scholarly journals Engineering the microbiome for animal health and conservation

2019 ◽  
Vol 244 (6) ◽  
pp. 494-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Se Jin Song ◽  
Douglas C Woodhams ◽  
Cameron Martino ◽  
Celeste Allaband ◽  
Andre Mu ◽  
...  

Interest in animal microbiomes as therapeutics is rapidly expanding, as techniques to study the microbial world decrease in cost and increase in accessibility and case studies from human medicine receive widespread attention. In this review, we summarize the current state of techniques to modify the microbiome to improve animal health, focusing on applications in domestic pets, farm animals, and in wild settings for conservation. We discuss options for modifying the microbiome, including community-wide changes such as fecal microbiota transplants, prebiotics, probiotics, and antibiotics, and more targeted approaches such as phage therapy and CRISPR-Cas. We conclude that although much remains to be done in untangling the basic biology of microbiome-directed therapies in animals, the rapid progress currently being made in human medicine and the examples to date of application of probiotics and other microbiome-directed therapies in taxa ranging from horses to salamanders to bees suggest excellent prospects for these technologies as they are further developed and as data on both the benefits and risks are carefully and systematically collected. Impact statement Considering the clear effects of microbiota on important aspects of animal biology and development (including in humans), this topic is timely and broadly appealing, as it compels us to consider the possibilities of altering the microbiome (without antibiotics) to positively affect animal health. In this review, we highlight three general approaches to manipulating the microbiome that have demonstrated success and promise for use in animal health. We also point out knowledge gaps where further inquiry would most benefit the field. Our paper not only provides a short and digestible overview of the current state of application, but also calls for further exploration of the microbial diversity at hand to expand our toolkit, while also leveraging the diversity and flexibility of animal systems to better understand mechanisms of efficacy.

Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 999
Author(s):  
Aa Haeruman Azam ◽  
Xin-Ee Tan ◽  
Srivani Veeranarayanan ◽  
Kotaro Kiga ◽  
Longzhu Cui

The bacteriophage (or phage for short) has been used as an antibacterial agent for over a century but was abandoned in most countries after the discovery and broad use of antibiotics. The worldwide emergence and high prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria have led to a revival of interest in the long-forgotten antibacterial therapy with phages (phage therapy) as an alternative approach to combatting AMR bacteria. The rapid progress recently made in molecular biology and genetic engineering has accelerated the generation of phage-related products with superior therapeutic potentials against bacterial infection. Nowadays, phage-based technology has been developed for many purposes, including those beyond the framework of antibacterial treatment, such as to suppress viruses by phages, gene therapy, vaccine development, etc. Here, we highlighted the current progress in phage engineering technology and its application in modern medicine.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Siyu Chen ◽  
Shuyan Luo ◽  
Chao Yan

In the past few decades, farm animal health and welfare have been paid increasing concern worldwide. Farm animal health and welfare are generally assessed by the measurements of physical health, immune response, behavior, and physiological indicators. The gut microbiota has been reported to have a great influence on host phenotypes, possibly via the immune processes, neural functions, and endocrine pathways, thereby influencing host phenotypes. However, there are few reviews regarding farm animals’ health and welfare status concerning the gut microbiota. In this point of view, (1) we reviewed recent studies showing that gut microbiota (higher alpha diversity, beneficial composition, and positive functions) effectively influenced health characteristics, immunity, behaviors, and stress response in farm animals (such as pigs, chickens, and cows), which would provide a novel approach to measure and evaluate the health status and welfare of farm animals. In addition, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as one of the methods can modulate the recipient individual’s gut microbiota to realize the expected phenotype. Further, (2) we highlighted the application of FMT on the improvement of the production performance, the reduction in disease and abnormal behavior, as well as the attenuation of stress in farm animals. It is concluded that the gut microbiota can be scientifically used to assess and improve the welfare of farm animals. Moreover, FMT may be a helpful strategy to reduce abnormal behavior and improve stress adaption, as well as the treatment of disease for farm animals. This review suggests that gut microbiota is a promising field to evaluate and improve animal welfare.


Author(s):  
Ramjee Prasad ◽  
Purva Choudhary

Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a technology has existed for less than a century. In spite of this, it has managed to achieve great strides. The rapid progress made in this field has aroused the curiosity of many technologists around the globe and many companies across various domains are curious to explore its potential. For a field that has achieved so much in such a short duration, it is imperative that people who aim to work in Artificial Intelligence, study its origins, recent developments, and future possibilities of expansion to gain a better insight into the field. This paper encapsulates the notable progress made in Artificial Intelligence starting from its conceptualization to its current state and future possibilities, in various fields. It covers concepts like a Turing machine, Turing test, historical developments in Artificial Intelligence, expert systems, big data, robotics, current developments in Artificial Intelligence across various fields, and future possibilities of exploration.


