Search Results (618)

Melioidosis, caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a severe infectious disease with high mortality. Diagnostic delays due to conventional culture and serology limitations impact patient outcomes. This narrative review synthesizes evidence on next-generation sequencing (NGS) in melioidosis. NGS technologies encompass two main applications: metagenomic NGS (mNGS), which enables culture-independent detection directly from clinical samples, and whole-genome sequencing (WGS), which provides outbreak tracing and source attribution from cultured isolates. Resistance profiling detects antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants (e.g., penA mutations) to guide therapy. Recent 2025–2026 studies highlight new applications, including direct pathogen genome recovery from environmental samples. Despite cost and standardization challenges, integrating NGS into clinical workflows holds promise for improving melioidosis management, especially in resource-limited settings. Full article

Liupao tea (LPT), one of China’s representative fermented dark teas, develops its unique “red, heavy, aged, and mellow” flavor characteristics. This review provides a comprehensive update on LPT aroma, integrating analyses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), associated microorganisms, odor-active compounds (OACs), and metabolic pathways of key odor-active compounds (KOACs). With over 2000 VOCs documented, predominated by alcohols (368), hydrocarbons (357), and ketones (351), the total for LPT substantially exceeds the approximately 1000 compounds typically reported for other dark teas. By combining sensory evaluation with techniques such as gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC-O) and odor activity value (OAV), KOACs, predominantly comprising alcohols, aldehydes, and methoxybenzene derivatives, were identified as key contributors to the floral, fruity, aged, stale and other notes that define LPT’s characteristic aroma. The formation of the aroma compounds is closely linked to microbial metabolism and the enzymatic activities generated by microorganisms. Fungi, including Aspergillus, Rhodotorula, Geosmithia, Wallemia, Penicillium, Blastobotrys, Fusarium, and Xeromyces, and bacteria, including Burkholderia, Ralstonia, and Achromobacter, serve as the primary functional microorganisms driving fermentation and aging. This review provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the chemical and microbial complexity of LPT aroma. Full article

Background: Catheter-related bloodstream infections are common in patients receiving hemodialysis through a central venous catheter. Taurolidine, a novel broad-spectrum antimicrobial catheter lock solution, is FDA-approved in combination with heparin for reducing the incidence of such infections. Methods: In vitro activity of taurolidine was assessed against 442 bacterial and 50 yeast clinical bloodstream infection isolates selected from the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program and tested according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute methodology. Multidrug-resistant species and phenotypes were included. Results: Taurolidine was highly active against all isolates, with MIC₅₀/MIC₉₀ values of ≤1024/1024 μg/mL for most species. The highest MICs observed were among isolates of Mycobacterium avium complex and Burkholderia cepacia complex (MIC₉₀, 2048 μg/mL) and Candida albicans (MIC₉₀, 4096 μg/mL). All isolates were inhibited by 13,500 μg/mL of taurolidine, the concentration of the commercially available product. Conclusions: Taurolidine activity was very similar among Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and yeast clinical isolates, with the activity of taurolidine being unaffected by phenotypic resistance to other antimicrobials. Taken together with clinical efficacy data from clinical trials, this provides a theoretical basis for the idea that taurolidine-based lock solutions may be able to reduce the risk of catheter-related bloodstream infections from a wide variety of pathogens and resistance phenotypes. Full article

Background/Objectives: Melioidosis is an environmentally acquired infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei (B. pseudomallei). Although historically framed as a tropical disease, evidence indicates that recognized risk can extend beyond classical endemic regions. This narrative review synthesized Digital Object Identifier (DOI)-verified evidence on environmental persistence, climate-sensitive risk, geographic emergence, and One Health preparedness. Methods: Structured narrative searches of PubMed/Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC), Crossref, and publisher records were conducted for literature available up to 19 June 2026. Forty-four DOI-verified sources were retained. Evidence categories were derived inductively by inferential function during thematic synthesis and used as a qualitative interpretive framework, not as a validated quantitative risk score. Results: B. pseudomallei persists in soil and water, survives nutrient limitation, and clusters in environmental microfoci, but the interpretive value of detection depends on viability, exposure context, and diagnostic endpoint. Rainfall, humidity, flooding, and cyclones are associated with incidence, severity, or mobilization in several settings, supporting climate-sensitive risk rather than uniform geographic spread. Case-based evidence is strongest when it separates importation, local acquisition, environmental establishment, source attribution, and animal sentinel signals. Human risk depends on exposure route, host susceptibility, diagnostic recognition, and access to prolonged antimicrobial management, whereas animal evidence is best interpreted as sentinel or common-exposure evidence unless reservoir or direct-transmission data are available. Conclusions: Melioidosis beyond the tropics requires graded evidence interpretation because environmental detection, modeled suitability, animal signals, and human cases support different levels of geographic and One Health inference; this approach links early signals to surveillance while reserving higher-confidence claims for convergent evidence. Full article

