Effects of fermented dairy products on inflammatory biomarkers: A meta-analysis.

AIM: Fermented dairy products (FDPs) are made from raw milk under the action of specific microorganisms by lactic acid bacteria fermentation or co-fermentation of lactic acid bacteria, bifidobacteria, and yeast. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of FDPs on inflammatory biomarkers. DATA SYNTHESIS: A comprehensive search was conducted on four electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Finally, fourteen trials (15 arms) were included in this meta-analysis: yogurt (n = 9), fermented milk (n = 4), and kefir (n = 2). Additionally, the random effects model or fixed-effects model was used to pool the study results. Firstly, the analysis indicated that FDPs' supplementation decreased the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) (SMD = -0.21; 95% CI: -0.40, -0.02; P = 0.033) and increased interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels (SMD = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.23; P = 0.033). Furthermore, we obtained some statistically significant results in the following subgroups: CRP decreased in participants with metabolic diseases. IFN-γ increased in the intervention that lasted ≥12 weeks, Asian, yogurt, and healthy population. Finally, there was no significant effect on tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and IL-2. CONCLUSIONS: FDPs reduced CRP and increased IFN-γ, but they had no effect on other inflammatory markers. The results showed that the consumption of FDPs was slightly associated with reduced inflammation, but because of the limited literature, these results should be interpreted with caution.

Neohesperidin alleviated pathological damage and immunological imbalance in rat myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury via inactivation of JNK and NF-κB p65.

Neohesperidin (NEO) exerts antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammation, and antitumor effects in some diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of NEO on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Results indicated that NEO suppressed the levels of serum inflammatory cytokines, myocardial damage markers, and oxidative stress markers, and increased the levels of antioxidant in myocardial I/R rats. NEO also inhibited cell apoptosis. Besides, NEO also inhibited the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) p65. Furthermore, the protective effects of NEO on myocardial tissue damage, inflammatory cytokines, myocardial injury markers, oxidative stress markers, cell apoptosis, spleen, thymus and liver indices, and phagocytic indices were reversed by JNK activator and NF-κB activator, respectively. In conclusion, NEO alleviates myocardial damage, oxidative stress, cell apoptosis, and immunological imbalance in I/R injury via the inactivation of JNK and NF-κB, making NEO a potential agent for myocardial I/R therapy.

Selective oxidation and direct decolorization of cationic dyes by persulfate without activation.

The aim of this work was to investigate the selective oxidation and direct decolorization of selected organic dyes (Methylene Blue (MB), Rhodamine B (RhB) and Orange II (OrgII)) by persulfate (PDS) without activation. Results show that the decolorization rate of MB was up to 58.0% within 10 minutes, while those of RhB and OrgII were only about 29.6% and 3.0% after 80 minutes, respectively. In comparison with the negligible impacts of pH from 2.0 to 9.0 on MB and OrgII decolorization, RhB decolorization rate obviously varied with the pH changes, and acid pH condition was beneficial for RhB decolorization. Quenching tests implied that the decolorization of dyes by PDS without activation was a nonradical oxidation process rather than sulfate radical oxidation. A plausible mechanism is that the decolorization process is attributed to the charged states of the dyes at different pH conditions, and thus direct electron transfer from dyes to PDS may occur, which is responsible for the bleaching of dyes. This study points out the potential bleaching capability of PDS without activation on cationic dyes, which may have important implications for selective oxidation treatment of dye wastewater.

Activated carbon derived from melaleuca barks for outstanding high-rate supercapacitors.

Activated carbon (AC) was prepared via carbonizing melaleuca bark in an argon atmosphere at 600 °C followed with KOH activation for high-rate supercapacitors. This AC electrode has a high capacitance of 233 F g(-1) at a scan rate of 2 mV s(-1) and an excellent rate capability of ∼80% when increasing the sweep rate from 2 to 500 mV s(-1). The symmetric supercapacitor assembled by the above electrode can deliver a high energy density of 4.2 Wh kg(-1) with a power density of 1500 W kg(-1) when operated in the voltage range of 0-1 V in 1 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte while maintaining great cycling stability (less than 5% capacitance loss after 10 000 cycles at sweep rate of 100 mV s(-1)). All the outstanding electrochemical performances make this AC electrode a promising candidate for potential energy storage application.

