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Introduction: Altitudinal changes in soil bacterial diversity, composition, biotic interactions, and function are prevalent. However, the overall patterns and associations among these dimensions remain unclear, particularly in vulnerable alpine mountain ecosystems. Methods: Here, we investigated soil bacterial communities along a high-altitude gradient to elucidate patterns and associations in taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, co-occurrence networks, and functional potentials. Results: We observed increasing altitudinal trends in bacterial richness and phylogenetic diversity, along with significant differences in taxonomic and phylogenetic composition across altitudes. The connectivity component of the co-occurrence network properties showed a negative association with altitude. We also observed high redundancy in functional potentials, resulting in insignificant variation in functional diversity along the altitudinal gradient. However, the strength of functional diversity varied based on the interaction between network connectivity and phylogenetic diversity. Additionally, functional dissimilarity was more closely associated with phylogenetic rather than taxonomic dissimilarity or differences in network properties, highlighting the role of phylogenetic lineages in functional redundancy. Discussion: This study characterizes the altitudinal distribution of soil bacteria and explores their covariations, enhancing our understanding of soil bacterial diversity and functional potentials along altitudinal gradients and providing valuable insights for predicting community changes and improving alpine ecosystem conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A river-lake system plays an important role in water management by providing long-term and frequent water diversions. However, hydrological connectivity in the system can have a profound effect on sediment microbial communities through pH, nutrient concentrations, and benthos invertebrates. Consequently, identifying the key environmental factors and their driving mechanisms is vital for microbial adaptation strategies to extreme environments. In this study, we analyzed the significant difference in sediment bacterial and fungal community structures and diversity indices among Dongting Lake and its tributary rivers, which worked as a typical river-connected lake ecosystem. There were significant differences in biotic and abiotic environments in the sediment habitats of Dongting Lake and its tributary rivers. Random forest analysis revealed that pH and Mollusca were found to be the most important abiotic and biotic variables for predicting both bacterial and fungal community structures, respectively. The beta diversity decomposition analyses showed that the bacterial and fungal community compositional dissimilarities among different sections were dominated by species replacement processes, with more than half of the OTUs in each section being unique. Notably, both biotic and abiotic factors affected the number and the relative abundance of these bacterial and fungal unique OTUs, leading to changes in community composition. Mollusca, pH, TP, NO3-N, and NH4-N were negatively related to the relative abundance of Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, and Ascomycota, while Annelida and ORP were positively related to the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes. Additionally, PICRUSt analysis revealed that the functional dissimilarity among lakes and rivers was strengthened in unique species compared to all species in bacterial and fungal communities, and the changes of functional types helped to improve the habitat environment in the main Dongting Lake and promote the process of microbial growth. From our results, the role of macrozoobenthos and physicochemical characteristics in driving the sediment microbial community spatial variations became clear, which contributed to further understanding of the river-lake ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor decorative fountains usually attract residents to visit. However, opportunistic pathogens (OPs) can proliferate and grow in the stagnant fountain water, posing potential health risks to visitors due to the inhalation of spaying aerosols. In this study, the abundance of selected OPs and associated microbial communities in three large outdoor decorative fountain waters were investigated using quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA sequencing. The results indicated that Mycobacteria avium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were consistently detected in all decorative fountain waters throughout the year. Redundancy analysis showed that OPs abundance was negatively correlated with water temperature but positively correlated with nutrient concentrations. The gene copy numbers of M. avium varied between 2.4 and 3.9 log10 (gene copies/mL), which were significantly lower than P. aeruginosa by several orders of magnitude, reaching 6.5–7.1 log10 (gene copies/mL) during winter. The analysis of taxonomic composition and prediction of functional potential also revealed pathogenic microorganisms and infectious disease metabolic pathways associated with microbial communities in different decorative fountain waters. This study provided a deeper understanding of the pathogenic conditions of the outdoor decorative fountain water, and future works should focus on accurately assessing the health risks posed by OPs in aerosols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The root microbiota plays a crucial role in assisting the plant host in combating various biotic and abiotic stresses, notably drought, which poses a significant threat to global food security. Despite extensive efforts to understand the shifts in rhizosphere and endosphere bacteriomes, there remains a gap in comprehending how drought stress influences the co-occurring network patterns within these compartments and their ecological functional potentials. To address this gap, a pot experiment was conducted with two treatments: continuous flooding as a control and drought treatment. Bulk soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere samples were collected and subjected to high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. The results revealed that drought stress significantly reduced the rice biomass but increased the Shannon diversity index in both the rhizosphere and endosphere bacterial communities with no observable effect on richness across compartments. Additionally, drought treatment markedly altered the community structure and bacterial assemblages in these compartments, resulting in the specific enrichment of Actinobacteriota, Gemmatimonadetes, and Patescibacteria, while Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were depleted in the rhizosphere and endosphere. Furthermore, drought heightened the complexity of the co-occurring networks and the proportions of positive links across all sampling compartments; this effect was accompanied by an increase in the number of connectors in the bulk soil and rhizosphere, as well as module hubs in the rhizosphere. Functional potential prediction indicated that drought stress significantly altered multiple potential ecological functions across all sampling compartments, particularly enriching functions related to the oxidation of sulfur, manganese, and hydrogen in the bulk soil, while functions associated with iron oxidation were significantly depleted in the rhizosphere. Overall, our results demonstrate that under drought stress, rice may specifically enrich certain bacterial taxa and enhance their positive interactions within its root system to improve adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionAltitudinal changes in soil bacterial diversity, composition, biotic interactions, and function are prevalent. However, the overall patterns and associations among these dimensions remain unclear, particularly in vulnerable alpine mountain ecosystems.MethodsHere, we investigated soil bacterial communities along a high-altitude gradient to elucidate patterns and associations in taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, co-occurrence networks, and functional potentials.ResultsWe observed increasing altitudinal trends in bacterial richness and phylogenetic diversity, along with significant differences in taxonomic and phylogenetic composition across altitudes. The connectivity component of the co-occurrence network properties showed a negative association with altitude. We also observed high redundancy in functional potentials, resulting in insignificant variation in functional diversity along the altitudinal gradient. However, the strength of functional diversity varied based on the interaction between network connectivity and phylogenetic diversity. Additionally, functional dissimilarity was more closely associated with phylogenetic rather than taxonomic dissimilarity or differences in network properties, highlighting the role of phylogenetic lineages in functional redundancy.DiscussionThis study characterizes the altitudinal distribution of soil bacteria and explores their covariations, enhancing our understanding of soil bacterial diversity and functional potentials along altitudinal gradients and providing valuable insights for predicting community changes and improving alpine ecosystem conservation.

