Study of microbiome changes in patients with ulcerative colitis in the Central European part of Russia.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory disease that affects the colon and rectum. Recently, evidence has emerged about the influence of microbiota on the development of this disease. However, studies on the role of intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of UC have been incomplete. In addition, there are no comprehensive studies of the causes of ulcerative colitis and data on the microbiological composition of the intestines of patients with ulcerative colitis in Russia. We carried out a study of the microbiological composition of the intestines of patients with ulcerative colitis and healthy individuals. We found significant changes in the bacteria genera and species in patients with UC compared with the control group using sequencing on the IonTorrent PGM system and subsequent data analysis. In our study we observed a significant increase of the genus Haemophilus, Olsenella, Prevotella, Cedecea, Peptostreptococcus, Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Negativibacillus, Butyrivibrio, and the species Bacteroides coprocola, Phascolarctobacterium succinatutens, Dialister succinatiphilus, Sutterella wadsworthensis, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in patients with ulcerative colitis. In addition, in patients with ulcerative colitis there was a significant decrease in the genus Fusicatenibacter, Butyricimonas, Lactococcus, Eisenbergiella, Coprobacter, Cutibacterium, Falsochrobactrum, Brevundimonas, Yersinia, Leuconostoc and in the species Fusicatenibacter saccharivorans. We found confirmation of our data with literary sources and studies of UC. In addition, we discovered a few taxa such as Negativibacillus spp. and Falsochrobactrum spp. that have not been previously found in human stool samples. Our data confirm that more research is needed to understand the role of microbiome changes in the development of UC in different people populations.

Quality Control of Bee-Collected Pollen Using Bumblebee Microcolonies and Molecular Approaches Reveals No Correlation Between Pollen Quality and Pathogen Presence.

Bee-collected pollen is an essential protein source for honey bee and bumblebee colonies. Its quality directly affects bee health. We estimated the quality of pollen samples using bumblebee microcolonies and high-throughput sequencing for the presence of microorganisms. The tested samples of bee-collected pollen were of different quality, as estimated from their effect on the development of bumblebee microcolonies. Based on the pollen quality, we selected a subset of high-quality and low-quality pollen samples to further analyze them for the presence of microorganisms and pathogens. High-throughput sequencing revealed that the most common microorganisms in the bee-collected pollen were Acinetobacter spp. and bacteria of the genera Lactobacillus and Lactococcus. No pathogenic bacteria infectious for honey bees (e.g., those causing American and European foulbrood) or bumblebees have been identified in the analyzed pollen samples. Among potentially harmful microorganisms, there were bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae family. The fungal pathogens Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae were detected in four samples; Ascosphaera sp. was found in six samples. Several viruses were found in the pollen samples, such as chronic bee paralysis virus, Israeli acute paralysis virus, deformed wing virus, sacbrood virus, and Kashmir bee virus. No correlation between the presence of these microorganisms or viruses and the impact of low-quality pollen samples on the bumblebee development was found. It is possible that factors affecting pollen quality are the absence of certain biologically active compounds or the presence of pesticides.

Changes in levels of metabolic pathway gene expression under conditions of clear cell renal carcinoma.

A whole-transcriptome analysis of gene expression in six samples of clear cell renal cancer was performed. Using bioinformatics methods, we established a relationship between gene expression data and changes in activity of metabolic pathways: in this cancer type, the expression of genes involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids as well as in energy metabolism changed most significantly.