Project description:Samples of oil and production water were collected from five wells of the Qinghai Oilfield, China, and subjected to GeoChip hybridization experiments for microbial functional diversity profiling. Unexpectedly, a remarkable microbial diversity in oil samples, which was higher than that in the corresponding water samples, was observed, thus challenging previously believed assumptions about the microbial diversity in this ecosystem. Hierarchical clustering separated oil and water samples, thereby indicating distinct functional structures in the samples. Genes involved in the degradation of hydrocarbons, organic remediation, stress response, and carbon cycling were significantly abundant in crude oil, which is consistent with their important roles in residing in oil. Association analysis with environmental variables suggested that oil components comprising aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and a polar fraction with nitrogen-, sulfur-, and oxygen-containing compounds were mainly influential on the structure of the microbial community. Furthermore, a comparison of microbial communities in oil samples indicated that the structures were depth/temperature-dependent. To our knowledge, this is the first thorough study to profile microbial functional diversity in crude oil samples.
Project description:Identifying cellular mechanisms maintaining HIV-1 latency in the viral reservoir is crucial for devising effective cure strategies. Here we developed a flow cytometry-fluorescent in situ hybridization (flow-FISH) approach using a combination of probes that detects abortive and elongated HIV-1 transcripts for ex vivo isolation and characterization of viral reservoir cells in peripheral blood from people with HIV-1. Following the isolation of three distinct cell populations from CD4+ T cells (i.e. cells harboring transcriptionally latent HIV-1, cells harboring transcriptionally active HIV-1, or uninfected cells), we determined their transcriptomic profile by RNA sequencing (RNAseq). Supervised gene expression analysis identified several differentially expressed mitochondrial genes in infected cell populations compared to uninfected cells, but also in latently infected compared to productively infected CD4+ T cells. Our transcriptomic profiling data shows an association between diminished mitochondrial functioning and the transcriptional activity of the viral reservoir. These findings underline the relevance of metabolic regulation in HIV-1 infection, and support the development of strategies modulating immunometabolism to target viral latency.
