Eosinophilic esophageal myositis mimicking achalasia: a rare case of dysphagia with extreme LES pressures and histologic clarity.

Eosinophilic infiltration of the esophageal muscular layer, known as eosinophilic esophageal myositis (EoEM), is an exceptionally rare condition that can mimic primary motility disorders such as achalasia. We present the case of a 72-year-old male with progressive dysphagia and significant weight loss, whose high-resolution manometry revealed findings consistent with achalasia, but with unusually elevated lower esophageal sphincter pressures. Surgical myotomy was performed and histopathological analysis unexpectedly revealed intense eosinophilic infiltration of the muscularis propria.

Characterization of the thermophilic xylanase Fsa02490Xyn from the hyperthermophile Fervidibacter sacchari belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 10.

Fervidibacter sacchari is an aerobic hyperthermophile belonging to the phylum Armatimonadota that degrades a variety of polysaccharides. Its genome encodes 117 enzymes with one or more annotated glycoside hydrolase (GH) domain, but the roles of these putative GHs in polysaccharide catabolism are poorly defined. Here, we describe one F.

The effect of Rumin8 Investigational Veterinary Product-a bromoform based feed additive-on enteric methane emissions, animal production parameters, and the rumen environment in feedlot cattle.

The livestock sector plays a crucial role in mitigating global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with enteric fermentation as the largest source. Although various approaches have been proposed to decrease enteric methane (CH) emissions, feed additives containing bromoform (CHBr) have shown promise with minimal impact on animal production parameters. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two Rumin8 Investigational Veterinary Products (IVP) containing synthetic CHBr on enteric gas emissions, animal production parameters, and the rumen environment.

Biochemical characterization of Fsa16295Glu from the first hyperthermophilic GH50 with β-1,3-endoglucanase activity and founding member of the subfamily GH50_3.

The aerobic hyperthermophile catabolizes diverse polysaccharides and is the only cultivated member of the class within the phylum . It encodes 117 putative glycoside hydrolases (GHs), including two from GH family 50 (GH50). In this study, we expressed, purified, and functionally characterized one of these GH50 enzymes, Fsa16295Glu.

Estimating geographic variation of infection fatality ratios during epidemics.

Objectives: We aim to estimate geographic variability in total numbers of infections and infection fatality ratios (IFR; the number of deaths caused by an infection per 1,000 infected people) when the availability and quality of data on disease burden are limited during an epidemic.

Methods: We develop a noncentral hypergeometric framework that accounts for differential probabilities of positive tests and reflects the fact that symptomatic people are more likely to seek testing. We demonstrate the robustness, accuracy, and precision of this framework, and apply it to the United States (U.

Microbial-Derived Tryptophan Metabolites and Their Role in Neurological Disease: Anthranilic Acid and Anthranilic Acid Derivatives.

The gut microbiome provides the host access to otherwise indigestible nutrients, which are often further metabolized by the microbiome into bioactive components. The gut microbiome can also shift the balance of host-produced compounds, which may alter host health. One precursor to bioactive metabolites is the essential aromatic amino acid tryptophan.

enhances osteogenic differentiation in adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

The potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for tissue repair and regeneration has garnered great attention. While MSCs are likely to interact with microbes at sites of tissue damage and inflammation, like in the gastrointestinal system, the consequences of pathogenic association on MSC activities have yet to be elucidated. This study investigated the effects of pathogenic interaction on MSC trilineage differentiation paths and mechanisms using model intracellular pathogen ssp serotype Typhimurium.

Two-component systems regulate bacterial virulence in response to the host gastrointestinal environment and metabolic cues.

Two-component systems are ubiquitous signaling mechanisms in bacteria that enable intracellular changes from extracellular cues. These bacterial regulatory systems couple external stimuli to control genetic expression via an autophosphorylation cascade that transduces membrane signals to intracellular locations, thereby allowing bacteria to rapidly adapt to the changing environmental conditions. Well known to control basic cellular processes, it is evident that two-component systems also exercise control over virulence traits, such as motility, secretion systems, and stress responses that impact the complex cascade of networks that alter virulence traits.

In silico identification of two peptides with antibacterial activity against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Here we report two antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), HG2 and HG4 identified from a rumen microbiome metagenomic dataset, with activity against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains, a major hospital and community-acquired pathogen. We employed the classifier model design to analyse, visualise, and interpret AMP activities. This approach allowed in silico discrimination of promising lead AMP candidates for experimental evaluation.

Impact of Probiotics on Dairy Production Efficiency.

There has been growing interest on probiotics to enhance weight gain and disease resistance in young calves and to improve the milk yield in lactating animals by reducing the negative energy balance during the peak lactation period. While it has been well established that probiotics modulate the microbial community composition in the gastrointestinal tract, and a probiotic-mediated homeostasis in the rumen could improve feed conversation competence, volatile fatty acid production and nitrogen flow that enhances the milk composition as well as milk production, detailed changes on the molecular and metabolic level prompted by probiotic feed additives are still not understood. Moreover, as living biotherapeutic agents, probiotics have the potential to directly change the gene expression profile of animals by activating the signalling cascade in the host cells.

Ecology of inorganic sulfur auxiliary metabolism in widespread bacteriophages.

