Gut microbiome-host metabolic interactions affect human health and can be modified by probiotic and prebiotic supplementation. Here, we have assessed the effects of consumption of a combination of probiotics (Lactobacillus paracasei or L. rhamnosus) and two galactosyl-oligosaccharide prebiotics on the symbiotic microbiome-mammalian supersystem using integrative metabolic profiling and modeling ...

Changes in lipid content and fatty acid (FA) composition in decomposing mangrove leaves of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lamk and Kandelia candel (L.) were investigated in a subtropical mangrove forest on Okinawa Island, Japan (26.5°N, 128°E) by field experiments for 18 wk (July to November 2000), using yellow senescent leaves, and compared with FAs in the green leaves and mangrove sediments. We t...

Tuberculosis is a major cause of death but infected people with effective immunity may remain healthy for years, suggesting long-term co-existence of host and pathogen. Direct detection and characterisation of ancient microbial DNA and lipid biomarkers confirms palaeopathological diagnoses. Archaeological Mycobacterium tuberculosis resembles extant lineages indicating the timescale for evolutio...

Lipid/DNA co-extraction from one sample is attractive in limiting biases associated with microbial community analysis from separate extractions. We sought to enhance established co-extraction methods and use high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing to identify preferentially extracted taxa from co-extracted DNA. Co-extraction results in low DNA yields and distinct community structure changes.

Bioprocess limitations imposed by microbial cell-to-cell phenotypic diversity remain poorly understood. To address this, we investigated the origins of such culture diversity during lipid production and assessed the impact of the fermentation microenvironment. We measured the single-cell lipid production dynamics in a time-invariant microfluidic environment and discovered that production is not...

A comparative study of the physical adsorption of RNAse A and RNAse Bacillus pumilis onto a negatively charged surface of mica, a hydrophobic surface of pyrolytic graphite and a surface of lipid layers of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) was performed by atomic force microscopy. It was found that microbial RNAse, unlike RNAse A, 1) is adsorbed onto the negatively charged surface of mica in...

Signature lipid biomarker (SLB) analysis is a useful tool for identifying microorganisms and characterizing microbial communities in natural systems. Specific fatty acids, especially phospholipids (PLFA), are essential membrane components, make up a relatively constant proportion of the microorganisms under natural conditions and their patterns provide insight into the bacterial and fungal comm...

Androctonin is a 25-residue non-haemolytic anti-microbial peptide isolated from the scorpion Androctonus australis and contains two disulphide bridges. Androctonin is different from known native anti-microbial peptides, being a relatively hydrophilic and non-amphipathic molecule. This raises the possibility that the target of androctonin might not be the bacterial membrane, shown to be a target...

Recognition of microbial molecules by mammalian host receptors is essential to mount an immune response. Hexaacylated LPS is the prototypic example of a bacterial molecule recognized by the receptor complex TLR4/MD-2 with its lipid A moiety, whereas bacterial lipopeptides are recognized by TLR2. Here we show that a series of synthetic triacylated lipid A-like molecules are weak Toll-like recept...

Lipid supplementation is a promising strategy for methane mitigation in cattle and has been evaluated using several different lipid sources. However, limited studies have assessed the effect of temperature on methane emissions from cattle and changes in incubation temperature have also not been extensively evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of pequi oil (high i...