Exome Sequencing Reveals Biallelic Mutations in MBTPS1 Gene in a Girl with a Very Rare Skeletal Dysplasia

The Kondo-Fu type of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SEDKF) is a rare skeletal dysplasia caused by homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the MBTPS1 gene. The MBTPS1 gene encodes a protein that is involved in the regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. Mutations in MBTPS1 can lead to reduced levels of these lipids, which can have a number of effects on development, including skeletal anomalies, growth retardation, and elevated levels of blood lysosomal enzymes. This work reports the case of a 5-year-old girl with SEDKF. The patient had a severely short stature and a number of skeletal anomalies, including kyphosis, pectus carinatum, and reduced bone mineral density. She also had early onset cataracts and inguinal hernias. Genetic testing revealed two novel compound heterozygous variants in the MBTPS1 gene. These variants are predicted to disrupt the function of the MBTPS1 protein, which is consistent with the patient's clinical presentation. This case report adds to the growing body of evidence that mutations in the MBTPS1 gene are causal of SEDKF. We summarized the features of previous reported cases (with age ranges from 4 to 24 years) and identified that 80% had low stature, 70% low weight, 80% had bilateral cataracts and 70% showed Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia on X-rays. The findings of this study suggest that SEDKF is a clinically heterogeneous disorder that can present with a variety of features. Further studies are needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms of SEDKF and to develop more effective treatments.

Unlocking the hidden potential of Mexican teosinte seeds: revealing plant growth-promoting bacterial and fungal biocontrol agents

The bacterial component of plant holobiont maintains valuable interactions that contribute to plants' growth, adaptation, stress tolerance, and antagonism to some phytopathogens. Teosinte is the grass plant recognized as the progenitor of modern maize, domesticated by pre-Hispanic civilizations around 9,000 years ago. Three teosinte species are recognized: Zea diploperennis, Zea perennis, and Zea mays. In this work, the bacterial diversity of three species of Mexican teosinte seeds was explored by massive sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons. Streptomyces, Acinetobacter, Olivibacter, Erwinia, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Cellvibrio, Achromobacter, Devosia, Lysobacter, Sphingopyxis, Stenotrophomonas, Ochrobactrum, Delftia, Lactobacillus, among others, were the bacterial genera mainly represented. The bacterial alpha diversity in the seeds of Z. diploperennis was the highest, while the alpha diversity in Z. mays subsp. mexicana race was the lowest observed among the species and races. The Mexican teosintes analyzed had a core bacteriome of 38 bacterial genera, including several recognized plant growth promoters or fungal biocontrol agents such as Agrobacterium, Burkholderia, Erwinia, Lactobacillus, Ochrobactrum, Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, Streptomyces, among other. Metabolic inference analysis by PICRUSt2 of bacterial genera showed several pathways related to plant growth promotion (PGP), biological control, and environmental adaptation. The implications of these findings are far-reaching, as they highlight the existence of an exceptional bacterial germplasm reservoir teeming with potential plant growth promotion bacteria (PGPB). This reserve holds the key to cultivating innovative bioinoculants and formidable fungal antagonistic strains, thereby paving the way for a more sustainable and eco-friendly approach to agriculture. Embracing these novel NGS-based techniques and understanding the profound impact of the vertical transference of microorganisms from seeds could revolutionize the future of agriculture and develop a new era of symbiotic harmony between plants and microbes.

Genotype/phenotype relationship in Gaucher disease patients. Novel mutation in glucocerebrosidase gene

Objectives Gaucher disease (GD) is the most common inherited lysosomal storage disease, caused by mutations in acid β-glucosidase (GBA) gene. This study aimed to identify mutations in Andalusia patients with GD and their genotype-phenotype correlation. Methods Descriptive observational study. University Hospital Virgen del Rocio patients diagnosed from GD from 1999 to 2019 were included. Demographic and clinical data, β-glucocerebrosidase activity, variants pathogenic in GBA gene and biomarkers for monitoring treatment were collected from digital medical record. Results Twenty-six patients with aged between 1 day and 52 years were studied. A total of six mutations described as pathogenic and one mutation not described above [c.937T>C (p.Tyr313His)] were identified in the GBA gene, four patients were homozygotes and 22 compound heterozygotes. Twenty-four patients were diagnosed in non-neuropathic form (type 1) and two cases presented neurological involvement (type 2 or 3). The most common variant was c.1226A>G (p.Asn409Ser), which was detected in 24 patients, followed by c.1448T>C (p.Leu483Pro) variant, identified in 13 patients. The c.1448T>C (p.Leu483Pro) mutation has been presented in the most severe phenotypes with neurological involvement associated with type 2 and 3 GD, while c.1226A>G (p.Asn409Ser) mutation has not been associated with neurological alterations. Splenomegaly and bone disease were the most frequent clinical manifestations, and thrombocytopenia was the most common hematological disorder. Conclusions The c.1226A>G (p.Asn409Ser) and c.1448T>C (p.Leu483Pro) mutations were the most common. The c.937T>C (p.Tyr313His) was identified as a novel mutation. The c.1448T>C (p.Leu483Pro) mutation was associated with neurological alterations and c.1226A>G (p.Asn409Ser) mutation has not been associated it.

