Metabarcoding analysis of the bacterial and fungal communities during the maturation of preparation 500, used in biodynamic agriculture, suggests a rational link between horn and manure

Horn manure (Preparation 500) is a product used in the practice of biodynamic agriculture. It is obtained by an underground fermentation of cow fecal material incubated in cow horns for several months. The product is used as spray treatment meant to increase soil fertility. In the present report, we analyzed the successional changes in bacterial and fungal communities throughout the process of horn manure maturation by high throughput sequencing of ribosomal 16S (bacterial) and ITS (fungal) gene markers. Marked shifts in the microbial community were seen involving a general decrease from a Firmicutes dominated material to a product transiently enriched in Proteobacteria and later in Actinobacteria, mostly within the Nocardioidaceae family. In the fungal community evolution, the most abundant taxon in the starting fecal material resulted a member of the Onygenales order, known to specifically degrade keratin. Its abundance in the intestine is explained by the fact that keratin, which is also the structural component of hairs and horns, is found in all epithelial layers, including gut mucosae. This occurrence suggests a link of enzymatic/catabolic nature between manure and horn

Mikrobiologie und Bioaktivität des biodynamischen Präparats 500

Umfangreiche mikrobiologische Untersuchungen des Hornmistpräparates zeigen eine charakteristische bakterielle Komposition und spezielle Enzymaktivitäten. Letztere haben eine Wirkung vergleichbar dem pflanzeneigenen Hormon Auxin. P500 scheint die Effizienz der Bodenbakterien zu erhöhen

Tratamento com simbióticos em mulheres com constipação intestinal: estudo de caso comparativo / Symbotic treatment in women with intestinal constipation: a comparative case study

A Constipação Intestinal Funcional, queixa comum nos consultórios médicos, é de caráter multifatorial e estudos recentes sugerem que a perturbação da microbiota (disbiose) do aparelho gastrintestinal poderia se relacionar com o seu surgimento. Pesquisas sugerem diminuição das bactérias do gênero Lactobacillus e Bifidobacterium, bem como aumento de bactérias patogênicas em tal distúrbio. Nosso estudo trata-se de um ensaio clínico randomizado duplo-cego, em que foram selecionadas alunas da Universidade Vila Velha (UVV), de idade entre 20 a 30 anos, com queixas de constipação intestinal. As voluntárias foram divididas em dois grupos aleatoriamente, recebendo cápsulas idênticas, sendo que um grupo recebeu simbióticos e o outro placebo por 3 meses. Ao longo do estudo, pode-se perceber uma tendência a melhora dos sintomas abordados pelo ROMA IV no grupo intervenção, o que poderia ser explicado pela imunomodulação dos simbióticos influenciado pelo tempo de tratamento

Metformin attenuates the exacerbation of the allergic eosinophilic inflammation in high fat-diet-induced obesity in mice

A positive relationship between obesity and asthma has been well documented. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator metformin reverses obesity-associated insulin resistance (IR) and inhibits different types of inflammatory responses. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of metformin on the exacerbation of allergic eosinophilic inflammation in obese mice. Male C57BL6/J mice were fed for 10 weeks with high-fat diet (HFD) to induce obesity. The cell infiltration and inflammatory markers in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and lung tissue were evaluated at 48 h after ovalbumin (OVA) challenge. HFD obese mice displayed peripheral IR that was fully reversed by metformin (300 mg/kg/day, two weeks). OVA-challenge resulted in higher influx of total cell and eosinophils in lung tissue of obese mice compared with lean group. As opposed, the cell number in BAL fluid of obese mice was reduced compared with lean group. Metformin significantly reduced the tissue eosinophil infiltration and prevented the reduction of cell counts in BAL fluid. In obese mice, greater levels of eotaxin, TNF-α and NOx, together with increased iNOS protein expression were observed, all of which were normalized by metformin. In addition, metformin nearly abrogated the binding of NF-κB subunit p65 to the iNOS promoter gene in lung tissue of obese mice. Lower levels of phosphorylated AMPK and its downstream target acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) were found in lung tissue of obese mice, which were restored by metformin. In separate experiments, the selective iNOS inhibitor aminoguanidine (20 mg/kg, 3 weeks) and the anti-TNF-α mAb (2 mg/kg) significantly attenuated the aggravation of eosinophilic inflammation in obese mice. In conclusion, metformin inhibits the TNF-α-induced inflammatory signaling and NF-κB-mediated iNOS expression in lung tissue of obese mice. Metformin may be a good pharmacological strategy to control the asthma exacerbation in obese individuals.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, 2012/14225-

