Symbiotic Communities Research Articles

Comparative Metagenomics Reveals the Distinctive Adaptive Features of the Spongia officinalis Endosymbiotic Consortium.

Current knowledge of sponge microbiome functioning derives mostly from comparative analyses with bacterioplankton communities. We employed a metagenomics-centered approach to unveil the distinct features of the Spongia officinalis endosymbiotic consortium in the context of its two primary environmental vicinities. Microbial metagenomic DNA samples (n = 10) from sponges, seawater, and sediments were subjected to Hiseq Illumina sequencing (c. 15 million 100 bp reads per sample). Totals of 10,272 InterPro (IPR) predicted protein entries and 784 rRNA gene operational taxonomic units (OTUs, 97% cut-off) were uncovered from all metagenomes. Despite the large divergence in microbial community assembly between the surveyed biotopes, the S. officinalis symbiotic community shared slightly greater similarity (p < 0.05), in terms of both taxonomy and function, to sediment than to seawater communities. The vast majority of the dominant S. officinalis symbionts (i.e., OTUs), representing several, so-far uncultivable lineages in diverse bacterial phyla, displayed higher residual abundances in sediments than in seawater. CRISPR-Cas proteins and restriction endonucleases presented much higher frequencies (accompanied by lower viral abundances) in sponges than in the environment. However, several genomic features sharply enriched in the sponge specimens, including eukaryotic-like repeat motifs (ankyrins, tetratricopeptides, WD-40, and leucine-rich repeats), and genes encoding for plasmids, sulfatases, polyketide synthases, type IV secretion proteins, and terpene/terpenoid synthases presented, to varying degrees, higher frequencies in sediments than in seawater. In contrast, much higher abundances of motility and chemotaxis genes were found in sediments and seawater than in sponges. Higher cell and surface densities, sponge cell shedding and particle uptake, and putative chemical signaling processes favoring symbiont persistence in particulate matrices all may act as mechanisms underlying the observed degrees of taxonomic connectivity and functional convergence between sponges and sediments. The reduced frequency of motility and chemotaxis genes in the sponge microbiome reinforces the notion of a prevalent mutualistic mode of living inside the host. This study highlights the S. officinalis “endosymbiome” as a distinct consortium of uncultured prokaryotes displaying a likely “sit-and-wait” strategy to nutrient foraging coupled to sophisticated anti-viral defenses, unique natural product biosynthesis, nutrient utilization and detoxification capacities, and both microbe–microbe and host–microbe gene transfer amenability.

Effect of the epiphytic bacterium Bacillus sp. WPySW2 on the metabolism of Pyropia haitanensis

A variety of different symbiotic microbial communities are harbored on the surface of seaweeds, the interactions of which depend upon nutritional exchanges between the microbes and the hosts. Metabolomic profiling is able to provide a comprehensive and unbiased snapshot of the metabolites associated with seaweed–microbe interactions. In this study, the relationships between phycosphere bacteria and the red alga Pyropia haitanensis were investigated on a metabolomic basis using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and the pathways of the interactions between the seaweed and its associated phycospheric microbes were revealed. Bacillus sp. WPySW2, one bacterial species isolated from the phycosphere of Pyropia species, had a significant influence on the metabolomic profile of the algae. Some of the intracellular metabolites such as phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, proline, tyrosine, threonine, octadecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, and citric acid were downregulated in the thalli of P. haitanensis when it was co-cultured with Bacillus sp. WPySW2, while several special metabolites including melibiose, serine, glycerol-3-phosphate, galactosylglycerol, and alanine were upregulated. The results demonstrated that P. haitanensis grew better when it was co-cultured with Bacillus sp. WPySW2 at 20 °C. In conclusion, several main intracellular metabolites were downregulated and upregulated, which might have facilitated bacterial colonization.

