High genetic diversity and different type VI secretion systems in Enterobacter species revealed by comparative genomics analysis.

The human-pathogenic Enterobacter species are widely distributed in diverse environmental conditions, however, the understanding of the virulence factors and genetic variations within the genus is very limited. In this study, we performed comparative genomics analysis of 49 strains originated from diverse niches and belonged to eight Enterobacter species, in order to further understand the mechanism of adaption to the environment in Enterobacter. The results showed that they had an open pan-genome and high genomic diversity which allowed adaptation to distinctive ecological niches. We found the number of secretion systems was the highest among various virulence factors in these Enterobacter strains. Three types of T6SS gene clusters including T6SS-A, T6SS-B and T6SS-C were detected in most Enterobacter strains. T6SS-A and T6SS-B shared 13 specific core genes, but they had different gene structures, suggesting they probably have different biological functions. Notably, T6SS-C was restricted to E. cancerogenus. We detected a T6SS gene cluster, highly similar to T6SS-C (91.2%), in the remote related Citrobacter rodenitum, suggesting that this unique gene cluster was probably acquired by horizontal gene transfer. The genomes of Enterobacter strains possess high genetic diversity, limited number of conserved core genes, and multiple copies of T6SS gene clusters with differentiated structures, suggesting that the origins of T6SS were not by duplication instead by independent acquisition. These findings provide valuable information for better understanding of the functional features of Enterobacter species and their evolutionary relationships.

Aquatic exercises in the knee injury rehabilitation of athletes / Exercícios aquáticos na reabilitação das lesões nos joelhos de atletas / Ejercicios acuáticos en la rehabilitación de lesiones de rodilla en deportistas

ABSTRACT Introduction: Volleyball requires jumping and strenuous movements and certain sports injuries inevitably occur during the sport. The surface of the knee joint is considerably large and shallow, making the lever effect strong and negative, easily targeted for injury in the unstable movements caused by this sport. Objective: Investigate the main causes of knee joint injuries in volleyball players and evaluate the effect of treatment with intervention through aquatic therapy. Methods: Eight volleyball players from a university with different degrees of knee joint injury were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group used intervention training with aquatic exercise therapy, while the control group did not include additional rehabilitation measures. The knee condition of the subjects before and after the experiment was analyzed and compared. Results: The knee joint injury in the subjects in the experimental group was significantly improved, and the recovery from the knee joint injury of the subjects in the experimental group was better than that of the subjects in the control group. Conclusion: Water sports therapy can significantly improve the knee joint injury of volleyball players, leading to the belief that water sports therapy can effectively improve the agility, strength, and endurance of muscles adjacent to knee joints in patients, reducing their pain, and increasing the range of motion of these joints. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: O voleibol exige saltos e movimentos extenuantes sendo inevitável que certas lesões esportivas ocorram no decurso do esporte. A superfície da articulação do joelho é consideravelmente grande e pouco profunda, tornando o efeito de alavanca forte e negativo, facilmente alvo de lesões nos movimentos instáveis ocasionados por esse esporte. Objetivo: Investigar as principais causas das lesões da articulação do joelho nos jogadores de voleibol e avaliar o efeito do tratamento com intervenção através de terapia aquática. Métodos: Oito jogadores de voleibol de uma universidade, com diferentes graus de lesão articular do joelho, foram divididos aleatoriamente em um grupo experimental e um grupo controle. O grupo experimental utilizou treino de intervenção com terapia de exercício aquático, enquanto o grupo de controle não contemplou medidas de reabilitação adicionais. A condição do joelho dos indivíduos antes e depois da experiência foi analisada e comparada. Resultados: A lesão articular do joelho nos sujeitos do grupo experimental foi significativamente melhorada, e a recuperação da lesão articular do joelho dos sujeitos do grupo experimental foi melhor do que a dos sujeitos do grupo de controle. Conclusão: A terapia com esportes aquáticos pode melhorar significativamente a lesão da articulação do joelho dos jogadores de voleibol, levando a acreditar que a terapia com esportes aquáticos pode efetivamente melhorar a agilidade, força e resistência dos músculos adjacentes às articulações do joelho nos pacientes, reduzindo a sua dor, e aumentando a amplitude de movimento dessas articulações. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: El voleibol requiere saltos y movimientos extenuantes y es inevitable que se produzcan ciertas lesiones deportivas en el transcurso del deporte. La superficie de la articulación de la rodilla es considerablemente grande y poco profunda, lo que hace que el efecto de palanca sea fuerte y negativo, siendo fácilmente objeto de lesiones en los movimientos inestables que provoca este deporte. Objetivo: Investigar las principales causas de las lesiones de la articulación de la rodilla en jugadores de voleibol y evaluar el efecto del tratamiento con intervención mediante terapia acuática. Métodos: Ocho jugadores de voleibol de una universidad, con diferentes grados de lesión en la articulación de la rodilla, fueron divididos aleatoriamente en un grupo experimental y un grupo de control. El grupo experimental utilizó un entrenamiento de intervención con terapia de ejercicios acuáticos, mientras que el grupo de control no contempló medidas adicionales de rehabilitación. Se analizó y comparó el estado de las rodillas de los sujetos antes y después del experimento. Resultados: La lesión de la articulación de la rodilla en los sujetos del grupo experimental mejoró significativamente, y la recuperación de la lesión de la articulación de la rodilla de los sujetos del grupo experimental fue mejor que la de los sujetos del grupo de control. Conclusión: La terapia de deportes acuáticos puede mejorar significativamente la lesión de la articulación de la rodilla de los jugadores de voleibol, lo que lleva a pensar que la terapia de deportes acuáticos puede mejorar eficazmente la agilidad, la fuerza y la resistencia de los músculos adyacentes a las articulaciones de la rodilla de los pacientes, reduciendo su dolor y aumentando la amplitud de movimiento de estas articulaciones. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Comparative mitochondrial proteomic, physiological, biochemical and ultrastructural profiling reveal factors underpinning salt tolerance in tetraploid black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.).

