The Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Spent Cider Yeast on the Swine Distal Gut Microbiome

peer-reviewedBackground: There is an increasing need for alternatives to antibiotics for promoting animal health, given the increasing problems associated with antibiotic resistance. In this regard, we evaluated spent cider yeast as a potential probiotic for modifying the gut microbiota in weanling pigs using pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene libraries. Methodology and Principal Findings: Piglets aged 24–26 days were assigned to one of two study groups; control (n = 12) and treatment (n = 12). The control animals were fed with a basal diet and the treatment animals were fed with basal diet in combination with cider yeast supplement (500 ml cider yeast containing ,7.6 log CFU/ml) for 21 days. Faecal samples were collected for 16s rRNA gene compositional analysis. 16S rRNA compositional sequencing analysis of the faecal samples collected from day 0 and day 21 revealed marked differences in microbial diversity at both the phylum and genus levels between the control and treatment groups. This analysis confirmed that levels of Salmonella and Escherichia were significantly decreased in the treatment group, compared with the control (P,0.001). This data suggest a positive influence of dietary supplementation with live cider yeast on the microbial diversity of the pig distal gut. Conclusions/Significance: The effect of dietary cider yeast on porcine gut microbial communities was characterized for the first time using 16S rRNA gene compositional sequencing. Dietary cider yeast can potentially alter the gut microbiota, however such changes depend on their endogenous microbiota that causes a divergence in relative response to that given diet.This work was funded by Enterprise Ireland, under the Commercialisation Fund (Contract No: CFTD/05/117), the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, 2000–2006, the European Research and Development Fund and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).European Research and Development Fun

SAM levels, gene expression of SAM synthetase, methionine synthase and ACC oxidase, and ethylene emission from N. suaveolens flowers

S′adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) is a ubiquitous methyl donor and a precursor in the biosynthesis of ethylene, polyamines, biotin, and nicotianamine in plants. Only limited information is available regarding its synthesis (SAM cycle) and its concentrations in plant tissues. The SAM concentrations in flowers of Nicotiana suaveolens were determined during day/night cycles and found to fluctuate rhythmically between 10 and 50 nmol g−1 fresh weight. Troughs of SAM levels were measured in the evening and night, which corresponds to the time when the major floral scent compound, methyl benzoate, is synthesized by a SAM dependent methyltransferase (NsBSMT) and when this enzyme possesses its highest activity. The SAM synthetase (NsSAMS1) and methionine synthase (NsMS1) are enzymes, among others, which are involved in the synthesis and regeneration of SAM. Respective genes were isolated from a N. suaveolens petal cDNA library. Transcript accumulation patterns of both SAM regenerating enzymes matched perfectly those of the bifunctional NsBSMT; maximum mRNA accumulations of NsMS1 and NsSAMS1 were attained in the evening. Ethylene, which is synthesized from SAM, reached only low levels of 1–2 ppbv in N. suaveolens flowers. It is emitted in a burst at the end of the life span of the flowers, which correlates with the increased expression of the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase (NsACO)

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Historicising the Present:Late Holocene Emergence of a Rainforest Hunting Camp, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea

Historicising the emergence of ethnographic activities provides insights into the reliability of ethnographic analogies to aid archaeological understandings of past human societies, as well as allowing us to explore the historical emergence of ethnographically contextualised cultural traits. Epe Amoho is the largest hunting camp rockshelter used by the Himaiyu clan (Rumu people) of the Kikori River region, southern Papua New Guinea. Contemporary ethnographic information indicates dry season site use with subsistence practices directed towards riverine fishing and shellfishing, mammal hunting and gardening in the surrounding rainforest. But how long has the site been used and when in the past did activities start to resemble those known ethnographically? Archaeological excavations revealed three pulses of activity: Recent Phase (0-500 cal BP), Middle Phase (900-1200 cal BP) and Early Phase (2500-2850 cal BP). Pollen data reveal increasing rainforest disturbance by people through time. While the best match between ethnographic and archaeological practices occurs during the Recent Phase, selected aspects of Rumu subsistence extend back to the Early Phase. As the temporal depth of ethnographically-known practices differs between archaeological sites, a complex picture emerges where Rumu cultural practices unfolded at differing points in time and space over a period of at least 3000 years

Unweighted principal component analysis.

<p>For: a) control and treatment animals in day 0 (blue), control animals in day 21 (green) and treatment animals in day 21 (red) b) control animals in day 0 (blue) and control animals in day 21 (red) c) treatment animals in day 0 (blue) and treatment animals in day 21(red) d) control animals in day 21 (blue) and treatment animals in day 21 (red). UPGMA clustering and Jackkniffing for the unweighted UniFrac data e) For the UPGMA cladogram on the left: Orange colour represents animals in day 0; red for the control animals in day 21 and blue for the treatment animals in day21. d) For the Jackknife supported tree layout the labels are coloured according to the group as: Black for animals in day 0; red for the control animals in day 21 and blue for treatment animals in day 21. The lines are coloured by the Jackknife supported percentages: Red for 75–100% support; Green for 50–75% support; Yellow for 25–50% support and Blue for <25% support.</p

Percentage relative abundance of OTUs observed at the phylum, class, order and family levels in the pig distal gut microbiota at day 0, day 21 C (control) and day 21 T (treatment-cider yeast supplemented) groups.

<p>Percentage relative abundance of OTUs observed at the phylum, class, order and family levels in the pig distal gut microbiota at day 0, day 21 C (control) and day 21 T (treatment-cider yeast supplemented) groups.</p

Percentage of relative abundance change at genus level in the control and treatment animals at day 21 (P<0.001).

<p>Percentage of relative abundance change at genus level in the control and treatment animals at day 21 (P<0.001).</p