title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=807 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Long-chain fatty acids alter transcription of Helicobacter pylori virulence and regulatory genes link: https://peerj.com/articles/12270 last-modified: 2021-11-01 description: Infection with Helicobacter pylori is one of the most important risk factors for developing gastric cancer (GC). The type IV secretion system (T4SS) encoded in the cag pathogenicity island is the main virulence factor of H. pylori associated with GC. Additionally, other virulence factors have been shown to play a role in the H. pylori virulence, such as vacuolizing cytotoxin (VacA), urease, flagella, and adhesins. Long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) are signaling molecules that affect the transcription of virulence genes in several pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella enterica, Vibrio cholerae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the effect of LCFAs on the transcription of H. pylori virulence and regulatory genes remains unknown. Here we analyzed whether the transcription of virulence genes that encode T4SS and cellular envelope components, flagellins, adhesins, toxins, urease, as well as the transcription of different regulatory genes of the H. pylori strain 26695, are altered by the presence of five distinct LCFAs: palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids. Palmitic and oleic acids up-regulated the transcription of most of the virulence genes tested, including cagL, cagM, flaB, sabA, mraY and vacA, as well as that of the genes encoding the transcriptional regulators NikR, Fur, CheY, ArsR, FlgR, HspR, HsrA, Hup, and CrdR. In contrast, the other LCFAs differentially affected the transcription of the virulence and regulatory genes assessed. Our data show that LCFAs can act as signaling molecules that control the transcription of the H. pylori virulome. creator: Hilda A. Valdez-Salazar creator: Miguel A. Ares creator: Francisco J. Fernández creator: J Antonio Ibarra creator: Javier Torres creator: Víctor H. Bustamante creator: Miguel A. De la Cruz uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12270 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2021 Valdez-Salazar et al. title: Shedding light on the bacterial resistance to toxic UV filters: a comparative genomic study link: https://peerj.com/articles/12278 last-modified: 2021-11-01 description: UV filters are toxic to marine bacteria that dominate the marine biomass. Ecotoxicology often studies the organism response but rarely integrates the toxicity mechanisms at the molecular level. In this study, in silico comparative genomics between UV filters sensitive and resistant bacteria were conducted in order to unravel the genes responsible for a resistance phenotype. The genomes of two environmentally relevant Bacteroidetes and three Firmicutes species were compared through pairwise comparison. Larger genomes were carried by bacteria exhibiting a resistant phenotype, favoring their ability to adapt to environmental stresses. While the antitoxin and CRISPR systems were the only distinctive features in resistant Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes displayed multiple unique genes that could support the difference between sensitive and resistant phenotypes. Several genes involved in ROS response, vitamin biosynthesis, xenobiotic degradation, multidrug resistance, and lipophilic compound permeability were shown to be exclusive to resistant species. Our investigation contributes to a better understanding of UV filters resistance phenotypes, by identifying pivotal genes involved in key pathways. creator: Clément Lozano creator: Philippe Lebaron creator: Sabine Matallana-Surget uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12278 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2021 Lozano et al. title: Degradation of lignocelluloses in straw using AC-1, a thermophilic composite microbial system link: https://peerj.com/articles/12364 last-modified: 2021-11-01 description: In composting, the degradation of lignocellulose in straw is problematic due to its complex structures such as lignin. A common solution to this problem is the addition of exogenous inoculants. AC-1, a stable thermophilic microbial composite, was isolated from high temperature compost samples that can decompose lignocellulose at 50–70 °C. AC-1 had a best degradation efficiency of rice straw at 60 °C (78.92%), of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin were 82.49%, 97.20% and 20.12%, respectively. It showed degrad-ability on both simple (filter paper, absorbent cotton) and complex (rice straw) cellulose materials. It produced acetic and formic acid during decomposition process and the pH had a trend of first downward then upward. High throughput sequencing revealed the main bacterial components of AC-1 were Tepidimicrobium, Haloplasma, norank-f-Limnochordaceae, Ruminiclostridium and Rhodothermus which provides major theoretical basis for further application of AC-1. creator: Hongdou Liu creator: Liqiang Zhang creator: Yu Sun creator: Guangbo Xu creator: Weidong Wang creator: Renzhe Piao creator: Zongjun