BACKGROUND: Polyploidy is an important phenomenon in plants because of its roles in agricultural and forestry production as well as in plant tolerance to environmental stresses. Tetraploid black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a polyploid plant and a pioneer tree species due to its wide ranging adaptability to adverse environments. To evaluate the ploidy-dependent differences in leaf mitochondria between diploid and tetraploid black locust under salinity stress, we conducted comparative proteomic, physiological, biochemical and ultrastructural profiling of mitochondria from leaves. RESULTS: Mitochondrial proteomic analysis was performed with 2-DE and MALDI-TOF-MS, and the ultrastructure of leaf mitochondria was observed by transmission electron microscopy. According to 2-DE analysis, 66 proteins that responded to salinity stress significantly were identified from diploid and/or tetraploid plants and classified into 9 functional categories. Assays of physiological characters indicated that tetraploids were more tolerant to salinity stress than diploids. The mitochondrial ultrastructure of diploids was damaged more severely under salinity stress than that of tetraploids. CONCLUSIONS: Tetraploid black locust possessed more tolerance of, and ability to acclimate to, salinity stress than diploids, which may be attributable to the ability to maintain mitochondrial structure and to trigger different expression patterns of mitochondrial proteins during salinity stress.

Bacterial Community Diversity of Oil-Contaminated Soils Assessed by High Throughput Sequencing of 16S rRNA Genes.

Soil bacteria play a major role in ecological and biodegradable function processes in oil-contaminated soils. Here, we assessed the bacterial diversity and changes therein in oil-contaminated soils exposed to different periods of oil pollution using 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes. No less than 24,953 valid reads and 6246 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from all five studied samples. OTU richness was relatively higher in contaminated soils than clean samples. Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla among all the soil samples. The heatmap plot depicted the relative percentage of each bacterial family within each sample and clustered five samples into two groups. For the samples, bacteria in the soils varied at different periods of oil exposure. The oil pollution exerted strong selective pressure to propagate many potentially petroleum degrading bacteria. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that organic matter was the highest determinant factor for explaining the variations in community compositions. This suggests that compared to clean soils, oil-polluted soils support more diverse bacterial communities and soil bacterial community shifts were mainly controlled by organic matter and exposure time. These results provide some useful information for bioremediation of petroleum contaminated soil in the future.