Death and the Societies of Late Antiquity

Ce volume bilingue, comprenant un ensemble de 28 contributions disponibles en français et en anglais (dans leur version longue ou abrégée), propose d’établir un état des lieux des réflexions, recherches et études conduites sur le fait funéraire à l’époque tardo-antique au sein des provinces de l’Empire romain et sur leurs régions limitrophes, afin d’ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives sur ses évolutions possibles. Au cours des trois dernières décennies, les transformations considérables des méthodologies déployées sur le terrain et en laboratoire ont permis un renouveau des questionnements sur les populations et les pratiques funéraires de l’Antiquité tardive, période marquée par de multiples changements politiques, sociaux, démographiques et culturels. L’apparition de ce qui a été initialement désigné comme une « Anthropologie de terrain », qui fut le début de la démarche archéothanatologique, puis le récent développement d’approches collaboratives entre des domaines scientifiques divers (archéothanatologie, biochimie et géochimie, génétique, histoire, épigraphie par exemple) ont été décisives pour le renouvellement des problématiques d’étude : révision d’anciens concepts comme apparition d’axes d’analyse inédits. Les recherches rassemblées dans cet ouvrage sont articulées autour de quatre grands thèmes : l’évolution des pratiques funéraires dans le temps, l’identité sociale dans la mort, les ensembles funéraires en transformation (organisation et topographie) et les territoires de l’empire (du cœur aux marges). Ces études proposent un réexamen et une révision des données, tant anthropologiques qu’archéologiques ou historiques sur l’Antiquité tardive, et révèlent, à cet égard, une mosaïque de paysages politiques, sociaux et culturels singulièrement riches et complexes. Elles accroissent nos connaissances sur le traitement des défunts, l’emplacement des aires funéraires ou encore la structure des sépultures, en révélant une diversité de pratiques, et permettent au final de relancer la réflexion sur la manière dont les sociétés tardo-antiques envisagent la mort et sur les éléments permettant d’identifier et de définir la diversité des groupes qui les composent. Elles démontrent ce faisant que nous pouvons véritablement appréhender les structures culturelles et sociales des communautés anciennes et leurs potentielles transformations, à partir de l’étude des pratiques funéraires.This bilingual volume proposes to draw up an assessment of the recent research conducted on funerary behavior during Late Antiquity in the provinces of the Roman Empire and on their borders, in order to open new perspectives on its possible developments. The considerable transformations of the methodologies have raised the need for a renewal of the questions on the funerary practices during Late Antiquity, a period marked by multiple political, social, demographic and cultural changes. The emergence field anthropology, which was the beginning of archaeothanatology, and then the recent development of collaborative approaches between various scientific fields (archaeothanatology, biochemistry and geochemistry, genetics, history, epigraphy, for example), have been decisive. The research collected in this book is structured around four main themes: Evolution of funerary practices over time; Social identity through death; Changing burial grounds (organisation and topography); Territories of the Empire (from the heart to the margins). These studies propose a review and a revision of the data, both anthropological and archaeological or historical on Late Antiquity, and reveal a mosaic of political, social, and cultural landscapes singularly rich and complex. In doing so, they demonstrate that we can truly understand the cultural and social structures of ancient communities and their potential transformations, based on the study of funerary practices

