To date, there are no real physiological mechanisms for iron excretion in eukaryote, and no physiological “actuator” that can control all the three fundamental biologic processes of absorption, storage, and excretion. Here, we observed that the accumulation of anthraquinones by Thermomyces dupontii under cold stress can achieve this process. Through mutation analysis, we found that mutant ΔAn deficiency in anthraquinones accumulated ferrous and total free iron due to adopting a rare lifestyle with no endocytosis but accumulation of membrane-derived vesicles. Anthraquinone complement indicated that the vesicles in ΔAn could coat the extrinsic anthraquinone-induced granules to prevent contact with the fungal interiors. Detailed chemical investigation on ΔAn led to characterization of a rare oxygen-free ergosterene with unstable nature in air as the major membrane steroid in ΔAn, suggesting hypoxia inner in ΔAn cells, consistent with dramatically low oxygen-consuming rates in ΔAn. A series of physiological and metabolic analyses indicated anthraquinones were involved in exporting ferrous and promoting formation of oxygen-containing metabolites, including ergosterols for endocytosis and iron chelators for iron storage. Moreover, we found that both the anticancer agent mitoxantrone with well-known-cardiotoxicity side effect and the major terpenoid-derived polycyclic aromatics from Danshen for treating cardiovascular disease showed potent ferrous transporting capabilities in human cancer cells. Our findings provide a novel insight into the underlying mechanisms of polycyclic aromatics in nature and pharmacology, and offer a new strategy for developing potential therapeutics and agents for membrane transport, iron homestasis, and anticold.
{"title":"Thermophilic fungus uses anthraquinones to modulate ferrous excretion, sterol-mediated endocytosis, and iron storage in response to cold stress","authors":"Shuhong Li, Donglou Wang, Jiangbo He, Chunhua Liao, Zhangxin Zuo, Shenghong Li, Xuemei Niu","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.70002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.70002","url":null,"abstract":"<p>To date, there are no real physiological mechanisms for iron excretion in eukaryote, and no physiological “actuator” that can control all the three fundamental biologic processes of absorption, storage, and excretion. Here, we observed that the accumulation of anthraquinones by <i>Thermomyces dupontii</i> under cold stress can achieve this process. Through mutation analysis, we found that mutant Δ<i>An</i> deficiency in anthraquinones accumulated ferrous and total free iron due to adopting a rare lifestyle with no endocytosis but accumulation of membrane-derived vesicles. Anthraquinone complement indicated that the vesicles in Δ<i>An</i> could coat the extrinsic anthraquinone-induced granules to prevent contact with the fungal interiors. Detailed chemical investigation on Δ<i>An</i> led to characterization of a rare oxygen-free ergosterene with unstable nature in air as the major membrane steroid in Δ<i>An</i>, suggesting hypoxia inner in Δ<i>An</i> cells, consistent with dramatically low oxygen-consuming rates in Δ<i>An</i>. A series of physiological and metabolic analyses indicated anthraquinones were involved in exporting ferrous and promoting formation of oxygen-containing metabolites, including ergosterols for endocytosis and iron chelators for iron storage. Moreover, we found that both the anticancer agent mitoxantrone with well-known-cardiotoxicity side effect and the major terpenoid-derived polycyclic aromatics from Danshen for treating cardiovascular disease showed potent ferrous transporting capabilities in human cancer cells. Our findings provide a novel insight into the underlying mechanisms of polycyclic aromatics in nature and pharmacology, and offer a new strategy for developing potential therapeutics and agents for membrane transport, iron homestasis, and anticold.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1751-7915.70002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142100394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eric M. Conners, Karthikeyan Rengasamy, Tahina Ranaivoarisoa, Arpita Bose
Petroleum-based plastics levy significant environmental and economic costs that can be alleviated with sustainably sourced, biodegradable, and bio-based polymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). However, industrial-scale production of PHAs faces barriers stemming from insufficient product yields and high costs. To address these challenges, we must look beyond the current suite of microbes for PHA production and investigate non-model organisms with versatile metabolisms. In that vein, we assessed PHA production by the photosynthetic purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) Rhodomicrobium vannielii and Rhodomicrobium udaipurense. We show that both species accumulate PHA across photo-heterotrophic, photo-hydrogenotrophic, photo-ferrotrophic, and photo-electrotrophic growth conditions, with either ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) or dinitrogen gas (N2) as nitrogen sources. Our data indicate that nitrogen source plays a significant role in dictating PHA synthesis, with N2 fixation promoting PHA production during photoheterotrophy and photoelectrotrophy but inhibiting production during photohydrogenotrophy and photoferrotrophy. We observed the highest PHA titres (up to 44.08 mg/L, or 43.61% cell dry weight) when cells were grown photoheterotrophically on sodium butyrate with N2, while production was at its lowest during photoelectrotrophy (as low as 0.04 mg/L, or 0.16% cell dry weight). We also find that photohydrogenotrophically grown cells supplemented with NH4Cl exhibit the highest electron yields – up to 58.89% – while photoheterotrophy demonstrated the lowest (0.27%–1.39%). Finally, we highlight superior electron conversion and PHA production compared to a related PNSB, Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1. This study illustrates the value of studying non-model organisms like Rhodomicrobium for sustainable PHA production and indicates future directions for exploring PNSB metabolisms.