Cui creator: Hongyan Zhao uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12364 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2021 Liu et al. title: Changes in the urinary proteome in rats with regular swimming exercise link: https://peerj.com/articles/12406 last-modified: 2021-11-01 description: PurposeUrine can sensitively reflect early pathophysiological changes in the body. The purpose of this study was to explore the changes of urine proteome in rats with regular swimming exercise.MethodsIn this study, experimental rats were subjected to daily moderate-intensity swimming exercise for 7 weeks. Urine samples were collected at weeks 2, 5, and 7 and were analyzed by using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).ResultsUnsupervised clustering analysis of all urinary proteins identified at week 2 showed that the swimming group was distinctively different from the control group. Compared to the control group, a total of 112, 61 and 44 differential proteins were identified in the swimming group at weeks 2, 5 and 7, respectively. Randomized grouping statistical analysis showed that more than 85% of the differential proteins identified in this study were caused by swimming exercise rather than random allocation. According to the Human Protein Atlas, the differential proteins that have human orthologs were strongly expressed in the liver, kidney and intestine. Functional annotation analysis revealed that these differential proteins were involved in glucose metabolism and immunity-related pathways.ConclusionOur results revealed that the urinary proteome could reflect significant changes after regular swimming exercise. These findings may provide an approach to monitor the effects of exercise of the body. creator: Wenshu Meng creator: Dan Xu creator: Yunchen Meng creator: Weinan Zhang creator: Yaqi Xue creator: Zhiping Zhen creator: Youhe Gao uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12406 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2021 Meng et al. title: Co-culturing Hyphomicrobium nitrativorans strain NL23 and Methylophaga nitratireducenticrescens strain JAM1 allows sustainable denitrifying activities under marine conditions link: https://peerj.com/articles/12424 last-modified: 2021-11-01 description: BackgroundHyphomicrobium nitrativorans strain NL23 and Methylophaga nitratireducenticrescens strain JAM1 are the principal bacteria involved in the denitrifying activities of a methanol-fed, fluidized-bed marine denitrification system. Strain NL23 possesses the complete denitrification pathway, but cannot grow under marine conditions in pure cultures. Strain JAM1 is a marine bacterium that lacks genes encoding a dissimilatory nitrite (NO2−) reductase and therefore cannot reduce NO2−. Here, we report the characterization of some of their physiological traits that could influence their co-habitation. We also perform co-cultures to assess the potential synergy between the two strains under marine and denitrifying conditions.MethodologyAnoxic planktonic pure cultures of both strains were grown with different concentrations of nitrate (NO3−). Anoxic planktonic co-cultures could only be cultured on low NaCl concentrations for strain NL23 to grow. Biofilm co-cultures were achieved in a 500-mL bioreactor, and operated under denitrifying conditions with increasing concentrations of NaCl. NO3− and NO2− concentrations and the protein content were measured to derive the denitrification rates. The concentrations of both strains in co-cultures were determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Ectoine concentration was measured by mass spectrometry in the biofilm co-culture. The biofilm was visualized by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Reverse-transcription-qPCR and RNA-seq approaches were used to assess changes in the expression profiles of genes involved in the nitrogen pathways in the biofilm cultures.ResultsPlanktonic pure cultures of strain JAM1 had a readiness to reduce NO3− with no lag phase for growth in contrast to pure cultures of strain NL23, which had a 2-3 days lag phase before NO3− starts to be consumed and growth to occur. Compared to strain NL23, strain JAM1 has a higher µmax for growth and higher specific NO3− reduction rates. Denitrification rates were twice higher in the planktonic co-cultures than those measured in strain NL23 pure cultures. The biofilm co-cultures showed sustained denitrifying activities and surface colonization by both strains under marine conditions. Increase in ectoine concentrations was observed in the biofilm co-culture with the increase of NaCl concentrations. Changes in the relative transcript levels were observed in the biofilm culture with genes encoding NapA and NapGH in strain NL23. The type of medium had a great impact on the expression of genes involved in the N-assimilation pathways in both strains.ConclusionsThese results illustrate the capacity of both strains to act together in performing sustainable denitrifying activities under marine conditions. Although strain JAM1 did not contribute in better specific denitrifying activities in the biofilm co-cultures, its presence helped strain NL23 to acclimate to medium with