Survival in amoeba: a major selection pressure on the presence of bacterial copper and zinc resistance determinants?: identification of a "copper pathogenicity island"

The presence of metal resistance determinants in bacteria usually is attributed to geological or anthropogenic metal contamination in different environments or associated with the use of antimicrobial metals in human healthcare or in agriculture. While this is certainly true, we hypothesize that protozoan predation and macrophage killing are also responsible for selection of copper/zinc resistance genes in bacteria. In this review, we outline evidence supporting this hypothesis, as well as highlight the correlation between metal resistance and pathogenicity in bacteria. In addition, we introduce and characterize the "copper pathogenicity island" identified in Escherichia coli and Salmonella strains isolated from copper- and zinc-fed Danish pigs

Intestinal Lactobacillus in health and disease, a driver or just along for the ride?

Metagenomics and related methods have led to significant advances in our understanding of the human microbiome. Members of the genus Lactobacillus, although best understood for essential roles in food fermentations and applications as probiotics, have also come to the fore in a number of untargeted gut microbiome studies in humans and animals. Even though Lactobacillus is only a minor member of the human colonic microbiota, the proportions of those bacteria are frequently either positively or negatively correlated with human disease and chronic conditions. Recent findings on Lactobacillus species in human and animal microbiome research, together with the increased knowledge on probiotic and other ingested lactobacilli, have resulted in new perspectives on the importance of this genus to human health

Additional file 1: Figure S1. of Longitudinal study of the early-life fecal and nasal microbiotas of the domestic pig

Dendrogram of the community structure of the porcine fecal microbiota (Yue and Clayton). Sample identification (ABBCC) coded as: A – fecal (F) or nasal (N) sample, BB – age of pig, CC – unique pig identifier. (PNG 31 kb

Additional file 2: Figure S2. of Longitudinal study of the early-life fecal and nasal microbiotas of the domestic pig

Dendrogram of the community structure of the porcine nasal microbiota (Yue and Clayton). Sample identification (ABBCC) coded as: A – fecal (F) or nasal (N) sample; BB – age of pig; CC – unique pig identifier. (PNG 33 kb