Lung function and incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after improved cooking fuels and kitchen ventilation: a 9-year prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Biomass smoke is associated with the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but few studies have elaborated approaches to reduce the risk of COPD from biomass burning. The purpose of this study was to determine whether improved cooking fuels and ventilation have effects on pulmonary function and the incidence of COPD. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A 9-y prospective cohort study was conducted among 996 eligible participants aged at least 40 y from November 1, 2002, through November 30, 2011, in 12 villages in southern China. Interventions were implemented starting in 2002 to improve kitchen ventilation (by providing support and instruction for improving biomass stoves or installing exhaust fans) and to promote the use of clean fuels (i.e., biogas) instead of biomass for cooking (by providing support and instruction for installing household biogas digesters); questionnaire interviews and spirometry tests were performed in 2005, 2008, and 2011. That the interventions improved air quality was confirmed via measurements of indoor air pollutants (i.e., SO2, CO, CO2, NO2, and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm or less) in a randomly selected subset of the participants' homes. Annual declines in lung function and COPD incidence were compared between those who took up one, both, or neither of the interventions. Use of clean fuels and improved ventilation were associated with a reduced decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1): decline in FEV1 was reduced by 12 ml/y (95% CI, 4 to 20 ml/y) and 13 ml/y (95% CI, 4 to 23 ml/y) in those who used clean fuels and improved ventilation, respectively, compared to those who took up neither intervention, after adjustment for confounders. The combined improvements of use of clean fuels and improved ventilation had the greatest favorable effects on the decline in FEV1, with a slowing of 16 ml/y (95% CI, 9 to 23 ml/y). The longer the duration of improved fuel use and ventilation, the greater the benefits in slowing the decline of FEV1 (p<0.05). The reduction in the risk of COPD was unequivocal after the fuel and ventilation improvements, with an odds ratio of 0.28 (95% CI, 0.11 to 0.73) for both improvements. CONCLUSIONS: Replacing biomass with biogas for cooking and improving kitchen ventilation are associated with a reduced decline in FEV1 and risk of COPD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Register ChiCTR-OCH-12002398.

Potential molecular biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer (BC) is a common malignant tumor of urinary system, which can be divided into muscle-invasive BC (MIBC) and nonmuscle-invasive BC (NMIBC). The number of BC patients has been gradually increasing currently. At present, bladder tumours are diagnosed and followed-up using a combination of cystoscopic examination, cytology and histology. However, the detection of early grade tumors, which is much easier to treat effectively than advanced stage disease, is still insufficient. It frequently recurs and can progress when not expeditiously diagnosed and monitored following initial therapy for NMIBC. Treatment strategies are totally different for different stage diseases. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to study new biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis. In this review, we summarize the current state of biomarker development in BC diagnosis and prognosis prediction. We retrospectively analyse eight diagnostic biomarkers and eight prognostic biomarkers, in which CK, P53, PPARγ, PTEN and ncRNA are emphasized for discussion. Eight molecular subtype systems are also identified. Clinical translation of biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring and treatment will hopefully improve outcomes for patients. These potential biomarkers provide an opportunity to diagnose tumors earlier and with greater accuracy, and help identify those patients most at risk of disease recurrence.

PLEKHA4 Is a Prognostic Biomarker and Correlated with Immune Infiltrates in Glioma.