{"title":"The phototrophic purple non-sulfur bacteria Rhodomicrobium spp. are novel chassis for bioplastic production","authors":"Eric M. Conners, Karthikeyan Rengasamy, Tahina Ranaivoarisoa, Arpita Bose","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14552","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14552","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Petroleum-based plastics levy significant environmental and economic costs that can be alleviated with sustainably sourced, biodegradable, and bio-based polymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). However, industrial-scale production of PHAs faces barriers stemming from insufficient product yields and high costs. To address these challenges, we must look beyond the current suite of microbes for PHA production and investigate non-model organisms with versatile metabolisms. In that vein, we assessed PHA production by the photosynthetic purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) <i>Rhodomicrobium vannielii</i> and <i>Rhodomicrobium udaipurense.</i> We show that both species accumulate PHA across photo-heterotrophic, photo-hydrogenotrophic, photo-ferrotrophic, and photo-electrotrophic growth conditions, with either ammonium chloride (NH<sub>4</sub>Cl) or dinitrogen gas (N<sub>2</sub>) as nitrogen sources. Our data indicate that nitrogen source plays a significant role in dictating PHA synthesis, with N<sub>2</sub> fixation promoting PHA production during photoheterotrophy and photoelectrotrophy but inhibiting production during photohydrogenotrophy and photoferrotrophy. We observed the highest PHA titres (up to 44.08 mg/L, or 43.61% cell dry weight) when cells were grown photoheterotrophically on sodium butyrate with N<sub>2</sub>, while production was at its lowest during photoelectrotrophy (as low as 0.04 mg/L, or 0.16% cell dry weight). We also find that photohydrogenotrophically grown cells supplemented with NH<sub>4</sub>Cl exhibit the highest electron yields – up to 58.89% – while photoheterotrophy demonstrated the lowest (0.27%–1.39%). Finally, we highlight superior electron conversion and PHA production compared to a related PNSB, <i>Rhodopseudomonas palustris</i> TIE-1. This study illustrates the value of studying non-model organisms like <i>Rhodomicrobium</i> for sustainable PHA production and indicates future directions for exploring PNSB metabolisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1751-7915.14552","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142007927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Van Beek, D. J. C. Spijkerman, N. van der Burgt, B. Hermanns, S. Barendse, P. D. Sainsbury, K. N. Timmis, J. K. Timmis
Microbiology education has a serious handicap – the lack of visibility of the players of the subject and their interactions – which engenders a disproportionate reliance upon multimedia teaching aids (MTAs). The International Microbiology Literacy Initiative (IMiLI) is creating educational resources in societally-relevant microbiology complemented by appropriate MTAs. However, proper guidance supporting microbiology educators in locating and selecting, or commissioning the creation of, adequate MTAs for different target audiences and learning objectives is lacking. The aims of this study were to (i) identify important considerations regarding educational/didactical standards and the design of educational multimedia and (ii) create an evidence-based guideline for selecting and appraising existing, and informing the creation of new, microbiology MTAs. This investigation is based on an exploratory, mixed-methods approach. The results of two literature reviews (covering educational and good practice multimedia design) informed the collation of a preliminary appraisal guideline for videos, animations, comics, and video games. A web-scraping approach was utilised to locate and retrieve existing exemplars of the four multimedia types and create four pertinent multimedia databases (including metadata). The preliminary guideline was piloted (and revised accordingly) by appraising quasi-random (or purposive) samples of each multimedia type. Educational multimedia experts were interviewed to discuss the findings. Finally, the guideline was updated to reflect the expert comments together with the results of the pilot appraisals. The final guideline has four components: (i) central considerations for selecting and appraising multimedia for specific audiences and educational purposes, (ii) multimedia selection tool, (iii) multimedia appraisal tools, and (iv) extensive background information as appendices linking all sections for further comprehension. Broad utilisation of the guideline has significant potential for simplifying and systematising multimedia selection/creation, leading to superior multimedia-based learning outcomes, establishing a rapid selection database (pre-appraised multimedia), reducing disparities in microbiology education and incentivising educational content creators.
