Dysregulated FXR-FGF19 signaling and choline metabolism are associated with gut dysbiosis and hyperplasia in a novel pig model of pediatric NASH.

To investigate the role of bile acids (BAs) in the pathogenesis of diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), we fed a "Western-style diet" [high fructose, high fat (HFF)] enriched with fructose, cholesterol, and saturated fat for 10 wk to juvenile Iberian pigs. We also supplemented probiotics with in vitro BA deconjugating activity to evaluate their potential therapeutic effect in NASH. Liver lipid and function, cytokines, and hormones were analyzed using commercially available kits. Metabolites, BAs, and fatty acids were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Histology and gene and protein expression analyses were performed using standard protocols. HFF-fed pigs developed NASH, cholestasis, and impaired enterohepatic Farnesoid-X receptor (FXR)-fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) signaling in the absence of obesity and insulin resistance. Choline depletion in HFF livers was associated with decreased lipoprotein and cholesterol in serum and an increase of choline-containing phospholipids in colon contents and trimethylamine-N-oxide in the liver. Additionally, gut dysbiosis and hyperplasia increased with the severity of NASH, and were correlated with increased colonic levels of choline metabolites and secondary BAs. Supplementation of probiotics in the HFF diet enhanced NASH, inhibited hepatic autophagy, increased excretion of taurine and choline, and decreased gut microbial diversity. In conclusion, dysregulation of BA homeostasis was associated with injury and choline depletion in the liver, as well as increased biliary secretion, gut metabolism and excretion of choline-based phospholipids. Choline depletion limited lipoprotein synthesis, resulting in hepatic steatosis, whereas secondary BAs and choline-containing phospholipids in colon may have promoted dysbiosis, hyperplasia, and trimethylamine synthesis, causing further damage to the liver.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Impaired Farnesoid-X receptor (FXR)-fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) signaling and cholestasis has been described in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. However, therapeutic interventions with FXR agonists have produced contradictory results. In a swine model of pediatric nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), we show that the uncoupling of intestinal FXR-FGF19 signaling and a decrease in FGF19 levels are associated with a choline-deficient phenotype of NASH and increased choline excretion in the gut, with the subsequent dysbiosis, colonic hyperplasia, and accumulation of trimethylamine-N-oxide in the liver.

Enumeration of industrial Bacillus assemblages in commercial products with customized plate-counting assays.

The aerobic plate count assay remains among the most widespread methods for enumerating industrial Bacillus assemblages, as growth-independent methods are either cost prohibitive or unavailable in some areas. However, the standard plating assays used to verify the CFU count of Bacillus-based products are not tailored to Bacillus species and thus may not produce the most accurate possible estimations. Standard plating assays assume that established limits of quantification are applicable to Bacillus species whose colonies swarm on solid media, and that colonies of each species in a mixed-species assemblage form independently of one another on agar plates. In the present study, we examined the upper limit of quantification for an assemblage of swarming industrial Bacillus isolates by comparing plate count on medium with and without a swarming inhibitor with direct counts for spore suspensions of increasing endospore concentration. Additionally, we examined the impact of assemblage species composition on the evenness of colony distribution across replicate plates for four industrial Bacillus isolates. We compared the observed distribution of colonies across replicate plates to the expected Poisson distribution for axenic endospore suspensions, for a 3-species assemblage and a 4-species assemblage, respectively. Results suggest that customized plating assays may be more appropriate than standard protocols for the enumeration of Bacillus-based products, and that interactions between colonies on solid media should be considered when interpreting plating data for mixed-species Bacillus assemblages.

A comparison of methods for enumerating bacteria in direct fed microbials for animal feed.

Aerobic plate counts are the standard enumeration method for probiotic-containing products. This counting method is limited by the ability of many cells to enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state upon exposure to stressful conditions like dehydration and heating commonly used in probiotic product preparation. Alternative enumeration methods are available including flow cytometry (FC) which counts total live/dead cells by assessing cellular integrity and/or metabolic activity, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in which enumeration is correlated with the quantity of a nucleic acid target. These three methods were compared for enumerating three lactic acid bacteria (LAB): Pediococcus acidilactici, Pediococcus pentosaceus, and Lactobacillus plantarum, and a Bacillus subtilis related strain in twenty samples of a mixed probiotic product ranging in age from one to 825 days post-production. Flow cytometry and qPCR enumerations were similar and much higher compared to plate counts at later storage times, suggesting that some strains in the population were entering the VBNC state and were only countable by FC and qPCR. We propose the use of FC and/or qPCR as an alternative to plate counts for more accurate enumeration of bacteria in probiotic products.

