细菌耐药影响肠道菌群及其宿主免疫调控

抗生素在养殖业、医疗业及制药业的广泛应用导致环境中的细菌耐药性日益严重,环境中的抗生素及耐药细菌一旦进入人体肠道,将破坏肠道菌群稳态,对人体健康造成威胁,而残存于饮食中的环境污染物则加剧了细菌耐药造成的人体健康影响。文中在总结大量文献的基础上,阐述了细菌耐药对人体和动物肠道菌群的影响机制及其相关的机体免疫调控,以环境中影响人体肠道菌群获得耐药性的来源作为切入点,阐述抗生素和耐药细菌进入人体肠道后对人体肠道菌群结构和耐药基因组成的影响,以及与人体免疫和免疫调节相关疾病之间的相关机制,并对今后的研究方向进行了展望。     

PPARα deficiency augments a ketogenic diet-induced circadian PAI-1 expression possibly through PPARγ activation in the liver

An increased level of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and PAI-1 gene expression is under the control of molecular circadian clocks in mammals. We recently showed that PAI-1 expression is augmented in a phase-advanced circadian manner in mice fed with a ketogenic diet (KD). To determine whether peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is involved in hypofibrinolytic status induced by a KD, we examined the expression profiles of PAI-1 and circadian clock genes in PPARα-null KD mice. Chronic administration of bezafibrate induced the PAI-1 gene expression in a PPARα-dependent manner. Feeding with a KD augmented the circadian expression of PAI-1 mRNA in the hearts and livers of wild-type (WT) mice as previously described. The KD-induced mRNA expression of typical PPARα target genes such as Cyp4A10 and FGF21 was damped in PPARα-null mice. However, plasma PAI-1 concentrations were significantly more elevated in PPARα-null KD mice in accordance with hepatic mRNA levels. These observations suggest that PPARα activation is dispensable for KD-induced PAI-1 expression. We also found that hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, and the hepatic expressions of PPARγ and its coactivator PCG-1α were more effectively induced in PPARα-null, than in WT mice on a KD. Furthermore, KD-induced hepatic PAI-1 expression was significantly suppressed by supplementation with bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, a PPARγ antagonist, in both WT and PPARα-null mice. PPARγ activation seems to be involved in KD-induced hypofibrinolysis by augmenting PAI-1 gene expression in the fatty liver.     

Mice vaccinated with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli ghosts show significant protection against lethal challenges

Aim: To prepare enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) E2348/69 ghosts and investigate whether immunization with EPEC bacterial ghosts can elicit protective immune responses. Methods and Results: A recombinant plasmid with double λPL/PR‐cI857 temperature‐sensitive regulatory cassettes was constructed. The lysis gene E and/or the staphylococcal nuclease A (SNA) gene were separately inserted downstream of the two regulatory cassettes to construct the lysis plasmids pBV220::E and pBV220::E::CI‐P‐SNA. An EPEC reference strain E2348/69 (serotype O127:H6) was transformed with the lysis plasmids to produce EPEC ghosts. Mice injected with bacterial ghosts EGE (EPEC ghosts produced using lysis protein E) or EGES (EPEC ghosts produced using a combination of lysis protein E and SNA) gained weight normally and showed no clinical signs of disease. Vaccination trials showed that mice immunized with EGE or EGES were significantly protected against subsequent challenge with the wild‐type virulent parent strain, EPEC E2348/69 (42/50 and 45/50 survival, respectively); in contrast, none of the 30 control mice survived. Conclusions: Immunization with EPEC ghosts can elicit protective immune responses in BALB/c mice. Significance and Impact of the Study: EPEC ghosts may represent a promising new approach for vaccination against EPEC infection.     

Seleno-lactobacillus

Lactic acid bacteria are nonpathogenic bacteria commonly used in food processing. An evaluation was made of the capacity to concentrate selenium in species of Lactobacillus. A selenium concentration of 1 μg/mL in the culture medium yielded in a bacterial content of 400 μg/g dry biomass. Dialysis and TCA precipitation experiments of a native intracellular extract proved that at least 80% of the total selenium is associated with organic molecules. Seleno-cysteine was identified as the only seleno-amino acid present in the intracellular selenoproteins. This study shows that species of the lactic acid bacteria are able to concentrate selenium intracellular as seleno-cysteine, which could be applied in supplementation studies.     

