Soil microbial communities and their co-occurrence networks in response to long-term Pb-Zn contaminated soil in southern China.

Mining causes extreme heavy metal (HM) contamination to surrounding environments and poses threats to soil microbial community. The effects of HMs on soil microbial communities are not only related to their total amounts but also associated with the distribution of chemical fractions. However, the effects of chemical fractions on soil microbes and their interactions remain largely unclear. Here we investigated soil physicochemical properties and bacterial and fungal communities of soil samples from the control area and lightly (L), moderately (M), and heavily (H) contaminated areas, respectively, which were collected from long-term Pb-Zn slag contamination area in the southern China. The results showed that bacterial and fungal community composition and structure were significantly affected by HMs, while community diversity was not significantly affected by HMs. The critical environmental factor affecting bacterial and fungal communities was pH, and the impacts of chemical fractions on their changes were more significant than the total amounts of HMs. Variance partitioning analysis (VPA) revealed fungal community changes were mostly driven by HM total amounts, but bacterial community changes were mostly driven by soil chemical properties. Co-occurrence network indicated that interactions among species of fungal network were sparser than that of bacterial network, but fungal network was more stable, due to a more significant number of keystone taxa and a lower percentage of positive associations. These illustrated that the fungal community might serve as indicator taxa for HM-contaminated status, and specific HM-responsive fungal species such as Triangularia mangenotii, Saitozyma podzolica, and Cladosporium endophytica, and genus Rhizophagus can be considered relevant bioindicators due to their less relative abundance in contaminated areas. Additionally, HM-responsive bacterial OTUs representing five genera within Sulfurifustis, Thiobacillus, Sphingomonas, Qipengyuania, and Sulfurirhabdus were found to be tolerant to HM stress due to their high relative abundance in contaminated levels.

The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer perspective on regulation of interleukin-6 signaling in COVID-19-related systemic inflammatory response.

The pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has placed an unprecedented burden on healthcare systems around the world. In patients who experience severe disease, acute respiratory distress is often accompanied by a pathological immune reaction, sometimes referred to as 'cytokine storm'. One hallmark feature of the profound inflammatory state seen in patients with COVID-19 who succumb to pneumonia and hypoxia is marked elevation of serum cytokines, especially interferon gamma, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 17 (IL-17), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). Initial experience from the outbreaks in Italy, China and the USA has anecdotally demonstrated improved outcomes for critically ill patients with COVID-19 with the administration of cytokine-modulatory therapies, especially anti-IL-6 agents. Although ongoing trials are investigating anti-IL-6 therapies, access to these therapies is a concern, especially as the numbers of cases worldwide continue to climb. An immunology-informed approach may help identify alternative agents to modulate the pathological inflammation seen in patients with COVID-19. Drawing on extensive experience administering these and other immune-modulating therapies, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer offers this perspective on potential alternatives to anti-IL-6 that may also warrant consideration for management of the systemic inflammatory response and pulmonary compromise that can be seen in patients with severe COVID-19.