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Roca-Couso R, Flores-Félix JD, Deb S, Giagnoni L, Tondello A, Stevanato P, Squartini A, García-Fraile P, Rivas R. Metataxonomic analysis of endophytic bacteria of blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius Schott) across tissues and environmental conditions. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13388. [PMID: 38862607 PMCID: PMC11166949 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64248-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Endophytic bacteria represent an important component of plant wellness. They have been widely studied for their involvement in plant development and enhancement of stress tolerance. In this work, the endophytic communities of roots, stems, and leaves of blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius Schott) were studied in three different niches: natural, riverside, and human-impacted niches. (2) Results: The microbiome composition revealed that Sphingomonadaceae was the most abundant family in all samples, accounting for 9.4-45.8%. In contrast, other families seem to be linked to a specific tissue or niche. Families Microbacteriaceae and Hymenobacteraceae increased their presence in stem and leaf samples, while Burkholderiaceae abundance was important in riverside samples. Alpha and beta diversity analyses showed that root samples were the most diverse, and they gathered together in the same cluster, apart from the rest of the samples. (3) Conclusions: The analysis of the microbiome of R. ulmifolius plants revealed that the composition was essentially the same in different niches; the differences were primarily influenced by plant tissue factors with a core genome dominated by Sphingomonadaceae. Additionally, it was observed that R. ulmifolius can select its own microbiome, and this remains constant in all tissues evaluated regardless the niche of sampling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocío Roca-Couso
- Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Biology Departmental Building, University of Salamanca, 37007, Salamanca, Spain
- Institute for Agribiotechnology Research (CIALE), 37185, Salamanca, Spain
| | - José David Flores-Félix
- Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Biology Departmental Building, University of Salamanca, 37007, Salamanca, Spain.
- Institute for Agribiotechnology Research (CIALE), 37185, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - Saptarathi Deb
- Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources, and Environment, DAFNAE University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Lucia Giagnoni
- Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources, and Environment, DAFNAE University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Alessandra Tondello
- Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources, and Environment, DAFNAE University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Piergiorgio Stevanato
- Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources, and Environment, DAFNAE University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Andrea Squartini
- Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources, and Environment, DAFNAE University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy
| | - Paula García-Fraile
- Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Biology Departmental Building, University of Salamanca, 37007, Salamanca, Spain
- Institute for Agribiotechnology Research (CIALE), 37185, Salamanca, Spain
- Associated Unit, University of Salamanca-CSIC (IRNASA), 37008, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Raúl Rivas
- Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Biology Departmental Building, University of Salamanca, 37007, Salamanca, Spain
- Institute for Agribiotechnology Research (CIALE), 37185, Salamanca, Spain
- Associated Unit, University of Salamanca-CSIC (IRNASA), 37008, Salamanca, Spain
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Kalpana K, Yap S, Tsuji M, Kawamura A. Molecular Mechanism behind the Safe Immunostimulatory Effect of Withania somnifera. Biomolecules 2023; 13:biom13050828. [PMID: 37238698 DOI: 10.3390/biom13050828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (family Solanaceae) is a medicinal plant known for, among many pharmacological properties, an immune boosting effect. Our recent study revealed that its key immunostimulatory factor is lipopolysaccharide of plant-associated bacteria. This is peculiar, because, although LPS can elicit protective immunity, it is an extremely potent pro-inflammatory toxin (endotoxin). However, W. somnifera is not associated with such toxicity. In fact, despite the presence of LPS, it does not trigger massive inflammatory responses in macrophages. To gain insights into the safe immunostimulatory effect of W. somnifera, we conducted a mechanistic study on its major phytochemical constituent, withaferin A, which is known for anti-inflammatory activity. Endotoxin-triggered immunological responses in the presence and absence of withaferin A were characterized by both in vitro macrophage-based assay and in vivo cytokine profiling in mice. Collectively, our results demonstrate that withaferin A selectively attenuates the pro-inflammatory signaling triggered by endotoxin without impairing other immunological pathways. This finding provides a new conceptual framework to understand the safe immune-boosting effect of W. somnifera and possibly other medicinal plants. Furthermore, the finding opens a new opportunity to facilitate the development of safe immunotherapeutic agents, such as vaccine adjuvants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kriti Kalpana