NaCl concentrations >1.0%. creator: Alexandra Cucaita creator: Marianne Piochon creator: Richard Villemur uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12424 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2021 Cucaita et al. title: Modeling the current distribution suitability and future dynamics of Culicoides imicola under climate change scenarios link: https://peerj.com/articles/12308 last-modified: 2021-10-29 description: BackgroundAfrican horse sickness, a transboundary and non-contagious arboviral infectious disease of equids, has spread without any warning from sub-Saharan Africa towards the Southeast Asian countries in 2020. It is imperative to predict the global distribution of Culicoides imicola (C. imicola), which was the main vector of African horse sickness virus.MethodsThe occurrence records of C. imicola were mainly obtained from the published literature and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility database. The maximum entropy algorithm was used to model the current distribution suitability and future dynamics of C. imicola under climate change scenarios.ResultsThe modeling results showed that the currently suitable habitats for C. imicola were distributed in most of the southern part areas of America, southwestern Europe, most of Africa, the coastal areas of the Middle East, almost all regions of South Asia, southern China, a few countries in Southeast Asia, and the whole Australia. Our model also revealed the important environmental variables on the distribution of C. imicola were temperature seasonality, precipitation of coldest quarter, and mean temperature of wettest quarter. Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) is an assumption of possible greenhouse gases emissions in the future. Under future climate change scenarios, the area of habitat suitability increased and decreased with time, and RCP 8.5 in the 2070s gave the worst prediction. Moreover, the habitat suitability of C. imicola will likely expand to higher latitudes. The prediction of this study is of strategic significance for vector surveillance and the prevention of vector-borne diseases. creator: Hongyan Gao creator: Long Wang creator: Jun Ma creator: Xiang Gao creator: Jianhua Xiao creator: Hongbin Wang uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12308 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2021 Gao et al. title: Cryptic diversity in the subgenus Oxyphortica (Diptera, Drosophilidae, Stegana) link: https://peerj.com/articles/12347 last-modified: 2021-10-29 description: Phylogenetic relationships of the subgenus Oxyphortica were reconstructed based on two mitochondrial genes (COI and ND2). The results revealed the paraphyly of Oxyphortica and supported high levels of cryptic diversity within this subgenus. By integrating morphological characteristics and molecular evidence, we identified 17 new species as members of Oxyphortica: S. (O.) amphigyasp. nov., S. (O.) armillatasp. nov., S. (O.) ashimasp. nov., S. (O.) bawosp. nov., S. (O.) cryptasp. nov., S. (O.) geleasp. nov., S. (O.) hengduanmontanasp. nov., S. (O.) jinmingisp. nov., S. (O.) mengbalanaxisp. nov., S. (O.) mouigsp. nov., S. (O.) setipessp. nov., S. (O.) shangrilasp. nov., S. (O.) tsaurisp. nov., S. (O.) valleculatasp. nov., S. (O.) wanheisp. nov., S. (O.) yangjinsp. nov. and S. (O.) hypophaiasp. nov. To test the early morphological identifications and confirm the species boundaries, different species delimitation methods, including Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) and Bayesian Phylogenetics and Phylogeography (BP&P), were used, together with traditional distance. All species boundaries were clearly defined. As Oxyphortica species are mainly distributed across Southwest China (e.g., 20 spp. from the Hengduan Mountains), the complex climate and topographic landforms of the area may be responsible for the high levels of species diversity and endemism. creator: Ya-Lian Wang creator: Nan-Nan Wang creator: Yuan Zhang creator: Shun-Chern Tsaur creator: Hong-Wei Chen uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12347 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2021 Wang et al. title: A new specimen of Sinopterus dongi (Pterosauria, Tapejaridae) from the Jiufotang Formation (Early Cretaceous, China) link: https://peerj.com/articles/12360 last-modified: 2021-10-29 description: The Tapejarinae are edentulous pterosaurs that are relatively common in Cretaceous continental deposits in South America, North Africa, Europe, and China (mostly Early Cretaceous). The Chinese Jiufotang Formation is particularly rich in tapejarine specimens, having yielded over 10 described specimens and dozens of undescribed ones. For the Jiufotang Formation, a total of seven nominal tapejarid species and two genera have been proposed. Some debate exists over how many of those are valid or, alternatively, sexual or ontogenetic morphs of fewer (or even a single) species. Despite the abundance of specimens and the relevant taxonomic problems involved, detailed revisions of the matter are still lacking. This is partly due to the relatively scarce knowledge on the comparative osteology of the Sinopterus complex, which