Objective: Gliomas are the most common and life-threatening intracranial tumors. Immune infiltration of the tumor microenvironment significantly affects tumor prognosis in glioma. Recently, PLEKHA4 was reported to be upregulated in melanoma and closely associated with tumor genesis and development, but its role in glioma is poorly understood. Our aim was to investigate the expression, functional role, and prognostic value of PLEKHA4 in glioma. Methods: The expression levels of PLEKHA4 in 33 types of cancer in the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database were collected via the UCSC Xena browser. The clinical samples of glioma patients were downloaded from the TCGA database. Immunohistochemistry was used to verify PLEKHA4 expression in tumor tissues. We assessed the influence of PLEKHA4 on survival of glioma patients by survival module and GEPIA. Then, we downloaded datasets of glioma from TCGA and investigated the correlations between the clinical characteristics and PLEKHA4 expression using logistic regression. Moreover, we used TIMER to explore the collection of PLEKHA4 expression and immune infiltration level in glioma and to analyze cumulative survival in glioma. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed using the TCGA dataset. Results: PLEKHA4 transcript levels were significantly upregulated in multiple cancer types, including gliomas. Moreover, immunohistochemical analysis verified that PLEKHA4 was overexpressed in gliomas compare to the corresponding normal tissues. Univariable survival and multivariate cox analysis show that increased PLEKHA4 expression significantly correlated with age, tumor grade, IDH mutation status, and 1p/19q codel status, and higher PLEKHA4 had shorter OS, DSS, and PFI. Specifically, PLEKHA4 expression level had significant positive correlations with infiltrating levels of B cell, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and DCs in glioma, and upregulation of PLEKHA4 expression was significantly related to immune cell biomarkers and immune checkpoint expression in glioma. In addition, several GO and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) items associated with immune response, JAK STAT signal pathway, and cell cycle were significantly enriched in the high PLEKHA4 expression phenotype pathway. Conclusions: Our findings proposed that PLEKHA4 was an independent prognostic biomarker and correlated with immune infiltrates in glioma, and targeting PLEKHA4 might improve immunotherapy in glioma. Of course, these findings also need basic experiments and further clinical trials to confirm in the future.

TFE3 is a Novel Biomarker of Ovarian Sclerosing Stromal Tumours.

Sclerosing stromal tumours of the ovary are benign and tend to occur in young women with lobular structures at low frequencies. Three types of cells, luteinized cells, short spindle myoid cells, and intermediate cells, are found in lobules, which are rich in blood vessels. Currently, immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization are used to detect normal follicles, sclerosing stromal tumours, granulosa cell tumours, and theca fibromas. Our research found the expression of transcription factor enhancer 3 (TFE3) was moderately and strongly positive in the inner thecal cell layer of normal follicles. It was expressed in seven out of eight sclerosing stromal tumours, mainly in luteinized cells, but not in 20 granulosa cell tumours and 1 microcystic stromal tumour. In nine cases of theca cell tumours and theca fibromas, TFE3 was not expressed, except in two cases of weak TFE3 expression. Eight cases of sclerosing stromal tumours were analysed by FISH using a TFE3 separation probe, and the results were negative. In a word, as a nuclear transcription protein, TFE3 was specifically expressed in sclerosing stromal tumours and could serve as a new marker for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of sclerosing stromal tumours.

TFE3 nuclear expression as a novel biomarker of ovarian sclerosing stromal tumors and associated with its histological morphology.

Sclerosing stromal tumors of the ovary are benign and tend to occur in youthful women with lobular structures at low frequencies. Three types of cells, including luteinized cells, short spindle myoid cells, and intermediate cells, are found in the lobules which abundant in the blood vessels. Currently, immunohistochemistry is used to detect normal follicles, sclerosing stromal tumors, granulosa cell tumors, and fibromas/thecomas. Our research results showed that transcription factor enhancer 3 (TFE3) was moderate to strong positive in the theca interna layer of normal follicles. TFE3 was expressed in seven out of eight sclerosing stromal tumors, mainly in luteinized cells. It did not express in 20 granulosa cell tumors. Of the nine fibromas/thecomas, TFE3 was weakly staining in 2 cases and negative in the remaining 7 cases. The expression of TFE3 was also weak in only one microcystic stromal tumor. 8 cases of sclerosing stromal tumors were analyzed by FISH using a TFE3 separation probe, and the results were negative. In short, as a nuclear transcription protein, TFE3 specifically expressed in sclerosing stromal tumors and could serve as a new marker for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of sclerosing stromal tumors. Moreover, we speculate that TFE3 will promotes the formation of the vascular plexus after entry into the nucleus, which can further explain why sclerosing stromal tumors are different from other ovary sex-cord stromal tumors.