- Biochemistry Ph.D. Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Shen Yap
- Department of Chemistry, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Moriya Tsuji
- Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Akira Kawamura
- Biochemistry Ph.D. Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Chemistry Ph.D. Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY 10016, USA
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Koehler H, Puchalski K, Ruiz G, Jacobs B, Langland J. The Role of Endophytic/Epiphytic Bacterial Constituents in the Immunostimulatory Activity of the Botanical, Astragalus membranaceus. THE YALE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2020; 93:239-250. [PMID: 32607085 PMCID: PMC7309664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Astragalus membranaceus is a staple of Traditional Chinese Medicine being one of the oldest medicinal herbs listed in the material medica of Chinese herbal medicine. Chinese herbalists have used Astragalus to help the human body fight a variety of diseases. Modern herbalists utilize Astragalus primarily as an immunostimulant to prevent common infection and aid in the recovery following infection. Historically, the biological activities associated with Astragalus have been accounted for, at least in part, to several constituents present in the botanical including saponins and polysaccharides. We propose that in addition to these constituents, compounds from endophytic (or epiphytic) bacteria present in (or on) the roots of Astragalus may have an important biological role. Lipopolysaccharides and lipoproteins are major components of Gram-negative bacteria and highly potent activators of the innate immune response. Our data supports a direct correlation between the level of immune gene induction and the level of lipopolysaccharides/lipoproteins present in the Astragalus extract. We demonstrate that extracts from Astragalus specifically activate Toll-like and NOD-like receptors involved in the recognition and response to bacterial constituents and that removal of the lipopolysaccharide/lipoprotein from the Astragalus extract reduced the level of this response. The results support that many immune enhancing botanicals have established a symbiotic relationship with Gram-negative bacteria and that the immune enhancing effect of these botanical extracts on the body may not only be due to endogenous plant compounds, but endophytic (or epiphytic) bacterial components as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Koehler
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Keely Puchalski
- Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, The Ric Scalzo Institute for Botanical Research, Tempe, AZ
| | - Guillermo Ruiz
- Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, The Ric Scalzo Institute for Botanical Research, Tempe, AZ
| | - Bertram Jacobs
- Arizona State University, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, AZ
| | - Jeffrey Langland
- Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, The Ric Scalzo Institute for Botanical Research, Tempe, AZ,Arizona State University, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, AZ,To whom all correspondence should be addressed: Jeffrey Langland, Ric Scalzo Institute for Botanical Research, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, Tempe, AZ; ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3653-8844;
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Kalpana K, Yap S, Iyengar R, Tsuji M, Kawamura A. Cell-line-based assay for the toxicity/benefit analysis of lipopolysaccharides in plants. Chem Biol Drug Des 2019; 95:311-315. [PMID: 31733132 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Revised: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
There are many immune-boosting medicinal plants that can potently activate innate immune cells. Recent studies indicate that the active factors of some immune-boosting plants are lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) of plant-associated bacteria. However, little is currently known about the potential risk and benefit of LPSs in medicinal plants. To facilitate their characterization, we established a simple cell-line-based assay that can be used to screen the toxicity and benefit of LPSs in medicinal plants. The assay can distinguish endotoxic diphosphoryl lipid A (DPL) from beneficial monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), which is a clinically used immunological adjuvant for vaccines. The established assay was used to characterize commercial supplements of Ashwagandha, which was shown to contain immunostimulatory LPSs. The study revealed that Ashwagandha activates macrophages in a manner similar to MPL. The current finding underscores the importance of further studies to characterize the LPSs in immune-boosting medicinal plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kriti Kalpana
- Department of Chemistry, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY, USA.,Biochemistry Ph.D. Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY, USA
| | - Shen Yap
- Department of Chemistry, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY, USA
| | - Revathi Iyengar
- Science Department, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, New York, NY, USA
| | - Moriya Tsuji
- HIV and Malaria Vaccine Program, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Affiliate of The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Akira Kawamura
- Department of Chemistry, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY, USA.,Biochemistry Ph.D. Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY, USA.,Chemistry Ph.D. Program, The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY, USA
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