微生物学教育有一个严重的缺陷--缺乏对该学科参与者及其相互作用的了解--这导致了对多媒体教学辅助工具(MTA)的过度依赖。国际微生物学扫盲行动(IMiLI)正在创建与社会相关的微生物学教育资源,并辅以适当的多媒体辅助教学手段。然而,目前还缺乏适当的指导,以支持微生物学教育者针对不同的目标受众和学习目标查找和选择或委托制作适当的 MTA。本研究的目的是:(i) 确定有关教育/教学标准和教育多媒体设计的重要考虑因素;(ii) 为选择和评估现有的微生物学 MTA 以及为创建新的微生物学 MTA 提供信息创建基于证据的指南。这项调查以探索性的混合方法为基础。两篇文献综述(涉及教育和良好实践多媒体设计)的结果为整理视频、动画、漫画和视频游戏的初步评估指南提供了依据。利用网络抓取方法查找和检索了四种多媒体类型的现有范例,并创建了四个相关的多媒体数据库(包括元数据)。通过对每种多媒体类型的准随机(或有目的)样本进行评估,对初步指南进行了试行(和 相应的修订)。对教育多媒体专家进行了访谈,讨论研究结果。最后,对指南进行了更新,以反映专家的意见和试点评估的结果。最终的指南包括四个部分:(i) 为特定受众和教育目的选择和评估多媒体的核心考虑因素,(ii) 多媒体选择工具,(iii) 多媒体评估工具,(iv) 作为附录的广泛背景信息,将所有部分连接起来,以便进一步理解。该指南的广泛使用在以下方面具有巨大潜力:简化多媒体选择/创建并使之系统化;实现基于多媒体的卓越学习效果;建立快速选择数据库(预先评估的多媒体);减少微生物学教育中的差异;激励教育内容创建者。
{"title":"Guidelines to support the design, and selection and appraisal of multimedia teaching aids for microbiology education","authors":"R. Van Beek, D. J. C. Spijkerman, N. van der Burgt, B. Hermanns, S. Barendse, P. D. Sainsbury, K. N. Timmis, J. K. Timmis","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14553","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14553","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Microbiology education has a serious handicap – the lack of visibility of the players of the subject and their interactions – which engenders a disproportionate reliance upon multimedia teaching aids (MTAs). The International Microbiology Literacy Initiative (IMiLI) is creating educational resources in societally-relevant microbiology complemented by appropriate MTAs. However, proper guidance supporting microbiology educators in locating and selecting, or commissioning the creation of, adequate MTAs for different target audiences and learning objectives is lacking. The aims of this study were to (i) identify important considerations regarding educational/didactical standards and the design of educational multimedia and (ii) create an evidence-based guideline for selecting and appraising existing, and informing the creation of new, microbiology MTAs. This investigation is based on an exploratory, mixed-methods approach. The results of two literature reviews (covering educational and good practice multimedia design) informed the collation of a preliminary appraisal guideline for videos, animations, comics, and video games. A web-scraping approach was utilised to locate and retrieve existing exemplars of the four multimedia types and create four pertinent multimedia databases (including metadata). The preliminary guideline was piloted (and revised accordingly) by appraising quasi-random (or purposive) samples of each multimedia type. Educational multimedia experts were interviewed to discuss the findings. Finally, the guideline was updated to reflect the expert comments together with the results of the pilot appraisals. The final guideline has four components: (i) central considerations for <i>selecting</i> and <i>appraising</i> multimedia for specific audiences and educational purposes, (ii) multimedia <i>selection</i> tool, (iii) multimedia <i>appraisal</i> tools, and (iv) extensive background information as appendices linking all sections for further comprehension. Broad utilisation of the guideline has significant potential for simplifying and systematising multimedia selection/creation, leading to superior multimedia-based learning outcomes, establishing a rapid selection database (pre-appraised multimedia), reducing disparities in microbiology education and incentivising educational content creators.