Changes to gut amino acid transporters and microbiome associated with increased E/I ratio in Chd8+/- mouse model of ASD-like behavior.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social communication deficits and stereotyped behaviors, may be associated with changes to the gut microbiota. However, how gut commensal bacteria modulate brain function in ASD remains unclear. Here, we used chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 8 (CHD8) haploinsufficient mice as a model of ASD to elucidate the pathways through which the host and gut microbiota interact with each other. We found that increased levels of amino acid transporters in the intestines of the mouse model of ASD contribute to the high level of serum glutamine and the increased excitation/inhibition (E/I) ratio in the brain. In addition, elevated α-defensin levels in the haploinsufficient mice resulted in dysregulation of the gut microbiota characterized by a reduced abundance of Bacteroides. Furthermore, supplementation with Bacteroides uniformis improved the ASD-like behaviors and restored the E/I ratio in the brain by decreasing intestinal amino acid transport and the serum glutamine levels. Our study demonstrates associations between changes in the gut microbiota and amino acid transporters, and ASD-like behavioral and electrophysiology phenotypes, in a mouse model.

The first metagenome of activated sludge from full-scale anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A2O) nitrogen and phosphorus removal reactor using Illumina sequencing.

The anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A2O) process is globally one of the widely used biological sewage treatment processes. This is the first report of a metagenomic analysis using Illumina sequencing of full-scale A2O sludge from a municipal sewage treatment plant. With more than 530,000 clean reads from different taxa and metabolic categories, the metagenome results allow us to gain insight into the functioning of the biological community of the A2O sludge. There are 51 phyla and nearly 900 genera identified from the A2O activated sludge ecosystem. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Nitrospirae and Chloroflexi are predominant phyla in the activated sludge, suggesting that these organisms play key roles in the biodegradation processes in the A2O sewage treatment system. Nitrospira, Thauera, Dechloromonas and Ignavibacterium, which have abilities to metabolize nitrogen and aromatic compounds, are most prevalent genera. The percent of nitrogen and phosphorus metabolism in the A2O sludge is 2.72% and 1.48%, respectively. In the current A2O sludge, the proportion of Candidatus Accumulibacter is 1.37%, which is several times more than that reported in a recent study of A2O sludge. Among the four processes of nitrogen metabolism, denitrification related genes had the highest number of sequences (76.74%), followed by ammonification (15.77%), nitrogen fixation (3.88%) and nitrification (3.61%). In phylum Planctomycetes, four genera (Planctomyces, Pirellula, Gemmata and Singulisphaera) are included in the top 30 abundant genera, suggesting the key role of ANAMMOX in nitrogen metabolism in the A2O sludge.

[Biodiversity and Function Analyses of BIOLAK Activated Sludge Metagenome].

The BIOLAK is a multi-stage activated sludge process, which has been successfully promoted worldwide. However, the biological community and function of the BIOLAK activated sludge ( the core component in the process) have not been reported so far. In this study, taking Lianyungang Dapu Industrial Zone WWTP as an example, a large-scale metagenomic data (428 588 high-quality DNA sequences) of the BIOLAK activated sludge were obtained by means of a new generation of high-throughput sequencing technology. Amazing biodiversity was revealed in the BIOLAK activated sludge, which included 47 phyla, 872 genera and 1351 species. There were 33 phyla identified in the Bacteria domain (289 933 sequences). Proteohacteria was the most abundant phylum (62.54%), followed by Bacteroidetes (11.29%), Nitrospirae ( 5. 65%) and Planctomycetes (4.79%), suggesting that these groups played a key role in the BIOLAK wastewater treatment system. Among the 748 bacterial genera, Nitrospira (5.60%) was the most prevalent genus, which was a key group in the nitrogen cycle. Followed by Gemmatimonas (2.45%), which was an important genus in the biological phosphorus removal process. In Archaea domain (1019 sequences), three phyla and 39 genera were detected. In Eukaryota domain (1055 sequences), 60 genera and 10 phyla were identified, among which Ciliophora was the largest phylum (257 sequences). Meanwhile, 448 viral sequences were detected in the BIOLAK sludge metagenome, which were dominated by bacteriophages. The proportions of nitrogen, aromatic compounds and phosphorus metabolism in the BIOLAK sludge were 2.50%, 2.28% and 1.56%, respectively, which were higher than those in the sludge of United States and Australia. Among four processes of nitrogen metabolism, denitrification-related genes were most abundant (80.81%), followed by ammonification (12.78%), nitrification,(4.38%) and nitrogen fixation (2.04%). In conclusion, the BIOLAK activated sludge had amazing biodiversity, meanwhile, functional genes involved in nitrogen, aromatic compounds and phosphorus metabolism were very abundant.