Edible insects unlikely to contribute to transmission of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

In the context of food safety, edible insects are evaluated for biological hazards such as microbial pathogens according to regulations currently in place. When the European Food Safety Authority evaluated the hazards of edible insects as a potential source of pathogenic viruses for humans and livestock, the novel zoonotic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 had not yet emerged but other pathogenic coronaviruses such as SARS (SARS-CoV) and MERS (MERS-CoV) were known. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, animal sources of protein for human consumption are being evaluated for the risks of being a transmission vector of coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV-2. Insects lack a receptor that can bind SARS-CoV-2, thus preventing the virus from replicating in insects, unlike some vertebrate livestock species and companion animals. Despite extensive monitoring, coronaviruses have never been recorded in insect microbiomes. Contamination of insects produced for food or feed may occur during the production process, resulting from rearing substrate or from insect farmers. However, the currently permitted rearing substrates do not include animal products and the farming process is highly automated, thus limiting interactions between farmers and insects. If contamination would still occur, the fact that the insects in production are not hosts to SARS-CoV-2 precludes virus replication and the further processing of the insects will destroy the contamination. We conclude that the hazard of edible insects being a transmission vector of SARS-CoV-2 is extremely low.</p

Enteral enriched nutrition to prevent cognitive dysfunction after surgery:A study in rats

BACKGROUND: Inflammation plays an important role in postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), particularly in elderly patients. Enteral enriched nutrition was shown to inhibit the response on inflammatory stimuli. Aim of the present study was to explore the therapeutic potential of enteral enriched nutrition in our rat model for POCD. The anticipated mechanism of action was examined in young rats, while responses in the target group of elderly patients were evaluated in old rats. METHODS: Male 3 and 23 months old Wistar rats received a bolus of enteral fat/protein-enriched nutrition 2 ​h and 30 ​min before surgery. The inflammatory response was evaluated by systemic inflammation markers and brain microglia activity. Additionally, in old rats, the role of the gut-brain axis was studied by microbiome analyses of faecal samples. Days 9–14 after surgery, rats were subjected to cognitive testing. Day 16, rats were sacrificed and brains were collected for immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: In young rats, enriched nutrition improved long-term spatial learning and memory in the Morris Water Maze, reduced plasma IL1-β and VEGF levels, but left microglia activity and neurogenesis unaffected. In contrast, in old rats, enriched nutrition improved short-term memory in the novel object- and novel location recognition tests, but impaired development of long-term memory in the Morris Water Maze. Systemic inflammation was not affected, but microglia activity seemed even increased. Gut integrity and microbiome were not affected. CONCLUSION: Enteral enriched nutrition before surgery in young rats indeed reduced systemic inflammation and improved cognitive performance after surgery, whereas old rats showed a mixed favorable/unfavorable cognitive response, without effect on systemic inflammation. Anti-inflammatory effects of enriched nutrition were not reflected in decreased microglia activity. Neither was an important role for the gut-brain axis observed. Since the relatively straight forward effects of enriched nutrition in young rats could not be shown in old rats, as indicated by a mixed beneficial/detrimental cognitive outcome in the latter, caution is advised by translating effects seen in younger patients to older ones

Gut-microbiome composition in response to phenylketonuria depends on dietary phenylalanine in BTBR Pah^enu2 mice