Global increases in metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), especially within Asian populations, highlight the need for novel approaches to dietary intervention. The Tū Ora study previously evaluated the effects on metabolic health of including a nut product into the diet of a New Zealand cohort of Chinese participants with overweight and normoglycaemia or prediabetes through a 12-week randomised, parallel-group clinical trial. In this current study, we compared the impact of this higher-protein nut bar (HP-NB) versus a higher-carbohydrate cereal bar (HC-CB) on the faecal microbiome by employing both 16S rRNA gene amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing of pre- and post-intervention pairs from 84 participants. Despite the higher fibre, protein, and unsaturated fat content of nuts, there was little difference between dietary groups in gut microbiome composition or functional potential, with the bacterial phylum Firmicutes dominating irrespective of diet. The lack of observed change suggests the dietary impact of the bars may have been insufficient to affect the gut microbiome. Manipulating the interplay between the diet, microbiome, and metabolic health may require a more substantial and/or prolonged dietary perturbation to generate an impactful modification of the gut ecosystem and its functional potential to aid in T2D risk reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining activities in the kaolin mining area have led to the disruption of the ecological health of the mining area and nearby soils, but the effects on the fungal communities in the rhizosphere soils of the plants are not clear. Three common plants (Conyza bonariensis, Artemisia annua, and Dodonaea viscosa) in kaolin mining areas were selected and analyzed their rhizosphere soil fungal communities using ITS sequencing. The alpha diversity indices (Chao1, Shannon, Simpson, observed-species, pielou-e) of the fungal communities decreased to different extents in different plants compared to the non-kauri mining area. The β-diversity (PCoA, NMDS) analysis showed that the rhizosphere soil fungal communities of the three plants in the kaolin mine area were significantly differentiated from those of the control plants grown in the non-kaolin mine area, and the extent of this differentiation varied among the plants. The analysis of fungal community composition showed that the dominant fungi in the rhizosphere fungi of C. bonariensis and A. annua changed, with an increase in the proportion of Mycosphaerella (genus) by about 20% in C. bonariensis and A. annua. An increase in the proportion of Didymella (genus) by 40% in D. viscosa was observed. At the same time, three plant rhizosphere soils were affected by kaolin mining activities with the appearance of new fungal genera Ochrocladosporium and Plenodomus. Predictive functional potential analysis of the samples revealed that a significant decrease in the potential of functions such as biosynthesis and glycolysis occurred in the rhizosphere fungal communities of kaolin-mined plants compared to non-kaolin-mined areas. The results show that heavy metals and plant species are the key factors influencing these changes, which suggests that selecting plants that can bring more abundant fungi can adapt to heavy metal contamination to restore soil ecology in the kaolin mining area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Mangrove reforestation with introduced species has been an important strategy to restore mangrove ecosystem functioning. However, how such activities affect microbially driven methane (CH4), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S) cycling of rhizosphere microbiomes remains unclear. To understand the effect of environmental selection and the evolutionary process on microbially driven biogeochemical cycles in native and introduced mangrove rhizospheres, we analyzed key genomic and functional profiles of rhizosphere microbiomes from native and introduced mangrove species by metagenome sequencing technologies. Compared with the native mangrove (Kandelia obovata, KO), the introduced mangrove (Sonneratia apetala, SA) rhizosphere microbiome had significantly (p

Mangroves play a globally significant role in carbon capture and storage, known as blue carbon ecosystems. Yet, there are fundamental biogeochemical processes of mangrove blue carbon formation that are inadequately understood, such as the mechanisms by which mangrove afforestation regulates the microbial‐driven transfer of carbon from leaf to below‐ground blue carbon pool. In this study, we addressed this knowledge gap by investigating: (1) the mangrove leaf characteristics using state‐of‐the‐art FT‐ICR‐MS; (2) the microbial biomass and their transformation patterns of assimilated plant‐carbon; and (3) the degradation potentials of plant‐derived carbon in soils of an introduced (Sonneratia apetala) and a native mangrove (Kandelia obovata). We found that biogeochemical cycling took entirely different pathways for S. apetala and K. obovata. Blue carbon accumulation and the proportion of plant‐carbon for native mangroves were high, with microbes (dominated by K‐strategists) allocating the assimilated‐carbon to starch and sucrose metabolism. Conversely, microbes with S. apetala adopted an r‐strategy and increased protein‐ and nucleotide‐biosynthetic potentials. These divergent biogeochemical pathways were related to leaf characteristics, with S. apetala leaves characterized by lower molecular‐weight, C:N ratio, and lignin content than K. obovata. Moreover, anaerobic‐degradation potentials for lignin were high in old‐aged soils, but the overall degradation potentials of plant carbon were age‐independent, explaining that S. apetala age had no significant influences on the contribution of plant‐carbon to blue carbon. We propose that for introduced mangroves, newly fallen leaves release nutrient‐rich organic matter that favors growth of r‐strategists, which rapidly consume carbon to fuel growth, increasing the proportion of microbial‐carbon to blue carbon. In contrast, lignin‐rich native mangrove leaves shape K‐strategist‐dominated microbial communities, which grow slowly and store assimilated‐carbon in cells, ultimately promoting the contribution of plant‐carbon to the remarkable accumulation of blue carbon. Our study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms of microbial community responses during reforestation in mangrove ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Urbanization can severely damage the river ecosystem. This study investigated the effects of various types of urbanization, such as urban human activities, pollution by the chemical industry, port industry, and fungal communities in the sediment from the Haihe River to the Bohai Sea Estuary. Materials and methods: Based on the metagenomic sequencing results, the impact of urbanization on the river ecosystem in terms of fungal communities' composition, diversity, and function potential in the sediment was studied. Results and discussion: The results showed that the sediment in the urban area accumulated large amounts of N, P, and PAHs, thus increasing the abundance of the fungal genera Beauveria, Verticillium, Metarhizium, Tolypocladium, Tuber, and Coccidioides but decreasing the relative abundance of key rate-limiting enzymes in the pentose phosphate pathway while increasing the relative abundance of sulfur-activated genes. The effect of industrial pollution on the sediment was mainly reflected in the increase of salinity. In terms of fungal functions, industrial pollution inhibited the pentose phosphate pathway but promoted the sulfur reduction function. In addition, the content of salinity and nitrate nitrogen was relatively high but the fungal diversity was low in the port and estuary areas. KEGG results demonstrated that the fungi of these two sample areas had high glycolytic functions. Conclusions: The fungal community composition and function in the sediment of the Haihe River were reshaped under different urbanization types, suggesting the negative impact of urbanization on the river ecosystem and also providing a basis for the management and restoration of the sediment of the Haihe River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The root microbiota plays a crucial role in assisting the plant host in combating various biotic and abiotic stresses, notably drought, which poses a significant threat to global food security. Despite extensive efforts to understand the shifts in rhizosphere and endosphere bacteriomes, there remains a gap in comprehending how drought stress influences the co-occurring network patterns within these compartments and their ecological functional potentials. To address this gap, a pot experiment was conducted with two treatments: continuous flooding as a control and drought treatment. Bulk soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere samples were collected and subjected to high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. The results revealed that drought stress significantly reduced the rice biomass but increased the Shannon diversity index in both the rhizosphere and endosphere bacterial communities with no observable effect on richness across compartments. Additionally, drought treatment markedly altered the community structure and bacterial assemblages in these compartments, resulting in the specific enrichment of Actinobacteriota, Gemmatimonadetes, and Patescibacteria, while Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were depleted in the rhizosphere and endosphere. Furthermore, drought heightened the complexity of the co-occurring networks and the proportions of positive links across all sampling compartments; this effect was accompanied by an increase in the number of connectors in the bulk soil and rhizosphere, as well as module hubs in the rhizosphere. Functional potential prediction indicated that drought stress significantly altered multiple potential ecological functions across all sampling compartments, particularly enriching functions related to the oxidation of sulfur, manganese, and hydrogen in the bulk soil, while functions associated with iron oxidation were significantly depleted in the rhizosphere. Overall, our results demonstrate that under drought stress, rice may specifically enrich certain bacterial taxa and enhance their positive interactions within its root system to improve adaptation.