MEDUSOMYCES GISEVII: СТРОЕНИЕ, ФУНКЦИОНИРОВАНИЕ И ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ

The mechanisms of formation and functioning of symbiotic community of microorganisms Medusomyces gisevii. Describes the stages of formation of bacterial cellulose, the mechanism of quorum sensing and the role of persisters in the functioning of microorganisms Medusomyces gisevii. The practical importance of the symbiont in the food and industrial processes, as well as the possibility of using biocellulose in medicine, pharmacology and cosmetology. It justifies urgency of study activities Medusomyces gisevii to obtain bacterial cellulose and components of the culture fluid used in the future in various food and processing industries.

Environmental filtering by pH and soil nutrients drives community assembly in fungi at fine spatial scales.

Whether niche processes, like environmental filtering, or neutral processes, like dispersal limitation, are the primary forces driving community assembly is a central question in ecology. Here, we use a natural experimental system of isolated tree "islands" to test whether environment or geography primarily structures fungal community composition at fine spatial scales. This system consists of isolated pairs of two distantly related, congeneric pine trees established at varying distances from each other and the forest edge, allowing us to disentangle the effects of geographic distance vs. host and edaphic environment on associated fungal communities. We identified fungal community composition with Illumina sequencing of ITS amplicons, measured all relevant environmental parameters for each tree-including tree age, size and soil chemistry-and calculated geographic distances from each tree to all others and to the nearest forest edge. We applied generalized dissimilarity modelling to test whether total and ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) communities were primarily structured by geographic or environmental filtering. Our results provide strong evidence that as in many other organisms, niche and neutral processes both contribute significantly to turnover in community composition in fungi, but environmental filtering plays the dominant role in structuring both free-living and symbiotic fungal communities at fine spatial scales. In our study system, we found pH and organic matter primarily drive environmental filtering in total soil fungal communities and that pH and cation exchange capacity-and, surprisingly, not host species-were the largest factors affecting EMF community composition. These findings support an emerging paradigm that pH may play a central role in the assembly of all soil-mediated systems.

Medfly Gut Microbiota and Enhancement of the Sterile Insect Technique: Similarities and Differences of Klebsiella oxytoca and Enterobacter sp. AA26 Probiotics during the Larval and Adult Stages of the VIENNA 8D53+ Genetic Sexing Strain

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is a major agricultural pest worldwide. The development of genetic sexing strains (GSSs) for this species that allows male-only sterile insects releases has boosted the effectiveness of the environmental friendly pest control method known as the sterile insect technique. The last generation of these strains, the VIENNA 7 and VIENNA 8, are currently used in all mass rearing facilities worldwide and are considered as models for such pest control applications. The sterile insect technique depends on the rearing of sufficient numbers of adequate “biological quality” laboratory flies to be released in the field. Currently, there is an increasing amount of studies focusing on the characterization of the symbiotic communities and development of probiotic diets. In our study, two bacterial isolates, an Enterobacter sp. (strain AA26) and a Klebsiella oxytoca strain, were used as probiotics in larval and adult diet. These strains have been shown to be beneficial, affecting several aspects related to the rearing efficiency and biological quality of the medfly VIENNA 8D53+ GSS. Our results demonstrate the effect of K. oxytoca on the developmental duration of the immature stages and, to some extent, on flight ability. On the other hand, our study does not support the presence of any beneficial effect of (a) K. oxytoca on pupal and adult recovery and adults’ survival under stress conditions when provided as a larval diet supplement and (b) K. oxytoca and Enterobacter sp. AA26 on mating competitiveness when provided as adult diet supplements. Possible explanations for inconsistencies with previous studies and the need for universalizing protocols are discussed. Our findings, combined with previous studies can support the sterile insect technique, through the improvement of different aspects of mass rearing and biological properties of laboratory reared insect pests.

Disentangling environmental and host sources of fungal endophyte communities in an experimental beachgrass study.