Melioidosis is rarely reported from Bali, Indonesia. This study aimed to determine whether Burkholderia pseudomallei was being misidentified. One hundred isolates that had been previously otherwise identified were screened using PCR targeting two specific genes and sequencing. Five were confirmed as B. pseudomallei and had been misidentified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Full article

The transition toward sustainable biorefinery processes requires efficient strategies for lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction and valorization. In this study, an integrated enzymatic system combining fungal holocellulases and laccases with a bacterial galactolipase was developed and evaluated. The consortium, composed of Trametes hirsuta GMA-01, Mycothermus thermophilus CBS 619.91, and Burkholderia lata BL02, was produced using agro-industrial substrates and applied to the hydrolysis of different lignocellulosic biomasses. The incorporation of galactolipase activity enhanced the saccharification yields for leaf-derived substrates, reaching up to 292.0 mg/g for spinach leaves and 236.0 mg/g for corn straw, compared to fungal systems alone. This effect is associated with the selective hydrolysis of membrane-associated galactolipids, improving substrate accessibility to holocellulolytic enzymes. Proteomic analysis confirmed the partial identification of the BL02 enzyme as an ester hydrolase, while structural modeling based on homologous Burkholderia lipases provided preliminary insights into features that may be compatible with the accommodation of bulky polar substrates. In addition, the enzyme catalyzed the synthesis of sugar fatty acid esters with conversion yields above 50% for glucose and xylose in binary solvent systems. These findings support the role of galactolipases as accessory enzymes and highlight their potential application in integrated and sustainable biorefinery processes. Full article

Burkholderia gladioli pv. cocovenenans (B. gladioli pv. cocovenenans), the most representative pathovar of B. gladioli, is capable of producing thermostable and highly virulent bongkrekic acid, which can result in multiple organ failure and an extremely high case fatality rate in humans. This research aims to mine specific targets for B. gladioli pv. cocovenenans and develop a rapid and accurate assay for the detection of B. gladioli pv. cocovenenans in food. Two novel specific target genes (group_0918 and group_0110) were successfully screened through pan-genome analysis, and the excellent specificity and sensitivity of both targets were verified in comparison to PCR assays. Based on these targets, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method was developed to specifically identify B. gladioli pv. cocovenenans. In pure culture and spiked fresh black fungus samples, the LAMP assay achieved a limit of detection (LOD) of 4.1 × 10¹ CFU/mL and 4.1 × 10² CFU/g for the detection of B. gladioli pv. cocovenenans, respectively. To enable point of care testing, a LAMP-based lateral flow dipstick(LFD) assay was established with a detection sensitivity of 4.1 × 10³ CFU/g in fresh black fungus. Tests on naturally infected food samples demonstrated that the developed LAMP and LAMP-assisted visual detection assays can serve as an effective alternative for the accurate identification of B. gladioli pv. cocovenenans. The novel molecular detection technology established in this study offers an efficient and reliable detection method for the prevention and control of B. gladioli pv. cocovenenans contamination in food, which holds significant application value and promotion prospects. Full article

Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease affecting approximately 40% of U.S. adults aged 30 years and older, is characterized by dysbiosis of the dental plaque microbiome. However, although scaling and root planing (SRP) is the cornerstone of periodontal treatment, its effects on the taxonomic composition and functional potential of the dental plaque microbiome remain incompletely understood. In this study, we used whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing to characterize taxonomic composition and functional potential in dental plaque microbiomes collected from 39 patients with Stage II or III generalized periodontitis before and 3–4 months after SRP. Consistent with clinical improvement, periodontal therapy significantly reduced probing depth, clinical attachment level, bleeding on probing, and plaque index. Whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing identified 3.18 million non-redundant genes and 12,353 microbial species across 78 samples, revealing increased gene and species richness after treatment, along with a significant restructuring of the microbial community. Established periodontal pathogens, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, as well as the emerging pathogens Escherichia coli and Burkholderia multivorans, decreased following treatment. Tannerella forsythia also showed a marked reduction after treatment, although this decrease was not significant after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. In contrast, health-associated early colonizers, including multiple Actinomyces species and Streptococcus cristatus, increased. Functional annotation using the Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes (CAZy) database identified significant treatment-associated differences in carbohydrate-active enzymes, including multiple glycosyltransferases, indicating remodeling of the predicted functional potential of the dental plaque microbiome. These findings demonstrate that successful SRP promotes coordinated taxonomic and predicted functional remodeling of the dental plaque microbiome and highlight the value of shotgun metagenomic sequencing for characterizing both taxonomic and functional recovery following periodontal therapy. Full article

Polygonatum kingianum Coll. (PKC) is a valuable medicinal herb native to Yunnan, China, but its yield and quality are severely threatened by root rot. To elucidate the rhizosphere microbial dynamics associated with this disease and to identify location-transcending patterns, we collected rhizosphere soils from healthy and diseased PKC plants at three planting bases in Lincang, Qujing, and Kunming. Soil properties were measured, and bacterial (16S rRNA) and fungal (ITS) communities were characterized by amplicon sequencing. Geographic origin emerged as the dominant factor associated with microbial community structure, with soil moisture, organic matter, and nutrients all showing significant associations. The effect of disease on microbial diversity was site-specific. Nevertheless, LEfSe analysis identified cross-location-consistent indicator genera: Acidiferrimicrobium and HSB_OF53_F07 were enriched in healthy soils, while Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia and Rhodanobacter were enriched in diseased samples. At the trophic mode level, a consistent pattern was observed: diseased rhizosphere soils had higher relative abundance of pathotrophic fungi and lower abundance of symbiotrophic fungi compared to healthy soils. However, at the finer guild level, no individual guild showed statistically significant differences after FDR correction. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed a striking structural reorganization: healthy plants harbored a fungus-dominated network (57.04% fungi), whereas diseased plants shifted to a bacterium-dominated network (55.71% bacteria), accompanied by an increased proportion of negative correlations. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and Mantel tests further confirmed that soil physicochemical properties, rather than health status, were the primary factors associated with microbial community variation (Mantel’s r = 0.725 for bacteria, 0.768 for fungi). Collectively, this study provides the first systematic evidence of cross-location common microbial shifts and network reorganization associated with PKC root rot. These findings offer a microecological basis for developing green prevention and control strategies against this devastating disease. Full article

Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health threat that requires the discovery of new antimicrobial agents. Environmental microbiomes from understudied regions represent a valuable source of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) candidates. This study aimed to identify and prioritize AMP candidates from South American genomic and metagenomic datasets and to investigate the antimicrobial potential of bioactive secretomes obtained through bacterial co-culture. Methods: A total of 853 genomes and 360 metagenomes were analyzed using a reproducible genome- and metagenome-mining pipeline combined with machine learning-based AMP prediction. Predicted AMP candidates were further characterized using complementary bioinformatic tools to assess physicochemical, structural, hemolytic, toxicological, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. Selected environmental isolates were subjected to bacterial co-culture, followed by SPE-C18 and HPLC fractionation. Antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity, hemolysis, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and LC-MS/MS peptidomic analyses were performed on bioactive secretome fractions. Results: Genome and metagenome mining identified diverse AMP candidate sequences associated with bacterial genera including Streptomyces, Bacillus, Burkholderia, and Shewanella. Structural predictions revealed a predominance of α-helical conformations among prioritized candidates. Several secretome fractions obtained from co-cultures displayed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Active fractions showed no detectable hemolytic activity and exhibited antioxidant activity in DPPH assays. MIC analyses indicated broad-spectrum activity against Escherichia coli ATCC 11229, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Klebsiella pneumoniae, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, and MRSA, with an apparent MIC of 10,000 mg/L. LC-MS/MS analysis of bioactive fractions identified peptide sequences by de novo sequencing, including KTESHHK, KRVGPRR, GLFPRLGVSPR, and HHAEHLVHFR. Conclusions: Integrated genome mining, bacterial co-culture activation, and peptidomic analyses provide a useful framework for prioritizing antimicrobial peptide candidates from environmental microbiomes. The identification of peptide-containing bioactive fractions with antimicrobial and antioxidant activities highlights the potential of South American bacterial resources for the discovery of novel antimicrobial compounds. Further purification, peptide synthesis, and biological validation will be required to determine the contribution of individual peptides to the observed activities. Full article