Effect of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet on the Microbiome of a Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Ulcerative Colitis Patient.

A 20-year-old female was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) at age 14 and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) at age 16. The PSC was successfully treated with high doses of oral vancomycin; however, the UC was more difficult to manage. After many drug treatments failed to treat the UC, the patient began following the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD). This report documents fecal microbiome changes resulting from following the SCD for two weeks. The DNA extracted from fecal samples was subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing to quantify bacterial species abundance. Not only were substantial changes in the fecal bacterial composition detectable within two weeks, but all UC symptoms were also controlled as early as one week following the start of the diet. The patient's fecal microbiota was dramatically different from those of three healthy control subjects and showed remarkable loss of bacterial diversity in terms of species richness, evenness, and overall diversity measures. Other specific changes in bacterial composition included an increase in Enterobacteriaceae, including Escherichia and Enterobacter species. A two- to three-fold decrease was observed in the prevalence of the most dominant fecal bacterial species, Fusobacterium ulcerans, after two weeks on the SCD. Overall species diversity and evenness increased to levels near the controls, although species richness remained low. These findings provide information on the fecal bacteria from a patient with PSC and UC, following prolonged oral vancomycin treatment, and identifies a potentially specific microbial effect for the SCD.

Short communication: Typing and tracking Bacillaceae in raw milk and milk powder using pyroprinting.

Contamination of fluid and processed milk products with endospore-forming bacteria, such as Bacillaceae, affect milk quality and longevity. Contaminants come from a variety of sources, including the dairy farm environment, transportation equipment, or milk processing machinery. Tracking the origin of bacterial contamination to allow specifically targeted remediation efforts depends on a reliable strain-typing method that is reproducible, fast, easy to use, and amenable to computerized analysis. Our objective was to adapt a recently developed genotype-based Escherichia coli strain-typing method, called pyroprinting, for use in a microbial source-tracking study to follow endospore-forming bacillus bacteria from raw milk to powdered milk. A collection of endospores was isolated from both raw milk and its finished powder, and, after germination, the vegetative cells were subject to the pyroprinting protocol. Briefly, a ribosomal DNA intergenic transcribed spacer present in multiple copies in Bacillaceae genomes was amplified by the PCR. This multicopy locus generated a mixed PCR product that was subsequently subject to pyrosequencing, a quantitative real-time sequencing method. Through a series of enzymatic reactions, each nucleotide incorporation event produces a photon of light that is quantified at each nucleotide dispensation. The pattern of light peaks generated from this mixed template reaction is called a pyroprint. Isolates with pyroprints that match with a Pearson correlation of 0.99 or greater are considered to be in the same group. The pyroprint also contains some sequence data useful for presumptive species-level identification. This method identified groups with isolates from raw milk only, from powdered milk only, or from both sources. This study confirms pyroprinting as a rapid, reproducible, automatically digitized tool that can be used to distinguish bacterial strains into taxonomically relevant groups and, thus, indicate probable origins of bacterial contamination in powdered milk.

Pyroprinting: a rapid and flexible genotypic fingerprinting method for typing bacterial strains.

Bacterial strain typing is commonly employed in studies involving epidemiology, population ecology, and microbial source tracking to identify sources of fecal contamination. Methods for differentiating strains generally use either a collection of phenotypic traits or rely on some interrogation of the bacterial genotype. This report introduces pyroprinting, a novel genotypic strain typing method that is rapid, inexpensive, and discriminating compared to the most sensitive methods already in use. Pyroprinting relies on the simultaneous pyrosequencing of polymorphic multicopy loci, such as the intergenic transcribed spacer regions of rRNA operons in bacterial genomes. Data generated by sequencing combinations of variable templates are reproducible and intrinsically digitized. The theory and development of pyroprinting in Escherichia coli, including the selection of similarity thresholds to define matches between isolates, are presented. The pyroprint-based strain differentiation limits and phylogenetic relevance compared to other typing methods are also explored. Pyroprinting is unique in its simplicity and, paradoxically, in its intrinsic complexity. This new approach serves as an excellent alternative to more cumbersome or less phylogenetically relevant strain typing methods.

The O/OREOS mission: first science data from the Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) payload.

