Characterization of Bacillus pumilus Strains Isolated from Bovine Uteri

Uterine infections are a major source of economic losses to dairy farmers. The uterine microbiota as well as opportunistic uterine contaminants can contribute to the development of endometritis in dairy cows during the postpartum period. Therefore, it is important to characterize potential pathogens and to further elucidate their role in the disease. In this study, we aimed to characterize Bacillus pumilus field isolates to obtain more details regarding their effect on uterine cells by using an in vitro endometrial epithelial primary cells model. We found that B. pumilus isolates possessed the keratinase genes ker1 and ker2 and therefore may produce keratinases. When primary endometrial epithelial cells were infected with 4 different B. pumilus strains, an effect on cellular viability was observed over the course of 72 h. The effect was dose-dependent and time-dependent. Nevertheless, significant differences between the strains were not observed. All tested strains reduced the viability of the primary cells after 72 h of incubation, indicating that B. pumilus potentially has a pathogenic effect on endometrial epithelial cells

Streptococcus uberis strains originating from bovine uteri provoke upregulation of pro-inflammatory factors mRNA expression of endometrial epithelial cells in vitro

Streptococcus uberis is an opportunistic pathogen involved in various infections of cattle. It is a well-known etiological agent of bovine mastitis and has recently also been linked to postpartum endometritis in dairy cows. S. uberis is frequently isolated from the uterus of postpartum cows but its actual contribution to host pathophysiology is unknown and information on S. uberis virulence factors potentially involved in the disease is lacking. To gain first insights into the role of S. uberis in the pathology of bovine endometritis, a cell-culture-based infection model was employed to study inflammatory host responses and investigate cytotoxic effects. A comprehensive strain panel, comprising 53 strains previously isolated from bovine uteri, was compiled and screened for known virulence factor genes. Isolates showing distinct virulence gene patterns were used to study their impact on cellular viability and influence on mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory factors in endometrial epithelial cells. Our study revealed that S. uberis negatively impacts the viability of endometrial epithelial cells and provokes an upregulation of specific pro-inflammatory factors, although with certain strains having a greater effect than others. Especially, mRNA expression of IL1A and CXCL8 as well as CXCL1/2 and PTGS2 was found to be stimulated by S. uberis. These results suggest that S. uberis might indeed contribute to the establishment of bovine endometritis

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Consumer Adoption Behaviour Towards Innovative Self-Service Technologies in the Realm of Banking : A Dynamic Approach

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Ωto_abR: A Web Application for the Visualization and Analysis of Click-Evoked Auditory Brainstem Responses

Since its inception by Jewett and Williston in the late 1960s, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) has been an indispensable diagnostic tool, used by audiologists around the world. Click-evoked ABR testing proves to be a reliable tool, as it provides an objective representation of the auditory function, an estimate of hearing thresholds and the ability to pinpoint a potential issue in the auditory neural pathway. The present study describes state-of-the-art ABR analytics-related platforms and provides an overview of their functionality. In conjunction, we introduce the design and development of a newly developed, user-friendly web application, built in R language. This application provides several well-known and newly key characteristics for the analysis of ABR waveforms. These include absolute peak latencies, amplitudes, and interpeak latencies

Characterization of <i>Bacillus pumilus</i> Strains Isolated from Bovine Uteri

Uterine infections are a major source of economic losses to dairy farmers. The uterine microbiota as well as opportunistic uterine contaminants can contribute to the development of endometritis in dairy cows during the postpartum period. Therefore, it is important to characterize potential pathogens and to further elucidate their role in the disease. In this study, we aimed to characterize Bacillus pumilus field isolates to obtain more details regarding their effect on uterine cells by using an in vitro endometrial epithelial primary cells model. We found that B. pumilus isolates possessed the keratinase genes ker1 and ker2 and therefore may produce keratinases. When primary endometrial epithelial cells were infected with 4 different B. pumilus strains, an effect on cellular viability was observed over the course of 72 h. The effect was dose-dependent and time-dependent. Nevertheless, significant differences between the strains were not observed. All tested strains reduced the viability of the primary cells after 72 h of incubation, indicating that B. pumilus potentially has a pathogenic effect on endometrial epithelial cells

Dynamics and Diversity of Intrauterine Anaerobic Microbiota in Dairy Cows with Clinical and Subclinical Endometritis

The aim of the study was to characterize the dynamics of anaerobic cultivable postpartum microbiota in the uterus of dairy cows. In total, 122 dairy cows were enrolled and sampled on day 0 (day of calving) and on days 3, 9, 15, 21, and 28 postpartum (pp). Samples were cultivated anaerobically and analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS. In total, 1858 isolates were recovered. The most prevalent facultative anaerobic genera were Trueperella (27.8%), Streptococcus (25.4%), and Escherichia (13.1%). The most prevalent obligate anaerobes were Peptoniphilus (9.3%), Bacteroides (3.3%), and Clostridium (2.4%). The microbial communities were highly dynamic and diverse. On the animal level, Trueperella pyogenes on day 21 and 28 pp was associated with clinical endometritis, and E. coli on day 21 pp was associated with subclinical endometritis. The occurrence of Streptococcus pluranimalium on day 28 was related to uterine health. The presence of T. pyogenes, Streptococcus, and Peptoniphilus was significantly associated with an increased risk for purulent vaginal discharge. Primiparous cows showed a higher prevalence of T. pyogenes, Fusobacterium necrophorum, Porphyromonas levii, and Peptoniphilus spp. than multiparous cows but were not more susceptible to uterine diseases. This study might provide a suitable basis for future co-cultivation studies to elucidate potential synergistic interactions between microbiota