Disentangling the ecological factors that contribute to the assembly of the microbial symbiont communities within eukaryotic hosts is an ongoing challenge. Broadly speaking, symbiont propagules arrive either from external sources in the environment or from internal sources within the same host individual. To understand the relative importance of these propagule sources to symbiont community assembly, we characterized symbiotic fungal endophyte communities within the roots of three species of beachgrass in a field experiment. We manipulated two aspects of the external environment, successional habitat and physical disturbance. To determine the role of internal sources of propagules for endophyte community assembly, we used beachgrass individuals with different pre-existing endophyte communities. Endophyte species richness and community composition were characterized using culture-based and next-generation sequencing approaches. Our results showed that external propagule sources associated with successional habitat, but not disturbance, were particularly important for colonization of most endophytic taxa. In contrast, internal propagule sources played a minor role for most endophytic taxa but were important for colonization by the dominant taxon Microdochium bolleyi. Our findings highlight the power of manipulative field experiments to link symbiont community assembly to its underlying ecological processes, and to ultimately improve predictions of symbiont community assembly across environments.

In Vivo Isotopic Labeling of Symbiotic Bacteria Involved in Cellulose Degradation and Nitrogen Recycling within the Gut of the Forest Cockchafer (Melolontha hippocastani).

The guts of insects harbor symbiotic bacterial communities. However, due to their complexity, it is challenging to relate a specific symbiotic phylotype to its corresponding function. In the present study, we focused on the forest cockchafer (Melolontha hippocastani), a phytophagous insect with a dual life cycle, consisting of a root-feeding larval stage and a leaf-feeding adult stage. By combining in vivo stable isotope probing (SIP) with 13C cellulose and 15N urea as trophic links, with Illumina MiSeq (Illumina-SIP), we unraveled bacterial networks processing recalcitrant dietary components and recycling nitrogenous waste. The bacterial communities behind these processes change between larval and adult stages. In 13C cellulose-fed insects, the bacterial families Lachnospiraceae and Enterobacteriaceae were isotopically labeled in larvae and adults, respectively. In 15N urea-fed insects, the genera Burkholderia and Parabacteroides were isotopically labeled in larvae and adults, respectively. Additionally, the PICRUSt-predicted metagenome suggested a possible ability to degrade hemicellulose and to produce amino acids of, respectively, 13C cellulose- and 15N urea labeled bacteria. The incorporation of 15N from ingested urea back into the insect body was confirmed, in larvae and adults, by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). Besides highlighting key bacterial symbionts of the gut of M. hippocastani, this study provides example on how Illumina-SIP with multiple trophic links can be used to target microorganisms embracing different roles within an environment.

Coevolution between Mutualists and Parasites in Symbiotic Communities May Lead to the Evolution of Lower Virulence.

Most eukaryotes harbor a diverse community of parasitic, mutualistic, and commensal microbial symbionts. Although the diversity of these microbial symbiotic communities has recently drawn considerable attention, theory regarding the evolution of interactions among symbionts and with the host is still in its nascent stages. Here we evaluate the role of interactions among coinfecting symbionts in the evolution of symbiont virulence toward the host. To do so, we place the virulence-transmission trade-off into a community context and model the evolution of symbiont trophic modes along the continuum from parasitism (virulence) to mutualism (negative virulence). We establish a framework for studying multiple infections of a host by the same symbiont species and coinfection by multiple species, using a concept of shared costs, wherein the negative consequences of virulence (or harm) toward the host are shared among symbionts. Our results show that mutualism can be maintained under infection by multiple symbionts when shared costs are sufficiently low, while greater virulence and parasitism toward the host are more likely when shared costs are high. Last, for coinfection by more than one species, we show that if the presence of a mutualist ameliorates some of the costs of pathogen virulence, then the symbiotic community may more often evolve to a more commensal state and maintain mutualisms.

An Overview on Marine Sponge-Symbiotic Bacteria as Unexhausted Sources for Natural Product Discovery

Microbial symbiotic communities of marine macro-organisms carry functional metabolic profiles different to the ones found terrestrially and within surrounding marine environments. These symbiotic bacteria have increasingly been a focus of microbiologists working in marine environments due to a wide array of reported bioactive compounds of therapeutic importance resulting in various patent registrations. Revelations of symbiont-directed host specific functions and the true nature of host-symbiont interactions, combined with metagenomic advances detecting functional gene clusters, will inevitably open new avenues for identification and discovery of novel bioactive compounds of biotechnological value from marine resources. This review article provides an overview on bioactive marine symbiotic organisms with specific emphasis placed on the sponge-associated ones and invites the international scientific community to contribute towards establishment of in-depth information of the environmental parameters defining selection and acquisition of true symbionts by the host organisms.

