Soil microbial communities in diverse agroecosystems exposed to the herbicide glyphosate

© 2020 American Society for Microbiology. Despite glyphosate\u27s wide use for weed control in agriculture, questions remain about the herbicide\u27s effect on soil microbial communities. The existing scientific literature contains conflicting results, from no observable effect of glyphosate to the enrichment of agricultural pathogens such as Fusarium spp. We conducted a comprehensive field-based study to compare the microbial communities on the roots of plants that received a foliar application of glyphosate to adjacent plants that did not. The 2-year study was conducted in Beltsville, MD, and Stoneville, MS, with corn and soybean crops grown in a variety of organic and conventional farming systems. By sequencing environmental metabarcode amplicons, the prokaryotic and fungal communities were described, along with chemical and physical properties of the soil. Sections of corn and soybean roots were plated to screen for the presence of plant pathogens. Geography, farming system, and season were significant factors determining the composition of fungal and prokaryotic communities. Plots treated with glyphosate did not differ from untreated plots in overall microbial community composition after controlling for other factors. We did not detect an effect of glyphosate treatment on the relative abundance of organisms such as Fusarium spp

Distinct Gene Expression Profiles in Immortalized Human Urothelial Cells Exposed to Inorganic Arsenite and Its Methylated Trivalent Metabolites

Inorganic arsenic is an environmental carcinogen. The generation of toxic trivalent methylated metabolites complicates the study of arsenic-mediated carcinogenesis. This study systematically evaluated the effect of chronic treatment with sodium arsenite (iAs(III)), monomethylarsonous acid (MMA(III)), and dimethylarsinous acid (DMA(III)) on immortalized human uroepithelial cells (SV-HUC-1 cells) using cDNA microarray. After exposure for 25 passages to iAs(III) (0.5 μM), MMA(III) (0.05, 0.1, or 0.2 μM), or DMA(III) (0.2 or 0.5 μM), significant compound-specific morphologic changes were observed. A set of 114 genes (5.7% of the examined genes) was differentially expressed in one or more sets of arsenical-treated cells compared with untreated controls. Expression analysis showed that exposure of cells to DMA(III) resulted in a gene profile different from that in cells exposed to iAs(III) or MMA(III), and that the iAs(III)-induced gene profile was closest to that in the tumorigenic HUC-1–derived 3-methylcholanthrene–induced tumorigenic cell line MC-SV-HUC T2, which was derived from SV-HUC-1 cells by methylcholanthrene treatment. Of the genes affected by all three arsenicals, only one, that coding for interleukin-1 receptor, type II, showed enhanced expression, a finding confirmed by the reduced increase in NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa B) activity seen in response to interleukin-1β in iAs(III)-exposed cells. The expression of 11 genes was suppressed by all three arsenicals. 5-Aza-deoxycytidine partially restored the transcription of several suppressed genes, showing that epigenetic DNA methylation was probably involved in arsenical-induced gene repression. Our data demonstrate that chronic exposure to iAs(III), MMA(III), or DMA(III) has different epigenetic effects on urothelial cells and represses NF-κB activity

Chronic Arsenic Exposure and Oxidative Stress: OGG1 Expression and Arsenic Exposure, Nail Selenium, and Skin Hyperkeratosis in Inner Mongolia

Arsenic, a human carcinogen, is known to induce oxidative damage to DNA. In this study we investigated oxidative stress and As exposure by determining gene expression of OGG1, which codes for an enzyme, 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase, involved in removing 8-oxoguanine in As-exposed individuals. Bayingnormen (Ba Men) residents in Inner Mongolia are chronically exposed to As via drinking water. Water, toenail, and blood samples were collected from 299 Ba Men residents exposed to 0.34–826 μg/L As. RNA was isolated from blood, and mRNA levels of OGG1 were determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. OGG1 expression levels were linked to As concentrations in drinking water and nails, selenium concentrations in nails, and skin hyperkeratosis. OGG1 expression was strongly associated with water As concentrations (p < 0.0001). Addition of the quadratic term significantly improved the fit compared with the linear model (p = 0.05). The maximal OGG1 response was at the water As concentration of 149 μg/L. OGG1 expression was also significantly associated with toenail As concentrations (p = 0.015) but inversely associated with nail Se concentrations (p = 0.0095). We found no significant differences in the As-induced OGG1 expression due to sex, smoking, or age even though the oldest group showed the strongest OGG1 response (p = 0.0001). OGG1 expression showed a dose-dependent increased risk of skin hyperkeratosis in males (trend analysis, p = 0.02), but the trend was not statistically significant in females. The results from this study provide a linkage between oxidative stress and As exposure in humans. OGG1 expression may be useful as a biomarker for assessing oxidative stress from As exposure

SmarTEG: An autonomous wireless sensor node for high accuracy accelerometer-based monitoring