is hampered by the fact that most specimens have been only preliminarily described. In this contribution, we present a new postcranial specimen, D3072, which we attribute to the type-species of the genus, Sinopterus dongi. This new specimen helps shed some new light in the osteology of Sinopterus dongi, hopefully serving as a basis for future comparative studies involving further specimens and other proposed species and, subsequently, taxonomic revisions. creator: Caizhi Shen creator: Rodrigo V. Pêgas creator: Chunling Gao creator: Martin Kundrát creator: Lijun Zhang creator: Xuefang Wei creator: Xuanyu Zhou uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12360 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2021 Shen et al. title: Construction of a high-density linkage map and detection of sex-specific markers in Penaeus japonicus link: https://peerj.com/articles/12390 last-modified: 2021-10-29 description: Penaeus japonicus is one of the most important farmed shrimp species in many countries. Sexual dimorphism is observed in P. japonicus, in which females grow faster and larger than males; therefore, a unisexual female culture of P. japonicus could improve the efficiency of productivity. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying sex determination in P. japonicus are unclear. In this study, we constructed a high-density genetic linkage map of P. japonicus using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technology in a full-sib family. The final map was 3,481.98 cM in length and contained 29,757 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These SNPs were distributed on 41 sex-averaged linkage groups, with an average inter-marker distance of 0.123 cM. One haplotype, harboring five sex-specific SNPs, was detected in linkage group 1 (LG1), and its corresponding confidence interval ranged from 211.840 to 212.592 cM. Therefore, this high-density genetic linkage map will be informative for genome assembly and marker-assisted breeding, and the sex-linked SNPs will be helpful for further studies on molecular mechanisms of sex determination and unisexual culture of P. japonicus in the future. creator: Yaqun Zhang creator: Chuantao Zhang creator: Na Yao creator: Jingxian Huang creator: Xiangshan Sun creator: Bingran Zhao creator: Hengde Li uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12390 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2021 Zhang et al. title: Improved isolation and detection of toxigenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus from coastal water in Saudi Arabia using immunomagnetic enrichment link: https://peerj.com/articles/12402 last-modified: 2021-10-29 description: BackgroundVibrio parahaemolyticus is recognized globally as a cause of foodborne gastroenteritis and its widely disseminated in marine and coastal environment throughout the world. The main aim of this study was conducted to investigate the presence of toxigenic V. parahaemolyticus in costal water in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia by using immunomagnetic separation (IMS) in combination with chromogenic Vibrio agar medium and PCR targeting toxR gene of species level and virulence genes.MethodsA total of 192 seawater samples were collected from five locations and enriched in alkaline peptone water (APW) broth. One-milliliter portion from enriched samples in APW were mixed with an immunomagnetic beads (IMB) coated with specific antibodies against V. parahaemolyticus polyvalent K antisera and separated beads with captured bacteria streaked on thiosulfate citrate bile salts sucrose (TCBS) agar and CHROMagar Vibrio (CaV) medium.ResultsOf the 192 examined seawater samples, 38 (19.8%) and 44 (22.9%) were positive for V. parahaemolyticus, producing green and mauve colonies on TCBS agar and CaV medium, respectively. Among 120 isolates of V. parahaemolyticus isolated in this study, 3 (2.5%) and 26 (21.7%) isolates of V. parahaemolyticus isolated without and with IMB treatment tested positive for the toxin regulatory (toxR) gene, respectively. Screening of the confirmed toxR gene-positive isolates revealed that 21 (17.5%) and 3 (2.5%) were positive for the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) encoding gene in strains isolated with IMB and without IMB treatment, respectively. None of the V. parahaemolyticus strains tested positive for the thermostable related hemolysin (trh) gene. In this study, we found that the CaV medium has no advantage over TCBS agar if IMB concentration treatment is used during secondary enrichment steps of environmental samples. The enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR DNA fingerprinting analysis revealed high genomic diversity, and 18 strains of V. parahaemolyticus were grouped and identified into four identical ERIC clonal group patterns.ConclusionsThe presented study reports the first detection of tdh producing V. parahaemolyticus in coastal water in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. creator: Mariam Almejhim creator: Mohammed Aljeldah creator: Nasreldin Elhadi uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12402 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2021 Almejhim et al.