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1751-7915.14553","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Methane capture via oxidation is considered one of the ‘Holy Grails’ of catalysis (Tucci and Rosenzweig, 2024). Methane is also a primary greenhouse gas that has to be reduced by 1.2 billion metric tonnes in 10 years to decrease global warming by only 0.23°C (He and Lidstrom, 2024); hence, new technologies are needed to reduce atmospheric methane levels. In Nature, methane is captured aerobically by methanotrophs and anaerobically by anaerobic methanotrophic archaea; however, the anaerobic process dominates. Here, we describe the history and potential of using the two remarkable enzymes that have been cloned with activity for capturing methane: aerobic capture via soluble methane monooxygenase and anaerobic capture via methyl-coenzyme M reductase. We suggest these two enzymes may play a prominent, sustainable role in addressing our current global warming crisis.
{"title":"Capturing methane with recombinant soluble methane monooxygenase and recombinant methyl-coenzyme M reductase","authors":"Viviana Sanchez-Torres, Thomas K. Wood","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.70000","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.70000","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Methane capture via oxidation is considered one of the ‘Holy Grails’ of catalysis (Tucci and Rosenzweig, 2024). Methane is also a primary greenhouse gas that has to be reduced by 1.2 billion metric tonnes in 10 years to decrease global warming by only 0.23°C (He and Lidstrom, 2024); hence, new technologies are needed to reduce atmospheric methane levels. In Nature, methane is captured aerobically by methanotrophs and anaerobically by anaerobic methanotrophic archaea; however, the anaerobic process dominates. Here, we describe the history and potential of using the two remarkable enzymes that have been cloned with activity for capturing methane: aerobic capture via soluble methane monooxygenase and anaerobic capture via methyl-coenzyme M reductase. We suggest these two enzymes may play a prominent, sustainable role in addressing our current global warming crisis.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1751-7915.70000","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gabriel Hernández-Fernández, Miguel G. Acedos, Isabel de la Torre, Juan Ibero, José L. García, Beatriz Galán
The 22-hydroxy-23,24-bisnorchol-4-ene-3-one (4-HBC) is a C22 steroid synthon of pharmaceutical interest that can be produced as a lateral end-product of the catabolism of natural sterols (e.g., cholesterol or phytosterols). This work studies the role of an aldehyde dehydrogenase coded by the MSMEG_6563 gene of Mycolicibacterium smegmatis, named msRed, in 4-HBC production. This gene is located contiguously to the MSMEG_6561 encoding the aldolase msSal which catalyses the retroaldol elimination of acetyl-CoA of the metabolite intermediate 22-hydroxy-3-oxo-cholest-4-ene-24-carboxyl-CoA to deliver 3-oxo-4-pregnene-20-carboxyl aldehyde (3-OPA). We have demonstrated that msRed reduces 3-OPA to 4-HBC. Moreover, the role of msOpccR reductase encoded by MSMEG_1623 was also explored confirming that it also performs the reduction of 3-OPA into 4-HBC, but less efficiently than msRed. To obtain a M. smegmatis 4-HBC producer strain we deleted MSMEG_5903 (hsd4A) gene in strain MS6039-5941 (ΔkshB1, ΔkstD1) that produces 4-androstene-3,17-dione (AD) from natural sterols (cholesterol or phytosterols). The triple MS6039-5941-5903 mutant was able to produce 9 g/L of 4-HBC from 14 g/L of phytosterols in 2 L bioreactor, showing a productivity of 0.140 g/L h−1. To improve the metabolic flux of sterols towards the production of 4-HBC we have cloned and overexpressed the msSal and msRed enzymes in the MS6039-5941-5903 mutant rendering a production titter of 12.7 g/L with a productivity of 0.185 g/L h−1, and demonstrating that the new recombinant strain has a great potential for its industrial application.