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Kacper Libera ◽  
Kacper Konieczny ◽  
Julia Grabska ◽  
Wiktoria Szopka ◽  
Agata Augustyniak ◽  
...  

The aim of this paper is to review the most significant livestock-associated zoonoses. Human and animal health are intimately connected. This idea has been known for more than a century but now it has gained special importance because of the increasing threat from zoonoses. Zoonosis is defined as any infection naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. As the frequency and prevalence of zoonotic diseases increase worldwide, they become a real threat to public health. In addition, many of the newly discovered diseases have a zoonotic origin. Due to globalization and urbanization, some of these diseases have already spread all over the world, caused by the international flow of goods, people, and animals. However, special attention should be paid to farm animals since, apart from the direct contact, humans consume their products, such as meat, eggs, and milk. Therefore, zoonoses such as salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, tuberculosis, swine and avian influenza, Q fever, brucellosis, STEC infections, and listeriosis are crucial for both veterinary and human medicine. Consequently, in the suspicion of any zoonoses outbreak, the medical and veterinary services should closely cooperate to protect the public health.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-245
Author(s):  
Cahit Kahraman ◽  
İlhan Güneş ◽  
Nanae Kahraman

1989 göçü öncesi, dünyada eşzamanlı olarak gittikçe gelişen ve zenginleşen mutfak kültürü, Bulgaristan Türklerini de etkilemiştir. Pazardaki çeşitlilik arttıkça, yemek alışkanlıkları da değişime uğramıştır. Büyük göçten sadece 30-40 sene evvel kısıtlı imkânlar ile sınırlı sayıda yemek çeşidi üretilirken, alım gücünün artmasıyla yemek kültüründe de hızlı gelişmeler olmuştur. Artan ürün çeşitliliği yemeklere de yansımış, farklı lezzetler mutfaklara girmiştir. Göçmen yemekleri denilince hamur işleri, börek ve pideler akla gelir. Ayrıca, göçmenlerin çok zengin turşu, komposto ve konserve kültürüne sahip oldukları da bilinir. Bu çalışma, 1989 öncesi Bulgaristan’ın farklı bölgelerinde yaşayan Türklerin yemek alışkanlıklarına ışık tutmakla birlikte, göç sonrasında göçmen mutfak kültüründe bir değişiklik oluşup oluşmadığını konu almaktadır. Bu amaçla, 1989 yılında Türkiye’ye göç etmiş 50 kişiye 8 sorudan oluşan anket düzenlenmiştir. Bu verilerden yola çıkarak oluşan bulgular derlenmiş ve yeni tespitler yapılmıştır. Ayrıca, Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerine yerleşen göçmenler, kendi göçmen pazarlarını kurmuşlardır. Bulgaristan’dan getirilen ürünlerin bu pazarlarda satılması böyle bir arz talebin hala devam ettiğine işaret etmektedir.ABSTRACT IN ENGLISHThe Diversity in Cuisine Culture of the Immigrants from Bulgaria After 1989 MigrationThe Cuisine culture that has been developing and getting rich day by day contemporaneously in the world before 1989 migration has also had an impact on Bulgarian Turks. By the increase in diversity in the market, eating habits have changed. While producing a limited number of food types with limited opportunities just some 30 or 40 years before the ‘Big Migration’, there has been a rapid progress in food culture by the help of the increase in purchase power. Enhancing product range has been reflected in food, and different tastes have entered the cuisines. When we say immigrant, the first things that come to our mind are pastry, flan and pitta bread. Moreover, it is also known that immigrants have a very rich cuisine culture of pickle, stewed fruit, and canned food. This study aims both to disclose the eating habits of Turks living in different regions of Bulgaria before 1989 and to determine whether there has been a difference in immigrant cuisine culture before and after the migration. For this purpose, a questionnaire consisting of 8 questions has been administered to 50 people who migrated to Turkey in 1989. The results gathered from these data have been compiled and new determinations have been made. In addition, immigrants that settled in different regions of Turkey have set their own immigrant markets. The fact that the products brought from Bulgaria are being sold in these markets shows that this kind of supply and demand still continues.