Dye mineralization under UV/H2O2 promoted by chloride ion at high concentration and the generation of chlorinated byproducts.

Chloride ion (Cl-) may promote or inhibit the oxidation of specific organic compounds treated by hydroxyl radical based advanced oxidation processes (HR-AOPs) depending on the reactivity of chlorine radicals towards the organics. However, the effects of high contents of Cl- on the removal of total organic compounds (TOC) in high salinity organic wastewater treated by HR-AOPs were unclear. The removal and mineralization of azo dye Orange II (OrgII) by UV/H2O2 process with Cl- at high contents under various pH conditions were investigated. As the pH conditions increased higher than pH 5, TOC removal rates increased slightly possibly related to the increase of O2- production and the reduce of futile decomposition of H2O2 into O2. Cl- at relative high concentration (1000 and 2000 mM) significantly promoted the mineralization of dyes with TOC removal increasing by 10 %-40 % under both acid and alkaline conditions. The proposed mechanism is that the reaction of Cl- with OH would decline the decomposition of H2O2 into O2 by inhibiting the reaction between OH and H2O2, and the generated chlorine species (Cl and Cl2-) could further promote the oxidation of dye molecules into intermediates and be helpful for the subsequent mineralization process. In addition, H2O2 and Cl- can slowly react to give HClO and ClO-, which may partly contribute to the decolorization and mineralization of OrgII. Meanwhile, an appropriate relative proportion between Cl2- and OH depending on Cl- contents and pH conditions is important to enhance the TOC removal. However, the formation of various chlorinated byproducts especially under alkaline condition may increase the risk of environmental pollution accidents. The results demonstrate the promotion of TOC removal by UV/H2O2 under certain high contents of Cl- and provide new insight into the application of HR-AOPs to the pretreatment of high salinity organic wastewater.

Effect of phenol formaldehyde-associated microplastics on soil microbial community, assembly, and functioning.

Increasing investigations explore the effects of plastic pollutants on bacterial communities, diversity, and functioning in various ecosystems. However, the impact of microplastics (MPs) on the eukaryotic community, microbial assemblages, and interactions is still limited. Here, we investigated bacterial and micro-eukaryotic communities and functioning in soils with different concentrations of phenol formaldehyde-associated MPs (PF-MPs), and revealed the factors, such as soil properties, microbial community assembly, and interactions between microbes, influencing them. Our results showed that a high concentration (1%) of PF-MPs decreased the microbial interactions and the contribution of deterministic processes to the community assembly of microbes, and consequently changed the communities of bacteria, but not eukaryotes. A significant and negative relationship was determined between N2O emission rate and functional genes related to nitrification, indicating that the competitive interactions between functional microbes would affect the nitrogen cycling of soil ecosystem. We further found that vegetable biomass weakly decreased in treatments with a higher concentration of PF-MPs and positively related to the diversity of micro-eukaryotic communities and functional diversity of bacterial communities. These results suggest that a high concentration of the PF-MPs would influence crop growth by changing microbial communities, interactions, and eukaryotic and functional diversity. Our findings provide important evidence for agriculture management of phenol formaldehyde and suggest that we must consider their threats to microbial community compositions, diversity, and assemblage in soils due to the accumulation of PF-MPs widely used in the field.

Identification of DNA methylation and genetic alteration simultaneously from a single blood biopsy.

