• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.747-755
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• 2021

The effects of the gut microbiome on both allergy and autoimmunity in dermatological diseases have been indicated in several recent studies. Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a disease involving allergy and autoimmunity, and there is no report detailing the role of microbiota alterations in its development. This study was performed to identify the fecal microbial composition of CSU patients and investigate the different compositions and potential genetic functions on the fecal microbiota between CSU patients and normal controls. The gut microbiota of CSU patients and healthy individuals were obtained by 16s rRNA massive sequencing. Gut microbiota diversity and composition were compared, and bioinformatics analysis of the differences was performed. The gut microbiota composition results showed that Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia were dominant microbiota in CSU patients. The differential analysis showed that relative abundance of the Proteobacteria (p = 0.03), Bacilli (p = 0.04), Enterobacterales (p = 0.03), Enterobacteriaceae (p = 0.03) was significantly increased in CSU patients. In contrast, the relative abundance of Megamonas, Megasphaera, and Dialister (all p < 0.05) in these patients significantly decreased compared with healthy controls. The different microbiological compositions impacted normal gastrointestinal functions based on function prediction, resulting in abnormal pathways, including transport and metabolism. We found CSU patients exhibited gut microbiota dysbiosis compared with healthy controls. Our results indicated CSU is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis and pointed out that the bacterial taxa increased in CSU patients, which might be involved in the pathogenesis of CSU. These results provided clues for future microbial-based therapies on CSU.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.9
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• pp.469-481
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• 2023

The gut microbiome is widely recognized as a dynamic organ with a profound influence on human physiology and pathology. Extensive epidemiological and longitudinal cohort studies have provided compelling evidence that disruptions in the early-life microbiome can have long-lasting health implications. Various factors before, during, and after birth contribute to shaping the composition and function of the neonatal and infant microbiome. While these alterations can be partially restored over time, metabolic phenotypes may persist, necessitating research to identify the critical period for early intervention to achieve phenotypic recovery beyond microbiome composition. In this review, we provide current understanding of changes in the gut microbiota throughout life and the various factors affecting these changes. Specifically, we highlight the profound impact of early-life gut microbiota disruption on the development of diseases later in life and discuss perspectives on efforts to recover from such disruptions.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.2_spc
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• pp.346-359
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• 2024

Advanced and innovative breeding and management of meat-producing animals are needed to address the global food security and sustainability challenges. Beef production is an important industry for securing animal protein resources in the world and meat quality significantly contributes to the economic values and human needs. Improvement of cattle feed efficiency has become an urgent task as it can lower the environmental burden of methane gas emissions and the reduce the consumption of human edible cereal grains. Cattle depend on their symbiotic microbiome and its activity in the rumen and gut to maintain growth and health. Recent developments in high-throughput omics analysis (metagenome, metatranscriptome, metabolome, metaproteome and so on) have made it possible to comprehensively analyze microbiome, hosts and their interactions and to define their roles in affecting cattle biology. In this review, we focus on the relationships among gut microbiome and beef meat quality, feed efficiency, methane emission as well as host genetics in beef cattle, aiming to determine the current knowledge gaps for the development of the strategies to improve the sustainability of beef production.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2004

Based on both field and laboratory experiments, seasonal changes in the species composition and abundance of phytoplankton in the gut contents of the jedo venus clam, Protothaca jedoensis, and its feeding selectivity were investigated. The phytoplankton in the gut contents comprised Bacillariophyceae (diatom), Chlorophyceae, Chrysophyceae, and Dinophyceae, of which the diatoms being the most predominant throughout the year. Although the number of species and the abundance of phytoplankton in the sea water were always more diverse and more abundant than in the gut contents, the relative number and abundance were generally similar in the seawater and in the gut contents. In the laboratory experiments, the relative abundances of Coscinodiscus marginatus and Thalassirosira eccentrica were much more higher in the gut contents than any other algal species, while Paralia sulcata, Skeletonema costatum, and Eucampia zodiacus were abundant in order of cell density in the ambient water. These results suggest that P. jedoensis may feed preferably on single algal cell or smaller chains of algal cells.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.144-151
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• 2024

Background: This study focused on the diet of Clithon retropictum, level II endangered species in Korea. Since the development of brackish water zones has led to a decline in the population of this species, to obtain information on the ecology of C. retropictum required for its conservation and restoration. To investigate the actual preys of C. retropictum in south coast of Korea, we conducted high-throughput sequencing and metabarcoding techniques to extract DNA from gut contents and periphyton in their habitats. Results: Total 118 taxonomic groups were detected from periphyton samples. 116 were Chromista and Cyanobacteria dominated in the most samples. In gut contents samples, 98 taxonomic groups were detected. Similar to the results of periphyton, 96 were Chromista and Cyanobacteria dominated in the most samples. In the principal component analysis based on the presence/absence of taxonomic groups, gut content composition showed more clustered patterns corresponding to their habitats. Bryophyta was the most crucial taxonomic group explaining the difference between periphyton and gut contents compositions of C. retropictum. Conclusions: Our finding suggests that C. retropictum may not randomly consume epilithic algae but instead, likely to supplement their diet with Bryophyta.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.42-52
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• 2023

