Metagenomic Analysis of Virioplankton from the Pelagic Zone of Lake Baikal.

This study describes two viral communities from the world's oldest lake, Lake Baikal. For the analysis, we chose under-ice and late spring periods of the year as the most productive for Lake Baikal. These periods show the maximum seasonal biomass of phytoplankton and bacterioplankton, which are targets for viruses, including bacteriophages. At that time, the main group of viruses were tailed bacteriophages of the order Caudovirales that belong to the families Myoviridae, Siphoviridae and Podoviridae. Annotation of functional genes revealed that during the under-ice period, the "Phages, Prophages, Transposable Elements and Plasmids" (27.4%) category represented the bulk of the virome. In the late spring period, it comprised 9.6% of the virome. We assembled contigs by two methods: Separately assembled in each virome or cross-assembled. A comparative analysis of the Baikal viromes with other aquatic environments indicated a distribution pattern by soil, marine and freshwater groups. Viromes of lakes Baikal, Michigan, Erie and Ontario form the joint World's Largest Lakes clade.

Selenium and Other Elements in Wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Wheat Bread from a Seleniferous Area.

The objective of the present study was to assess the levels of Se, as well as other essential and toxic trace elements in wheat grains and traditional Roti-bread from whole-grain flour in a seleniferous area of Punjab (India) using inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry. Wheat grain and bread selenium levels originating from seleniferous areas exceeded the control values by a factor of more than 488 and 179, respectively. Se-rich wheat was also characterized by significantly increased Cu and Mn levels. Se-rich bread also contained significantly higher levels of Cr, Cu, I, Mn, and V. The level of Li and Sr was reduced in both Se-enriched wheat and bread samples. Roti bread from Se-enriched wheat was also characterized by elevated Al, Cd, and Ni, as well as reduced As and Hg content as compared to the respective control values. Se intake with Se-rich bread was estimated as more than 13,600% of RDA. Daily intake of Mn with both Se-unfortified and Se-fortified bread was 133% and 190% of RDA. Therefore, Se-rich bread from wheat cultivated on a seleniferous area of Punjab (India) may be considered as a potent source of selenium, although Se status should be monitored throughout dietary intervention.