BACKGROUND: High-throughput sequencing of blood cell-free DNA (cfDNA) techniques offer an opportunity to characterize and monitor cancer rapidly in a non-invasive and real-time manner. Nonetheless, there lacks a tool within therapeutic arsenal to identify multi-omics alterations simultaneously from a single biopsy. In current times, bisulfite-based sequencing detects 5mC and 5hmC at single-base resolution is the golden standard of DNA methylation, while the degradation of DNA and biased sequencing data are the problems of this method. OBJECTIVE: To identify the consistency analysis of methylation and genetic variation with single library, we presented a platform detecting multi-omics data simultaneously from a single blood biopsy using bisulfite-free method of genomic methylation sequencing (GM-seq) mediated by TET enzyme. METHODS: We detected methylomic and genetic changes simultaneously from a single blood biopsy in NA12878 and randomly chose ten blood biopsies from colorectal cancer or lung cancer patients to validate the ability of GM-seq. RESULTS: Similar cytosine methylation level between whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and GM-seq were identified in NA12878. Moreover, longer insert size, CpGs coverage and GC distribution were outperformed than WGBS. In addition, the comparison of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), insertion-deletion (Indel) and copy number variation (CNV) in NA12878 or ctDNA from liver cancer between GM-seq and whole genome sequencing (WGS) show a good consistency, indicating that this method is feasible for detecting genetic variation in blood. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our work demonstrated a method for identification of the methylated modification and genetic variations simultaneously from a single blood biopsy.

CdS/CdSe quantum dot shell decorated vertical ZnO nanowire arrays by spin-coating-based SILAR for photoelectrochemical cells and quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells.

A CdS/CdSe composite shell is assembled onto the surface of ZnO nanowire arrays with a simple spin-coating-based successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method. The as-prepared photoelectrode exhibit a high photocurrent density in photoelectrochemical cells and also generates good power conversion efficiency in quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells.

Hierarchical TiO2 flowers built from TiO2 nanotubes for efficient Pt-free based flexible dye-sensitized solar cells.

A novel hierarchical TiO(2) flower consisting of anatase TiO(2) nanotubes on a Ti foil substrate has been prepared via a mild hydrothermal reaction of TiO(2) nanoparticles/Ti foil. The photovoltaic performance of DSSC based on hierarchical TiO(2) flowers/Ti (7.2%) is much higher than that of TiO(2) nanoparticle/Ti (6.63%) because of its superior light scattering ability and fast electron transport. Moreover, full flexible DSSC based on the novel hierarchical TiO(2) flowers/Ti foil photoelectrode and electrodeposited poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on indium tin oxide-coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (ITO-PET) counter electrode shows a significant power conversion efficiency of 6.26%, accompanying a short-circuit current density of 11.96 mA cm(-2), an open-circuit voltage of 761 mV and a fill factor of 0.69.

[The effects of nicotine on human airway epithelial cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the genome changes of primary human airway epithelial cells exposed to nicotine in vitro, and therefore to understand the effect of nicotine on the cellular physiological process and phenotypes. METHODS: The primary human airway epithelial cells were divided into 4 groups: 4 h experimental group and control group, 48 h experimental group and control group, with 1×10(8)/L cells in each culture. Total RNA was extracted from cells after incubated with nicotine (1×10(-5) mol/L) for 4 h or 48 h respectively. The genes expressed differentially were detected by a gene chip, and those related to epithelial mesenchymal transition were selected to undergo real-time PCR for verification. RESULTS: Sixty-three up-regulated genes and 44 down-regulated genes were detected in the experimental group incubated with nicotine for 4 h, which were mainly involved in the stress response. There were 860 up-regulated genes and 582 down-regulated genes found in the cells treated with 1×10(-5) mol/L nicotine for 48 h, compared with the control. These genes were mainly involved in some important physiological processes and pathways with transdifferentiation, including embryonic development, cell polarity maintaining, cell adhesion, etc. Further analysis revealed that some epithelial markers such as epithelial keratin and epithelial mucin protein were down-regulated, while mesenchymal cell markers including fiber connecting protein 1 and N-cadherin were up-regulated. The results by real-time PCR showed consistency with those by gene chip examination. CONCLUSION: Nicotine could promote a series of changes in genes related to epithelial mesenchymal transdifferentiation process in human airway epithelial cells.