The genus Babesia includes parasites that can induce human and animal babesiosis, which are common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The gut microbiota has not been examined in hamsters infected by Babesia duncani. Red blood cells infected with B. duncani were injected into hamsters through intraperitoneal route. To evaluate the changes in gut microbiota, DNAs were extracted from small intestinal contents, acquired from hamsters during disease development. Then, the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria was sequenced using the Illumina sequencing platform. Gut microbiota alternation and composition were assessed according to the sequencing data, which were clustered with >97.0% sequence similarity to create amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were made up of the major components of the gut microbiota in all samples. The abundance of Bacteroidetes elevated after B. duncani infection than the B. duncani-free group, while Firmicutes and Desulfobacterota declined. Alpha diversity analysis demonstrated that the shown ASVs were substantially decreased in the highest parasitemia group than B. duncani-free and lower parasitemia groups. Potential biomarkers were discovered by Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis, which demonstrated that several bacterial families (including Muribaculaceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Oscillospiraceae, Helicobacteraceae, Clostridia UGG014, Desulfovibrionaceae, and Lachnospiraceae) were potential biomarkers in B. duncani-infected hamsters. This research demonstrated that B. duncani infectious can modify the gut microbiota of hamsters.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.45-53
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• 2019

The popularity of keeping stag beetles (Dorcus titanus castanicolor Motschulsky 1861, Coleoptera: Lucanidae) as pets has increased. Consistent with the rise in the number of insect farms using these beetles, the number of contaminated or diseased D. titanus castanicolor has also increased. This investigation was conducted to analyze the cause of D. titanus castanicolor disease. The contaminated larvae of D. titanus castanicolor showed Allomyrina nudivirus infection symptoms similar to those of Allomyrina nudivirus infection. However, the disease carried by of D. titanus castanicolor is not derived from the virus infecting Allomyrina, as determined by PCR. Our study revealed that the major gut microbes of infectious D. titanus castanicolor belonged to the phylum Proteobacteria, and specifically, Pseudomonas knackmussi (Symptom 1 - 39.62% to Symptom 2 - 41.50% to Symptom 3 - 76.76% as the disease progressed severely) and Citrobacter koseri (Symptom 1 - 1.48% to Symptom 2 - 6.04% to Symptom 3 - 6.16% as the disease progressed severely) were detected. Additionally, a high proportion of larvae from the uninfected group were found to harbor bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes (72%). However, as the disease progressed severely in these beetles, the proportion of Firmicutes decreased (Symptom 1 - 72.03% to Symptom 2 - 44.7% to Symptom 3 - 26.3%). These findings imply that colonization by Firmicutes was inversely proportional to Proteobacteria colonization in the gut. This was found to be true for both the normal and disease conditions of D. titanus castanicolor. In this study, we examined the distribution of intestinal microbial communities in normal and contaminated larvae. We observed a correlation between these contaminated microbes and the overall health of the beetle, and our findings suggest that there may be a link between disease progression and the gut microbiome.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.24.1-24.8
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• 2019

Early environmental exposure is recognized as a key factor for long-term health based on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis. It considers that early-life nutrition is now being recognized as a major contributor that may permanently program change of organ structure and function toward the development of diseases, in which epigenetic mechanisms are involved. Recent researches indicate early-life environmental factors modulate the microbiome development and the microbiome might be mediate diet-epigenetic interaction. This review aims to define which nutrients involve microbiome development during the critical window of susceptibility to disease, and how microbiome modulation regulates epigenetic changes and influences human health and future prevention strategies.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 1992

The influence of starvation on morphological change and survival rate of the left eye flounder larvae was examined at the KORDI laboratories in March, 1990. 1. The larvae of left eye flounder began of feed on rotifers in 5 days after hatching. In case of non-feeding, all of the larvae died in 11 days after hatching. The larvae which fed 1 day after the normal first feeding schedule grew normally but 100 of the larvae died in 14 days when the feeding was delayed for 2 days after hatching. 2. With the exhaustion of the yolk, the total length, body length, myotome height and gut height of unfed larvae decreased. Gut height is the most decreased demensions while starving. 3. The ratio of gut height to myotome height in unfed larvae has declined most rapidly compare to other demensions during the starvation. At 13 days after hatching, the ratios of these between fed and unfed larvae were 0.797 and 0.467, respectively. 4. The morphology of starving larvae were characterized as sharpened jaw, projected edge of lawer part of clavicle and slender gut.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2018

The gut microbiome has been studied extensively over the past decade with most scientific reports focused on the adverse role of the gut microbiome on gastrointestinal diseases. For example, the altered gut microbiome exacerbates the development of immune system-mediated damage in many diseases. The most studied pathologies include irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases, and colitis-associated cancer. On the other hand, intestinal microflora is also beneficial and contributes to the intestinal physiology by the synthesis of vitamins, production of short chain fatty acids and bile acid metabolism, thereby maintaining gut homeostasis. Therefore, the balance between commensal and pathogenic bacteria populations influences mainly the maintenance of intestinal health. Changes in the intestinal microflora have been suspected to be the underlying causes of multiple diseases. Despite the immense amount of published data, the optimal gut microbiome composition is still controversial. This review briefly outlines the connection between the gut microbiome and critical gastrointestinal diseases focusing on three prominent intestinal disorders: irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases, and colitis-associated cancer disorders. Finally, intervention strategies using natural products for the alleviation of these diseases and the maintenance of a health gut microbiome are suggested.