1983 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-61
Author(s):  
Shahrukh Rafi Khan

The book under review is a compilation of the author's articles and lectures that highlight the prominent developments in the literature on the subject of Islamic banking and inform the reader of the current state of debate on it. One of the earliest and main contributors to this topic is the author himself. The focus of this review will mainly be on "Economics of Profit-Sharing", which is the title of the fourth chapter of the book and is among his latest contributions. This chapter is a significant contribution as it is the first attempt to formalise the concept of profit sharing into an analytical model and, therefore, demands closer scrutiny. However, in the remaining chapters of the book, the author has drawn attention to some of the fine points made in the literature on this topic. Since some of these points appear to be controversial to me, I will briefly discuss them before moving on to the analytical chapter of the book.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (40) ◽  
pp. 4825-4837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Alberto de la Riva ◽  
Francisco Javier López Mendoza ◽  
Guillermin Agüero-Chapin

Background: Oxygen is involved in a variety of physiological reactions in aerobic organisms, such as those produced in the electron transport chain, hydroxylation, and oxygenation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are naturally formed as byproducts from these previously reactions involving the O2 molecule; they are made up of superoxide anion (O2−), hydroxyl radical (HO−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO), peroxyl (ROO−), and reactive aldehyde (ROCH). Under certain environmental stress conditions, ROS are accumulated causing cellular damage but also triggering the overexpression of several enzyme classes such as superoxide dismutases (SOD), catalases (CAT) and glutathione peroxidases (GPx), which represent an important intrinsic antioxidant defence line. Liver is a key organ in vertebrates including farm animals and human. The oxidative stress plays an important role in systemic malfunctions including hepatic, renal and immunological, disorders. Methods: This review presents a brief update about the relationship of oxidative stress with hepatic, renal and immunological malfunctions in stressed organisms. Cellular and exogenous hepatoprotective compounds share also the ability to scavenge ROS acting as antioxidants and in many cases as stimulators of immune response in stressed organisms. We present the effect of some hepatoprotectors on the hepatic, renal and immunological function in stressed mice by the jointed evaluation of biological and oxidative stress markers. Conclusion: Hepatoprotective effect of several exogenous compounds is very associated with their antioxidant capacity. This fact is relevant for keeping oxidant/antioxidant balance in the respective organs, but also for maintaining the physiological status of the whole organism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus M. Heimesaat ◽  
Katharina Mrazek ◽  
Stefan Bereswill

AbstractConventional mice are protected from Campylobacter jejuni infection by the murine host-specific gut microbiota composition. We here addressed whether peroral fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) might be an antibiotics-independent option to lower even high gastrointestinal C. jejuni loads in the infected vertebrate host. To address this, secondary abiotic mice were generated by broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment and perorally infected with C. jejuni by gavage. One week later, mice were stably colonized with more than 109 C. jejuni and subjected to peroral FMT from murine donors on three consecutive days. Two weeks post-intervention, gastrointestinal C. jejuni loads were up to 7.5 orders of magnitude lower following murine FMT versus mock challenge. Remarkably, FMT reversed C. jejuni induced colonic epithelial apoptosis, but enhanced proliferative and regenerative responses in the colon thereby counteracting pathogenic cell damage. Furthermore, FMT dampened both, innate and adaptive immune cell responses in the large intestines upon C. jejuni infection that were accompanied by less C. jejuni-induced colonic nitric oxide secretion. Our study provides strong evidence that novel probiotic formulations developed as alternative option to FMT in severe intestinal inflammatory morbidities including Clostridoides difficile infection might be effective to treat campylobacteriosis and lower pathogen loads in colonized vertebrates including farm animals.


1988 ◽  
Vol 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M Thackeray

AbstractConsiderable efforts are in progress to develop rechargeable batteries as alternative systems to the nickel-cadmium battery. In this regard, several advances have been made in ambient-temperature lithium battery technology, and specifically in the engineering of rechargeable lithium/manganese dioxide cells. This paper reviews the current state of the art in rechargeable Li/MnO2battery technology; particular attention is paid to the structural features of various MnO2electrode materials which influence their electrochemical and cycling behaviour in lithium cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Parul Singh ◽  
Syed Azmal Ali

Humans are sorely over-dependent on livestock for their daily basic need of food in the form of meat, milk, and eggs. Therefore, genetic engineering and transgenesis provide the opportunity for more significant gains and production in a short span of time. One of the best strategies is the genetic alteration of livestock to enhance the efficiency of food production (e.g., meat and milk), animal health, and welfare (animal population and disease). Moreover, genome engineering in the bovine is majorly focused on subjects such as disease resistance (e.g., tuberculosis), eradicate allergens (e.g., beta-lactoglobulin knock-out), products generation (e.g., meat from male and milk from female), male or female birth specifically (animal sexing), the introduction of valuable traits (e.g., stress tolerance and disease resistance) and their wellbeing (e.g., hornlessness). This review addressed the impressive genome engineering method CRISPR, its fundamental principle for generating highly efficient target-specific guide RNA, and the accompanying web-based tools. However, we have covered the remarkable roadmap of the CRISPR method from its conception to its use in cattle. Additionally, we have updated the comprehensive information on CRISPR-based gene editing in cattle.


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