Geographical Origin Has a Greater Impact on Grape Berry Fungal Community than Grape Variety and Maturation State

We used barcoded sequencing to analyze the eukaryotic population in the grape berries at different ripening states in four Australian vineyards. Furthermore, we used an innovative compositional data analysis for assessing the diversity of microbiome communities. The novelty was the introduction of log-ratio balances between the detected genera. Altogether, our results suggest that fungal communities were more impacted by the geographical origin of the Australian vineyards than grape variety and harvest time. Even if the most abundant genera were Aureobasidium and Mycosphaerella, they were ubiquitous to all samples and were not discriminative. In fact, the balances and the fungal community structure seemed to be greatly affected by changes of the genera Penicillium, Colletotrichum, Aspergillus, Rhodotorula, and Botrytis. These results were not evident from the comparison of relative abundance based on OTU counts alone, remarking the importance of the balance analysis for microbiome studies.

Bacterial Diversity and Population Dynamics During the Fermentation of Palm Wine From Guerrero Mexico

Palm wine is obtained by fermentation of palm tree sap. In the Pacific coast of Mexico, palm wine is called Tuba and it is consumed as a traditional fermented beverage. Tuba has empirical applications such as an auxiliary in gastrointestinal diseases and a good source of nutrients. In the present study, a next-generation sequencing of the V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene was employed to analyze bacterial diversity and population dynamics during the fermentation process of Tuba, both in laboratory controlled conditions and in commercial samples from local vendors. Taxonomic identification showed that Fructobacillus was the main genus in all the samples, following by Leuconostoc, Gluconacetobacter, Sphingomonas, and Vibrio. Alpha diversity analysis demonstrated variability between all the samples. Beta diversity clustered the bacterial population according to the collection origin of the sample. Metabolic functional profile inference showed that the members of the bacterial communities may present the vitamin, antibiotic and antioxidant biosynthesis genes. Additionally, we further investigated the correlation between the predominant genera and some composition parameters of this beverage. This study provides the basis of the bacterial community composition and functionality of the fermented beverage.

Identification of Fungal Species in Brain Tissue from Alzheimer's Disease by Next-Generation Sequencing

The possibility that patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have disseminated fungal infection has been recently advanced by the demonstration of fungal proteins and DNA in nervous tissue from AD patients. In the present study, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to identify fungal species present in the central nervous system (CNS) of AD patients. Initially, DNA was extracted from frozen tissue from four different CNS regions of one AD patient and the fungi in each region were identified by NGS. Notably, whereas a great variety of species were identified using the Illumina platform, Botrytis cinerea and Cryptococcus curvatus were common to all four CNS regions analyzed. Further analysis of entorhinal/cortex hippocampus samples from an additional eight AD patients revealed a variety of fungal species, although some were more prominent than others. Five genera were common to all nine patients: Alternaria, Botrytis, Candida, Cladosporium, and Malassezia. These observations could be used to guide targeted antifungal therapy for AD patients. Moreover, the differences found between the fungal species in each patient may constitute a basis to understand the evolution and severity of clinical symptoms in AD.

Chromatin remodelling and DNA repair genes are frequently mutated in endometrioid endometrial carcinoma

In developed countries, endometrial carcinoma is the most common cancer that affects the female genital tract. Endometrial carcinoma is divided into two main histological types, type I or endometrioid and type II or non-endometrioid, each of which have characteristic, although not exclusive, molecular alterations and mutational profiles. Nevertheless, information about the implication and relevance of some of these genes in this disease is lacking. We sought here to identify new recurrently mutated genes in endometrioid cancers that play a role in tumourigenesis and that influence the clinical outcome. We focused on low-grade, non-ultramutated tumours as these tumours have a worse prognosis than the ultramutated POLE-positive endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (EECs). We performed exome-sequencing of 11 EECs with matched normal tissue and subsequently validated 15 candidate genes in 76 samples. For the first time, we show that mutations in chromatin remodelling-related genes (KMT2D, KMT2C, SETD1B and BCOR) and in DNA-repair-related genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD50 and CHD4) are frequent in this subtype of endometrial cancer. The alterations to these genes occurred with frequencies ranging from 35.5% for KMT2D to 10.5% for BRCA1 and BCOR, with some showing a tendency toward co-occurrence (RAD50-KMT2D and RAD50-SETD1B). All these genes harboured specific mutational hotspots. In addition, the mutational status of KMT2C, KMT2D and SETD1B helps to predict the degree of myometrial invasion, a critical prognostic feature. These results highlight the possible implication of these genes in this disease, creating opportunities for new therapeutic approaches.

Comparison of Fermentation and Wines Produced by Inoculation of Hanseniaspora vineae and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Interest in the use of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in winemaking has been increasing due to their positive contributions to wine quality. The non-Saccharomyces yeast Hanseniaspora vineae is an apiculate yeast that has been associated with the production of wine with good aromatic properties. However, little is known about the fermentation dynamics of H. vineae in natural must and its interaction with autochthonous yeasts. In the present study, we performed semi industrial fermentations of Macabeo and Merlot musts inoculated with either H. vineae or S. cerevisiae. The yeast population dynamics were monitored by plate culturing, PCR-DGGE and massive sequencing techniques. The results obtained with these techniques show that H. vineae was able dominate the autochthonous microbiota in Macabeo must but not in Merlot must, which exhibited a larger, more diverse yeast population. The presence of H. vineae throughout most of the Macabeo fermentation resulted in more fruity and flowery wine, as indicated by the chemical analysis of the final wines, which demonstrated a strong presence of phenyl ethyl acetate at concentrations higher than the threshold of perception and approximately 50 times more than that produced in wines fermented with S. cerevisiae. This compound is associated with fruity, floral and honey aromas.