Geographical variations in bacterial communities associated with soft coral Scleronephthya gracillimum.

Environmental impacts can alter relationships between a coral and its symbiotic microbial community. Furthermore, changes in the microbial community associated with increased seawater temperatures can cause opportunistic infections, coral disease and death. Interactions between soft corals and their associated microbes are not well understood. The species Scleronephthya gracillimum is distributed in tropical to temperate zones in coral assemblages along the Kuroshio Current region. In this study we collected S. gracillimum from various sites at different latitudes, and compared composition of their bacterial communities using Next Generation Sequencing. Coral samples from six geographically distinct areas (two sites each in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea) had considerable variation in their associated bacterial communities and diversity. Endozoicimonaceae was the dominant group in corals from Korea and Japan, whereas Mycoplasma was dominant in corals from Taiwan corals. Interestingly, the latter corals had lower relative abundance of Endozoicimonaceae, but greater diversity. These biogeographic differences in bacterial composition may have been due to varying environmental conditions among study locations, or because of host responses to prevailing environmental conditions. This study provided a baseline for future studies of soft coral microbiomes, and assessment of functions of host metabolites and soft coral holobionts.

Diversity and Efficiency of Rhizobia Communities from Iron Mining Areas Using Cowpea as a Trap Plant

ABSTRACT Mining is an important economic activity. However, its impact on environment must be accessed, mainly on relevant processes for their sustainability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diversity and efficiency of symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacterial communities in soils under different types of vegetation in the Quadrilatero Ferrifero: ironstone outcrops, Atlantic Forest, neotropical savanna, and a rehabilitated area revegetated with grass. Suspensions of soil samples collected under each type of vegetation were made in a saline solution [...]

Stress and stability: applying the Anna Karenina principle to animal microbiomes.

All animals studied to date are associated with symbiotic communities of microorganisms. These animal microbiotas often play important roles in normal physiological function and susceptibility to disease; predicting their responses to perturbation represents an essential challenge for microbiology. Most studies of microbiome dynamics test for patterns in which perturbation shifts animal microbiomes from a healthy to a dysbiotic stable state. Here, we consider a complementary alternative: that the microbiological changes induced by many perturbations are stochastic, and therefore lead to transitions from stable to unstable community states. The result is an 'Anna Karenina principle' for animal microbiomes, in which dysbiotic individuals vary more in microbial community composition than healthy individuals-paralleling Leo Tolstoy's dictum that "all happy families look alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way". We argue that Anna Karenina effects are a common and important response of animal microbiomes to stressors that reduce the ability of the host or its microbiome to regulate community composition. Patterns consistent with Anna Karenina effects have been found in systems ranging from the surface of threatened corals exposed to above-average temperatures, to the lungs of patients suffering from HIV/AIDs. However, despite their apparent ubiquity, these patterns are easily missed or discarded by some common workflows, and therefore probably underreported. Now that a substantial body of research has established the existence of these patterns in diverse systems, rigorous testing, intensive time-series datasets and improved stochastic modelling will help to explore their importance for topics ranging from personalized medicine to theories of the evolution of host-microorganism symbioses.

Phosphate-solubilizing microbes in rhizosphere soils of 19 weeds in southeastern China