The Regulatory Roles of Polysaccharides and Ferroptosis-Related Phytochemicals in Liver Diseases.

Liver disease is a global health burden with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Liver injuries can develop into severe end-stage diseases, such as cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, without valid treatment. Therefore, identifying novel drugs may promote liver disease treatment. Phytochemicals, including polysaccharides, flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenes, are abundant in foods and medicinal plants and have various bioactivities, such as antioxidation, immunoregulation, and tumor killing. Recent studies have shown that many natural polysaccharides play protective roles in liver disease models in vitro and in vivo, such as fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, drug-induced liver injury, and liver cancer. The mechanisms of liver disease are complex. Notably, ferroptosis, a new type of cell death driven by iron and lipid peroxidation, is considered to be the key mechanism in many hepatic pathologies. Therefore, polysaccharides and other types of phytochemicals with activities in ferroptosis regulation provide novel therapeutic strategies for ferroptosis-related liver diseases. This review summarizes our current understanding of the mechanisms of ferroptosis and liver injury and compelling preclinical evidence of natural bioactive polysaccharides and phytochemicals in treating liver disease.

YTHDF2 is a novel diagnostic marker of endometrial adenocarcinoma and endometrial atypical hyperplasia/ intraepithelial neoplasia.

Numerous studies show that some biomarkers are aberrantly expressed in endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma (EMAC) and endometrial atypical hyperplasia/endometrioid intraepithelial neoplasia (EAH/EIN) compared to endometrial benign lesions. Because of low sensitivity and/or specificity, the utility of these markers to distinguish EMAC and EAH/EIN from benign endometrial lesions is limited. YTH domain family 2 (YTHDF2) is a functional N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-specific reader protein that mainly regulates mRNA stability. Aberrant YTHDF2 expression has been reported in many cancers and plays important functions in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. However, its expression in endometrial benign and malignant lesions has not been investigated. We evaluated YTHDF2 mRNA and protein expression in EMAC and normal endometrium using the UALCAN database and validated the bioinformatic results in EMAC cells using qRT-PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. We found that YTHDF2 was weakly expressed in normal endometrium, benign endometrial lesions, endometrial hyperplasia without atypia, and adenomyosis. In contrast, YTHDF2 was upregulated in EAH/EIN and EMAC. These results indicate that YTHDF2 immunostaining may be a useful tool to distinguish EAH/EIN from EHWA. Finally, YTHDF2 expression can accurately assess the depth of myometrial invasion (DMI) in EMAC when EMAC coexists with adenomyosis.

Watershed urbanization enhances the enrichment of pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes on microplastics in the water environment.

Microplastics (MPs) serve as vectors for microorganisms and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and contribute to the spread of pathogenic bacteria and ARGs across various environments. Patterns of microbial communities and ARGs in the biofilm on the surface of MPs, also termed as plastisphere, have become an issue of global concern. Although antibiotic resistome in the plastisphere has been detected, how watershed urbanization affects patterns of potential pathogens and ARGs in the microplastic biofilms is still unclear. Here, we compared the bacterial communities, the interaction between bacterial taxa, pathogenic bacteria, and ARGs between the plastisphere and their surrounding water, and revealed the extensive influence of urbanization on them. Our results showed that bacterial communities and interactions in the plastisphere differed from those in their surrounding water. Microplastics selectively enriched Bacteroidetes from water. In non-urbanized area, the abundance of Oxyphotobacteria was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in plastisphere than that in water, while α-Proteobacteria was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in plastisphere than those in water of urbanized area. Pathogenic bacteria, ARGs, and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the urbanized area than those in non-urbanized area. MPs selectively enriched ARG-carrying potential pathogens, i.e., Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae, and exhibited a distinct effect on the relative abundance of ARG and pathogens in water with different urbanization levels. We further found ARGs were significantly correlated to MGEs and pathogenic bacteria. These results suggested that MPs would promote the dissemination of ARGs among microbes including pathogenic bacteria, and urbanization would affect the impact of MPs on microbes, pathogens, and ARGs in water. A high level of urbanization could enhance the enrichment of pathogens and ARGs by MPs in aquatic systems and increase microbial risk in aquatic environments. Our findings highlighted the necessity of controlling the spread of ARGs among pathogens and the usage of plastic products in ecosystems of urban areas.