We report the first telemetered spaceflight science results from the orbiting Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) experiment, executed by one of the two 10 cm cube-format payloads aboard the 5.5 kg Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS) free-flying nanosatellite. The O/OREOS spacecraft was launched successfully to a 72° inclination, 650 km Earth orbit on 19 November 2010. This satellite provides access to the radiation environment of space in relatively weak regions of Earth's protective magnetosphere as it passes close to the north and south magnetic poles; the total dose rate is about 15 times that in the orbit of the International Space Station. The SESLO experiment measures the long-term survival, germination, and growth responses, including metabolic activity, of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to the microgravity, ionizing radiation, and heavy-ion bombardment of its high-inclination orbit. Six microwells containing wild-type (168) and six more containing radiation-sensitive mutant (WN1087) strains of dried B. subtilis spores were rehydrated with nutrient medium after 14 days in space to allow the spores to germinate and grow. Similarly, the same distribution of organisms in a different set of microwells was rehydrated with nutrient medium after 97 days in space. The nutrient medium included the redox dye Alamar blue, which changes color in response to cellular metabolic activity. Three-color transmitted intensity measurements of all microwells were telemetered to Earth within days of each of the 48 h growth experiments. We report here on the evaluation and interpretation of these spaceflight data in comparison to delayed-synchronous laboratory ground control experiments.

Distinct microbiome in pouchitis compared to healthy pouches in ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis.

BACKGROUND: Pouchitis occurs in up to 50% of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) undergoing ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA). Pouchitis rarely occurs in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) who undergo IPAA. Our aim was to compare mucosal and luminal flora in patients with UC-associated pouchitis (UCP), healthy UC pouches (HUC), and healthy FAP pouches (FAP). METHODS: Nineteen patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study (nine UCP, three HUC, seven FAP). Patients with active pouchitis were identified using the Pouchitis Disease Activity Index (PDAI). Ileal pouch mucosal biopsies and fecal samples were analyzed with a 16S rDNA-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) approach. Pooled fecal DNA from four UCP and four FAP pouches were sequenced for further speciation. RESULTS: TRFLP data revealed statistically significant differences in the mucosal and fecal microbiota between each group of patients. UCP samples exhibited significantly more TRFLP peaks matching Clostridium and Eubacterium genera compared to HUC and FAP pouches and fewer peaks matching Lactobacillus and Streptococcus genera compared to FAP. DNA Sanger sequencing of a subset of luminal samples revealed UCP having more identifiable sequences of Firmicutes (51.2% versus 21.2%) and Verrucomicrobia (20.2% versus 3.2%), and fewer Bacteroidetes (17.9% versus 60.5%) and Proteobacteria (9.8% versus 14.7%) compared to FAP. CONCLUSIONS: The pouch microbial environment appears to be distinctly different in the settings of UC pouchitis, healthy UC, and FAP. These findings suggest that a dysbiosis may exist in pouchitis which may be central to understanding the disease.

Probiotics to minimize the disruption of faecal microbiota in healthy subjects undergoing antibiotic therapy.

A novel combination of culturing and DNA-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis was used to investigate the effect of probiotics on antibiotic-induced gut microbiota alterations to determine if a probiotic preparation containing bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, taken during and after antibiotic therapy, can minimize antibiotic disturbance of faecal microbiota. Healthy subjects administered amoxicillin/clavulanate were randomized and concomitantly received a placebo or probiotic mixture. The primary end point was similarity of faecal microbiota as determined by culturing and TRFLP from subjects taking probiotics compared to those taking a placebo measured by comparing data from baseline to post-treatment for each subject. TRFLP analysis revealed a high subject to subject variation in the baseline faecal microbiota. The most common antibiotic-induced disturbance was a relative increase in Clostridium, Eubacterium, Bacteroides and Enterobacteraceae. The mean similarity to the baseline increased over time in both treatment groups, although the probiotic group was less disturbed according to both TRFLP and culture data. The culture method revealed that post-antibiotic faecal microbiota in probiotic-consuming subjects were more similar to the baseline microbiota than the control group (P=0.046). Changes in Enterobactereaceae (P=0.006) and Bifidobacterium (P=0.030) counts were significantly different between the groups. Analysis of TRFLP data reinforced the trend between groups but was not statistically significant (P=0.066). This study indicates this mixture of probiotics promotes a more rapid return to pre-antibiotic baseline faecal bacterial microbiota.

Analysis of treatment effects on the microbial ecology of the human intestine.