Soil acidification is a major environmental issue facing tea plantations in China. However, the molecular mechanisms by which acidification affects tea plant growth through rhizosphere microbial functional proteins remain unclear. In this study, tea plantation soils with different pH gradients were selected. Tea plant growth indicators, soil available nutrient contents, microbial abundance, and microbial physiological indicators were comprehensively measured, and metaproteomics was employed to analyze soil protein composition, functions, and microbial origins. The results showed that as soil pH increased from 3.54 to 5.37, the leaf chlorophyll content, leaf area, hundred-bud weight, and yield of tea plants were all significantly increased (p < 0.05). Soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents, as well as microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, also significantly increased in parallel. The abundances of bacteria and actinomycetes increased with rising pH, whereas fungal abundance decreased. A total of 6558 soil proteins were identified by metaproteomics, among which 236 were characterized as signature proteins (VIP > 1). Functional enrichment analysis revealed that proteins significantly upregulated with increasing pH were mainly enriched in pathways such as cysteine and methionine metabolism, galactose metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism, with sulfur-containing amino acid metabolism contributing as much as 88.31%. Microbial source tracking indicated that Bacillus and Burkholderia were the primary contributors to these signature proteins; their abundances were significantly higher in the pH 5.37 treatment than in the low-pH treatment, with contribution rates of 100% and 43.73%, respectively. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) further revealed that signature microorganisms sequentially promoted microbial physiological indicators, nutrient availability, and tea plant growth by positively influencing the abundance and function of signature proteins. In conclusion, increasing soil pH to 5.37 can enhance the nutrient cycling capacity in the rhizosphere and increase tea yield. This phenomenon is closely related to the increase in the number of Bacillus and Burkholderia species, as well as the enhancement of key pathways such as sulfur-containing amino acid metabolism. This study provides molecular targets and a theoretical basis for the ecological remediation of acidified tea plantation soils. Full article

Daily chemical products (DCPs), including cosmetics and cleaning products, are widely used in everyday life but are vulnerable to microbial contamination during production, storage, and use. Such contamination can cause product spoilage, reduce product quality, and pose potential health risks to consumers. In this study, we performed a comprehensive surveillance of spoilage microorganisms isolated from 185 abnormal DCPs batches collected from 2019 to 2021, followed by phenotypic identification, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), phylogenetic analysis, and preservative susceptibility testing. A total of 1655 microbial isolates were recovered from raw materials, the production environment, and finished products. The most prevalent contaminants in finished products were Burkholderia spp. and Pseudomonas spp., and correlation analysis suggested that raw materials were a major reservoir of contamination. Species-level identification showed that the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the dominant spoilage bacteria. MLST analysis of 41 Bcc isolates identified 15 sequence types (STs), including six novel STs, while 23 P. aeruginosa isolates were assigned to nine STs. Among these, Bcc ST621 and P. aeruginosa ST2230 were the most frequently detected lineages. Preservative challenge assays showed that several Bcc and P. aeruginosa isolates exhibited tolerance to Kathon at or above the maximum permitted concentration. These findings indicate that raw materials are an important source of microbial contamination in DCPs and that Bcc and P. aeruginosa lineages with elevated preservative tolerance may contribute to product spoilage. Our results support the inclusion of Bcc in routine microbial monitoring of DCPs and highlight the need for improved raw material control and preservative efficacy evaluation. Full article