Spatiotemporal variations of microbial assembly, interaction, and potential risk in urban dust.

Community and composition of dust-borne microbes would affect human health and are regulated by microbial community assembly. The dust in kindergarten is always collected to evaluate the microbial exposure of children, yet the microbial assembly, their interactions, and potential pathogens in kindergarten dust remain unclear. Here, we aim to investigate the microbial community assembly and structures, and potential bacterial pathogens in outdoor dust of kindergartens, and reveal the factors influencing the assembly and composition of microbial community. A total of 118 urban dust samples were collected on the outdoor impervious surfaces of 59 kindergartens from different districts of Xiamen in January and June 2020. We extracted microbial genomic DNA in these dusts and characterized the microbial (i.e., bacteria and fungi) community compositions and diversities using target gene-based (16S rRNA genes for bacterial community and ITS 2 regions for fungal community) high-throughput sequencing. Potential bacterial pathogens were identified and the interactions between microbes were determined through a co-occurrence network analysis. Our results showed the predominance of Actinobacteria and α-Proteobacteria in bacterial communities and Capnodiales in fungal communities. Season altered microbial assembly, composition, and interactions, with both bacterial and fungal communities exhibiting a higher heterogeneity in summer than those in winter. Although stochastic processes predominated in bacterial and fungal community assembly, the season-depended environmental factors (e.g., temperature) and interactions between microbes play important roles in dust microbial community assembly. Potential bacterial pathogens were detected in all urban dust, with significantly higher relative abundance in summer than that in winter. These results indicated that season exerted more profound effects on microbial community composition, assembly, and interactions, and suggested the seasonal changes of potential risk of microbes in urban dust. Our findings provide new insights into microbial community, community assembly, and interactions between microbes in the urban dust, and indicate that taxa containing opportunistic pathogens occur commonly in urban dust.

Earthworms reduce the dissemination potential of antibiotic resistance genes by changing bacterial co-occurrence patterns in soil.

Globally distributed earthworms affect compositions of soil compounds, microbial community structures, as well as antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Compared to their surroundings, earthworm gut is a simpler environment which could filter out microbes when soil passes through it. However, little is known about how earthworms affect the dissemination of ARGs in soil, and the understanding of the relationship between microbe-microbe interactions and ARGs is still lacking. Here, we designed a microcosm experiment with earthworm addition, and determined bacterial and fungal community compositions based on amplicon sequencing. We also examined mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and ARGs in earthworm gut and soils using high-throughput qPCR. The results showed significant differences of bacterial, fungal and ARG patterns between gut and soil. Earthworms indirectly impacted the patterns of ARGs in soils by affecting bacterial communities and soil properties, which play key roles in the distribution of ARGs and MGEs. The absolute abundances of MGEs in earthworm gut were significantly lower than those in soils, and earthworms reduce the absolute abundance of MGEs in soils. Earthworms changed the microbial co-occurrence patterns, and reduced bacterial connectivity, which were significantly and positively correlated with MGE abundance. These results highlight the importance of earthworm on the distribution and dissemination of ARGs in soils.