The menace of colistin resistance across globe: Obstacles and opportunities in curbing its spread.

Colistin-resistance in bacteria is a big concern for public health, since it is a last resort antibiotic to treat infectious diseases of multidrug resistant and carbapenem resistant Gram-negative pathogens in clinical settings. The emergence of colistin resistance in aquaculture and poultry settings has escalated the risks associated with colistin resistance in environment as well. The staggering number of reports pertaining to the rise of colistin resistance in bacteria from clinical and non-clinical settings is disconcerting. The co-existence of colistin resistant genes with other antibiotic resistant genes introduces new challenges in combatting antimicrobial resistance. Some countries have banned the manufacture, sale and distribution of colistin and its formulations for food producing animals. However, to tackle the issue of antimicrobial resistance, a one health approach initiative, inclusive of human, animal, and environmental health needs to be developed. Herein, we review the recent reports in colistin resistance in bacteria of clinical and non-clinical settings, deliberating on the new findings obtained regarding the development of colistin resistance. This review also discusses the initiatives implemented globally in mitigating colistin resistance, their strength and weakness.

Gut microbiome responses in the metabolism of human dietary components: Implications in health and homeostasis.

The gut microbiome and its link with human health and disease have gained a lot of attention recently. The microbiome executes its functions in the host by carrying out the transformation of dietary components and/or de novo synthesis of various essential nutrients. The presence of complex microbial communities makes it difficult to understand the host-microbiome interplay in the metabolism of dietary components. This review attempts to uncover the incredible role of the gut microbiome in the metabolism of dietary components, diet-microbiome interplay, and restoration of the microbiome. The in silico analysis performed in this study elucidates the functional description of essential/hub genes involved in the amino acid degradation pathway, which are mutually present in the host and its gut microbiome. Hence, the computational model helps comprehend the inter-and intracellular molecular networks between humans and their microbial partners.

A gelatinized lipopeptide diet effectively modulates immune response, disease resistance and gut microbiome in Penaeus vannamei challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Penaeus vannamei is one of the most economically vital shrimp globally, but infectious diseases have hampered its proper production and supply. As antibiotics pose a huge threat to the environment and humankind, it is essential to seek an alternative strategy to overcome infection and ensure proper culture and production. The present study investigates the effect of an anti-infective biosurfactant derivative lipopeptide MSA31 produced by a marine bacterium on the growth performance, disease resistance, and the gut microbiome of P. vannamei when challenged with pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus SF14. The shrimp were fed with a commercial and lipopeptide formulated diet for 60 days and the growth performance was analyzed. The lipopeptide fed shrimp group showed enhanced growth performance and specific growth rate with improved weight gain than the control group. The challenge experiment showed that the survival rate was significant in the lipopeptide fed group compared to the control group. The results revealed 100% mortality in the control group at the end of 12 h of challenge, while 50% of the lipopeptide diet-fed group survived 24 h, which indicates the enhanced disease resistance in shrimp fed with a lipopeptide diet. The test group also showed higher levels of digestive and immune enzymes, which suggests that the lipopeptide diet could positively modulate the digestive and immune activity of the shrimp. The gut microbiome profiling by Illumina high-throughput sequencing revealed that the most abundant genera in the lipopeptide diet-fed group were Adhaeribacter, Acidothermus, Brevibacillus, Candidatus, Mycobacterium, Rodopila, and Streptomyces, while opportunistic pathogens such as Streptococcus, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Neisseria, Rhizobium, and Salmonella were abundant in the control diet-fed shrimp. Also, lipopeptide diet-fed shrimp were found to have a high abundance of ammonia and nitrogen oxidizing bacteria, which are essential pollutant degraders. Therefore, the study reveals that the dietary supplementation of lipopeptide in shrimp aquaculture could positively modulate the gut microbiome and enhance the shrimp's overall health and immunity in an eco-friendly manner.

Promising treatment strategies to combat Staphylococcus aureus biofilm infections: an updated review.

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of nosocomial and community-acquired infections. The formation of biofilm by this pathogen renders it resilient to antimicrobial agents, which complicates the treatment of such infections. S. aureus can form biofilms with other pathogens and cause polymicrobial infections recalcitrant to antimicrobial agents. Therefore, anti-biofilm agents against which this bacterium cannot develop resistance are a highly desirable treatment strategy. Nanoparticles and some non-antimicrobial drugs proposed for various clinical purposes have proven to be excellent antibacterial and anti-biofilm agents to control S. aureus biofilm infections. A variety of chemically distinct compounds capable of acting as anti-biofilm agents against S. aureus have been extracted from microbial sources. This review explains the characteristics of S. aureus biofilms, emphasizing the therapeutic potential of nanoparticles, repurposed drugs, and anti-biofilm agents from microbial sources to combat S. aureus biofilm infections.

Zoonotic evolution and implications of microbiome in viral transmission and infection.

The outbreak and spread of new strains of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) remain a global threat with increasing cases in affected countries. The evolutionary tree of SARS-CoV-2 revealed that Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus 2, which belongs to the Beta arterivirus genus from the Arteriviridae family is possibly the most ancient ancestral origin of SARS-CoV-2 and other Coronaviridae. This review focuses on phylogenomic distribution and evolutionary lineage of zoonotic viral cross-species transmission of the Coronaviridae family and the implications of bat microbiome in zoonotic viral transmission and infection. The review also casts light on the role of the human microbiome in predicting and controlling viral infections. The significance of microbiome-mediated interventions in the treatment of viral infections is also discussed. Finally, the importance of synthetic viruses in the study of viral evolution and transmission is highlighted.