Background: Melioidosis correlates strongly with rainfall, and there is substantial diversity in climate between melioidosis-endemic locations. The Northern Territory of Australia epitomises the “wet/dry” tropics, with a prolonged dry season from May to October. We analysed dry season cases of melioidosis during 35 consecutive years and compared these with wet season cases. We aimed to provide insights into how dry season cases of melioidosis may occur in this region and explore non-rainfall exposures that are usually not considered in the wet season. Methods: Case epidemiological and clinical data were extracted from the Darwin Prospective Melioidosis Study. Weather parameters, including daily rainfall, were analysed using generalised additive models and conditional logistic regressions to assess associations between dry season cases and preceding rainfall. Results: Of 1520 melioidosis cases between 1989 and 2024, there were 325 (21%) in the dry season. While the well-recognised clinical diversity of melioidosis was also seen amongst dry season cases, pneumonia was proportionally less common and cutaneous melioidosis was more common than in the wet season. A total of 23% of dry season patients had no identified clinical risk factors for melioidosis, compared to 14% in the wet season. Mortality was 8% in the dry season and 11% in the wet season. There was a range of plausible explanations for many of the dry season cases, including unseasonal rainfall prior to infection. Infections in urban settings were notable, with anthropogenic factors such as irrigation and construction resulting in persistence of Burkholderia pseudomallei in the environment during the dry season. A total of 3% of cases remained unexplained. Conclusions: Not all dry season cases are explained by infection occurring the previous wet season or by unseasonal rainfall in the dry. Identification of cases in the dry season support the need for year-round prevention strategies during potential exposure to contaminated water or soil. Further prospective studies are needed to better define the infecting events resulting in melioidosis, especially in the dry season. These studies should include timely history taking from the case and their family and selected environmental sampling for B. pseudomallei. Full article

Sugarcane smut is a fungal disease caused by Sporisorium scitamineum. To explore its biological control strategies, this study collected rhizosphere soil of sugarcane, isolated and identified biocontrol bacteria from it, and conducted multi-level control efficacy evaluations. The results showed that five bacterial strains with effective antagonistic activity against the sexual mating and teliospore germination of S. scitamineum were isolated and identified: 2143-2 (Pseudomonas baetica), 2143-4 (Bacillus subtilis), 2143-6 (Burkholderia diffusa), Y8-2 (Pseudomonas reinekei), and Y8-3 (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens). The results of the pot inoculation experiments showed that all five strains could prolong the incubation period of sugarcane smut and significantly reduce the disease incidence, demonstrating marked control effects, with strains 2143-4 and Y8-2 being the most effective. The results of the field inoculation experiments and natural field infection experiments indicated that strain Y8-2 exhibited the best biocontrol efficacy against sugarcane smut, with control efficacies of 68.40% and 73.99% in the field inoculation experiments, and 65.73% under natural field infection conditions. In addition, the biocontrol strains could improve the physiological stress-tolerance characteristics of sugarcane plants, which was conducive to enhancing the resistance of sugarcane plants to sugarcane smut. Full article

The dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in riverine ecosystems poses a pressing public health threat, while the mechanisms governing the assembly of the gut resistome in wild fish remain poorly elucidated. This study aimed to elucidate the distributional patterns of ARGs across multiple environmental compartments and to identify factors associated with their variation, particularly the contributions of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) to gut resistome variation. Metagenomic sequencing was conducted on 60 samples, comprising water, sediment, and gut contents from three wild fish species (Megalobrama terminalis, Aristichthys nobilis, and Coilia nasus) with distinct feeding habits, collected from four reaches of the Qiantang River basin. A total of 305 ARG subtypes belonging to 23 classes were identified. ARG composition differed significantly across environmental media and host species (permutational multivariate analysis of variance, PERMANOVA; p < 0.01), with host species identity as the primary structuring factor. Variance partitioning analysis (VPA) revealed that MGEs independently explained the largest fraction of ARG variation in A. nobilis (33.8%, p = 0.006), whereas MRGs dominated in C. nasus (33.3%, p = 0.005); in M. terminalis, MGEs and MRGs together accounted for 47.9% of the variation. Metagenomic assembly recovered 2622 ARG-carrying contigs, of which 28.3% (743) were predicted as plasmid sequences; physical co-localization among ARGs, MGEs, and MRGs was detected on both chromosomes and plasmids. Metagenomic binning validated the physical co-localization of ARG-MGE-MRG modules in genera such as Morganella and Burkholderia at the genome level, while plasmid-borne high-risk ARGs were identified in Aeromonas. Risk ranking further revealed significant enrichment of Rank II potentially high-risk ARGs (e.g., mcr-7.1, blaZ) in fish guts, carried by potential pathogens. These findings suggest that horizontal gene transfer involving MGEs and co-selection related to MRGs are closely associated with the fish gut resistome composition in a manner dependent on host ecology, providing a scientific basis for shifting riverine resistance management from concentration-based control toward the interruption of dissemination pathways. Full article