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High similarity of morphological traits has historically overshadowed the identities and distributions of poultry-associated soft ticks Argas ( Persicargas ) miniatus and Argas ( Persicargas ) persicus in America. In order to model the occurrence of both parasites in the continent, in the current study we performed morphological and molecular analyses to identify ticks collected in hen houses from Brazil and northern Chile. Combining these results with literature data, and the examination of Argas allotments deposited in the tick collections “Coleção Nacional de Carrapatos Danilo Gonçalves Saraiva” (Brazil), the “Coleção Acarológica do Instituto Butantan São Paulo” (Brazil), and the “Colección Zoológica de la Academia de Ciencia de Cuba” (Cuba), we present a critical list with the localities where A . ( P .) miniatus and A . ( P .) persicus have been reported in the American continent. Our results confirmed the presence of A . ( P .) miniatus in Brazil and Cuba, and A . ( P .) persicus in Chile, which in particular, constitutes the first molecularly confirmed report of the later species for South America. Although A. ( P. ) miniatus and A . ( P .) persicus have been documented in 21 American countries, the identity of some reports must still be considered as uncertain until detailed morphological and/or molecular studies are performed. When contrasted to a Köppen-Geiger climate classification, A . ( P .) miniatus predominantly occurs in equatorial and A . ( P .) persicus in arid climates. However, until undetermined reports of both species are correctly identified, any conclusion on their geo-climatological occurrence throughout the American continent would be rather speculative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine disease-specific and cross-disease functions of the human gut microbiome by colonizing germ-free mice, at risk for inflammatory arthritis, colitis, or neuroinflammation, with over 100 human fecal microbiomes from subjects with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, or colorectal cancer. We find common inflammatory phenotypes driven by microbiomes from individuals with intestinal inflammation or inflammatory arthritis, as well as distinct functions specific to microbiomes from multiple sclerosis patients. Inflammatory disease in mice colonized with human microbiomes correlated with systemic inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein, in the human donors. These cross-disease patterns of human microbiome pathogenicity mirror features of the inflammatory diseases, including therapeutic targets and the presence or absence of systemic inflammation, suggesting shared and disease-specific mechanisms by which the microbiome is shaped and drives pathogenic inflammatory responses., Competing Interests: Competing interests: JJF is on the scientific advisory board of Vedanta Biosciences, reports receiving research grants from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and reports receiving consulting fees from Innovation Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, BiomX, and Vedanta Biosciences. AND and DG were employees of Janssen Research and Development LLC at the time of this work. SS and DG are current employees of Seed Health. DRL is a founder and adviser to Vedanta Biosciences. PB has received institutional research funding from Merck, Benevolent AI, GSK, Regeneron and Novartis. KR has received research grant support from Bristol Myers Squibb and personal fees for lecturing or consultancy activity from Abbvie and Sanofi. Other authors declare they have no competing interests.

To identify factors that regulate gut microbiota density and the impact of varied microbiota density on health, we assayed this fundamental ecosystem property in fecal samples across mammals, human disease, and therapeutic interventions. Physiologic features of the host (carrying capacity) and the fitness of the gut microbiota shape microbiota density. Therapeutic manipulation of microbiota density in mice altered host metabolic and immune homeostasis. In humans, gut microbiota density was reduced in Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. The gut microbiota in recurrent Clostridium difficile infection had lower density and reduced fitness that were restored by fecal microbiota transplantation. Understanding the interplay between microbiota and disease in terms of microbiota density, host carrying capacity, and microbiota fitness provide new insights into microbiome structure and microbiome targeted therapeutics., Editorial Note: This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that all the issues have been addressed (see decision letter)., Competing Interests: EC, GB, CY, IM, ZL, RN, SL, SH, CJ, KR, RB, ID, RH, SF, YL, NY, TL, PL, SL, IP, AG, JC, RK, SK, XQ, AC, AH, AA, JR, FF, MS, AN, PR, CR, SA, KS, LP, MS, KH, JZ, BZ, BL, HI, WS, AD, WW, BC, CD, DG, SI, AL, JM, EM, RU, SN, JN, BS, TU, PR, JG, PL, ST, JF, CB, SP, JC, JC, ES, CA, AK, BS No competing interests declared, RH, MD, JF Is a consultant for Janssen and has no other financial competing interests to declare., (© 2019, Contijoch et al.)