Probiotics as a strategy for addressing helminth infections in low-income countries: Working smarter rather than richer.

Helminth infections, which affect approximately 1.5 billion individuals worldwide (mainly children), are common in low- and middle-income tropical countries and can lead to various diseases. One crucial factor affecting the occurrence of these diseases is the reduced diversity of the gut microbiome due to antibiotic use. This reduced diversity compromises immune health in hosts and alters host gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms. Helminth infections may produce complex biochemical signatures that could serve as therapeutic targets. Such therapies include next-generation probiotics, live biotherapeutic products, and biochemical drug approaches. Probiotics can bind ferric hydroxide, reducing the iron that is available to opportunistic microorganisms. They also produce short-chain fatty acids associated with immune response modulation, oral tolerance facilitation, and inflammation reduction. In this review, we examine the potential link between these effects and epigenetic changes in immune response-related genes by analyzing methyltransferase-related genes within probiotic strains discussed in the literature. The identified genes were only correlated with methylation in bacterial genes. Various metabolic interactions among hosts, helminth parasites, and intestinal microbiomes can impact the immune system, potentially aiding or hindering worm expulsion through chemical signaling. Implementing a comprehensive strategy using probiotics may reduce the impact of drug-resistant helminth strains.

Bacterial adaptation to rhizosphere soil is independent of the selective pressure exerted by the herbicide saflufenacil, through the modulation of catalase and glutathione S-transferase.

Herbicides cause oxidative stress in nontarget microorganisms, which may exhibit adaptive responses to substances they have not previously encountered. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether these characteristics occur in bacteria isolated from agricultural soil. Two possible adaptation strategies of Stenotrophomonas sp. CMA26 was evaluated in agricultural soil in Brazil, which is considered stressful due to the intense use of pesticides. The study focused on degradation and antioxidant enzymes in response to the herbicide Heat, which was absent at the isolation site. The results indicated that higher concentrations of herbicide led to more intense stress conditions during the initial periods of growth. This was evidenced by elevated levels of malondialdehyde and peroxide, as well as a significant reduction in growth. Our data show that herbicide degradation is a selection-dependent process, as none of the 35 isolates from the same environment in our collection were able to degrade the herbicide. The stress was controlled by changes in the enzymatic modulation of catalase activity in response to peroxide and glutathione S-transferase activity in response to malondialdehyde, especially at higher herbicide concentrations. This modulation pattern is related to the bacterial growth phases and herbicide concentration, with a specific recovery response observed during the mid phase for higher herbicide concentrations. The metabolic systems that contributed to tolerance did not depend on the specific prior selection of saflufenacil. Instead, they were related to general stress responses, regardless of the stress-generating substance. This system may have evolved in response to reactive oxygen species, regardless of the substance that caused oxidative stress, by modulating of the activities of various antioxidant enzymes. Bacterial communities possessing these plastic tolerance mechanisms can survive without necessarily degrading herbicides. However, their presence can lead to changes in biodiversity, compromise the functionality of agricultural soils, and contribute to environmental contamination through drift.

Specific quorum sensing molecules are possibly associated with responses to herbicide toxicity in a Pseudomonas strain.

Pesticides contribute to pest control and increase agricultural production; however, they are toxic to non-target organisms, and they contaminate the environment. The exposure of bacteria to these substances can lead to the need for physiological and structural changes for survival, which can be determined by genes whose expression is regulated by quorum sensing (QS). However, it is not yet clear whether these processes can be induced by herbicides. Thus, the aim of this work was to determine whether there is a QS response system in the Pseudomonas fluorescens CMA55 strain that is modulated by herbicides. This strain was isolated from water storage tanks used for washing pesticide packaging and was tested against herbicides containing saflufenacil, glyphosate, sulfentrazone, 2,4-D, and dicamba as active molecules. Our results showed that in the presence of herbicides containing saflufenacil and glyphosate (the latter was not present at the bacterial isolation site) the strain had a profile of QS signaling molecules that may be involved in controlling the production of reactive oxygen species. Alternatively, the same strain, in the presence of sulfentrazone (it was not present at the bacterial isolation site), 2,4-D and dicamba-containing herbicides, presented another profile of molecules that may be involved in different stages of biofilm formation. These findings, as a first screening, suggest that this strain used strategies to activate antioxidant enzymes and biofilm production under the signaling of QS molecules to respond to herbicides, regardless of previous contact, representing a model of phenotypic plasticity for adaptation to agricultural environments that can be used in studies of herbicide bioremediation.