Microbial sulfur metabolism contributes to biogeochemical cycling on global scales. Sulfur metabolizing microbes are infected by phages that can encode auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) to alter sulfur metabolism within host cells but remain poorly characterized. Here we identified 191 phages derived from twelve environments that encoded 227 AMGs for oxidation of sulfur and thiosulfate (dsrA, dsrC/tusE, soxC, soxD and soxYZ).

Key Considerations for the Use of Seaweed to Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions From Cattle.

Enteric methane emissions are the single largest source of direct greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in beef and dairy value chains and a substantial contributor to anthropogenic methane emissions globally. In late 2019, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) convened approximately 50 stakeholders representing research and production of seaweeds, animal feeds, dairy cattle, and beef and dairy foods to discuss challenges and opportunities associated with the use of seaweed-based ingredients to reduce enteric methane emissions. This article describes the considerations identified by the workshop participants and suggests next steps for the further development and evaluation of seaweed-based feed ingredients as enteric methane mitigants.

Phototrophic Co-cultures From Extreme Environments: Community Structure and Potential Value for Fundamental and Applied Research.

Cyanobacteria are found in most illuminated environments and are key players in global carbon and nitrogen cycling. Although significant efforts have been made to advance our understanding of this important phylum, still little is known about how members of the cyanobacteria affect and respond to changes in complex biological systems. This lack of knowledge is in part due to our dependence on pure cultures when determining the metabolism and function of a microorganism.

Anaerobic Fungi: Past, Present, and Future.

Anaerobic fungi (AF) play an essential role in feed conversion due to their potent fiber degrading enzymes and invasive growth. Much has been learned about this unusual fungal phylum since the paradigm shifting work of Colin Orpin in the 1970s, when he characterized the first AF. Molecular approaches targeting specific phylogenetic marker genes have facilitated taxonomic classification of AF, which had been previously been complicated by the complex life cycles and associated morphologies.

Proteome specialization of anaerobic fungi during ruminal degradation of recalcitrant plant fiber.

The rumen harbors a complex microbial mixture of archaea, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi that efficiently breakdown plant biomass and its complex dietary carbohydrates into soluble sugars that can be fermented and subsequently converted into metabolites and nutrients utilized by the host animal. While rumen bacterial populations have been well documented, only a fraction of the rumen eukarya are taxonomically and functionally characterized, despite the recognition that they contribute to the cellulolytic phenotype of the rumen microbiota. To investigate how anaerobic fungi actively engage in digestion of recalcitrant fiber that is resistant to degradation, we resolved genome-centric metaproteome and metatranscriptome datasets generated from switchgrass samples incubated for 48 h in nylon bags within the rumen of cannulated dairy cows.

EcoFABs: advancing microbiome science through standardized fabricated ecosystems.

Microbiomes play critical roles in ecosystems and human health, yet in most cases scientists lack standardized and reproducible model microbial communities. The development of fabricated microbial ecosystems, which we term EcoFABs, will provide such model systems for microbiome studies.

The metagenomic landscape of xenobiotics biodegradation in mangrove sediments.

Metagenomics is a powerful approach to study microorganisms present in any given environment and their potential to maintain and improve ecosystem health without the need of cultivating these microorganisms in the laboratory. In this study, we combined a cultivation-independent metagenomics approach with functional assays to identify the detoxification potential of microbial genes evaluating their potential to contribute to xenobiotics resistance in oil-impacted mangrove sediments. A metagenomic fosmid library containing 12,960 clones from highly contaminated mangrove sediment was used in this study.

Prevotella copri, a potential indicator for high feed efficiency in western steers.

There has been a great interest to identify a microbial marker that can be used to predict feed efficiency of beef cattle. Such a marker, specifically one that would allow an early identification of animals with high feed efficiency for future breeding efforts, would facilitate increasing the profitability of cattle operations and simultaneously render them more sustainable by reducing their methane footprint. The work presented here suggests that Prevotella copri might be an ideal microbial marker for identifying beef cattle with high feed efficiency early in their life span and in the production cycle.

Effect of the macroalgae Asparagopsis taxiformis on methane production and rumen microbiome assemblage.

Background: Recent studies using batch-fermentation suggest that the red macroalgae Asparagopsis taxiformis has the potential to reduce methane (CH) production from beef cattle by up to ~ 99% when added to Rhodes grass hay; a common feed in the Australian beef industry. These experiments have shown significant reductions in CH without compromising other fermentation parameters (i.e.

A 2.08 Å resolution structure of HLB5, a novel cellulase from the anaerobic gut bacterium Parabacteroides johnsonii DSM 18315.

Cellulases play a significant role in the degradation of complex carbohydrates. In the human gut, anaerobic bacteria are essential to the well-being of the host by producing these essential enzymes that convert plant polymers into simple sugars that can then be further metabolized by the host. Here, we report the 2.

Addressing Global Ruminant Agricultural Challenges Through Understanding the Rumen Microbiome: Past, Present, and Future.

The rumen is a complex ecosystem composed of anaerobic bacteria, protozoa, fungi, methanogenic archaea and phages. These microbes interact closely to breakdown plant material that cannot be digested by humans, whilst providing metabolic energy to the host and, in the case of archaea, producing methane. Consequently, ruminants produce meat and milk, which are rich in high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals, and therefore contribute to food security.

Profiling of the Microbiome Associated With Nitrogen Removal During Vermifiltration of Wastewater From a Commercial Dairy.

Vermifiltration is a biological treatment process during which earthworms (e.g., ) and microorganisms reduce the organic load of wastewater.