{"title":"Improving the production of 22-hydroxy-23,24-bisnorchol-4-ene-3-one in Mycolicibacterium smegmatis","authors":"Gabriel Hernández-Fernández, Miguel G. Acedos, Isabel de la Torre, Juan Ibero, José L. García, Beatriz Galán","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14551","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14551","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The 22-hydroxy-23,24-bisnorchol-4-ene-3-one (4-HBC) is a C22 steroid synthon of pharmaceutical interest that can be produced as a lateral end-product of the catabolism of natural sterols (e.g., cholesterol or phytosterols). This work studies the role of an aldehyde dehydrogenase coded by the <i>MSMEG_6563</i> gene of <i>Mycolicibacterium smegmatis</i>, named msRed, in 4-HBC production. This gene is located contiguously to the <i>MSMEG_6561</i> encoding the aldolase msSal which catalyses the retroaldol elimination of acetyl-CoA of the metabolite intermediate 22-hydroxy-3-oxo-cholest-4-ene-24-carboxyl-CoA to deliver 3-oxo-4-pregnene-20-carboxyl aldehyde (3-OPA). We have demonstrated that msRed reduces 3-OPA to 4-HBC. Moreover, the role of msOpccR reductase encoded by <i>MSMEG_1623</i> was also explored confirming that it also performs the reduction of 3-OPA into 4-HBC, but less efficiently than msRed. To obtain a <i>M. smegmatis</i> 4-HBC producer strain we deleted <i>MSMEG_5903</i> (<i>hsd4A</i>) gene in strain MS6039-5941 (<i>ΔkshB1, ΔkstD1</i>) that produces 4-androstene-3,17-dione (AD) from natural sterols (cholesterol or phytosterols). The triple MS6039-5941-5903 mutant was able to produce 9 g/L of 4-HBC from 14 g/L of phytosterols in 2 L bioreactor, showing a productivity of 0.140 g/L h<sup>−1</sup>. To improve the metabolic flux of sterols towards the production of 4-HBC we have cloned and overexpressed the msSal and msRed enzymes in the MS6039-5941-5903 mutant rendering a production titter of 12.7 g/L with a productivity of 0.185 g/L h<sup>−1</sup>, and demonstrating that the new recombinant strain has a great potential for its industrial application.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1751-7915.14551","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Root caries is a subtype of dental caries that predominantly impacts older adults. The occurrence and progression of root caries are associated with the homeostasis of dental plaque biofilm, and microbial synergistic and antagonistic interactions in the biofilm play a significant role in maintaining the oral microecological balance. The objective of the current study was to investigate the role of Veillonella parvula in the microbial interactions and the pathogenesis of root caries. The analysis of clinical samples from patients with/without root caries revealed that Veillonella and V. parvula were abundant in the saliva of patients with root caries. More importantly, a significantly increased colonization of V. parvula was observed in root carious lesions. Further in vitro biofilm and animal study showed that V. parvula colonization increased the abundance and virulence of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans, leading to the formation of a polymicrobial biofilm with enhanced anti-stress capacity and cariogenicity, consequently exacerbating the severity of carious lesions. Our results indicate the critical role of V. parvula infection in the occurrence of root caries, providing a new insight for the etiological investigation and prevention of root caries.