Herbicides Tolerance in a Pseudomonas Strain Is Associated With Metabolic Plasticity of Antioxidative Enzymes Regardless of Selection.

Agriculture uses many food production chains, and herbicides participate in this process by eliminating weeds through different biochemical strategies. However, herbicides can affect non-target organisms such as bacteria, which can suffer damage if there is no efficient control of reactive oxygen species. It is not clear, according to the literature, whether the efficiency of this control needs to be selected by the presence of xenobiotics. Thus, the Pseudomonas sp. CMA 6.9 strain, collected from biofilms in an herbicide packaging washing tank, was selected for its tolerance to pesticides and analyzed for activities of different antioxidative enzymes against the herbicides Boral®, absent at the isolation site, and Heat®, present at the site; both herbicides have the same mode of action, the inhibition of the enzyme protoporphyrinogen oxidase. The strain showed tolerance to both herbicides in doses up to 45 times than those applied in agriculture. The toxicity of these herbicides, which is greater for Boral®, was assessed by means of oxidative stress indicators, growth kinetics, viability, and amounts of peroxide and malondialdehyde. However, the studied strain showed two characteristic antioxidant response systems for each herbicide: glutathione-s-transferase acting to control malondialdehyde in treatments with Boral®; and catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and guaiacol peroxidase in the control of peroxide induced by Heat®. It is possible that this modulation of the activity of different enzymes independent of previous selection characterizes a system of metabolic plasticity that may be more general in the adaptation of microorganisms in soil and water environments subjected to chemical contaminants. This is relevant to the impact of pesticides on the diversity and abundance of microbial species as well as a promising line of metabolic studies in microbial consortia for use in bioremediation.

Influence of pH on the efficacy of ozonated water to control microorganisms and its effect on the quality of stored strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) / Influência do pH na eficácia da água ozonizada no controle de microrganismos e efeito na qualidade de morango (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) armazenado

ABSTRACT Ozonation has been proposed as an alternative for the post-harvest treatment of plant products. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the pH on the efficacy of ozonated water to control microorganisms and to determine the possible effects of ozone on the quality of stored strawberries. To evaluate the influence of pH on ozonated water in Portola variety strawberries, the strawberries were divided into six batches. Three batches were exposed to ozonated water and three batches were exposed to non-ozonized water with different pH levels and an immersion time of 5 min. The pH values used were 3.0, 6.5 and 8.7. After the ozonation, the fruits were stored in a cold chamber at 5 °C for 6 days, and analyses were performed every two days. A completely randomized design was adopted using a 6x4 factorial scheme with three replications. The aerobic mesophiles, molds and yeasts, total coliforms and Escherichia coli were quantified, and the presence of Salmonella spp. was assessed. For the quality evaluation, the mass loss, titratable acidity (TA), pH, soluble solids (SS), SS/TA ratio and color were analyzed. The pH of the water was verified to influenced the effectiveness of the ozonated water to control the aerobic mesophiles and molds and yeasts. The ozonated water can retard fresh mass losses and maintain the pH, soluble solids, titratable acidity, SS/TA ratio and color variables.

RESUMO A ozonização tem sido proposta como alternativa para o tratamento pós-colheita de produtos de origem vegetal. Então, objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar a influência do pH na eficácia da água ozonizada no controle de microrganismos e determinar possíveis efeitos na qualidade de morangos armazenados. Para avaliar a influência do pH na água ozonizada em morangos da variedade Portola, dividiu-se os morangos em seis lotes, sendo três lotes expostos a água ozonizada e três lotes em que a água não foi ozonizada, adotando-se diferentes valores de pH e tempo de imersão de 5 min. Os valores de pH adotados foram 3,0, 6,5 e 8,7. Depois da ozonização, os frutos foram armazenados em câmara fria a 5 °C por 6 dias, sendo realizadas análises a cada dois dias. Adotou-se delineamento inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 6x4, com três repetições. Quantificaram-se os aeróbios mesófilos, bolores e leveduras, coliformes totais e Escherichia coli e verificou-se a presença de Salmonella spp. Na avaliação da qualidade, analisaram-se perda de massa, acidez titulável (AT), pH, sólidos solúveis (SS), relação SS/AT e cor. Verificou-se que o pH da água influenciou a eficácia da água ozonizada no controle de aeróbios mesófilos e bolores e leveduras. A água ozonizada foi capaz de retardar a perda de massa fresca e manter os níveis de pH, sólidos solúveis, acidez titulável, relação SS/AT e das variáveis referentes à cor.