Corynebacterium endometrii sp. nov., isolated from the uterus of a cow with endometritis

A Gram-stain-positive bacterial strain, designated LMM-1653T, was isolated from a uterus swab from a Holstein Frisian dairy cow in the frame of a clinical sampling trial. The isolated strain, which showed a rod to coccoid shape, was catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, its closest relatives were Corynebacterium flavescens and Corynebacterium argatoratense (96.50 % similarity each), suggesting that this isolate represents a novel species. Strain LMM-1653T had a quinone system consisting mainly of menaquinones MK-8(H2) and MK-9(H2). The polar lipid profile showed presence of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol-mannoside as well as one unidentified glycolipid and one unidentified aminoglycolipid. Moderate to minor amounts of three unidentified glycolipids, β-gentiobiosyl diacylglycerol, one unidentified aminoglycolipid and three unidentified lipids without a functional group were also found. The cell wall contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and the strain also contained corynemycolic acids. The fatty acid profile was predominantly composed of straight-chain, saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids, dominated by C18 : 1ω9c and C16 : 0. Since this isolate differs from the nearest related established Corynebacterium species in its genetic and phenotypic traits, a novel species named Corynebacterium endometrii LMM-1653T (=LMG-31164T=CCM 8952T) of the genus Corynebacterium is proposed

Corynebacterium endometrii sp. nov., isolated from the uterus of a cow with endometritis.

Ballas P, Rückert C, Wagener K, et al. Corynebacterium endometrii sp. nov., isolated from the uterus of a cow with endometritis. International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology. 2019;70(1):146-152.A Gram-stain-positive bacterial strain, designated LMM-1653T, was isolated from a uterus swab from a Holstein Frisian dairy cow in the frame of a clinical sampling trial. The isolated strain, which showed a rod to coccoid shape, was catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, its closest relatives were Corynebacterium flavescens and Corynebacterium argatoratense (96.50 % similarity each), suggesting that this isolate represents a novel species. Strain LMM-1653T had a quinone system consisting mainly of menaquinones MK-8(H2) and MK-9(H2). The polar lipid profile showed presence of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol-mannoside as well as one unidentified glycolipid and one unidentified aminoglycolipid. Moderate to minor amounts of three unidentified glycolipids, beta-gentiobiosyl diacylglycerol, one unidentified aminoglycolipid and three unidentified lipids without a functional group were also found. The cell wall contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and the strain also contained corynemycolic acids. The fatty acid profile was predominantly composed of straight-chain, saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids, dominated by C18 : 1omega9c and C16 : 0. Since this isolate differs from the nearest related established Corynebacterium species in its genetic and phenotypic traits, a novel species named Corynebacterium endometrii LMM-1653T (=LMG-31164T=CCM 8952T) of the genus Corynebacterium is proposed

Corynebacterium urogenitale sp. nov. isolated from the genital tract of a cow.

Ballas P, Rückert C, Wagener K, et al. Corynebacterium urogenitale sp. nov. isolated from the genital tract of a cow. International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology. 2020.A Gram-stain-positive bacterial isolate, designated LMM-1652T, was isolated from an intrauterine cytobrush sample originating from a postpartum Holstein Friesian dairy cow. The strain had a rod to coccoid-shape, was catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity analyses revealed that its closest relatives were Corynebacterium falsenii (97.05 % similarity), Corynebacterium jeikeium (96.83 %) and Corynebacterium urealyticum (96.82 %). Subsequent whole genome analysis showed that the genome-to-genome distance of strain LMM-1652T to its closest relatives was in the range of 23.2-24.8 %, while the average nucleotide identity values ranged from 73.7 to 74.3%, thus confirming that this isolate represents a novel species. Strain LMM-1652T was characterized by a quinone system mainly consisting of MK-9(H2) and MK-10(H2). The polar lipids profile of the strain consisted mainly of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol-mannoside, as well as one unidentified lipid lacking any functional group. Smaller amounts of four unidentified phospholipids, four unidentified glycolipids, beta-gentiobiosyl diacylglycerol and four unidentified lipids lacking a functional group were also found. The cell wall contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid of the peptidoglycan. The fatty acid profile was mainly composed of C18 : 1omega9c, C18 : 0 and C16 : 0. We propose a novel species of the genus Corynebacterium with the name Corynebacterium urogenitale LMM-1652T (=LMG 31163T=DSM 108747T)