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a metabolic disorder caused by a hepatic enzyme deficiency causing high blood and brain levels of the amino acid Phenylalanine (Phe), leading to severe cognitive and psychological deficits that can be prevented, but not completely, by dietary treatment. The behavioral outcome of PKU could be affected by the gut-microbiome-brain axis, as diet is one of the major drivers of the gut microbiome composition. Gut-microbiome alterations have been reported in treated patients with PKU, although the question remains whether this is due to PKU, the dietary treatment, or their interaction. We, therefore, examined the effects of dietary Phe restriction on gut-microbiome composition and relationships with behavioral outcome in mice. Male and female BTBR Pah(enu2) mice received either a control diet (normal protein, “high” Phe), liberalized Phe-restricted (33% natural protein restriction), or severe Phe-restricted (75% natural protein restriction) diet with protein substitutes for 10 weeks (n = 14 per group). Their behavioral performance was examined in an open field test, novel and spatial object location tests, and a balance beam. Fecal samples were collected and sequenced for the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) region. Results indicated that PKU on a high Phe diet reduced Shannon diversity significantly and altered the microbiome composition compared with wild-type animals. Phe-restriction prevented this loss in Shannon diversity but changed community composition even more than the high-Phe diet, depending on the severity of the restriction. Moreover, on a taxonomic level, we observed the highest number of differentially abundant genera in animals that received 75% Phe-restriction. Based on correlation analyses with differentially abundant taxa, the families Entereococacceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, and the genus Alloprevotella showed interesting relationships with either plasma Phe levels and/or object memory. According to our results, these bacterial taxa could be good candidates to start examining the microbial metabolic potential and probiotic properties in the context of PKU. We conclude that PKU leads to an altered gut microbiome composition in mice, which is least severe on a liberalized Phe-restricted diet. This may suggest that the current Phe-restricted diet for PKU patients could be optimized by taking dietary effects on the microbiome into account

Health of the black soldier fly and house fly under mass-rearing conditions:innate immunity and the role of the microbiome

Rearing insects for food and feed is a rapidly growing industry, because it provides excellent opportunities for a sustainable approach to animal protein production. Two fly species, the black soldier fly (BSF) and the house fly (HF), naturally live in decaying organic matter (e.g. compost), and can thus be effectively reared on organic rest streams from the food and agricultural industry. The adoption of these insects as mini-livestock on microbially rich substrates, however, requires us to address how we can safeguard insect health under mass-rearing conditions. In this review, we discuss what is known about the innate immunity of insects in general, especially focusing on a comparative approach to current knowledge for the two dipteran species BSF and HF. We also discuss environmental factors that may affect innate immunity in mass-rearing settings, including temperature, insect densities and diet composition. Furthermore, we address the role of the microbiome in insect health and the associations of these fly species with detrimental or beneficial microbes. Finally, we present a perspective on important open scientific questions for optimizing the mass rearing of these insects with respect to their health and welfar

Mayfly taxonomy (Arthropoda: Hexapoda: Ephemeroptera) during the first two decades of the twenty-first century and the concentration of taxonomic publishing

The twentieth anniversary of the first issue of Zootaxa (De Moraes & Freire, 2001) provides an appropriate opportunity to reflect on some trends in global Ephemeroptera taxonomy publishing over the last two decades, with a focus on the description of new species and the outsized role of the journals Zootaxa and ZooKeys, in particular. Detailed reviews of world Ephemeroptera knowledge up to about 2000 were collected in a series of nine papersfrom a symposium on the subject, published together in the proceedings of the ninth International Conference on Ephemeroptera (Domínguez 2001). Domínguez & Dos Santos (2014) provided updates and analysis for South America up to the year 2012. More recent detailed accounts of regional and taxonomic diversity, and other aspects of mayfly biology and ecology, were reviewed by Jacobus et al. (2019), while Ogden et al. (2019) discussed current issues involving higher classification.Fil: Jacobus, Luke M.. Purdue University; Estados UnidosFil: Falcao Salles, Frederico. Universidade Federal de Viçosa; BrasilFil: Price, Ben. British Museum (Natural History); Reino UnidoFil: Pereira da Conceicoa, Lyndall. Natural History Museum; Reino UnidoFil: Dominguez, Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; ArgentinaFil: Suter, P. J.. la Trobe University. División Of Biological Sciences; AustraliaFil: Molineri, Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; ArgentinaFil: Tiunova, Tatyana M.. Federal Scientific Center Of The East Asia Terrestrial; RusiaFil: Sartori, M.. Musee Cantonal de Zoologie; Suiz

Contrasting patterns of functional diversity in coffee root fungal communities associated with organic and conventionally managed fields

