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Pirastru M, Mereu P, Manca L, Bebbere D, Naitana S, Leoni GG. Anthropogenic Drivers Leading to Population Decline and Genetic Preservation of the Eurasian Griffon Vulture ( Gyps fulvus). Life (Basel) 2021; 11:life11101038. [PMID: 34685409 PMCID: PMC8540517 DOI: 10.3390/life11101038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Human activities are having increasingly devastating effects on the health of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Studying the adaptive responses of animal species to changes in their habitat can be useful in mitigating this impact. Vultures represent one of the most virtuous examples of adaptation to human-induced environmental changes. Once dependent on wild ungulate populations, these birds have adapted to the epochal change resulting from the birth of agriculture and livestock domestication, maintaining their essential role as ecological scavengers. In this review, we retrace the main splitting events characterising the vultures’ evolution, with particular emphasis on the Eurasian griffon Gyps fulvus. We summarise the main ecological and behavioural traits of this species, highlighting its vulnerability to elements introduced into the habitat by humans. We collected the genetic information available to date, underlining their importance for improving the management of this species, as an essential tool to support restocking practices and to protect the genetic integrity of G. fulvus. Finally, we examine the difficulties in implementing a coordination system that allows genetic information to be effectively transferred into management programs. Until a linking network is established between scientific research and management practices, the risk of losing important wildlife resources remains high.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Pirastru
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43b, 07100 Sassari, Italy; (M.P.); (L.M.)
| | - Paolo Mereu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43b, 07100 Sassari, Italy; (M.P.); (L.M.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Laura Manca
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43b, 07100 Sassari, Italy; (M.P.); (L.M.)
| | - Daniela Bebbere
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy; (D.B.); (S.N.); (G.G.L.)
| | - Salvatore Naitana
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy; (D.B.); (S.N.); (G.G.L.)
| | - Giovanni G. Leoni
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy; (D.B.); (S.N.); (G.G.L.)
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Liu G, Wang Y, Li X, Hao X, Xu D, Zhou Y, Mehmood A, Wang C. Genetic and Biochemical Evidence That Enterococcus faecalis Gr17 Produces a Novel and Sec-Dependent Bacteriocin, Enterocin Gr17. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:1806. [PMID: 31456764 PMCID: PMC6700250 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteriocins are ribosomally synthesized antibacterial peptides or proteins from microorganisms. We report a novel bacteriocin producing strain, Enterococcus faecalis Gr17, that was isolated from the Chinese traditional low-salt fermented whole fish product Suan yu. E. faecalis Gr17 displayed potent antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. The complete genome of E. faecalis Gr17 contained one circular chromosome and plasmid. The gene cluster of a novel bacteriocin designated enterocin Gr17 was identified. The enterocin Gr17 structural gene encodes a precursor of the bacteriocin. Two other transporter genes and an immunity gene within two divergent operons were identified as being associated with enterocin Gr17 secretion and protection. The novel enterocin Gr17 was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, cation exchange, gel filtration, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The molecular weight of enterocin Gr17 was 4,531.01 Da as determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and its mature amino acid sequence of enterocin Gr17 was RSYGNGVYCNNSKCWVNWGEAKENIIGIVISGWATGLAGMGR. Sequence alignment revealed that enterocin Gr17 is a class IIa bacteriocin with similarities to enterocin P. The merits of bactericidal activity, sensitivity to enzymes, and pronounced stability to chemicals, temperature (60°C, 30 min and 121°C, 15 min), and pH (2-10) indicated practicality and safety of enterocin Gr17 in the food industry. The complete genome information of E. faecalis Gr17 will improve the understanding of the biosynthetic mechanism of enterocin Gr17, which has potential value as a food biopreservative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guorong Liu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Food Additives, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
| | - Yao Wang
- Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xue Li
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Food Additives, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
| | - Xu Hao
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Food Additives, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
| | - Duoxia Xu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Food Additives, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
| | - Yingning Zhou
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Food Additives, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
| | - Arshad Mehmood
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Food Additives, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
| | - Chengtao Wang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Engineering and Technology Research Center of Food Additives, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
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Arbulu S, Jiménez JJ, Gútiez L, Campanero C, Del Campo R, Cintas LM, Herranz C, Hernández PE. Evaluation of bacteriocinogenic activity, safety traits and biotechnological potential of fecal lactic acid bacteria (LAB), isolated from Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus subsp. fulvus). BMC Microbiol 2016; 16:228. [PMID: 27688001 PMCID: PMC5041338 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-016-0840-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2016] [Accepted: 09/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are part of the gut microbiota and produce ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides or bacteriocins with interest as natural food preservatives and therapeutic agents. Bacteriocin-producing LAB are also attractive as probiotics. Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus subspecies fulvus) are scavenger birds that feed almost exclusively on carrion without suffering apparent ill effects. Therefore, griffon vultures might be considered a reservoir of bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with potential biotechnological applications. Results Griffon vulture feces were screened for LAB with antimicrobial activity, genes encoding bacteriocins, potential virulence determinants, susceptibility to antibiotics, genotyping and characterization of bacteriocins. In this study, from 924 LAB evaluated 332 isolates (36 %) showed direct antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria only. The molecular identification of the most antagonistic 95 isolates showed that enterococci was the largest LAB group with antimicrobial activity (91 %) and E. faecium (40 %) the most identified antagonistic species. The evaluation of the presence of bacteriocin structural genes in 28 LAB isolates with the highest bacteriocinogenic activity in their supernatants determined that most enterococcal isolates (75 %) encoded multiple bacteriocins, being enterocin A (EntA) the largest identified (46 %) bacteriocin. Most enterococci (88 %) were resistant to multiple antibiotics. ERIC-PCR and MLST techniques permitted genotyping and recognition of the potential safety of the bacteriocinogenic enterococci. A multiple-step chromatographic procedure, determination of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of purified bacteriocins by Edman degradation and a MALDI TOF/TOF tandem MS procedure permitted characterization of bacteriocins present in supernatants of producer cells. Conclusions Enterococci was the largest LAB group with bacteriocinogenic activity isolated from griffon vulture feces. Among the isolates, E. faecium M3K31 has been identified as producer of enterocin HF (EntHF), a bacteriocin with remarkable antimicrobial activity against most evaluated Listeria spp. and of elevated interest as a natural food preservative. E. faecium M3K31 would be also considered a safe probiotic strain for use in animal nutrition. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-016-0840-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Arbulu
- Departamento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Avenida Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan J Jiménez
- Departamento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Avenida Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Loreto Gútiez
- Departamento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Avenida Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Campanero
- Departamento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Avenida Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rosa Del Campo
- Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, and Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigaciones Sanitarias (IRYCIS), 28034, Madrid, Spain
| | - Luis M Cintas
- Departamento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Avenida Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carmen Herranz
- Departamento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Avenida Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pablo E Hernández
- Departamento de Nutrición, Bromatología y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Avenida Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
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