Purification and characterization of a novel esterase (beta-hydroxypalmitate methyl ester hydrolase) and prevention of the expression of virulence by Ralstonia solanacearum

AIMS: To screen novel micro-organisms and enzymes capable of degrading 3-hydroxypalmitic acid methyl ester (3-OH PAME), the quorum-sensing signal molecule (quormone), which regulates the virulence of Ralstonia solanacearum. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ideonella sp. 0-0013, a betaproteobacterium isolated from soil using the selective-enrichment culture method, was grown on plates containing 3-OH PAME as its main carbon source. beta-Hydroxypalmitate methyl ester hydrolase (betaHPMEH) purified from the supernatant of the Ideonella sp. 0-0013 culture exhibited high hydrolysing activity towards the ester bond of 3-OH PAME and eliminated the 3-OH PAME activity, thereby reducing the virulence of R. solanacearum. An Escherichia coli transformant of the betahpmeh gene expression vector degraded 3-OH PAME, and the crude enzyme from the transformant inhibited in vitro production of the R. solanacearum exopolysaccharide (EPS). CONCLUSIONS: The ability of betaHPMEH to hydrolyse 3-OH PAME inhibited the production of EPS by the R. solanacearum wild-type strain, indicating that betaHPMEH inhibits the effects of activation of virulence genes. This ability will be potentially useful for pest control of the wilt disease caused by this bacterium. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This enzyme is the first protein that has been found to degrade a quormone other than N-acyl homoserine lactone.     

D-氨基酸在细菌生理中的结构性能和调节功能的研究进展

除最小的甘氨酸外,所有的氨基酸(amino acid,AA)都有手性,以D-氨基酸(DAA)或L-氨基酸(LAA)形式存在。DAA广泛存在于各类生物中,尤其是细菌。DAA虽没有参与蛋白质合成,但DAA尤其是非典型DAA在细菌生理中具有很多特殊功能。在结构性能方面,DAA是细菌细胞壁肽聚糖的重要组分,并参与组成某些非核糖体合成途径产生的生物多肽,少数细菌能产生含有D-Glu的γ-聚谷氨酸。对细胞个体而言,DAA能调节细菌表面电荷和自溶素活性,抑制细菌芽胞萌发,调节稳定期细胞壁的重塑及调节病原菌的毒力等。对细菌群落而言,DAA对生物膜的解聚和细菌生态也具有调控作用。此外,某些DAA还能直接作为营养支持某些细菌的生长,而有的DAA则具有抑菌作用。本文主要综述了DAA在细菌生理过程中发挥多项功能的研究进展。     

微藻与细菌作用关系的研究进展

藻类是水生环境中的初级生产者,它的生长常常伴随着细菌并受菌的影响。有研究者指出藻类和细菌有着密不可分的关系。一些研究表明与藻相关的主体细菌是特定的细菌群体,特别是α-变形菌频繁地发现,说明这类菌可能能够开启和维持共生关系。最近的研究提出了营养物质交换是菌藻共生的基础,这类相关化合物是复杂的和特定的分子,可能参与信号处理和监控作用,而不只是被动扩散。同时,这种作用很明显不是静态的,它的开启和终止可能是对环境和发育的响应。需要指出的是明确菌藻关系的作用机理还有待于进一步的深入研究,本篇综述结合新提出的理论,对细菌与微藻作用关系的研究进展进行总结,概括了微藻与菌的作用关系(进化关系,营养依赖,代谢互补和协作生物合成),这种作用关系涉及到的菌的分类(膜菌和藻际微环境菌,促生菌PGPB和溶藻菌)以及菌藻作用的应用(废水处理和生物燃料生产)的情况,并对菌藻关系的未来发展做了展望。     

猕猴桃属十个种的染色体倍性鉴定

猕猴桃属(Actinidia)植物全世界有66种,约有118个种下分类单位(也有新的划分方法将其划分为54种21变种),其中大部分为中国特有。在猕猴桃杂交育种中,不同倍性之间选配不当会出现杂交失败、后代不育等现象,因此倍性鉴定是猕猴桃常规育种亲本选择的前提条件之一。但到目前为止,不少猕猴桃种或亚种的染色体倍性研究并不十分清楚,因而限制了这些资源的进一步开发利用。该研究针对广西植物研究所猕猴桃种质资源圃收集的目前倍性尚不明确的白萼、白花柱果、二色花、临桂、卵圆叶、桃花、宛田、长果、融水和五瓣猕猴桃等10个种类的猕猴桃,使用酸解法制备染色体标本,通过显微镜观察确定其倍性。这10个种类大多为广西特有,其中蕴藏着独特的优良园艺性状,具有很高的生产和开发价值。该研究结果表明这10个种类猕猴桃的染色体倍性均为二倍体(2n=2x=58)。该研究结果进一步丰富了猕猴桃种质资源多样性数据库,为这些猕猴桃资源的合理开发利用奠定了基础。