Soil microbial communities in environmental-agronomical context: quantitative analysis, metagenomics and signal exchange monitoring

Soil is one of the most challenging environments for microbiologists. The astounding number of microbial species living in soil makes it one of the most diverse and still mysterious environments known. The study of the soil nitrogen cycle is gaining in importance, as recently a strong land-use intensification and increase in N fertilization led to the rising of threats to environmental and human health. Moreover, major interest is given to the investigation of the structure of soil microbial communities, to their responses in the presence of external stimuli, and to their capacity to organize thanks to the exchange of specific signals dispersed in the environment. In this study, these aspects of soil microbial ecology were taken into account, and microbiology and molecular biology techniques were used to probe the bacterial community function and structure and to study the physical diffusion of signals emitted by certain bacteria. Real Time PCR analysis of functional genes of the N-cycle in different soils highlighted interesting differences and permitted to select the bacterial amoA and nosZ genes, for nitrification and denitrification, respectively, as useful indicators of soil health and functionality. Furthermore, a strict relationship between bacteria involved in nitrification and in denitrification was found in all the analysed soil samples, indicating that these microorganisms could be part of the same environmental niche, though being involved in opposite processes. Through T-RFLP experiments and a metagenomic analysis by amplicon sequencing performed in a 454 system (Roche), the effects of different fertilizers on an agricultural soil microbial community were investigated. In particular, it was possible to determine how bacterial communities changed over time in response to this kind of inputs, and to have a first insight into the relation among some bacterial phyla, which fluctuated in parallel or in opposition. Concerning microbial cell-to-cell signalling, in this work, efforts were made to define the consequences of the reflecting or adsorbing boundary conditions on the physical diffusion of AHL molecules, and therefore on bacterial intercellular communication, by combining physics and microbiology approaches. It was observed that the properties of the boundaries play a major critical role on the quorum sensing AHL concentration profiles around the cell environment.Il suolo rappresenta uno degli ambienti più misteriosi e ricchi di biodiversità sulla Terra, e, nella maggior parte dei casi, i microrganismi adattati a vivere in questo ambiente non sono coltivabili e non sono stati ancora caratterizzati. Questo lavoro di tesi ha lo scopo di analizzare la complessità dell’ecologia microbica del suolo da due punti di vista diversi: da una parte si vuole ottimizzare e utilizzare tecniche di biologia molecolare per esaminare la struttura e la funzione delle comunità microbiche di diversi suoli, e dall’altra parte lo scopo è quello di studiare le forme di comunicazione tra i batteri, e i segnali che essi scambiano tra loro (Quorum Sensing). Di recente, molti ricercatori si sono dedicati allo studio dei batteri e degli archaea coinvolti nel ciclo dell’azoto, poiché il disequilibrio in questo processo, causato principalmente dall’uso eccessivo di fertilizzanti azotati e da altre pratiche agricole, è una minaccia per la salute dell’uomo, oltre che per l’ambiente. Inoltre, anche lo studio delle comunità microbiche del suolo sta assumendo sempre più importanza, in particolare per quanto riguarda la loro risposta in presenza di stimoli esterni, e la loro capacità di organizzarsi grazie allo scambio di segnali specifici emessi nell’ambiente dagli stessi microrganismi. L’analisi dei geni funzionali per il ciclo dell’azoto mediante esperimenti di Real Time PCR quantitativa in suoli di diversa provenienza o trattati in modi diversi ha permesso di evidenziare differenze significative e di selezionare i geni amoA batterico e nosZ, rispettivamente per la nitrificazione e per la denitrificazione, come possibili indicatori della qualità del suolo e della produttività in agricoltura. Questo tipo di analisi ha anche permesso di osservare come ci sia, in tutti i suoli analizzati, una correlazione positiva e statisticamente significativa tra i geni batterici per la nitrificazione e per la denitrificazione. Questo risultato potrebbe indicare che questi due gruppi di microrganismi sono in qualche modo legati, e che probabilmente vivono nella stessa nicchia ecologica. In questo lavoro, mediante esperimenti di T-RFLP e grazie all’uso della tecnologia di Next generation sequencing 454 (Roche), è stato possibile analizzare la struttura della comunità microbica in suoli trattati con fertilizzanti di diverso tipo, a due tempi di campionamento. Inoltre, sono state ricercate le correlazioni tra i phyla presenti, in modo da avere una prima idea di come questi varino anche in relazione alla variazione dell’abbondanza di altri gruppi batterici. Grazie a questo esame sono state trovate molte correlazioni forti e significative, che indicano come alcuni gruppi batterici siano strettamente in relazione tra loro e si influenzino fortemente. Per quanto riguarda lo studio dei segnali scambiati tra batteri presenti in una stessa comunità, e quindi del Quorum Sensing e del Diffusion Sensing, sono stati analizzati i meccanismi fisici di diffusione delle molecole quorum AHL in ambienti circoscritti, ed in particolare sono state definite le conseguenze delle condizioni al contorno, sia nel caso di confini di natura riflettente che di natura assorbente. Queste proprietà sono risultate giocare un ruolo fondamentale nel determinare i profili di concentrazione della molecola segnale AHL