A large number of studies have investigated gastrointestinal microbiota and changes in the gastrointestinal community. However, a concern in these studies is how best to assess changes in gastrointestinal community structure. This paper presents two different human trials where the fecal terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism data sets were analyzed to search for treatment effects. Principle components analysis and cluster analysis based on grouped data are compared with analysis of data by subject using distance coefficients. Comparison with baseline within an individual before grouping by treatment provided a clearer indication of treatment effects than did an evaluation of data grouped before analysis. In addition, a large within-subject sample size and multiple baseline samples are necessary to accurately analyze treatment effects.

Complete genomic sequence of bacteriophage B3, a Mu-like phage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Bacteriophage B3 is a transposable phage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this report, we present the complete DNA sequence and annotation of the B3 genome. DNA sequence analysis revealed that the B3 genome is 38,439 bp long with a G+C content of 63.3%. The genome contains 59 proposed open reading frames (ORFs) organized into at least three operons. Of these ORFs, the predicted proteins from 41 ORFs (68%) display significant similarity to other phage or bacterial proteins. Many of the predicted B3 proteins are homologous to those encoded by the early genes and head genes of Mu and Mu-like prophages found in sequenced bacterial genomes. Only two of the predicted B3 tail proteins are homologous to other well-characterized phage tail proteins; however, several Mu-like prophages and transposable phage D3112 encode approximately 10 highly similar proteins in their predicted tail gene regions. Comparison of the B3 genomic organization with that of Mu revealed evidence of multiple genetic rearrangements, the most notable being the inversion of the proposed B3 immunity/early gene region, the loss of Mu-like tail genes, and an extreme leftward shift of the B3 DNA modification gene cluster. These differences illustrate and support the widely held view that tailed phages are genetic mosaics arising by the exchange of functional modules within a diverse genetic pool.

Bacterial succession in a petroleum land treatment unit.

Bacterial community dynamics were investigated in a land treatment unit (LTU) established at a site contaminated with highly weathered petroleum hydrocarbons in the C(10) to C(32) range. The treatment plot, 3,000 cubic yards of soil, was supplemented with nutrients and monitored weekly for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), soil water content, nutrient levels, and aerobic heterotrophic bacterial counts. Weekly soil samples were analyzed with 16S rRNA gene terminal restriction fragment (TRF) analysis to monitor bacterial community structure and dynamics during bioremediation. TPH degradation was rapid during the first 3 weeks and slowed for the remainder of the 24-week project. A sharp increase in plate counts was reported during the first 3 weeks, indicating an increase in biomass associated with petroleum degradation. Principal components analysis of TRF patterns revealed a series of sample clusters describing bacterial succession during the study. The largest shifts in bacterial community structure began as the TPH degradation rate slowed and the bacterial cell counts decreased. For the purpose of analyzing bacterial dynamics, phylotypes were generated by associating TRFs from three enzyme digests with 16S rRNA gene clones. Two phylotypes associated with Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas were dominant in TRF patterns from samples during rapid TPH degradation. After the TPH degradation rate slowed, four other phylotypes gained dominance in the community while Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas phylotypes decreased in abundance. These data suggest that specific phylotypes of bacteria were associated with the different phases of petroleum degradation in the LTU.

Variation between observed and true Terminal Restriction Fragment length is dependent on true TRF length and purine content.

Terminal Restriction Fragment (TRF) pattern analysis has become a widely used and informative tool for studying microbial communities. Variation between sequence-determined or true TRF length and observed TRF length (TRF drift) has been previously reported and can significantly affect identification of bacterial species using TRF lengths predicted from sequence databases. In this study TRF drift was determined for 21 bacterial species using an ABI 310 Genetic Analyzer. TRF drift was positively correlated with true TRF length and negatively correlated with TRF purine content. This implies that subtle differences in molecular weight, whether from purine content or dye label, can significantly affect the observed TRF length.

Removal of PCR inhibitors from soil DNA by chemical flocculation.

Extracting high-purity DNA directly from soil has become essential for the study of microorganisms in environmental samples. However, many soils contain compounds that inhibit enzymes involved in manipulating DNA. In this study, chemical flocculation using multivalent cations was investigated as a potential method for eliminating soil-based inhibitors during the extraction process. The addition of AlNH(4)(SO(4))(2) during extraction significantly reduced the co-purification of PCR inhibitors with minimal loss of DNA yield.