Project description:The Ashanti Dwarf Pig (ADP) of Ghana is an endangered pig breed with hardy and disease resistant traits. Characterisation of animal genetic resources provides relevant data for their conservation and sustainable use for food security and economic development. We investigated the origin and phylogenetic status of the local ADP of Ghana and their crosses with modern commercial breeds based on mtDNA, MC1R and Y-chromosome sequence polymorphisms, and genome-wide SNP genotyping. The study involved 164 local pigs sampled from the three agro-ecological zones of Ghana. Analyses of the mitochondrial D-loop region and Y-chromosome sequences revealed that the ADP of Ghana has both European and Asian genetic signatures. The ADP also displays considerable variation in the MC1R gene. Black coat colour is the most predominant within the breed, with the dominant black alleles of both Asian and European origin contributing to the majority of alleles in the pool. European alleles for spotting are present at a low frequency in the sample set, and may account for the occurrence of spotted piglets in some APD litters. Other colour variants may be due to epistatic interactions with additional coat colour loci, or mutations. The wide variations in coat colour patterns suggest that morphology alone cannot be used to adequately characterise Ghanaian local pigs. PCA analysis of SNP genotyping data revealed a strong location effect on clustering of local Ghanaian pigs. Based on this work, we recommend that further studies be carried out on more local pigs to find out the effect of admixture on important adaptive and economic traits of the ADP and other local Sus breeds in Africa to help develop a sustainable conservation programmes to prevent the decline of this genetic resource.
Project description:Increasing importance in the onset and progression from colonic adenomatous polyps (AP) to colorectal cancer (CRC) has been attributed to the gut microbiota and the oncometabolites they may produce. To comprehensively study the microbial spatial variations and role of microbiota in CRC progression, multiple niches from the gastrointestinal system have to be investigated. We collected saliva, tissue and stool samples from 61 patients, including 46 CRC patients and 15 AP patients, well matched in age and sex, who were undergoing surgery in 2018 at the Careggi University Hospital (Florence, Italy). For all samples and locations we surveyed microbial composition through 16S ribosomal RNA and metabolites using NMR, and compared them across tissues and disease state, also considering CRC TNM staging. Our result suggest the importance of microbiota communities and derived oncometabolites in CRC development. Such association can be a forerunner for future studies on CRC/AP management.
Project description:Development of the gut microbiota is greatly impacted in preterm infants. Despite increasing knowledge about microbiota composition in preterm infants, knowledge about the functional signatures of the intestinal microbiota remains limited. The aim was to study transitions in microbiota activity during the first six postnatal weeks in ten preterm infants. A total of 64 stool samples were measured by LC-MS/MS.
Project description:Dysbiotic configurations of the human gut microbiota have been linked with colorectal cancer (CRC). Human small non-coding RNAs are also implicated in CRC and recent findings suggest that their release in the gut lumen contributes to shape the gut microbiota. Bacterial small RNAs (bsRNAs) may also play a role in carcinogenesis but their role is less explored. Here, we performed small RNA and shotgun sequencing on 80 stool specimens of patients with CRC, or adenomas, and healthy subjects collected in a cross-sectional study to evaluate their combined use as a predictive tool for disease detection. We reported a considerable overlap and correlation between metagenomic and bsRNA quantitative taxonomic profiles obtained from the two approaches. Furthermore, we identified a combined predictive signature composed by 32 features from human and microbial small RNAs and DNA-based microbiome able to accurately classify CRC from healthy and adenoma samples (AUC= 0.87). In summary we reported evidence that host-microbiome dysbiosis in CRC can be observed also by altered small RNA stool profiles. Integrated analyses of the microbiome and small RNAs in the human stool may provide insights for designing more accurate tools for diagnostic purposes.
Project description:Up to date, most metaproteomic studies of the gut microbiota describe the use of stool sample pretreatment methods to enrich for microbial components. However, a specific investigation aimed at assessing if, how and to what extent this may impact on the final taxonomic and functional results is still lacking. Here, stool replicates were either pretreated by differential centrifugation (DC) or not centrifuged (NC). Protein extracts were then processed by filter-aided sample preparation, single-run LC and high-resolution MS, and the metaproteomic data were compared by spectral counting. DC led to a higher number of identifications, a significantly richer microbial diversity, as well as to reduced information on the non-microbial components (host and food) when compared to NC. Nevertheless, dramatic differences in the relative abundance of many gut microbial taxa were also observed, including a significant change in the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Furthermore, several microbial functional categories, including cell surface enzymes, membrane-associate proteins, and flagella, were significant reduced after DC. In conclusion, this work underlines that a critical evaluation is needed when selecting the appropriate stool sample processing protocol in the context of a metaproteomic study, depending on the specific target to which the research is aimed.
Project description:Anopheles gambiae S form adults were drawn from the GAH laboratory colony that originated from the Ahafo region in Ghana. The GAH colony exhibits extensive insecticide resistance (bendiocarb, DDT, dieldrin, permethrin, deltamethrin). Gene expression was compared between blood-fed and sugar-fed females (3 hours after feeding) using a custom array focussing on around 300 detoxification-related genes.
Project description:Development of the gut microbiota is greatly impacted in preterm infants. Despite increasing knowledge about microbiota composition in preterm infants, knowledge about the functional signatures of the intestinal microbiota remains limited. The aim was to study transitions in microbiota activity during the first six postnatal weeks in ten preterm infants. A total of 64 stool samples were measured by LC-MS/MS.