A Brief History of the Antibiotic Era: Lessons Learned and Challenges for the Future

This article gives a very brief overview of the antibiotic era, beginning from the discovery of first antibiotics until the present day situation, which is marred by the emergence of hard-to-treat multiple antibiotic-resistant infections. The ways of responding to the antibiotic resistance challenges such as the development of novel strategies in the search for new antimicrobials, designing more effective preventive measures and, importantly, better understanding the ecology of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance are discussed. The expansion of conceptual frameworks based on recent developments in the field of antimicrobials, antibiotic resistance, and chemotherapy is also discussed

Complete Genome Sequence of the Human Gut Symbiont Roseburia hominis

Copyright © 2015 Travis et al. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Gillian Campbell, Pauline Young, Karen Garden, and Sylvia Duncan for contributing to this work, which was supported by Scottish Government RESAS (Rural and Environmental Sciences and Analytical Services).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Elevated systemic antibodies towards commensal gut microbiota in autoinflammatory condition

Article No. e3172Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multidrug-resistance and presence of class 1 integrons in clinical isolates of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis, circulating in Armenia

Abstract. The aim of this work was detection of class 1 integrons and their contribution to the antimicrobial resistance phenotypes in strains of   subspecies enterica serotype Enteritidis. S. Enteritidis strains (n = 29) were isolated from patients with salmonellosis at “Nork” Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia. High prevalence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) phenotypes was revealed and isolates with MDR phenotypes which are rare in the S. Enteritidis serotype were observed. Class 1 integrons were detected in 27,6% of isolates, with the prevalence of a variable region of 1000 bp. Occurrence of the MDR phenotype was more frequent in integron-positive isolates compared to integron-negative isolates of S. Enteritidis. Further studies are necessary to reveal the genetic background of MDR phenotypes and to estimate the genetic kinship among the isolates. Our results suggest a rapid and large-scale penetration of antibiotic resistance genes into populations of S. Enteritidis, which complicates infection control. More rigorous regulations should be imposed on antibiotic use, together with a vigilant epidemiological surveillance, to prevent the emergence and spread of MDR S. Enteritidis

Environmentally-acquired bacteria influence microbial diversity and natural innate immune responses at gut surfaces

Background: Early microbial colonization of the gut reduces the incidence of infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Recent population studies reveal that childhood hygiene is a significant risk factor for development of inflammatory bowel disease, thereby reinforcing the hygiene hypothesis and the potential importance of microbial colonization during early life. The extent to which early-life environment impacts on microbial diversity of the adult gut and subsequent immune processes has not been comprehensively investigated thus far. We addressed this important question using the pig as a model to evaluate the impact of early-life environment on microbe/host gut interactions during development. Results: Genetically-related piglets were housed in either indoor or outdoor environments or in experimental isolators. Analysis of over 3,000 16S rRNA sequences revealed major differences in mucosa-adherent microbial diversity in the ileum of adult pigs attributable to differences in early-life environment. Pigs housed in a natural outdoor environment showed a dominance of Firmicutes, in particular Lactobacillus, whereas animals housed in a hygienic indoor environment had reduced Lactobacillus and higher numbers of potentially pathogenic phylotypes. Our analysis revealed a strong negative correlation between the abundance of Firmicutes and pathogenic bacterial populations in the gut. These differences were exaggerated in animals housed in experimental isolators. Affymetrix microarray technology and Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction revealed significant gut-specific gene responses also related to early-life environment. Significantly, indoor-housed pigs displayed increased expression of Type 1 interferon genes, Major Histocompatibility Complex class I and several chemokines. Gene Ontology and pathway analysis further confirmed these results. Conclusion: Early-life environment significantly affects both microbial composition of the adult gut and mucosal innate immune function. We observed that a microbiota dominated by lactobacilli may function to maintain mucosal immune homeostasis and limit pathogen colonization

A novel class of CoA-transferase involved in short-chain fatty acid metabolism in butyrate-producing human colonic bacteria

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