ABSTRACTObesity (OB) and cardiometabolic disease are major public health issues linked to changes in the gut microbiome. OB and poor cardiometabolic health status (CHS) are often comorbid, which hinders efforts to identify components of the microbiome uniquely linked to either one. Here, we used a deeply phenotyped cohort of 408 adults from Colombia, including subjects with OB, unhealthy CHS, or both, to validate previously reported features of gut microbiome function and diversity independently correlated with OB or CHS using fecal metagenomes. OB was defined by body mass index, waist circumference, and body fat; CHS as healthy or unhealthy according to blood biochemistry and anthropometric data. We found that OB, more so than metabolic status, drove associations with gut microbiome structure and functions. The microbiome of obese individuals with and without co-existing unhealthy CHS was characterized by reduced metagenomic diversity, reduced fermentative potential and elevated capacity to respond to oxidative stress and produce bacterial antigens. Disease-linked features were correlated with increased host blood pressure and inflammatory markers, and were mainly contributed by members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Our results link OB with a microbiome able to tolerate an inflammatory and oxygenated gut state, and suggest that OB is the main driver of microbiome functional differences when poor CHS is a comorbidity.

Introduction: Soil ecosystems are threatened by crude oil contamination, requiring effective microbial remediation. However, our understanding of the key microbial taxa within the community, their interactions impacting crude oil degradation, and the stability of microbial functionality in oil degradation remain limited. Methods: To better understand these key points, we enriched a crude oil-degrading bacterial consortium generation 1 (G1) from contaminated soil and conducted three successive transfer passages (G2, G3, and G4). Integrated Cooccurrence Networks method was used to analyze microbial species correlation with crude oil components across G1-G4. Results and discussion: In this study, G1 achieved a total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) degradation rate of 32.29% within 10 days. Through three successive transfer passages, G2-G4 consortia were established, resulting in a gradual decrease in TPH degradation to 23.14% at the same time. Specifically, saturated hydrocarbon degradation rates ranged from 18.32% to 14.17% among G1-G4, and only G1 exhibited significant aromatic hydrocarbon degradation (15.59%). Functional annotation based on PICRUSt2 and FAPROTAX showed that functional potential of hydrocarbons degradation diminished across generations. These results demonstrated the functional instability of the bacterial consortium in crude oil degradation. The relative abundance of the Dietzia genus showed the highest positive correlation with the degradation efficiency of TPH and saturated hydrocarbons (19.48, 18.38, p < 0.05, respectively), Bacillus genus demonstrated the highest positive correlation (21.94, p < 0.05) with the efficiency of aromatic hydrocarbon degradation. The key scores of Dietzia genus decreased in successive generations. A significant positive correlation (16.56, p < 0.05) was observed between the Bacillus and Mycetocola genera exclusively in the G1 generation. The decline in crude oil degradation function during transfers was closely related to changes in the relative abundance of key genera such as Dietzia and Bacillus as well as their interactions with other genera including Mycetocola genus. Our study identified key bacterial genera involved in crude oil remediation microbiome construction, providing a theoretical basis for the next step in the construction of the oil pollution remediation microbiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal blue carbon (C) ecosystems are recognized as efficient natural C sinks and play key roles in mitigating global climate change. Microbially driven C, nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) cycles are crucial for ecosystem functioning, but how microorganisms drive C sink formation and C sequestration in coastal sediments remains unclear.In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of amino sugars, C, N and S cycling genes/pathways and their associated taxa in coastal sediments of native (Cyperus malaccensis and Kandelia obovata) and alien (Spartina alterniflora and Sonneratia apetala) vegetation.Compared to the alien‐vegetated coastal sediment, the native‐vegetated coastal sediment had significantly (p < 0.05) higher microbial necromass C and higher functional potentials of chemoautotrophic C fixation, C degradation, methane cycling, N2 fixation, S oxidation and sulphate reduction. Also, our analysis of coastal sediment microbiomes showed that S oxidation could be coupled with C fixation and/or nitrate/nitrite reduction. S oxidation, C degradation and C fixation were found to be key functional pathways for predicting sediment microbial necromass C. Additionally, the sulphur‐oxidizing Burkholderiales metagenome‐assembled genomes (MAGs) were a key functional group that dominated chemoautotrophic C fixation in coastal sediments.These results suggested that chemoautotrophic S oxidizers, in particular Burkholderiales with a novel lineage, might be the key microbial group that dominates microbial necromass C formation in coastal sediments through microbial anabolism (C fixation);the coupling of microbially driven C, N and S cycling processes; and the deposition of microbially derived C. This study provides novel insights into the importance of chemoautotrophic S oxidizers for microbial necromass formation and shed new light on the microbial mechanism of C sink formation in coastal ecosystems, which also has important implications for enhancing C sequestration in coastal wetlands. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging is determined by complex interactions among genetic and environmental factors. Increasing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome lies at the core of many age-associated changes, including immune system dysregulation and susceptibility to diseases. The gut microbiota undergoes extensive changes across the lifespan, and age-related processes may influence the gut microbiota and its related metabolic alterations. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the current literature on aging-associated alterations in diversity, composition, and functional features of the gut microbiota. We identified 27 empirical human studies of normal and successful aging suitable for inclusion. Alpha diversity of microbial taxa, functional pathways, and metabolites was higher in older adults, particularly among the oldest-old adults, compared to younger individuals. Beta diversity distances significantly differed across various developmental stages and were different even between oldest-old and younger-old adults. Differences in taxonomic composition and functional potential varied across studies, but Akkermansia was most consistently reported to be relatively more abundant with aging, whereas Faecalibacterium, Bacteroidaceae, and Lachnospiraceae were relatively reduced. Older adults have reduced pathways related to carbohydrate metabolism and amino acid synthesis; however, oldest-old adults exhibited functional differences that distinguished their microbiota from that of young-old adults, such as greater potential for short-chain fatty acid production and increased butyrate derivatives. Although a definitive interpretation is limited by the cross-sectional design of published reports, we integrated findings of microbial composition and downstream functional pathways and metabolites, offering possible explanations regarding age-related processes.

