Background Coronary artery disease (CAD) is associated with gut microbiota alterations in different populations. Gut microbe-derived metabolites have been proposed as markers of major adverse cardiac events. However, the relationship between the gut microbiome and the different stages of CAD pathophysiology remains to be established by a systematic study. Results Based on multi-omic analyses (sequencing of the V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene and metabolomics) of 161 CAD patients and 40 healthy controls, we found that the composition of both the gut microbiota and metabolites changed significantly with CAD severity. We identified 29 metabolite modules that were separately classified as being positively or negatively correlated with CAD phenotypes, and the bacterial co-abundance group (CAG) with characteristic changes at different stages of CAD was represented by Roseburia , Klebsiella , Clostridium IV and Ruminococcaceae . The result revealed that certain bacteria might affect atherosclerosis by modulating the metabolic pathways of the host, such as taurine, sphingolipid and ceramide, and benzene metabolism. Moreover, a disease classifier based on differential levels of microbes and metabolites was constructed to discriminate cases from controls and was even able to distinguish stable coronary artery disease from acute coronary syndrome accurately. Conclusion Overall, the composition and functions of the gut microbial community differed from healthy controls to diverse coronary artery disease subtypes. Our study identified the relationships between the features of the gut microbiota and circulating metabolites, providing a new direction for future studies aiming to understand the host–gut microbiota interplay in atherosclerotic pathogenesis. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-019-0683-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. And overnutrition is a leading cause of obesity. After most nutrients are ingested, they are absorbed in the small intestine. Signals from β-catenin are essential to maintain development of the small intestine and homeostasis. In this study, we used a hyperphagia db/db obese mouse model and a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity mouse model to investigate the effects of overnutrition on intestinal function and β-catenin signaling. The β-catenin protein was upregulated along with inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β in the intestines of both db/db and HFD mice. Proliferation of intestinal epithelial stem cells, villi length, nutrient absorption, and body weight also increased in both models. These changes were reversed by caloric restriction in db/db mice and by β-catenin inhibitor JW55 (a small molecule that increases β-catenin degradation) in HFD mice. Parallel, in vitro experiments showed that β-catenin accumulation and cell proliferation stimulated by glucose were blocked by the β-catenin inhibitor FH535. And the GSK-3 inhibitor CHIR98014 in an intestinal epithelial cell line increased β-catenin accumulation and cyclin D1 expression. These results suggested that, besides contribution to intestinal development and homeostasis, GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling plays a central role in intestinal morphological and functional changes in response to overnutrition. Manipulating the GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway in intestinal epithelium might become a therapeutic intervention for obesity induced by overnutrition.

Bacillus sphaericus strain C3-41 is an aerobic, mesophilic, spore-forming bacterium that has been used with great success in mosquito control programs worldwide. Genome sequencing revealed that the complete genome of this entomopathogenic bacterium is composed of a chromosomal replicon of 4,639,821 bp and a plasmid replicon of 177,642 bp, containing 4,786 and 186 potential protein-coding sequences, respectively. Comparison of the genome with other published sequences indicated that the B. sphaericus C3-41 chromosome is most similar to that of Bacillus sp. strain NRRL B-14905, a marine species that, like B. sphaericus, is unable to metabolize polysaccharides. The lack of key enzymes and sugar transport systems in the two bacteria appears to be the main reason for this inability, and the abundance of proteolytic enzymes and transport systems may endow these bacteria with exclusive metabolic pathways for a wide variety of organic compounds and amino acids. The genes shared between B. sphaericus C3-41 and Bacillus sp. strain NRRL B-14905, including mobile genetic elements, membrane-associated proteins, and transport systems, demonstrated that these two species are a biologically and phylogenetically divergent group. Knowledge of the genome sequence of B. sphaericus C3-41 thus increases our understanding of the bacilli and may also offer prospects for future genetic improvement of this important biological control agent.

Experimental demonstration of beating the channel capacity limit for superdense coding with high-dimensional entanglement.

Two thousand Bacillus cereus sensu lato isolates from food and environmental matrices were screened by PCR for the presence of cereulide-producing strains. This survey identified 73 potential emetic strains, most of which originated from non-random food and clinical samplings. None of the 460 Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus mycoides and Bacillus pseudomycoides strains were PCR-positive for the cereulide genetic determinants. The chromosomal and extrachromosomal gene pool diversity of a subset of 30 cereulide-producing strains was then assessed using multilocus sequence typing, large plasmid gel electrophoresis and Southern blot hybridization. The strain toxicity on boar sperm and cereulide production were also analysed. The most striking observation was the identification of two distinct clusters of cereulide-producing strains, with members of the second group (cluster II) identified as psychrotolerant B. weihenstephanensis able to grow at 8°C. Moreover, the location of the cereulide genetic determinants was shown to vary depending on the strain, indicating a probable genomic mobility.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Colorectal adenomatous polyps are at high risk for the development of CRC. In this report, we described the metabolic changes in the sera from patients with colorectal polyps and CRC by using the NMR-based metabolomics. 110 serum samples were collected from patients and healthy controls, including 40 CRC patients, 32 colorectal polyp patients, and 38 healthy controls. The metabolic profiles and differential metabolites of sera were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis (MSA), including principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) methods. A total of 23 differential metabolites were identified from MSA. According to the pathway analysis and multivariate ROC curve-based exploratory analysis by using the relative concentrations of differential metabolites, we found abnormal metabolic pathways and potential biomarkers involved with the colorectal polyp and CRC. The results showed that the pyruvate metabolism and glycerolipid metabolism were activated in colorectal polyps. And the glycolysis and glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism were activated in CRC. The changed metabolism may promote cellular proliferation. In addition, we found that the rates of acetate/glycerol and lactate/citrate could be the potential biomarkers in colorectal polyp and CRC, respectively. The application of 1H-NMR metabolomics analysis in serum has interesting potential as a new detection and diagnostic tool for early diagnosis of CRC.

Mosquitoes as one of the most common but important vectors have the potential to transmit or acquire a lot of viruses through biting, however viral flora in mosquitoes and its impact on mosquito-borne disease transmission has not been well investigated and evaluated. In this study, the metagenomic techniquehas been successfully employed in analyzing the abundance and diversity of viral community in three mosquito samples from Hubei, China. Among 92,304 reads produced through a run with 454 GS FLX system, 39% have high similarities with viral sequences belonging to identified bacterial, fungal, animal, plant and insect viruses, and 0.02% were classed into unidentified viral sequences, demonstrating high abundance and diversity of viruses in mosquitoes. Furthermore, two novel viruses in subfamily Densovirinae and family Dicistroviridae were identified, and six torque tenosus virus1 in family Anelloviridae, three porcine parvoviruses in subfamily Parvovirinae and a Culex tritaeniorhynchus rhabdovirus in Family Rhabdoviridae were preliminarily characterized. The viral metagenomic analysis offered us a deep insight into the viral population of mosquito which played an important role in viral initiative or passive transmission and evolution during the process.