Enhancement of soil nitrogen (N) cycling by grazing has been observed in many grassland ecosystems. However, whether grazing affects the activity only of the key microbial functional groups driving soil N dynamics or also affects the size (cell number) and/or composition of these groups remains largely unknown. We studied the enzyme activity, size, and composition of five soil microbial communities (total microbial and total bacterial communities, and three functional groups driving N dynamics: nitrifiers, denitrifiers, and free N2 fixers) in grassland sites experiencing contrasting sheep grazing regimes (one light grazing [LG] site and one intensive grazing [IG] site) at two topographical locations. Enzyme activity was determined by potential carbon mineralization, nitrification, denitrification, and N2 fixation assays. The size of each community (except N2 fixers) was measured by the most‐probable‐number technique. The composition of the total soil microbial community was characterized by phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA), and the genetic structure of the total bacterial community was assessed by ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. The genetic structures of the ammonia‐oxidizing, nitrate‐reducing, and N2‐fixing communities were characterized by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) or by polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR‐DGGE) targeting group‐specific genes. Greater enzyme activities, particularly for nitrification, were observed in IG than in LG sites at both topographical locations. The numbers of heterotrophs, nitrifiers, and denitrifiers were higher in IG than in LG sites at both topographical locations. The amplitude of changes in community size was higher than that of community enzyme activity. Phospholipid and nucleic acid analyses showed that the composition/structure of all the communities, except nitrate reducers, differed between IG and LG sites at both locations. For each community, changes in activity were correlated with changes in the occurrence of a few individual PLFAs or DNA fragments. Our results thus indicate that grazing enhances the activity of soil microbial communities but also concurrently induces changes in the size and composition/structure of these communities on the sites studied. Although the generality of our conclusions should be tested in other systems, these results are of major importance for predicting the effects of future disturbances or changed grazing regimes on the functioning of grazed ecosystems.

Management by combined grazing and mowing events is commonly used in grasslands, which influences the activity and composition of soil bacterial communities. Whether observed effects are mediated by management-induced disturbances, or indirectly by changes in the identity of major plant species, is still unknown. To address this issue, we quantified substrate-induced respiration (SIR), and the nitrification, denitrification and free-living N(2)-fixation enzyme activities below grass tufts of three major plant species (Holcus lanatus, Arrhenatherum elatius and Dactylis glomerata) in extensively or intensively managed grasslands. The genetic structures of eubacterial, ammonia oxidizing, nitrate reducing, and free-living N(2)-fixing communities were also characterized by ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) or restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) targeting group-specific genes. SIR was not influenced by management and plant species, whereas denitrification enzyme activity was influenced only by plant species, and management-plant species interactions were observed for fixation and nitrification enzyme activities. Changes in nitrification enzyme activity were likely largely explained by the observed changes in ammonium concentration, whereas N availability was not a major factor explaining changes in denitrification and fixation enzyme activities. The structures of eubacterial and free-living N(2)-fixing communities were essentially controlled by management, whereas the diversity of nitrate reducers and ammonia oxidizers depended on both management and plant species. For each functional group, changes in enzyme activity were not correlated or were weakly correlated to overall changes in genetic structure, but around 60% of activity variance was correlated to changes in five RFLP or DGGE bands. Although our conclusions should be tested for other ecosystems and seasons, these results show that predicting microbial changes induced by management in grasslands requires consideration of management-plant species interactions.

Improving dyslipidemia in type 2 diabetic subjects had no effect on the progress of ultrasonically measured arterial disease, although the lower rate of "definite CHD events" in the treated group suggests that this might result in a reduction in the incidence of coronary heart disease.