The structure and function of fungal communities in the coffee rhizosphere are influenced by crop environment. Because coffee can be grown along a management continuum from conventional application of pesticides and fertilizers in full sun to organic management in a shaded understory, we used coffee fields to hold host constant while comparing rhizosphere fungal communities under markedly different environmental conditions with regard to shade and inputs. We characterized the shade and soil environment in 25 fields under conventional, organic, or transitional management in two regions of Costa Rica. We amplified the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region of fungal DNA from coffee roots in these fields and characterized the rhizosphere fungal community via high-throughput sequencing. Sequences were assigned to guilds to determine differences in functional diversity and trophic structure among coffee field environments. Organic fields had more shade, a greater richness of shade tree species, and more leaf litter and were less acidic, with lower soil nitrate availability and higher soil copper, calcium, and magnesium availability than conventionally managed fields, although differences between organic and conventionally managed fields in shade and calcium and magnesium availability depended on region. Differences in richness and community composition of rhizosphere fungi between organic and conventionally managed fields were also correlated with shade, soil acidity, and nitrate and copper availability. Trophic structure differed with coffee field management. Saprotrophs, plant pathogens, and mycoparasites were more diverse, and plant pathogens were more abundant, in organic than in conventionally managed fields, while saprotroph-plant pathogens were more abundant in conventionally managed fields. These differences reflected environmental differences and depended on region

Coenzyme A precursors flow from mother to zygote and from microbiome to host

Coenzyme A (CoA) is essential for metabolism and protein acetylation. Current knowledge holds that each cell obtains CoA exclusively through biosynthesis via the canonical five-step pathway, starting with pantothenate uptake. However, recent studies have suggested the presence of additional CoA-generating mechanisms, indicating a more complex system for CoA homeostasis. Here, we uncovered pathways for CoA generation through inter-organismal flows of CoA precursors. Using traceable compounds and fruit flies with a genetic block in CoA biosynthesis, we demonstrate that progeny survive embryonal and early larval development by obtaining CoA precursors from maternal sources. Later in life, the microbiome can provide the essential CoA building blocks to the host, enabling continuation of normal development. A flow of stable, long-lasting CoA precursors between living organisms is revealed. This indicates the presence of complex strategies to maintain CoA homeostasis

Optimisation of Perioperative Cardiovascular Management to Improve Surgical Outcome II (OPTIMISE II) trial: study protocol for a multicentre international trial of cardiac output-guided fluid therapy with low-dose inotrope infusion compared with usual care in patients undergoing major elective gastrointestinal surgery.

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative morbidity and mortality in older patients with comorbidities undergoing gastrointestinal surgery are a major burden on healthcare systems. Infections after surgery are common in such patients, prolonging hospitalisation and reducing postoperative short-term and long-term survival. Optimal management of perioperative intravenous fluids and inotropic drugs may reduce infection rates and improve outcomes from surgery. Previous small trials of cardiac-output-guided haemodynamic therapy algorithms suggested a modest reduction in postoperative morbidity. A large definitive trial is needed to confirm or refute this and inform widespread clinical practice. METHODS: The Optimisation of Perioperative Cardiovascular Management to Improve Surgical Outcome II (OPTIMISE II) trial is a multicentre, international, parallel group, open, randomised controlled trial. 2502 high-risk patients undergoing major elective gastrointestinal surgery will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio using minimisation to minimally invasive cardiac output monitoring to guide protocolised administration of intravenous fluid combined with low-dose inotrope infusion, or usual care. The trial intervention will be carried out during and for 4 hours after surgery. The primary outcome is postoperative infection of Clavien-Dindo grade II or higher within 30 days of randomisation. Participants and those delivering the intervention will not be blinded to treatment allocation; however, outcome assessors will be blinded when feasible. Participant recruitment started in January 2017 and is scheduled to last 3 years, within 50 hospitals worldwide. ETHICS/DISSEMINATION: The OPTIMISE II trial has been approved by the UK National Research Ethics Service and has been approved by responsible ethics committees in all participating countries. The findings will be disseminated through publication in a widely accessible peer-reviewed scientific journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN39653756.The OPTIMISE II trial is supported by Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, CA) and the UK National Institute for Health Research through RMP’s NIHR Professorship

Additional file 4: of Multi-level comparisons of cloacal, skin, feather and nest-associated microbiota suggest considerable influence of horizontal acquisition on the microbiota assembly of sympatric woodlarks and skylarks

OTU community table file for creation of phyloseq object. (BIOM 1676 kb