Specific and sensitive detection of Alcaligenes species from an agricultural environment

Murine cartilage microbial DNA deposition occurs rapidly following the introduction of a gut microbiome and changes with obesity, aging, and knee osteoarthritis

Cartilage microbial DNA patterns have been recently characterized in osteoarthritis (OA). The objectives of this study were to evaluate the gut origins of cartilage microbial DNA, to characterize cartilage microbial changes with age, obesity, and OA in mice, and correlate these to gut microbiome changes. We used 16S rRNA sequencing performed longitudinally on articular knee cartilage from germ-free (GF) mice following oral microbiome inoculation and cartilage and cecal samples from young and old wild-type mice with/without high-fat diet-induced obesity (HFD) and with/without OA induced by destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) to evaluate gut and cartilage microbiota. Microbial diversity was assessed, groups compared, and functional metagenomic profiles reconstructed. Findings were confirmed in an independent cohort by clade-specific qPCR. We found that cartilage microbial patterns developed at 48 h and later timepoints following oral microbiome inoculation of GF mice. Alpha diversity was increased in SPF mouse cartilage samples with age (P = 0.013), HFD (P = 5.6E-4), and OA (P = 0.029) but decreased in cecal samples with age (P = 0.014) and HFD (P = 1.5E-9). Numerous clades were altered with aging, HFD, and OA, including increases in Verrucomicrobia in both cartilage and cecal samples. Functional analysis suggested changes in dihydroorotase, glutamate-5-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, glutamate-5-kinase, and phosphoribosylamine-glycine ligase, in both cecum and cartilage, with aging, HFD, and OA. In conclusion, cartilage microbial DNA patterns develop rapidly after the introduction of a gut microbiome and change in concert with the gut microbiome during aging, HFD, and OA in mice. DMM-induced OA causes shifts in both cartilage and cecal microbiome patterns independent of other factors.

Bacterial community structure in treated sewage sludge with mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion

Stabilized sewage sludge is applied to agricultural fields and farmland due to its high organic matter content. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two types of sludge stabilization, mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) and thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD), on bacterial communities in sludge, including the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. Bacterial community structure and phylogenetic diversity were analyzed in four sewage sludge samples from the Czech Republic. Analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes showed that investigated sludge samples harbor diverse bacterial populations with only a few taxa present across all samples. Bacterial diversity was higher in sludge samples after MAD versus TAD treatment, and communities in MAD-treated sludge shared the highest genetic similarities. In all samples, the bacterial community was dominated by reads affiliated with Proteobacteria. The sludge after TAD treatment had considerably higher number of reads of thermotolerant/thermophilic taxa, such as the phyla Deinococcus-Thermus and Thermotogae or the genus Coprothermobacter. Only one operational taxonomic unit (OTU), which clustered with Rhodanobacter, was detected in all communities at a relative abundance >1 %. All of the communities were screened for the presence of 16S rRNA gene sequences of pathogenic bacteria using a database of 122 pathogenic species and ≥98 % identity threshold. The abundance of such sequences ranged between 0.23 and 1.57 % of the total community, with lower numbers present after the TAD treatment, indicating its higher hygienization efficiency. Sequences clustering with nontuberculous mycobacteria were present in all samples. Other detected sequences of pathogenic bacteria included Streptomyces somaliensis, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Alcaligenes faecalis, Gordonia spp., Legionella anisa, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Enterobacter aerogenes, Brucella melitensis, and Staphylococcus aureus.

Development of a PCR-based method for monitoring the status of Alcaligenes species in the agricultural environment

To analyze the status of the genus Alcaligenes in the agricultural environment, we developed a PCR method for detection of these species from vegetables and farming soil. The selected PCR primers amplified a 107-bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene in a specific PCR assay with a detection limit of 1.06 pg of pure culture DNA, corresponding to DNA extracted from approximately 23 cells of Alcaligenes faecalis. Meanwhile, PCR primers generated a detectable amount of the amplicon from 2.2×10(2) CFU/ml cell suspensions from the soil. Analysis of vegetable phylloepiphytic and farming soil microbes showed that bacterial species belonging to the genus Alcaligenes were present in the range from 0.9×10(0) CFU per gram (or cm(2)) (Japanese radish: Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) to more than 1.1×10(4) CFU/g (broccoli flowers: Brassica oleracea var. italic), while 2.4×10(2) to 4.4×10(3) CFU/g were detected from all soil samples. These results indicated that Alcaligenes species are present in the phytosphere at levels 10-1000 times lower than those in soil. Our approach may be useful for tracking or quantifying species of the genus Alcaligenes in the agricultural environment.