Project description:We aimed to investigate the microbial community composition in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and its effect on prognosis. The relationship between changes in bacterial flora and the prognosis of spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage was studied in two cohort studies. Fecal samples from healthy volunteers and patients with intracerebral hemorrhage were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing at three time points: T1 (within 24 hours of admission), T2 (3 days post-surgery), and T3 (7 days post-surgery) using Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology.
Project description:Inflammatory bowel diseases encompass gastrointestinal illnesseses typified by chronic inflammation, loss of epithelial integrity and gastrointestinal microbiota dysbiosis. In an effort to counteract these characteristic perturbations, we used stem cells and/or a probiotic preparation in a murine model of Dextran Sodium Sulfate induced colitis to examine both their efficacy in ameliorating disease and impact on niche-specific microbial communities of the lower GI tract. Colitis was induced in C57BL/6 mice by administering 3% DSS in drinking water for 10 days prior to administering one of three treatment plans: daily probiotic (VSL#3) supplementation for 3 days, a single tail vein injection of 1x106 murine mesenchymal stem cells, or both. Controls included DSS-untreated mice and DSS-treated mice that received no therapy. Ileal, cecal and colonic sections were collected for microbiota and histological analyses. Microbiota profiling revealed distinct bacterial community compositions in the ileum, cecum and colon of control untreated animals, all of which were predicted in silico to be enriched for a number of discrete KEGG pathways, indicating compositional and functional niche specificity in healthy animals. DSS- treatment perturbed community composition in all three niches with ileal communities exhibiting the greatest change relative to control animals. Stem cell, VSL#3 and the combination treated animals exhibited treatment-specific microbiota composition in the lower GI tract, though disease scores were only improved in VSL#3 treated animals. This VSL#3-associated shift in the ileal microbiota was characterized by significant Enterobacteriaceae enrichment compared to colitic animals (p<0.05),
Project description:Prolific heterotrophic biofilm growth is a common occurrence in airport receiving streams containing deicer and anti-icer runoff. This study investigated relations of heterotrophic biofilm prevalence and community composition to environmental conditions at stream sites upstream and downstream of Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, WI, during two deicing seasons (2009–2010 and 2010–2011). Modern genetic tools (such as microarray) have not previously been applied to biofilm communities in this type of setting. We used microarray results to characterize biofilm community composition as well as the response of the biofilm community to environmental factors (i.e., organic content (using chemical oxygen demand concentration) and temperature).
Project description:Tire wear particles (TWP) are small micro- or nano-particles resulting from the friction of tire tread against roads. These microplastics have been found in waterways, usually through rain and wind, posing a potential risk to exposed aquatic life. The goal of this project was to assess the toxicity of chemical leachates from TWP and characterize how they may impact the health and development of aquatic life, like Danio rerio, zebrafish. Furthermore, we also determined if solar-simulated or dark conditions intensified the effects of TWP, considering processes like photodegradation and photochemical oxidation occur in sunlight. Zebrafish were exposed from 0-4 days post fertilization (dpf) to a filtered TWP solution at varying concentrations, and each concentration was leached in either solar-simulated or dark conditions. Mortality and hatching rates were quantified throughout the exposures, and physical anomalies were recorded at 4 dpf using microscopy. Ethyoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, an indicator of Phase I biotransformation, was performed using fluorescent microscopt. RNA sequencing was performed for 4 dpf larvae. TWP exposures, regardless of leaching light status, increased mortality, yolk sac edema, pericardial edema, spinal curvature, and craniofacial malformations, while decreasing hatching and swim bladder inflation. Regardless of lighting during leaching, EROD activity increased in the liver and brain and decreased in the gut CYP1A. RNA sequencing revealed some conserved processes in response to TWP, regardless of light status during leaching, including those involved in neurobiological function. However, divergent responses were also observed for processes such as amino acid metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, and fatty acid metabolism. Overall, these results suggest a disruption of embryonic development in zebrafish when exposed to TWP, and that sunlight during chemical leaching can alter the molecular responses to TWP.
Project description:Analysis of microbial community composition in arctic tundra and boreal forest soils using serial analysis of ribosomal sequence tags (SARST). Keywords: other
Project description:Wood-decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems is a very important process with huge ecologic consequences. This decomposition process is a combination of biological respiration, leaching and fragmentation, mainly triggered by organismic activities. In order to gain a deeper insight into these microbial communities and their role in deadwood decay, we used metaproteomics. Metaproteomics is an important tool and offers the ability to characterize the protein complement of environmental microbiota at a given point in time. In this dataset, we provide data of an exemplary beech wood log and applied different extraction methods to provide the proteome profile of beech dead wood and their corresponding fungal-bacterial community.