{"title":"Veillonella parvula promotes root caries development through interactions with Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans","authors":"Guo Li, Yuqiu Liu, Mengdie Zhang, Jia Ning, Linrui Wu, Lixiang Jian, Hongkun Wu, Xingqun Cheng","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14547","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14547","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Root caries is a subtype of dental caries that predominantly impacts older adults. The occurrence and progression of root caries are associated with the homeostasis of dental plaque biofilm, and microbial synergistic and antagonistic interactions in the biofilm play a significant role in maintaining the oral microecological balance. The objective of the current study was to investigate the role of <i>Veillonella parvula</i> in the microbial interactions and the pathogenesis of root caries. The analysis of clinical samples from patients with/without root caries revealed that <i>Veillonella</i> and <i>V. parvula</i> were abundant in the saliva of patients with root caries. More importantly, a significantly increased colonization of <i>V. parvula</i> was observed in root carious lesions. Further in vitro biofilm and animal study showed that <i>V. parvula</i> colonization increased the abundance and virulence of <i>Streptococcus mutans</i> and <i>Candida albicans</i>, leading to the formation of a polymicrobial biofilm with enhanced anti-stress capacity and cariogenicity, consequently exacerbating the severity of carious lesions. Our results indicate the critical role of <i>V. parvula</i> infection in the occurrence of root caries, providing a new insight for the etiological investigation and prevention of root caries.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1751-7915.14547","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nanoscience, a pivotal field spanning multiple industries, including healthcare, focuses on nanomaterials characterized by their dimensions. These materials are synthesized through conventional chemical and physical methods, often involving costly and energy-intensive processes. Alternatively, biogenic synthesis using bacteria, fungi, or plant extracts offers a potentially sustainable and non-toxic approach for producing metal-based nanoparticles (NP). This eco-friendly synthesis approach not only reduces environmental impact but also enhances features of NP production due to the unique biochemistry of the biological systems. Recent advancements have shown that along with chemically synthesized NPs, biogenic NPs possess significant antimicrobial properties. The inherent biochemistry of bacteria enables the efficient conversion of metal salts into NPs through reduction processes, which are further stabilized by biomolecular capping layers that improve biocompatibility and functional properties. This mini review explores the use of bacteria to produce NPs with antimicrobial activities. Microbial technologies to produce NP antimicrobials have considerable potential to help address the antimicrobial resistance crisis, thus addressing critical health issues aligned with the United Nations Sustainability Goal #3 of good health and well-being.
{"title":"Bacterial synthesis of metal nanoparticles as antimicrobials","authors":"Anika Arora, Elham Lashani, Raymond J. Turner","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14549","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14549","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Nanoscience, a pivotal field spanning multiple industries, including healthcare, focuses on nanomaterials characterized by their dimensions. These materials are synthesized through conventional chemical and physical methods, often involving costly and energy-intensive processes. Alternatively, biogenic synthesis using bacteria, fungi, or plant extracts offers a potentially sustainable and non-toxic approach for producing metal-based nanoparticles (NP). This eco-friendly synthesis approach not only reduces environmental impact but also enhances features of NP production due to the unique biochemistry of the biological systems. Recent advancements have shown that along with chemically synthesized NPs, biogenic NPs possess significant antimicrobial properties. The inherent biochemistry of bacteria enables the efficient conversion of metal salts into NPs through reduction processes, which are further stabilized by biomolecular capping layers that improve biocompatibility and functional properties. This mini review explores the use of bacteria to produce NPs with antimicrobial activities. Microbial technologies to produce NP antimicrobials have considerable potential to help address the antimicrobial resistance crisis, thus addressing critical health issues aligned with the United Nations Sustainability Goal #3 of good health and well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1751-7915.14549","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141987011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The latest assessment of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has identified major obstacles, such as climate change, global instability and pandemics, which threaten efforts to achieve the SDGs even by 2050. Urgent action is needed, particularly to reduce poverty, hunger and climate change. In this context, microalgae are emerging as a promising solution, particularly in the context of food security and environmental sustainability. As versatile organisms, microalgae offer nutritional benefits such as high-quality proteins and essential fatty acids, and can be cultivated in non-arable areas, reducing competition for resources and improving the sustainability of food systems. The role of microalgae also includes other applications in aquaculture, where they serve as sustainable alternatives to animal feed, and in agriculture, where they act as biofertilizers and biostimulants. These microorganisms also play a key role in interventions on degraded land, stabilizing soils, improving hydrological function and increasing nutrient and carbon availability. Microalgae therefore support several SDGs by promoting sustainable agricultural practices and contributing to land restoration and carbon sequestration efforts. The integration of microalgae in these areas is essential to mitigate environmental impacts and improve global food security, highlighting the need for increased research and development, as well as public and political support, to exploit their full potential to advance the SDGs.