Low phosphorus (P) availability is one of the most important factors limiting plant growth in red soils across southeastern China. Many non-symbiotic microorganisms in rhizosphere can enhance P solubility, but little is known about the magnitude of their phosphorus-solubilizing ability (PSA) and the difference in phosphorus-solubilizing microorganisms (PSM) among plant species. The number of phosphorus-solubilizing microorganisms and their PSA in rhizosphere soils of 19 weed species in a citrus orchard on red soil at Changshan. Zhejiang. China, were investigated. Inorganic P (powdered phosphate rock, PR) and organic P (lecithin, OP) were respectively used as the sole P-source to examine the PSA of isolated microbes. The PS actinomycetes community varied greatly among the different weed rhizospheres while the PS fungus community showed to be most stable to the weed rhizosphere. The highest number of PR-PS and OP-PS bacteria was found in rhizosphere soil of Mollugo pentaphyll, and the highest number of PR-PS and OP-PS actinomycetes was found in rhizosphere soil of Polygonum lapathifolium. The highest number of PR-PS fungi was found in Erigeron annuus and Mollugo pentaphyll rhizosphere soil, and the highest number of OP-PS fungi was found in rhizosphere soil of Mazus stachydifolius. Mazus stachydifolius showed the strongest PR-PS ability (6340.75/μg) while Eragrostis pilosa showed the strongest OP-PS ability (1301. 84/μg). The PR-PS ability and OP-PS ability of Mollugo pentaphyll was 4432.87μg and 1122.05μg respectively. A significant correlation between the number of PR-PSM and OP-PSM was found. Significant correlation was only found between the PR-PS fungi number and its PSA (r = 0.75, P<05) and between the number of OP-PS fungi and its PSA (r = 0.87, P<0.01}). It indicated that plant species had significant influence on components of the non symbiotic PSM community and their activity in its rhizosphere soil. Fungi play a leading role in phosphorus solubilization in weed rhizopshere. It suggested that weed conservation could benefit soil microbe development in agroecosystems, especially in the initial stage of agroecosystem development because there is less organic carbon in bare soil. The results suggested that weed conservation could increase PSA of PSM.

Structure of a 1.5-MDa adhesin that binds its Antarctic bacterium to diatoms and ice.

Bacterial adhesins are modular cell-surface proteins that mediate adherence to other cells, surfaces, and ligands. The Antarctic bacterium Marinomonas primoryensis uses a 1.5-MDa adhesin comprising over 130 domains to position it on ice at the top of the water column for better access to oxygen and nutrients. We have reconstructed this 0.6-μm-long adhesin using a "dissect and build" structural biology approach and have established complementary roles for its five distinct regions. Domains in region I (RI) tether the adhesin to the type I secretion machinery in the periplasm of the bacterium and pass it through the outer membrane. RII comprises ~120 identical immunoglobulin-like β-sandwich domains that rigidify on binding Ca2+ to project the adhesion regions RIII and RIV into the medium. RIII contains ligand-binding domains that join diatoms and bacteria together in a mixed-species community on the underside of sea ice where incident light is maximal. RIV is the ice-binding domain, and the terminal RV domain contains several "repeats-in-toxin" motifs and a noncleavable signal sequence that target proteins for export via the type I secretion system. Similar structural architecture is present in the adhesins of many pathogenic bacteria and provides a guide to finding and blocking binding domains to weaken infectivity.

Biodiversity of the community associated with Pocillopora verrucosa (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae) in the Red Sea

The symbiotic community associated with a scleractinian coral Pocillopora verrucosa has been studied along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia from Al Wajh to the entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba. Forty colonies have been sampled from 2- to 15-m depth in 2 areas, southern and northern. Thirty-six associated species were found, including 15 symbionts and 21 species with uncertain status (SUS). The number of recorded symbiotic species was close to the statistically expected value, while SUS were rare and did not reach the value expected from the Chao 2 model. Species number and abundance positively correlated with the colony volume. Mean abundance of all species and symbionts and the number of SUS per covariate colony volume were higher in the northern area than in the southern area. This may be related to a higher habitat diversity of the surrounding reefs and to the presence of colonies with partially dead tissues in the north. These two factors have a weak impact on symbionts, but strongly affect SUS. The diversity of the pocilloporid-associated communities range from 36 to 127 species along the Indo-Pacific and Tropical East Pacific, with 9 to 19 of them being symbionts. The total species diversity varies owing to the SUS number, while the core of true symbionts includes much fewer species and is less variable. The diversity of Pocillopora symbionts in the Saudi Arabian coast (15 species) is among the highest for the studied areas in the Indo-Pacific.

