Pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Southeast Asia, with descriptions of five new species.

Five new pholcid species belonging to Holocneminus Berland, 1942, Khorata Huber, 2005 and Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 are newly described from Southeast Asia: Holocneminus samanggi Lan Li sp. nov. (Indonesia, male and female), Khorata kep Lan, Jäger Li sp. nov. (Cambodia, male), Khorata musee Lan Li sp. nov. (Thailand, male and female), Pholcus bat Lan Li sp. nov. (China, male and female), and Pholcus phnombak Lan, Jäger Li sp. nov. (Cambodia, male and female). Species from the genera Khorata and Pholcus are reported from Cambodia for the first time.

Correction: Wu, H.; et al. A Purified Aspartic Protease from Akkermansia Muciniphila Plays an Important Role in Degrading Muc2. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 72.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...].

Five new species of the genera Falcileptoneta and Longileptoneta (Araneae, Leptonetidae) from South Korea.

Five new leptonetid species belonging to Falcileptoneta Komatsu, 1970 and Longileptoneta Seo, 2015 are newly described from South Korea: F. dolsan sp. nov. (Jeollanam-do), F. naejangsan sp. nov. (Jeollabuk-do), L. buyongsan sp. nov. (Chungcheongbuk-do), L. byeonsanbando sp. nov. (Jeollabuk-do) and L. jirisan sp. nov. (Gyeongsangnam-do). All new species are found in leaf litter and described from both male and female specimens.

Five new species of the spider genus Savarna Huber, 2005 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Thailand.

The genus Savarna Huber, 2005 comprises only five species, from southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. In this study, five new species are described from Thailand: Savarna bannang sp. nov. (Yala), S. chiangmai sp. nov. (Chiangmai), S. huahin sp. nov. (Prachuap Kiri Khan), S. satun sp. nov. (Satun), S. thungsong sp. nov. (Nakhon Srithammarat). All new species are described from males and females. The distribution of S. chiangmai sp. nov. represent the northernmost record of the genus.

Two new species of the spider genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Pakistan.

The genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 is reported from Pakistan for the first time. Two new species of the Pholcus nenjukovi species-group are described: Pholcus hamuchal Yao Li sp. nov. (Gilgit Baltistan, male and female) and Pholcus kalam Yao Li sp. nov. (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, male and female). Type material is deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing, China.

Eight new species of the spider genus Pimoa (Araneae, Pimoidae) from Tibet, China.

Eight new species of the spider genus Pimoa Chamberlin & Ivie, 1943 are described from Tibet, China: P. cona Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. duiba Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. lemenba Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♀), P. mainling Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. nyingchi Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. rongxar Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. samyai Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), and P. yadong Zhang & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀). The DNA barcodes of the eight new species are documented.

Two new species of the spider genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Guizhou and Guangxi, China.

The genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 is composed of 21 species-groups and the P. yichengicus species-group contains 35 species from central and southern China, and Thailand. In this study, two new species of the P. yichengicus species-group are described from southern China: Pholcus jingnan Yao Li sp. nov. (Guizhou, male and female) and Pholcus longlin Yao Li sp. nov. (Guangxi, male and female).

A Purified Aspartic Protease from Akkermansia Muciniphila Plays an Important Role in Degrading Muc2.

Akkermansia muciniphila can produce various mucin-degrading proteins. However, the functional characteristics of these proteins and their role in mucin degradation are unclear. Of the predicted protein-coding genes, Amuc_1434, which encodes for a hypothetical protein, is the focus in this study. A recombinant enzyme Amuc_1434 containing the 6× His-tag produced in Escherichia coli (hereinafter termed Amuc_1434*) was isolated to homogeneity and biochemically characterised. Results showed that the enzyme can hydrolyse hemoglobin with an activity of 17.21 U/µg. The optimal pH and temperature for hemoglobin hydrolysis of Amuc_1434* were found to be around 8.0 and 40 °C, respectively. Amuc_1434* is identified as a member of the aspartic protease family through the action of inhibitor pepstatin A. Amuc_1434* promotes the adhesion of colon cancer cell line LS174T, which can highly express Muc2. Significantly Amuc_1434* can degrade Muc2 of colon cancer cells. Amuc_1434 is mainly located in the colon of BALB/c mice. These results suggest that the presence of Amuc_1434 from Akkermansia muciniphila may be correlated with the restoration of gut barrier function by decreasing mucus layer thickness.