Realdo Colombo's De Re Anatomica: The renaissance origin of the term "placenta" and its historical background.

Over the centuries, great interest has been devoted to the placenta and to its highly symbolic significance. The Renaissance represented the age of historical and cultural transition between classical and modern scientific paradigms. In the medical setting, Realdo Colombo represents one of the protagonists of this revolution. In his masterpiece, "De Re Anatomica", he revolutionized the former medical perspective. We present a passage from this book, which carries invaluable information on the Renaissance viewpoint on pregnancy and placental biology. The connections between Colombo's theories and the previous medical tradition are also analysed

Modeling quorum sensing trade-offs between bacterial cell density and system extension from open boundaries

none5noBacterial communities undergo collective behavioural switches upon producing and sensing diffusible signal molecules; a mechanism referred to as Quorum Sensing (QS). Exemplarily, biofilm organic matrices are built concertedly by bacteria in several environments. QS scope in bacterial ecology has been debated for over 20 years. Different perspectives counterpose the role of density reporter for populations to that of local environment diffusivity probe for individual cells. Here we devise a model system where tubes of different heights contain matrix-embedded producers and sensors. These tubes allow non-limiting signal diffusion from one open end, thereby showing that population spatial extension away from an open boundary can be a main critical factor in QS. Experimental data, successfully recapitulated by a comprehensive mathematical model, demonstrate how tube height can overtake the role of producer density in triggering sensor activation. The biotic degradation of the signal is found to play a major role and to be species-specific and entirely feedback-independent.noneMarenda, Mattia; Zanardo, Marina; Trovato, Antonio; Seno, Flavio; Squartini, AndreaMarenda, Mattia; Zanardo, Marina; Trovato, Antonio; Seno, Flavio; Squartini, Andre

Quorum vs. diffusion sensing: a quantitative analysis of the relevance of absorbing or reflecting boundaries

The consequences of the boundary conditions (signal reflecting vs. signal adsorbing) on bacterial intercellular communication were addressed by a combined physics and microbiology approach. A predictive biophysical model was devised that considered system size, diffusion from given points, signal molecule decay and boundary properties. The theoretical predictions were tested with two experimental agarose-gel-based set-ups for reflecting or absorbing boundaries. N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) concentration profiles were measured using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens NTL4 bioassay and found to agree with model predictions. The half-life of AHL was estimated to be 7 days. The absorbing vs. reflecting nature of the boundaries drastically changed AHL concentration profiles. The effect of a single nonreflecting boundary side was equivalent to a 100-fold lower cell concentration. Results suggest that the kinetics of signal accumulation vs. signal removal and their threshold-mediated phenotypic consequences are directly linked to the properties of biofilm boundaries, stressing the relevance of the diffusion sensing component in bacterial communication