Captivity Shapes the Gut Microbiota of Andean Bears: Insights into Health Surveillance.

The Andean bear is an endemic species of the tropical Andes who has an almost exclusively plant-based diet. Since herbivorous mammals do not carry enzymes for fiber degradation, the establishment of symbiosis with cellulolytic microorganisms in their gastrointestinal (GI) tract is necessary to help them fulfill their nutritional needs. Furthermore, as described for other mammals, a stable, diverse, and balanced gut microbial composition is an indicator of a healthy status of the host; under disturbances this balance can be lost, leading to potential diseases of the host. The goal of this study was to describe the gut microbiota of wild and captive Andean bears and determine how habitat status influences the composition and diversity of the gut symbiotic community. Fecal samples from wild (n = 28) and captive (n = 8) Andean bears were collected in “Reserva Pantano de Martos” and “Fundación Bioandina”, Colombia. Composition and diversity analyses were performed using amplicons from the V4 region of the 16S rDNA gene sequenced using the Ion PGM platform. PICRUSt algorithm was applied to predict the gene content of the gut microbiome of wild and captive Andean bears. A total of 5,411 and 838 OTUs were identified for wild and captive bears, respectively. Captive bears contained a lower number of bacterial phyla (n = 7) compared to wild individuals (n = 9). Proteobacteria (59.03%) and Firmicutes (14.03%) were the phyla that contributed the most to differences between wild and captive bears (overall dissimilarity = 87.72%). At family level, Enterobacteriaceae drove the main differences between the two groups (13.7%). PICRUSt metagenomics predictions suggested a similar pattern of relative abundance of gene families associated with the metabolism of carbohydrates across samples in wild individuals, despite the taxonomic differences of their gut microbiota. Captivity alters the availability and diversity of food resources, which likely reduces microbiota richness and diversity compared to wild individuals. Further considerations should be taken into account for nutritional schemes improving ex-situ conservation and its potential as a surveillance tool of endangered populations of wild Andean bears.

Effect of diseases on symbiotic systems

There are many species living in symbiotic communities. In this study, we analyzed models in which populations are in the mutualism symbiotic relations subject to a disease spreading among one of the species. The main goal is the characterization of symbiotic relations of coexisting species through their mutual influences on their respective carrying capacities, taking into account that this influence can be quite strong. The functional dependence of the carrying capacities reflects the fact that the correlations between populations cannot be realized merely through direct interactions, as in the usual predator-prey Lotka-Volterra model, but also through the influence of each species on the carrying capacities of the other one. Equilibria are analyzed for feasibility and stability, substantiated via numerical simulations, and global sensitivity analysis identifies the important parameters having a significant impact on the model dynamics. The infective growth rate and the disease-related mortality rate may alter the stability behavior of the system. Our results show that introducing a symbiotic species is a plausible way to control the disease in the population.

Effects of heartwood extractives on symbiotic protozoan communities and mortality in two termite species

Lower termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) are considered severe pests of wood in service, crops and plantation forests. Termites mechanically remove and digest lignocellulosic material as a food source. The ability to digest lignocellulose not only depends on their digestive tract physiology, but also on the symbiotic relationship between termites and their intestinal microbiota. The current study was designed to test the possible effects of four heartwood extractives (Tectona grandis, Dalbergia sissoo, Cedrus deodara and Pinus roxburghii) on the mortality, feeding rate and protozoan population in two lower termites, Reticulitermes flavipes and Heterotermes indicola. All wood extractives tested rapidly lowered protozoan numbers in the hindgut of termite workers, which was closely correlated with worker mortality. The average population of protozoans in both termite species was diminished in a dose-dependent manner after fifteen days feeding on treated filter paper. Mortality of termites increased when fed on filter paper treated with T. grandis or D. sissoo heartwood extractives with minimum feeding rate at the maximum concentration (10 mg ml−1). Protozoan number and termite survival was also compared with starved termites and results showed that protozoan populations ware reduced up to 99.60 and 65.71% in R. flavipes and H. indicola, respectively as compared to untreated filter paper controls with ≅ 80% survival for both termite species. Characterizations of heartwood extractives were performed using Gas Chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and chemical profiles were obtained for extractives from each wood species. The largest chemical components, based on percentage of sample, identified from T. grandis were Squalene, 2-methyl-9, 10-Anthracenedione and 1-Methyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline. Trismethoxyresveratrol, 1, 3-Diamino-8-n-butyl-5, 6 dihydrobenzoquinazoline and 6, 8-dimethyl-Benzanthracene were the largest components from D. sissoo. The largest percentage components from C. deodara were (E) – Atlantone, Di-epi-alpha-cedrene and alpha-Cuprenene. The main components of P. roxburghii were identified as 1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydro-5, 8-dimethyl-Acridin-9-amine, 2, 3-dihydro-5, 7-dihydroxy-2phenyl-4H-1-Benzopyran-4-one and 5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-2-phenyl4H-1-Benzopyran-4-one. These are discussed in terms of their termiticidal and protozoicidal properties.