RNA stable isotope probing and high-throughput sequencing were used to characterize the active microbiomes of bacteria and fungi colonizing the roots and rhizosphere soil of oilseed rape to identify taxa assimilating plant-derived carbon following CO labeling. Root- and rhizosphere soil-associated communities of both bacteria and fungi differed from each other, and there were highly significant differences between their DNA- and RNA-based community profiles. ,, ,, ,, and were the most active bacterial phyla in the rhizosphere soil. were more active in roots. The most abundant bacterial genera were well represented in both the C- andC-RNA fractions, while the fungal taxa were more differentiated. ,, and were dominant in roots, whereas and () were dominant in rhizosphere soil. " Nitrososphaera" was enriched in C in rhizosphere soil. and were abundant in theC-RNA fraction of roots; was abundant in both roots and rhizosphere soil and heavilyC enriched. was dominant in rhizosphere soil and less abundant, but wasC enriched in roots. The patterns of colonization and C acquisition revealed in this study assist in identifying microbial taxa that may be superior competitors for plant-derived carbon in the rhizosphere of This microbiome study characterizes the active bacteria and fungi colonizing the roots and rhizosphere soil of using high-throughput sequencing and RNA-stable isotope probing. It identifies taxa assimilating plant-derived carbon following CO labeling and compares these with other less active groups not incorporating a plant assimilate. is an economically and globally important oilseed crop, cultivated for edible oil, biofuel production, and phytoextraction of heavy metals; however, it is susceptible to several diseases. The identification of the fungal and bacterial species successfully competing for plant-derived carbon, enabling them to colonize the roots and rhizosphere soil of this plant, should enable the identification of microorganisms that can be evaluated in more detailed functional studies and ultimately be used to improve plant health and productivity in sustainable agriculture.

Neither (18)F-FDG nor (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT can fully map the extent of disease in patients with recurrent MTC, although (18)F-FDG PET/CT may identify more lesions. However, (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT can be a useful complementary imaging tool and may identify patients suitable for consideration of targeted radionuclide somatostatin analogue therapy.

The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701).

Symbiotic ectomycorrhizal tree roots represent an important niche for interaction with bacteria since the fungi colonizing them have a large surface area and receive a direct supply of photosynthetically derived carbon. We examined individual root tips of Pinus sylvestris at defined time points between 5 days and 24 weeks, identified the dominant fungi colonizing each root tip using Sanger sequencing and the bacterial communities colonizing individual root tips by 454 pyrosequencing. Bacterial colonization was extremely dynamic with statistically significant variation in time and increasing species richness until week 16 (3477 operational taxonomic units). Bacterial community structure of roots colonized by Russula sp. 6 GJ-2013b, Piloderma spp., Meliniomyces variabilis and Paxillus involutus differed significantly at weeks 8 and 16 but diversity declined and significant differences were no longer apparent at week 24. The most common genera were Burkholderia, Sphingopyxsis, Dyella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Actinospica, Aquaspirillum, Acidobacter Gp1, Sphingomonas, Terriglobus, Enhydrobacter, Herbaspirillum and Bradyrhizobium. Many genera had high initial abundance at week 8, declining with time but Dyella and Terriglobus increased in abundance at later time points. In roots colonized by Piloderma spp. several other bacterial genera, such as Actinospica, Bradyrhizobium, Acidobacter Gp1 and Rhizomicrobium appeared to increase in abundance at later sampling points.

The central aim of this study was to determine which components of an indigenous bacterial community in pristine grassland soil were capable of degrading pentachlorophenol (PCP) using two cultivation-independent, in situ, molecular techniques. The first involved polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification of 16S rRNA genes from DNA and RNA, respectively, extracted from PCP-amended soil. The second involved stable isotope probing (SIP), with incubation of soil with 13C-PCP and molecular analysis of 13C-labelled RNA, derived from cells incorporating PCP or its breakdown products, after separation from 12C-RNA by ultracentrifugation. Bacterial communities were characterized by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of amplification products. PCP was degraded at an approximate rate of 1.18+/-0.25 (SEM) mg kg-1 day-1 and 39% of the measurable PCP fraction was degraded after incubation for 63 days. PCP degradation was associated with significant changes in bacterial community structure, leading to the appearance of seven bands in both DNA- and RNA-based DGGE profiles, the latter providing clearer evidence of qualitative shifts in community structure. The majority of novel bands increased in relative intensity during the first 35 days and subsequently decreased in relative intensity as incubation continued. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of six of these bands indicated most to have closest database relatives that were uncultured bacteria with sequence homologies to reported hydrocarbon degraders. No band could be detected in RNA-SIP-DGGE profiles derived from 13C-RNA fractions at day 0 but several faint bands appeared in these fractions after incubation of soil for 4 days, indicating assimilation of PCP or its degradation products. These bands increased in intensity during subsequent incubation for 21 days and decreased with further incubation. With one exception, RNA-SIP-DGGE and RNA-DGGE profiles were similar, indicating that RNA-targeted DGGE, in this case, provided a good indication of the metabolically active microbial community.