The article addresses the problem of the functional potential of the present-day English-language media discourse and its role in English-speaking societies and other countries where English does not have official national status. The purpose of the research is to holistically understand key functions that the English language media discourse is performing in the 21st century. The theoretical framework of this study includes mutually influencing and complementary research doctrines of Halliday’s systemic functional approach, Stuart Hall’s cultural studies approach, and the pragmatic approach of Jeff Verschuren. The findings are based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of scientific works dedicated to the English-language media discourse and a massive media discourse corpus of leading English-language print and online media resources. Overall, the research has proved that the English-language media discourse may perform seven key pragmatic functions (political and economic function, educational function, environmental protection and sustainable development function, integration function, innovative function, cultural diplomacy function, and the social function of sport), which help promote a ‘missionary’ world of democracy and sustainability, affordable education and breakthrough innovations, multiculturalism, national identity and race-free ideology, healthy sport and well-being. Moreover, it is proved that modern English-language media discourse acts as a single holistic information management system whose goal is to become a global influencer and mediator navigating between English-speaking nations and non-English world communities.

The phenomenon of poor English language proficiency among Indonesian students suggests revisiting the instructional methods that have long been commonly used in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. This long-lasting problem makes it essential for English practitioners to seek alternative approaches paving the ground for the EFL learners to reach more promising achievements. One of the approaches that may fill in this lacuna is Pair-Interaction Model (PIM). Therefore, the present study was an attempt to disclose the effects of PIM on fostering Indonesian EFL learners’ proficiency compared to the Grammar-Translation Method (GTM). For this purpose, a total of 90 first-year English students from three renowned universities in South Sulawesi, i.e. Hasanuddin University, Indonesian Moslem University situated in Makassar, and the Muhammadiyah University of Pare-Pare, were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The participants went through a pre-test, an intervention, and a post-test procedures. Findings revealed that the English proficiency of the participants who received instructions based on the principles and procedures of PIM significantly improved at the end of the interventions. This improvement was particularly seen in the participants’ grammar knowledge and speaking skills. The findings offered strong evidence that PIM can be implemented in the Indonesian classes to foster EFL learners’ proficiency. The study concludes by offering some implications for relevant stakeholders and opening up some avenues for further research.

Bactris gasipaes Kunth belongs to the Arecaceae family and is known in various parts of the world under various names. This fruit presents several hybridizations and wild species containing diverse percentages of nutritional and functional constituents. These constituent properties link its parts, such as pulps, peels, and seeds rich in oils, with a predominance of polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, and polyphenols. Consequentially, these fruits possess pharmacological, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties, among other characteristics. Additionally, B. gasipaes byproducts, including starches, fibers, and oils, have a high potential for technological applications. The diversity of the varieties has led to a notable increase in research on a multidisciplinary scale, adding value to these varieties with a focus on their industrial applications and by consolidating acquired patents over the years. However, its industrial potential is still poorly explored, a fact that has presented itself as an opportunity for new research and the design of novel products. This review provides an updated view of the different strands and varieties of peach palm, their identification, technological potential in the food industry, and their bioactive functional properties. Finally, ongoing research on a new variety of this species in the Amazon is also discussed.

Abstract Background This study evaluated the effects of growth stage and storage time on fermentation characteristics, bacterial communities and their functionality in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) silage. Alfalfa was harvested at initial flowering (10–20% bloom, AL1) and full flowering (> 80% bloom, AL2) stages, respectively. The harvested alfalfa was ensiled in 15 L plastic silos. Triplicate silos were sampled after 1, 3, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days of ensiling, respectively. Fermentation products were analyzed on each sampling day. The bacterial communities and their functional potential after 3 and 60 days were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing technique and PICRUSt2 method. Results AL2 had better fermentation quality than AL1 with lower pH, ammonia nitrogen and butyric acid concentrations and higher lactic acid concentrations on day 60. AL2 had higher abundances of Weissella and Lactobacillus after 3 days, and lower abundances of Enterobacter and Enterobacteriaceae on day 60 compared to AL1. In metabolic pathway analysis, ensiling promoted the carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, and inhibited the signal transduction and membrane transport. In enzyme analysis, AL2 had lower abundances of nitrite reductase (NADH) and ornithine decarboxylase than AL1 on day 60. In phenotype analysis, AL2 had higher proportions of facultatively anaerobic and lower proportions of anaerobic, potentially pathogenic and gram negative than AL1 on day 60. Conclusions High throughput sequencing technique combined with PICRUSt2 can be successfully used to describe the changes of bacterial communities and their functionality in silage. This approach can improve our understanding of the silage microbiology to further regulate the fermentation products. Graphical Abstract

In recent years, the study of marine viromes has become one of the most relevant areas of geoecology. Viruses are the most numerous, genetically diverse and pervasive biological entities on Earth, including in aquatic ecosystems. Information about viral diversity in aquatic ecosystems remains limited and requires more research. This work provides the first-ever look at the current DNA virome of the Northern Caspian Sea. A comparison with other freshwater and marine viromes revealed that the North Caspian Sea virome has the greatest similarity with those of the Baltic Sea and Lake Baikal. The study described in this article expands the knowledge about aquatic viromes and provides key data for a more comprehensive analysis of viruses circulating in the Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal wetlands, such as the Everglades, are increasingly being exposed to stressors that have the potential to modify their existing ecological processes because of global climate change. Their soil microbiomes include a population of organisms important for biogeochemical cycling, but continual stresses can disturb the community's composition, causing functional changes. The Everglades feature wetlands with varied salinity levels, implying that they contain microbial communities with a variety of salt tolerances and microbial functions. Therefore, tracking the effects of stresses on these populations in freshwater and brackish marshes is critical. The study addressed this by utilizing next generation sequencing (NGS) to construct a baseline soil microbial community. The carbon and sulfur cycles were studied by sequencing a microbial functional gene involved in each process, the mcrA and dsrA functional genes, respectively. Saline was introduced over two years to observe the taxonomic alterations that occurred after a long-term disturbance such as seawater intrusion. It was observed that saltwater dosing increased sulfite reduction in freshwater peat soils and decreased methylotrophy in brackish peat soils. These findings add to the understanding of microbiomes by demonstrating how changes in soil qualities impact communities both before and after a disturbance such as saltwater intrusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining activities in the kaolin mining area have led to the disruption of the ecological health of the mining area and nearby soils, but the effects on the fungal communities in the rhizosphere soils of the plants are not clear. Three common plants (Conyza bonariensis, Artemisia annua, and Dodonaea viscosa) in kaolin mining areas were selected and analyzed their rhizosphere soil fungal communities using ITS sequencing. The alpha diversity indices (Chao1, Shannon, Simpson, observed-species, pielou-e) of the fungal communities decreased to different extents in different plants compared to the non-kauri mining area. The β-diversity (PCoA, NMDS) analysis showed that the rhizosphere soil fungal communities of the three plants in the kaolin mine area were significantly differentiated from those of the control plants grown in the non-kaolin mine area, and the extent of this differentiation varied among the plants. The analysis of fungal community composition showed that the dominant fungi in the rhizosphere fungi of C. bonariensis and A. annua changed, with an increase in the proportion of Mycosphaerella (genus) by about 20% in C. bonariensis and A. annua. An increase in the proportion of Didymella (genus) by 40% in D. viscosa was observed. At the same time, three plant rhizosphere soils were affected by kaolin mining activities with the appearance of new fungal genera Ochrocladosporium and Plenodomus. Predictive functional potential analysis of the samples revealed that a significant decrease in the potential of functions such as biosynthesis and glycolysis occurred in the rhizosphere fungal communities of kaolin-mined plants compared to non-kaolin-mined areas. The results show that heavy metals and plant species are the key factors influencing these changes, which suggests that selecting plants that can bring more abundant fungi can adapt to heavy metal contamination to restore soil ecology in the kaolin mining area.

