Rationale: While combined lifestyle interventions have multiple health benefits, their impact on the oral microbiome is not known. We explored the effects of a lifestyle intervention including protein drink on the oral microbiome in older adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D).Methods: In a post-hoc analysis of the PROBE study, 87 subjects (66.5±6.1 years, 33% female) with tongue dorsum samples at baseline and week 13 were included. All subjects participated in a 13-week lifestyle intervention with exercise (3x/week) and hypocaloric diet (-600 kcal/day), and had been randomized to receive a test product (21g whey protein enriched with leucine and vitamin D) or isocaloric control (0g protein) 10x/week. T2D was subtyped as muscle insulin resistance (MIR, n=34) or no-MIR (n=36) based on available muscle insulin sensitivity index. Microbiome was analysed by V4 16s rDNA sequencing. Diversity, measured as species richness and Shannon diversity index, was statistically analysed with paired (within group) and independent (between groups) samples t-test.Results: displayed below. Conclusion: Consuming a whey protein drink enriched with leucine and vitamin D during a combined lifestyle intervention increased species richness of the oral microbiome in obese T2D subjects with muscle insulin resistance.
Application of animal manure to soils results in the introduction of manure-derived bacteria and their antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) into soils. ResCap is a novel targeted-metagenomic approach that allows the detection of minority components of the resistome gene pool without the cost-prohibitive coverage depths and can provide a valuable tool to study the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment. We used high-throughput sequencing and qPCR for 16S rRNA gene fragments as well as ResCap to explore the dynamics of bacteria, and ARGs introduced to soils and adjacent water ditches, both at community and individual scale, over a period of three weeks. The soil bacteriome and resistome showed strong resilience to the input of manure, as manuring did not impact the overall structure of the bacteriome, and its effects on the resistome were transient. Initially, manure application resulted in a substantial increase of ARGs in soils and adjacent waters, while not affecting the overall bacterial community composition. Still, specific families increased after manure application, either through the input of manure (e.g., Dysgonomonadaceae) or through enrichment after manuring (e.g., Pseudomonadaceae). Depending on the type of ARG, manure application resulted mostly in an increase (e.g., aph(6)-Id), but occasionally also in a decrease (e.g., dfrB3) of the absolute abundance of ARG clusters (FPKM/kg or L). This study shows that the structures of the bacteriome and resistome are shaped by different factors, where the bacterial community composition could not explain the changes in ARG diversity or abundances. Also, it highlights the potential of applying targeted metagenomic techniques, such as ResCap, to study the fate of AMR in the environment.
MULTIFILE
In een tijd waarin de wereld geconfronteerd wordt met een toenemende bevolking en de daaruit voortvloeiende behoefte aan voedsel, staat het lectoraat Eiwittransitie voor een uiterst relevante uitdaging. De groeiende vraag naar eiwitten en de noodzaak om onze consumptiegewoonten in balans te krijgen met natuur en onze gezondheid vormen de kern van de missie van dit lectoraat.
MULTIFILE
Worldwide, coral reefs are rapidly declining due to increased sea water temperatures and other environmental stresses (Figure 1). To counter the extinction of major coral reef building species on the island of Bonaire, the non-profit organization Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire is restoring degraded reef sites using corals that are grown in local nurseries. In these nurseries, corals are propagated on artificial trees using fragmentation. After 6-8 months of growth in the nursery, the corals are transplanted to degraded reef sites around the island. Over the years more than 21.000 corals have been outplanted to reef restoration sites in this way. These corals show high survivorship under natural reef conditions but remain under threat by environmental disturbances, such as increased water temperatures, diseases, and competition with macroalgae. A promising intervention to increase reef persistence and resilience is to manipulate the coral-associated microbiome. At present, the composition of the microbiome in nursery-reared and outplanted corals on Bonaire is unknown. The aim of the current project is to identify and isolate naturally occurring beneficial bacteria that may stimulate the resilience of these corals. Our key objectives are: 1) to assess the presence of functionally beneficial bacteria in corals in nursery and restoration sites on Bonaire using metagenomic screening. 2) to design culture strategies to isolate these functionally beneficial bacteria. In the future, a selection of these beneficial bacteria can be applied to the corals to increase their resilience against environmental disturbances.
Sea Lettuce, Ulva spp. is a versatile and edible green seaweed. Ulva spp is high in protein, carbohydrates and lipids (respectively 7%-33%; 33%-62% and 1%-3% on dry weight base [1, 2]) but variation in these components is high. Ulva has the potential to produce up to 45 tons DM/ha/year but 15 tons DM/ha/year is more realistic.[3, 4] This makes Ulva a possible valuable resource for food and other applications. Sea Lettuce is either harvested wild or cultivated in onshore land based aquaculture systems. Ulva onshore aquaculture is at present implemented only on a few locations in Europe on commercial scale because of limited knowledge about Ulva biology and its optimal cultivation systems but also because of its unfamiliarity to businesses and consumers. The objective of this project is to improve Ulva onshore aquaculture by selecting Ulva seed material, optimizing growth and biomass production by applying ecophysiological strategies for nutrient, temperature, microbiome and light management, by optimizing pond systems eg. attached versus free floating production and eventually protoype product development for feed, food and cosmetics.
“Authentieke Vanille uit de kas” richt zich op het ontwikkelen van producten en praktische richtlijnen voor glastelers voor een hogere opbrengst van in de kas geteelde Vanillepeulen uit gezonde planten met meer Vanille en een authentieke geur en smaak. Het hiervoor benodigde onderzoek staat onder leiding van het lectoraat Biodiversiteit en Generade, het Center of Expertise Genomics van Hogeschool Leiden. In het project participeren kennisinstellingen, MKB-bedrijven uit de tuinbouw en bedrijven met expertise in chemie, bodemverbetering en genomics. Het project bestaat uit vier deelonderzoeken: 1. Het bestuivingsonderzoek richt zich op ontwikkeling van een instrument voor optimale overdracht van pollen in Vanillebloemen. 2. Een inventarisatie van het microbioom in Vanilleplanten en -peulen in het wild uit het regenwoud in Costa Rica, plantages op Reunion en Nederlandse kassen zal meer inzicht geven in de correlatie tussen de samenstelling van deze microben en het Vanillegehalte van de peulen en hun lokale geur en smaak. De inventarisatie zal gedaan worden met Next Generation DNA metabarcoding van markers ontwikkeld voor schimmels en bacterieen. 3. Daarnaast richt het onderzoek zich op de fermentatie van de Vanillepeul. Er zal worden onderzocht welke combinatie van microben leidt tot productie van een zo hoog mogelijk gehalte aan precursors van Vanille in groene peulen en een authentieke geur en smaak. Dit wordt gedaan met een combinatie van experimenteel teeltonderzoek en chemische analyses. 4. Momenteel wordt aantasting door schimmels en virussen in de kas met de hand verwijderd. Deze behandeling is kostbaar maar voor biologische teelt de enige optie. Een vierde pijler van het onderzoek zal daarom gericht zijn op de verbetering van het substraat. Met behulp van experimenteel onderzoek zal worden nagegaan welke mix aan microben in het substraat nodig is voor bescherming tegen aantasting door kwaadaardige schimmels.