Epidemic and endemic pathogen dynamics correspond to distinct host population microbiomes at a landscape scale.

Infectious diseases have serious impacts on human and wildlife populations, but the effects of a disease can vary, even among individuals or populations of the same host species. Identifying the reasons for this variation is key to understanding disease dynamics and mitigating infectious disease impacts, but disentangling cause and correlation during natural outbreaks is extremely challenging. This study aims to understand associations between symbiotic bacterial communities and an infectious disease, and examines multiple host populations before or after pathogen invasion to infer likely causal links. The results show that symbiotic bacteria are linked to fundamentally different outcomes of pathogen infection: host-pathogen coexistence (endemic infection) or host population extirpation (epidemic infection). Diversity and composition of skin-associated bacteria differed between populations of the frog, Rana sierrae, that coexist with or were extirpated by the fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Data from multiple populations sampled before or after pathogen invasion were used to infer cause and effect in the relationship between the fungal pathogen and symbiotic bacteria. Among host populations, variation in the composition of the skin microbiome was most strongly predicted by pathogen infection severity, even in analyses where the outcome of infection did not vary. This result suggests that pathogen infection shapes variation in the skin microbiome across host populations that coexist with or are driven to extirpation by the pathogen. By contrast, microbiome richness was largely unaffected by pathogen infection intensity, but was strongly predicted by geographical region of the host population, indicating the importance of environmental or host genetic factors in shaping microbiome richness. Thus, while both richness and composition of the microbiome differed between endemic and epidemic host populations, the underlying causes are most likely different: pathogen infection appears to shape microbiome composition, while microbiome richness was less sensitive to pathogen-induced disturbance. Because higher richness was correlated with host persistence in the presence of Bd, and richness appeared relatively stable to Bd infection, microbiome richness may contribute to disease resistance, although the latter remains to be directly tested.

Potassium is a key signal in host-microbiome dysbiosis in periodontitis.

Dysbiosis, or the imbalance in the structural and/or functional properties of the microbiome, is at the origin of important infectious inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and periodontal disease. Periodontitis is a polymicrobial inflammatory disease that affects a large proportion of the world's population and has been associated with a wide variety of systemic health conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Dysbiosis has been identified as a key element in the development of the disease. However, the precise mechanisms and environmental signals that lead to the initiation of dysbiosis in the human microbiome are largely unknown. In a series of previous in vivo studies using metatranscriptomic analysis of periodontitis and its progression we identified several functional signatures that were highly associated with the disease. Among them, potassium ion transport appeared to be key in the process of pathogenesis. To confirm its importance we performed a series of in vitro experiments, in which we demonstrated that potassium levels a increased the virulence of the oral community as a whole and at the same time altering the immune response of gingival epithelium, increasing the production of TNF-α and reducing the expression of IL-6 and the antimicrobial peptide human β-defensin 3 (hBD-3). These results indicate that levels of potassium in the periodontal pocket could be an important element in of dysbiosis in the oral microbiome. They are a starting point for the identification of key environmental signals that modify the behavior of the oral microbiome from a symbiotic community to a dysbiotic one.