Introduction: Soil microbial communities are key to functional processes in terrestrial ecosystems, and they serve as an important indicator of grasslands status. However, the responses of soil microbial communities and functional potential to drought stress in semiarid alpine grasslands remain unclear. Methods: Here, a field experiment was conducted under ambient precipitation as a control, -20% and -40% of precipitation to explore the responses of soil microbial diversity, community composition, and predicted functional potential to drought stress in a semiarid alpine grassland located in the northwest of China. Moreover, 16S rRNA gene and ITS sequencing were used to detect bacterial and fungal communities, and the PICRUST and FUNGuild databases were used to predict bacterial and fungal functional groups. Results: Results showed drought stress substantially changes the community diversity of bacteria and fungi, among which the bacteria community is more sensitive to drought stress than fungi, indicating that the diversity or structure of soil bacteria community could serve as an indicator of alpine grasslands status. However, the fungal community still has difficulty maintaining resistance under excessive drought stress. Our paper also highlighted that soil moisture content, plant diversity (Shannon Wiener, Pieiou, and Simpson), and soil organic matter are the main drivers affecting soil bacterial and fungal community composition and predicted functional potential. Notably, the soil microbial functional potential could be predictable through taxonomic community profiles. Conclusions: Our research provides insight for exploring the mechanisms of microbial community composition and functional response to climate change (longer drought) in a semiarid alpine grassland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroactive microorganisms (EAMs) play a vital role in biogeochemical cycles by facilitating extracellular electron transfer. They demonstrate remarkable adaptability to river sediments that are characterized by pollution and poor water quality, significantly contributing to the sustainability of river ecosystems. However, the distribution and diversity of EAMs remain poorly understood. In this study, 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR were used to assess EAMs in 160 samples collected from eight rivers within the Pearl River Delta of Southern China. The results indicated that specialized EAMs communities in polluted sediments exhibited variations in response to water quality and sediment depth. Compared to clean sediment, polluted sediments showed a 4.5% increase in the relative abundances of EAMs communities (59 genera), with 45- and 17-times higher abundances of Geobacter and cable bacteria. Additionally, the abundance of cable bacteria decreased with increasing sediment depth in polluted sediments, while the abundance of L. varians GY32 exhibited an opposite trend. Finally, the abundances of Geobacter , cable bacteria, and L. varians GY32 were positively correlated with the abundance of filamentous microorganisms (FMs) across all samples, with stronger interactions in polluted sediments. These findings suggest that EAMs demonstrate heightened sensitivity to polluted environments, particularly at the genus (species) level, and exhibit strong adaptability to conditions characterized by high levels of acid volatile sulfide, low dissolved oxygen, and elevated nitrate nitrogen. Therefore, environmental factors could be manipulated to optimize the growth and efficiency of EAMs for environmental engineering and natural restoration applications. [Display omitted] • The abundance of EAMs was higher in polluted sedimentary environments. • EAMs showed stronger adaptability in sediments within high AVS, low DO, and NO 3 −. • The EAMs had special ecological niches at the genus (specie) level. • There were positive associations observed between the abundance of EAMs and FMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on problematic perspectives of former units of casemates with enhanced fortification of the Czech borderlands landscape. These units represent military brownfields but also a functional system that interacts with surrounding nature, landscape character, and human society and has value in themselves. This paper presents various perspectives of a multidimensional approach to these objects (brownfields, ecological functions, etc.).

Reforestation is effective in restoring ecosystem functions and enhancing ecosystem services of degraded land. The three most commonly employed reforestation methods of natural reforestation, artificial reforestation with native Masson pine, and introduced slash pine plantations were equally successful in biomass yield in southern China. However, it is not known whether soil ecosystem functions, such as nitrogen (N) cycling, are also successfully restored. Here, we employed a functional microarray to illustrate soil N-cycling. The composition of N-cycling genes in soils varied significantly with reforestation method and varied with constructive species identity and plant diversity. Artificial reforestation had less superior organization of N-cycling genes than natural reforestation, as indicated by the less diverse and less stable pathways to perform the biogeochemical N-cycling processes. Besides, artificial reforestation had lower functional potential (abundance of ammonification, denitrification, assimilatory, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium genes) in soils than natural method. Evaluations of the abundance and interactions of N-cycling genes in soils showed that plantations, especially artificial reforestation with slash pine plantations, possessed a smaller range of ecosystem functions that provide a less diverse array of N-related substrates and nutrients to microbial communities compared with natural restoration. This might lead to a lower independence of N-cycling, which indicated a higher risk of N release in plantations. The unfavorable N-cycling conditions in plantations were corroborated by the lower contents of available N, ammonium N, and nitrate N. These findings demonstrate that reforestation methods could have broad regional and possibly global implications for N-cycling.