We report on a self-sustainable, wireless accelerometer-based system for wear detection in a band saw blade. Due to the combination of low power hardware design, thermal energy harvesting with a small thermoelectric generator (TEG), an ultra-low power wake-up radio, power management and the low complexity algorithm implemented, our solution works perpetually while also achieving high accuracy. The onboard algorithm processes sensor data, extracts features, performs the classification needed for the blade’s wear detection, and sends the report wirelessly. Experimental results in a real-world deployment scenario demonstrate that its accuracy is comparable to state-of-the-art algorithms executed on a PC and show the energy-neutrality of the solution using a small thermoelectric generator to harvest energy. The impact of various low-power techniques implemented on the node is analyzed, highlighting the benefits of onboard processing, the nano-power wake-up radio, and the combination of harvesting and low power design. Finally, accurate in-field energy intake measurements, coupled with simulations, demonstrate that the proposed approach is energy autonomous and can work perpetually

Kinder mit Kunstherzunterstützungssystemen im häuslichen Bereich: Ausbildungskonzept und Notfallalgorithmus für Rettungskräfte

Zusammenfassung: Einleitung: Miniaturisierte Herzunterstützungspumpen, sog. Kunstherzsysteme oder "ventricular assist devices" (VADs) bieten die Möglichkeit, diese Systeme im Kindesalter anzuwenden. Durch die lange Wartezeit auf ein geeignetes Spenderorgan sollte bei Kindern, unterstützt mit einem intrakorporealen VAD, die Entlassung nach Hause angestrebt werden. Schwerpunkte vor einem Spitalaustritt sind neben der adäquaten Schulung und Aufklärung des Patienten und deren Familie auch ein Ausbildungs- und Schulungskonzept für die lokalen Rettungskräfte und die Betreuungspersonen vor Ort. Methoden: Es wird ein auf die präklinische Versorgung abgestimmter Notfallalgorithmus für die Erstversorgung von VAD-Patienten vorgestellt sowie das gemeinsam erarbeitete Ausbildungskonzept der lokalen Rettungskräfte und des Kinderspitals Zürich. Schwerpunkte des Schulungsprogramms sind neben der theoretischen Einführung praktische Workshops, "cardiac arrest simulation training" (CAST) sowie die Erstellung eines genau definierten Alarmierungsplans unter Einbezug der lokalen ärztlichen Organisationsstrukturen und der Spezialisten des Kinderspitals. Schlussfolgerung: Die Besonderheiten bei der Versorgung von Kindern am VAD werden vorgestellt und diskutier

An Emerging Role for Epigenetic Dysregulation in Arsenic Toxicity and Carcinogenesis

Competing Interests Declaration: The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Abbreviations: AHCY, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase; APL, acute promyelocytic leukemias; As, inorganic arsenic; AS3MT, arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase; ChIP-on-chip, chromatin immunoprecipitation-on-chip; ChIP-seq, chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing; DEFB1, defensin, beta 1; DNMTs, DNA methyltransferases; H3K4me3, H3K4 tri-methylation; H3K9me2, H3K9 di-methylation; H3K27me3, H3K27 tri-methylation; HATs, histone acetyltransferases; HDACs, histon

The Role of Biomethylation in Toxicity and Carcinogenicity of Arsenic: A Research Update

Recent research of the metabolism and biological effects of arsenic has profoundly changed our understanding of the role of metabolism in modulation of toxicity and carcinogenicity of this metalloid. Historically, the enzymatic conversion of inorganic arsenic to mono- and dimethylated species has been considered a major mechanism for detoxification of inorganic arsenic. However, compelling experimental evidence obtained from several laboratories suggests that biomethylation, particularly the production of methylated metabolites that contain trivalent arsenic, is a process that activates arsenic as a toxin and a carcinogen. This article summarizes this evidence and provides new data on a) the toxicity of methylated trivalent arsenicals in mammalian cells, b) the effects of methylated trivalent arsenicals on gene transcription, and c) the mechanisms involved in arsenic methylation in animal and human tissues

Opposing effects of Elk-1 multisite phosphorylation shape its response to ERK activation.

Multisite phosphorylation regulates many transcription factors, including the serum response factor partner Elk-1. Phosphorylation of the transcriptional activation domain (TAD) of Elk-1 by the protein kinase ERK at multiple sites potentiates recruitment of the Mediator transcriptional coactivator complex and transcriptional activation, but the roles of individual phosphorylation events had remained unclear. Using time-resolved nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we found that ERK2 phosphorylation proceeds at markedly different rates at eight TAD sites in vitro, which we classified as fast, intermediate, and slow. Mutagenesis experiments showed that phosphorylation of fast and intermediate sites promoted Mediator interaction and transcriptional activation, whereas modification of slow sites counteracted both functions, thereby limiting Elk-1 output. Progressive Elk-1 phosphorylation thus ensures a self-limiting response to ERK activation, which occurs independently of antagonizing phosphatase activity