 92 pasture sites. The goal of this examination is to re-test the properties identified in the review on a prokaryote-focused dataset generated by contemporary techniques. Results from this work indicate that pH strongly influences soil microbial communities on a landscape scale, and that this conclusion can be drawn using a range of experimental methods. Geographic region, land use and soil classification serve as secondary modifiers, indicating that these factors may interact resulting in the broad impact of pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Sumoylation is a reversible posttranslational modification that plays roles in many processes, including transcriptional regulation, cell division, chromosome integrity, and DNA damage response. Using a proteomics approach, we identified ∼250 candidate targets of sumoylation in C. elegans. One such target is the cytoplasmic intermediate filament (cIF) protein named IFB-1, which is expressed in hemidesmosome-like structures in the worm epidermis and is essential for embryonic elongation and maintenance of muscle attachment to the cuticle. In the absence of SUMO, IFB-1 formed ectopic filaments and protein aggregates in the lateral epidermis. Moreover, depletion of SUMO or mutation of the SUMO acceptor site on IFB-1 resulted in a reduction of its cytoplasmic soluble pool, leading to a decrease in its exchange rate within epidermal attachment structures. These observations indicate that SUMO regulates cIF assembly by maintaining a cytoplasmic pool of nonpolymerized IFB-1, and that this is necessary for normal IFB-1 function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Agricultural land is typically managed based on visible plant life at the expense of the belowground majority. However, microorganisms mediate processes sustaining plant life and the soil environment. To understand the role of microbes we first must understand what controls soil microbial community assembly. We assessed the distribution and composition of prokaryotic communities from soils representing four geographic regions on the South Island of New Zealand. These soils are under three different uses (dairy, sheep and beef, and high country farming) and are representative of major soil classification groups (brown, pallic, gley and recent). We hypothesized that pH would account for major community patterns based on 16S profiles, but that land use and location would be secondary modifiers. Community diversity and structure was linked to pH, coinciding with land use. Soil classification correlated with microbial community structure and evenness, but not richness in high country and sheep and beef communities. The impact of land use and pH remained significant at the regional scale, but soil classification provided support for community variability not explained by either of those factors. These results suggest that several edaphic properties must be examined at multiple spatial scales to robustly examine soil prokaryotic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]