Caspase deficiency alters the murine gut microbiome

Caspases are aspartate-specific cysteine proteases that have an essential role in apoptosis and inflammation, and contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis in the intestine. These facts, together with the knowledge that caspases are implicated in host-microbe crosstalk, prompted us to investigate the effect of caspase (Casp)1, -3 and -7 deficiency on the composition of the murine gut microbiota. We observed significant changes in the abundance of the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla, in particular the Lachnospiraceae, Porphyromonodaceae and Prevotellacea families, when comparing Casp-1, -7 and -3 knockout mice with wild-type mice. Our data point toward an intricate relationship between these caspases and the composition of the murine gut microflora

Pyrosequencing-Based Analysis of the Mucosal Microbiota in Healthy Individuals Reveals Ubiquitous Bacterial Groups and Micro-Heterogeneity

This study used 16S rRNA-based pyrosequencing to examine the microbial community that is closely associated with the colonic mucosa of five healthy individuals. Spatial heterogeneity in microbiota was measured at right colon, left colon and rectum, and between biopsy duplicates spaced 1 cm apart. The data demonstrate that mucosal-associated microbiota is comprised of Firmicutes (50.9%±21.3%), Bacteroidetes (40.2%±23.8%) and Proteobacteria (8.6%±4.7%), and that interindividual differences were apparent. Among the genera, Bacteroides, Leuconostoc and Weissella were present at high abundance (4.6% to 41.2%) in more than 90% of the studied biopsy samples. Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Acidovorax, Acinetobacter, Blautia, Faecalibacterium, Veillonella, and several unclassified bacterial groups were also ubiquitously present at an abundance <7.0% of total microbial community. With the exception of one individual, the mucosal-associated microbiota was relatively homogeneous along the colon (average 61% Bray-Curtis similarity). However, micro-heterogeneity was observed in biopsy duplicates within defined colonic sites for three of the individuals. A weak but significant Mantel correlation of 0.13 was observed between the abundance of acidomucins and mucosal-associated microbiota (P-value  =  0.04), indicating that the localized biochemical differences may contribute in part to the micro-heterogeneity. This study provided a detailed insight to the baseline mucosal microbiota along the colon, and revealed the existence of micro-heterogeneity within defined colonic sites for certain individuals

Site and Strain-Specific Variation in Gut Microbiota Profiles and Metabolism in Experimental Mice

The gastrointestinal tract microbiota (GTM) of mammals is a complex microbial consortium, the composition and activities of which influences mucosal development, immunity, nutrition and drug metabolism. It remains unclear whether the composition of the dominant GTM is conserved within animals of the same strain and whether stable GTMs are selected for by host-specific factors or dictated by environmental variables.The GTM composition of six highly inbred, genetically distinct strains of mouse (C3H, C57, GFEC, CD1, CBA nu/nu and SCID) was profiled using eubacterial -specific PCR-DGGE and quantitative PCR of feces. Animals exhibited strain-specific fecal eubacterial profiles that were highly stable (c. >95% concordance over 26 months for C57). Analyses of mice that had been relocated before and after maturity indicated marked, reproducible changes in fecal consortia and that occurred only in young animals. Implantation of a female BDF1 mouse with genetically distinct (C57 and Agoutie) embryos produced highly similar GTM profiles (c. 95% concordance) between mother and offspring, regardless of offspring strain, which was also reflected in urinary metabolite profiles. Marked institution-specific GTM profiles were apparent in C3H mice raised in two different research institutions.Strain-specific data were suggestive of genetic determination of the composition and activities of intestinal symbiotic consortia. However, relocation studies and uterine implantation demonstrated the dominance of environmental influences on the GTM. This was manifested in large variations between isogenic adult mice reared in different research institutions

Search for Dark Matter and Supersymmetry with a Compressed Mass Spectrum in the Vector Boson Fusion Topology in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Study of B Meson Production in p plus Pb Collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV Using Exclusive Hadronic Decays

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Search for lepton flavour violating decays of the Higgs boson to eτand eμin proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV

A direct search for lepton flavour violating decays of the Higgs boson (H) in the H →eτand H →eμchannels is described. The data sample used in the search was collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeVwith the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7fb−1. No evidence is found for lepton flavour violating decays in either final state. Upper limits on the branching fractions, B(H →eτ) <0.69%and B(H →eμ) <0.035%, are set at the 95% confidence level. The constraint set on B(H →eτ)is an order of magnitude more stringent than the existing indirect limits. The limits are used to constrain the corresponding flavour violating Yukawa couplings, absent in the standard model

Measurements of the Upsilon(1S), Upsilon(2S), and Upsilon(3S) differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

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Measurement of the WZ production cross section in pp collisions at root s=13 Tev

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Measurements of the t(t)over-bar production cross section in lepton plus jets final states in pp collisions at 8 and ratio of 8 to 7 TeV cross sections

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