{"title":"Green microbes: Potential solutions for key sustainable development goals","authors":"Sandra Diaz-Troya, María José Huertas","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14546","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14546","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The latest assessment of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has identified major obstacles, such as climate change, global instability and pandemics, which threaten efforts to achieve the SDGs even by 2050. Urgent action is needed, particularly to reduce poverty, hunger and climate change. In this context, microalgae are emerging as a promising solution, particularly in the context of food security and environmental sustainability. As versatile organisms, microalgae offer nutritional benefits such as high-quality proteins and essential fatty acids, and can be cultivated in non-arable areas, reducing competition for resources and improving the sustainability of food systems. The role of microalgae also includes other applications in aquaculture, where they serve as sustainable alternatives to animal feed, and in agriculture, where they act as biofertilizers and biostimulants. These microorganisms also play a key role in interventions on degraded land, stabilizing soils, improving hydrological function and increasing nutrient and carbon availability. Microalgae therefore support several SDGs by promoting sustainable agricultural practices and contributing to land restoration and carbon sequestration efforts. The integration of microalgae in these areas is essential to mitigate environmental impacts and improve global food security, highlighting the need for increased research and development, as well as public and political support, to exploit their full potential to advance the SDGs.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11316392/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141910942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Microbial metabolism has been deeply studied over decades and it is considered to be understood to a great extent. Annotated genome sequences of many microbial species have contributed a lot to generating biochemical knowledge on metabolism. However, researchers still discover novel pathways, unforeseen reactions or unexpected metabolites which contradict to the expected canon of biochemical reactions in living organisms. Here, we highlight a few examples of such non-canonical pathways, how they were found, and what their importance in microbial biotechnology may be. The predictive power of metabolic modelling, well-founded on biochemical knowledge and genomic information is discussed in the light of both discovery of yet unknown existing metabolic routes and the prediction of others, new to Nature.
{"title":"Into the metabolic wild: Unveiling hidden pathways of microbial metabolism","authors":"Özge Ata, Diethard Mattanovich","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14548","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14548","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Microbial metabolism has been deeply studied over decades and it is considered to be understood to a great extent. Annotated genome sequences of many microbial species have contributed a lot to generating biochemical knowledge on metabolism. However, researchers still discover novel pathways, unforeseen reactions or unexpected metabolites which contradict to the expected canon of biochemical reactions in living organisms. Here, we highlight a few examples of such non-canonical pathways, how they were found, and what their importance in microbial biotechnology may be. The predictive power of metabolic modelling, well-founded on biochemical knowledge and genomic information is discussed in the light of both discovery of yet unknown existing metabolic routes and the prediction of others, new to Nature.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11316390/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141910943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matthias Schweitzer, Maximilian Wlasak, Birgit Wassermann, Florian Marcher, Christian Poglitsch, Johanna Pirker, Gabriele Berg
In the last two decades, new discoveries from microbiome research have changed our understanding of human health. It became evident that daily habits and lifestyle choices shape the human microbiome and ultimately determine health or disease. Therefore, we developed ‘Tiny Biome Tales’ (https://microbiome.gamelabgraz.at/), a science pedagogy video game designed like a scientific review based exclusively on peer-reviewed articles, to teach about the influence of lifestyle choices on the human microbiome during pregnancy, early and adult life, and related health consequences. Despite the scientific character, it can be played by a broad audience. Here, we also present a scientific assessment and showed that playing the game significantly contributed to knowledge gain. The innovative style of the ‘gamified review’ represents an ideal platform to disseminate future findings from microbiome research by updating existing and adding new scenes to the game.
{"title":"‘Tiny Biome Tales’: A gamified review about the influence of lifestyle choices on the human microbiome","authors":"Matthias Schweitzer, Maximilian Wlasak, Birgit Wassermann, Florian Marcher, Christian Poglitsch, Johanna Pirker, Gabriele Berg","doi":"10.1111/1751-7915.14544","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1751-7915.14544","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the last two decades, new discoveries from microbiome research have changed our understanding of human health. It became evident that daily habits and lifestyle choices shape the human microbiome and ultimately determine health or disease. Therefore, we developed ‘Tiny Biome Tales’ (https://microbiome.gamelabgraz.at/), a science pedagogy video game designed like a scientific review based exclusively on peer-reviewed articles, to teach about the influence of lifestyle choices on the human microbiome during pregnancy, early and adult life, and related health consequences. Despite the scientific character, it can be played by a broad audience. Here, we also present a scientific assessment and showed that playing the game significantly contributed to knowledge gain. The innovative style of the ‘gamified review’ represents an ideal platform to disseminate future findings from microbiome research by updating existing and adding new scenes to the game.</p>","PeriodicalId":209,"journal":{"name":"Microbial Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310763/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141905223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}