ABSTRACT Soil microbial communities play crucial roles in the earth’s biogeochemical cycles. Yet, their genomic potential for nutrient cycling in association with tree mycorrhizal type and tree-tree interactions remained unclear, especially in diverse tree communities. Here, we studied the genomic potential of soil fungi and bacteria with arbuscular (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) conspecific tree species pairs (TSPs) at three tree diversity levels in a subtropical tree diversity experiment (BEF-China). The soil fungi and bacteria of the TSPs’ interaction zone were characterized by amplicon sequencing, and their subcommunities were determined using a microbial interkingdom co-occurrence network approach. Their potential genomic functions were predicted with regard to the three major nutrients carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) and their combinations. We found the microbial subcommunities that were significantly responding to different soil characteristics. The tree mycorrhizal type significantly influenced the functional composition of these co-occurring subcommunities in monospecific stands and two-tree-species mixtures but not in mixtures with more than three tree species (here multi-tree-species mixtures). Differentiation of subcommunities was driven by differentially abundant taxa producing different sets of nutrient cycling enzymes across the tree diversity levels, predominantly enzymes of the P (n = 11 and 16) cycles, followed by the N (n = 9) and C (n = 9) cycles, in monospecific stands and two-tree-species mixtures, respectively. Fungi of the Agaricomycetes, Sordariomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, and Leotiomycetes and bacteria of the Verrucomicrobia, Acidobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the major differential contributors (48% to 62%) to the nutrient cycling functional abundances of soil microbial communities across tree diversity levels. Our study demonstrated the versatility and significance of microbial subcommunities in different soil nutrient cycling processes of forest ecosystems. IMPORTANCE Loss of multifunctional microbial communities can negatively affect ecosystem services, especially forest soil nutrient cycling. Therefore, exploration of the genomic potential of soil microbial communities, particularly their constituting subcommunities and taxa for nutrient cycling, is vital to get an in-depth mechanistic understanding for better management of forest soil ecosystems. This study revealed soil microbes with rich nutrient cycling potential, organized in subcommunities that are functionally resilient and abundant. Such microbial communities mainly found in multi-tree-species mixtures associated with different mycorrhizal partners can foster soil microbiome stability. A stable and functionally rich soil microbiome is involved in the cycling of nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and their combinations could have positive effects on ecosystem functioning, including increased forest productivity. The new findings could be highly relevant for afforestation and reforestation regimes, notably in the face of growing deforestation and global warming scenarios.

The increasing application of anammox processes suggests their enormous potential for nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment facilities. However, the functional potentials and ecological differentiation of cooccurring anammox species in complex ecosystems have not been well elucidated. Herein, by utilizing functional reconstruction and comparative genome analysis, we deciphered the cooccurring mechanisms of four Candidatus Brocadia species that were spontaneously enriched in a full-scale swine wastewater treatment system. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that species SW172 and SW745 were closely related to Ca. Brocadia caroliniensis and Ca. Brocadia sapporoensis, respectively, whereas the dominant species SW510 and SW773, with a total average abundance of 34.1%, were classified as novel species of the genus Ca. Brocadia. Functional reconstruction revealed that the novel species SW510 can encode both cytochrome cd1-type nitrite reductase and hydroxylamine oxidase for nitrite reduction. In contrast, the detected respiratory pentaheme cytochrome c nitrite reductase and acetate kinase genes suggested that SW773 likely reduced nitrite to ammonium with acetate as a carbon source. Intriguingly, the presence of genes encoding urease and cyanase indicated that both novel species can use diverse organic nitrogen compounds in addition to ammonia and nitrite as substrates. Taken together, the recovery and comparative analysis of these anammox genomes expand our understanding of the functional differentiation and cooccurrence of the genus Ca. Brocadia in wastewater treatment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study evaluated the effects of growth stage and storage time on fermentation characteristics, bacterial communities and their functionality in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) silage. Alfalfa was harvested at initial flowering (10–20% bloom, AL1) and full flowering (> 80% bloom, AL2) stages, respectively. The harvested alfalfa was ensiled in 15 L plastic silos. Triplicate silos were sampled after 1, 3, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days of ensiling, respectively. Fermentation products were analyzed on each sampling day. The bacterial communities and their functional potential after 3 and 60 days were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing technique and PICRUSt2 method. Results: AL2 had better fermentation quality than AL1 with lower pH, ammonia nitrogen and butyric acid concentrations and higher lactic acid concentrations on day 60. AL2 had higher abundances of Weissella and Lactobacillus after 3 days, and lower abundances of Enterobacter and Enterobacteriaceae on day 60 compared to AL1. In metabolic pathway analysis, ensiling promoted the carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, and inhibited the signal transduction and membrane transport. In enzyme analysis, AL2 had lower abundances of nitrite reductase (NADH) and ornithine decarboxylase than AL1 on day 60. In phenotype analysis, AL2 had higher proportions of facultatively anaerobic and lower proportions of anaerobic, potentially pathogenic and gram negative than AL1 on day 60. Conclusions: High throughput sequencing technique combined with PICRUSt2 can be successfully used to describe the changes of bacterial communities and their functionality in silage. This approach can improve our understanding of the silage microbiology to further regulate the fermentation products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miombo is the most extensive ecosystem in southern Africa, being strongly driven by fire, climate, herbivory, and human activity. Soils are major regulating and supporting services, sequestering nearly 50% of the overall carbon and comprising a set of yet unexploited functions. In this study, we used next-generation Illumina sequencing to assess the patterns of bacterial soil diversity in two pioneer Miombo species, Brachystegia boehmii and Brachystegia spiciformis, along a fire gradient, in ferric lixisol and cambic arenosol soils. In total, 21 phyla, 51 classes, 98 orders, 193 families, and 520 genera were found, revealing a considerably high and multifunctional diversity with a strong potential for the production of bioactive compounds and nutrient mobilization. Four abundant genera characterized the core microbiome among plant species, type of soils, or fire regime: Streptomyces, Gaiella, Chthoniobacter, and Bacillus. Nevertheless, bacterial networks revealed a higher potential for mutualistic interactions and transmission of chemical signals among phylotypes from low fire frequency sites than those from high fire frequency sites. Ecological networks also revealed the negative effects of frequent fires on the complexity of microbial communities. Functional predictions revealed the core "house-keeping" metabolisms contributing to the high bacterial diversity found, suggesting its importance to the functionality of this ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Akhuni, an ethnic food of northeast India, induces ROS-mediated apoptosis in cancer cells. This is the first report on the anticancer potential of Akhuni. Akhuni is a traditional fermented soybean product known for its umami taste and delicacy, commonly used in Northeast India's cuisine. The current work demonstrates the antiproliferative potential of Akhuni ethanolic extract (AKET) against B16-F10 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells and its mechanism of action supported by metabolic profiling and molecular docking. The investigation evaluated cytotoxicity, cell cycle distribution, caspase activity, apoptosis-related gene and protein expression, and oxidative stress imposed by excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) in both cell types. Phytochemical characterization of AKET was performed using HPLC. The growth of both cells is concentration-dependently inhibited after AKET treatment in MTT and flow cytometry experiments, leading to an arrest in the cell cycle at the G2 phase. Intracellular ROS levels increased in response to AKET treatment, suggesting that ROS in both cells triggered the mitochondrial pathway. Compared to the untreated cells, qRT-PCR analysis showed that AKET significantly reduced Cdk2 and Bcl-2 and increased the mRNA expression levels of Caspase-9, Bax, FasL, and Bid. Additionally, Caspase-8, Caspase-3, and the protein p53 were significantly upregulated in AKET-treated cells, as confirmed by both real-time and ELISA assays. In both the B16-F10 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, the Western blot analysis showed that AKET caused an elevation of the expression of the Bax protein and downregulation of the Erk1/2, Akt, and Bcl2 proteins. Six isoflavones were identified from AKET through HPLC analysis. Molecular docking results indicate compounds in the AKET extract like daidzein, genistein and glycitein act as potent inhibitors of the key oncoprotein, AKT. These findings suggest that AKET has an anticancer effect through ROS-mediated ERK1/2 and AKT signalling pathways., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Climate change has caused an unimaginable upsurge in glacier retreats. The melted ice exposes bare areas offering sites for new ecosystem development where primary microbial succession initiates the build-up of organic mass for plant colonisation. Chhota Shigri glacier is one such glacier that has retreated immensely and provides an ideal site for microbial succession studies. Here, we studied the shift in microbial communities and their functional traits along the glacier forefield from bare glacier snout to mature vegetated foreland through amplicon and whole metagenome sequencing approaches. The forefield sites closer to the glacier snout were abundant in the microbial phyla, such as Patescibacteria, Gemmatimonadota, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Verrucomicrobiota and Myxococcota that have potential in carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulphur (S) cycling. The sites away from glacier snout were abundant in the phyla Actinobacteria and Acidobacteriota, which are heterotrophic and help in organic carbon recycling. The microbes at the sites closer to the glacier terminus were richer and more diverse than those away from the terminus. The abundance and diversity of the microbes were primarily affected by the local soil's temperature, followed by pH and elements concentration (Calcium (Ca), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb)). Moreover, the whole-genome metagenome study revealed the prevalence of genes associated with N, C and S cycling. Additionally, the microbes and genes involved in xenobiotics compounds (Aminobenzoate, Benzoate, Caprolactam) degradation are also observed in the forefield soils. This study pointed out microbial successional gradients, the effect of local environmental factors in driving microbial succession and the role of glacier microbes in nutrients cycling and xenobiotics degradation along glacier forefield, helping our understanding of microbial succession and functional roles played by the microbes at nutrient-poor glacial soil.

Drip irrigation under plastic film mulch is a common agricultural practice used to conserve water. However, compared to traditional flood irrigation with film mulch, this practice limit cotton root development from early flowering stage and may cause premature senescence in cotton. Changes of root will consequently shape the composition and activity of rhizosphere microbial communities, however, the effect of this farming practice on cotton rhizosphere microbiota remains poorly understood. This study investigated rhizosphere bacteria and soil functionality in response to different irrigation practices --including how changes in rhizosphere bacterial diversity alter soil nutrient cycling. Drip irrigation under plastic film mulch was shown to enhance bacterial diversity by lowering the salinity and increasing the soil moisture. However, the reduced root biomass and soluble sugar content of roots decreased potential copiotrophic taxa, such as Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Gamma-proteobacteria, and increased potential oligotrophic taxa, such as Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Armatimonadetes. A core network module was strongly correlated with the functional potential of soil. This module not only contained most of the keystone taxa but also comprised taxa belonging to Planctomycetaceae, Gemmatimonadaceae, Nitrosomonadaceae, and Rhodospirillaceae that were positively associated with functional genes involved in nutrient cycling. Drip irrigation significantly decreased the richness of the core module and reduced the functional potential of soil in the rhizosphere. Overall, this study provides evidence that drip irrigation under plastic film mulch alters the core bacterial network module and suppresses soil nutrient cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Freeze–thaw events are common in boreal and temperate forest ecosystems and are increasingly influenced by climate warming. Soil microorganisms play an important role in maintaining ecosystem stability, but their responses to freeze–thaw cycles (FTCs) are poorly understood. We conducted a field freeze–thaw experiment in a natural Korean pine and broadleaf mixed forest in the Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve, China, to determine the dynamic responses of soil microbial communities to FTCs. Results Bacteria were more sensitive than fungi to FTCs. Fungal biomass, diversity and community composition were not significantly affected by freeze–thaw regardless of the stage. Moderate initial freeze–thaw resulted in increased bacterial biomass, diversity, and copiotrophic taxa abundance. Subsequent FTCs reduced the bacterial biomass and diversity. Compared with the initial FTC, subsequent FTCs exerted an opposite effect on the direction of change in the composition and function of the bacterial community. Soil water content, dissolved organic carbon, ammonium nitrogen, and total dissolved phosphorus were important factors determining bacterial community diversity and composition during FTCs. Moreover, the functional potentials of the microbial community involved in C and N cycling were also affected by FTCs. Conclusions Different stages of FTCs have different ecological effects on the soil environment and microbial activities. Soil FTCs changed the soil nutrients and water availability and then mainly influenced bacterial community composition, diversity, and functional potentials, which may disturb C and N states in this temperate forest soil. This study also improves our understanding of microbial communities regulating their ecological functions in response to climate change.

In recent years, the study of marine viromes has become one of the most relevant areas of geoecology. Viruses are the most numerous, genetically diverse and pervasive biological entities on Earth, including in aquatic ecosystems. Information about viral diversity in aquatic ecosystems remains limited and requires more research. This work provides the first-ever look at the current DNA virome of the Northern Caspian Sea. A comparison with other freshwater and marine viromes revealed that the North Caspian Sea virome has the greatest similarity with those of the Baltic Sea and Lake Baikal. The study described in this article expands the knowledge about aquatic viromes and provides key data for a more comprehensive analysis of viruses circulating in the Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on Earth.

Precipitation is one of the major constraints influencing the diversity, structure, and activity of soil microbial communities in desert ecosystems. However, the effect of changes in precipitation on soil microbial communities in arid soil microbiomes remains unresolved. In this study, using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and shotgun metagenome sequencing, we explored changes in taxonomic composition and functional potential across two zones in the Namib Desert with contrasting precipitation regime. We found that precipitation regime had no effect on taxonomic and functional alpha-diversity, but that microbial community composition and functional potential (beta-diversity) changed with increased precipitation. For instance, Acidobacteriota and 'resistance to antibiotics and toxic compounds' related genes were relatively more abundant in the high-rainfall zone. These changes were largely due to a small set of microbial taxa, some of which were present in low abundance (i.e. members of the rare biosphere). Overall, these results indicate that key climatic factors (i.e. precipitation) shape the taxonomic and functional attributes of the arid soil microbiome. This research provides insight into how changes in precipitation patterns associated with global climate change may impact microbial community structure and function in desert soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The buritirana is a little-explored species of the Arecaceae family. The biometric and physicochemical characteristics, nutritional and chemical composition and antioxidant and antibacterial potential of the buritirana fruit fractions were evaluated here for the first time. The fruits presented an oblong shape. The pulp represented 16.58% of the whole-fruit weight (10.07 g). The moisture, ash and soluble fiber contents were similar for the whole fraction without seed (WS) and pulp. Although the total carbohydrate content was the same for seed and peel (23.24 g·100 g−1), the seed showed higher protein and insoluble fiber contents. Except for glucose (1256.63 mg·100 g−1), the seed showed the highest concentrations of mono-, di- and oligosaccharides. Mineral content ranged from 0.43 to 800 mg·100 g−1 in all fractions. The peel fraction showed the highest content of vitamin C. The physicochemical results indicate the pulp and WS fraction have potential for the production of fruit-derived food products. Protocatechuic and quinic acids and epicatechin/catechin were found in all fractions. The assay antioxidant capacity DPPH, phenolic content and total flavonoids were higher in the pulp; TEAC and ORACHF values were lower in the seed. Volatile organic compounds were not identified, and the fractions did not show antibacterial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Koji making is a pre-fermentation stage in soy sauce manufacturing that impacts final product quality. Previous studies have provided valuable insights into the microbial species present in koji. However, changes in microbial community functional potential during koji -making are not well-known, nor are the associations among microbial populations and flavoring characteristics. In the present study, we investigated the succession of microbial communities, microbial community functional potential, metabolite profiles, and associations among microbial community members/functions with metabolites during koji making using shotgun metagenomic and metabolomic analyses. Firmicutes , Proteobacteria , and Ascomycota were identified as the most abundant microbial phyla in early koji making (0–12 h). Aspergillus (fungi) and Weissella (bacteria) exhibited marked abundance increases (0.98–38.45% and 0.31–30.41%, respectively) after 48 h of fermentation. Metabolite analysis revealed that aspartic acid, lysine, methyl acetate, isovaleraldehyde, and isoamyl alcohol concentrations increased ∼7-, 9-, 5-, 49-, and 10-fold after 48 h of fermentation. Metagenomic profiling demonstrated that koji communities were dominated by genes related to carbohydrate metabolism and amino acid metabolism, but functional profiles exhibited marked shifts after 24 h of fermentation. The abundances of genes within the categories of carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism all increased during koji making, except for pyruvate metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and the citrate cycle. Correlational analyses indicated that Aspergillus , Lactococcus , Enterococcus , Corynebacterium , and Kocuria abundances were positively correlated with 15 amino acid concentrations (all p < 0.05), while Weissella abundances were positively correlated with concentrations of volatile flavor compounds, including eight amino acids, phenylacetaldehyde, acetic acid, 2,3-butanediol, ethyl acetate, and ethanol (p < 0.05). These results provide valuable information for understanding the microbial-associated mechanisms of flavor formation during koji making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the consideration of the paremic text in the modern linguistic paradigm: approaches to the researches are presented, the text-forming and linguocultural potential of individual units is shown. The direct observation method was used as the main method in this work, followed by the use of descriptive-analytical, comparative, contextual and linguistic and cultural methods. The Study is based on examples from lexicographic sources and illustrations from the Internet. The article provides an overview of the main aspects of the paremiological studies. Paremias are considered as a folklore genre, the thematic and ideographic principle of classifying paremias is presented, the aspects of cultural linguistics (linguoculturological) and translation studies are substantiated, and peculiarities of historical and etymological discursive (functional) analysis are shown. Comparative linguistic and cultural analysis is recognized by the authors of the paper as an integrative aspect of the paremiological material description. The article analyzes the text-forming and linguoculturological potential of the paremiology in different languages. As an example of the realization of the text-forming potential of paremias, the functioning of the proverb Не рой другому яму - сам в нее попадешь (упадешь) (He who digs a pit for others may fall himself therein) is studied as the verbal part of the Russian and Lithuanian demotivators. The paper provides a linguistic and cultural analysis of paremias with a toponymical component in different languages. Despite the abundance of various toponyms, which are characteristic for different countries, in these proverbs are dominated the international component, which is associated with the universal laws of human thinking, which makes it possible to find their semantic equivalents in various languages. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that paremias are considered in various aspects from the standpoint of modern humanistic education. With the development of social communications in modern society, an intercultural connection is being strengthened, requiring linguocultural commentary.

Abstract Background Himalaya is an ecologically pristine environment. The geo-tectonic activities have shaped various environmental niches with diverse microbial populations throughout the Himalayan biosphere region. Albeit, limited information is available in terms of molecular insights into the microbiome, including the uncultured microbes, of the Himalayan habitat. Hence, a vast majority of genomic resources are still under-explored from this region. Metagenome analysis has simplified the extensive in-depth exploration of diverse habitats. In the present study, the culture-independent whole metagenome sequencing methodology was employed for microbial diversity exploration and identification of genes involved in various metabolic pathways in two geothermal springs located at different altitudes in the Sikkim Himalaya. Results The two hot springs, Polok and Reshi, have distinct abiotic conditions. The average temperature of Polok and Reshi was recorded to be 62 °C and 43 °C, respectively. Both the aquatic habitats have alkaline geochemistry with pH in the range of 7–8. Community profile analysis revealed genomic evidence of plentiful bacteria, with a minute fraction of the archaeal population in hot water reservoirs of Polok and Reshi hot spring. Mesophilic microbes belonging to Proteobacteria and Firmicutes phyla were predominant at both the sites. Polok exhibited an extravagant representation of Chloroflexi, Deinococcus-Thermus, Aquificae, and Thermotogae. Metabolic potential analysis depicted orthologous genes associated with sulfur, nitrogen, and methane metabolism, contributed by the microflora in the hydrothermal system. The genomic information of many novel carbohydrate-transforming enzymes was deciphered in the metagenomic description. Further, the genomic capacity of antimicrobial biomolecules and antibiotic resistance were discerned. Conclusion The study provided comprehensive molecular information about the microbial treasury as well as the metabolic features of the two geothermal sites. The thermal aquatic niches were found a potential bioresource of biocatalyst systems for biomass-processing. Overall, this study provides the whole metagenome based insights into the taxonomic and functional profiles of Polok and Reshi hot springs of the Sikkim Himalaya. The study generated a wealth of genomic data that can be explored for the discovery and characterization of novel genes encoding proteins of industrial importance.

Marine bivalves are characterized as high nutritional, easily digestible food, low calories but high in proteins. The activity of biologically active substances in shellfish from the Black Sea region is very poorly studied. A small number of publications devoted to the functional activity of tissue and/or extracts from Black Sea shellfish are found in the literature. The main scientific objective of the project is to study the quality and functional potential of three species of Black Sea bivalves: black mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis), striped venus clam (Chamelea gallina) and wedge clam (Donax trunculus). Seafood nutrition data is needed to assess their contribution to nutrient intake of individuals and populations but also to the development of nutrition guidelines as well as for labelling purposes. Specific information on the nutrient content of regional foods, including seafood, is the basis of a number of food strategies and policies, and increasingly in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture. In many cases, this data may help specialized public authorities and public organizations with regard to food quality and related costs, as well as developing adequate strategies and policies aiming to improve the nutritional literacy of the population and solve issues of malnutrition and prevention of socially significant diseases (chronic non-communicable diseases, CND) with the help of wholesome foods, such as bivalves.