Glycan binding specificity of WFA is quite similar to that of VVA

A group from Department of Chemistry and Center for Diagnostics & Therapeutics, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA, etc. has reported about chemoenzymatically synthesized O-glycan arrays.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9931048/

WFA is know to be a quite useful lectin in diagnosis.
According to this study, WFA and VVA strongly bind all structures with a terminal unmodified GalNAc residue, including Tn-antigen, core 5, sialyl-core 5, and core 7, as shown below.

No.24 is Tn-antigen

Structural and functional analysis of BK polyomavirus mutants regarding the infectivity

A group from Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, INSERM, Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology, France, etc. has reported about structural and functional analysis of BK polyomavirus mutants regarding the infectivity.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36790933/

BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) is a small, non-enveloped, double-stranded DNA virus with an icosahedral capsid formed by 72 capsomers, where a capsomer is an association of a pentamer of the VP1 protein. BKPyV is known to interact with the urothelium and kidney epithelium through the gangliosides GT1b and GD1b, but also via other b-series gangliosides characterized by their α2-8-linked-disialyl moieties attached to the first galactose from the reducing end. BKPyV is an opportunistic virus with a prevalence of 80% in the worldwide population. Usually, infections occur asymptomatically during childhood and then lead to latency or persistence in the kidneys.

In this study, four variant forms of the VP1 protein were discussed. These variants had accumulated multiple mutations in the BC loop region of the VP1 protein, which is involved in the direct interaction of the virus with sialic acids. Those variants contained double mutant K69N E82Q (N-Q), E73Q mutant, E73A mutant, and triple mutant A72V E73Q E82Q (VQQ). Cell lines 293TT and RS were used to test the infectivity of all variant pseudoviruses as well as wild-type (WT) subtype Ib2 pseudovirus. Both cell lines were shown to contain monosialylated GM2 and GM3 a-series gangliosides along with neutral globosides from the structural studies using MS. In addition, RS cells specifically expressed b-series disialylated gangliosides GD2 and GD3 carrying α2-8-linked-disialyl epitopes.

The followings were found.
The N-Q variant lost all ganglioside-binding activity but retained infectivity in 293TT cells through a sialic acid-independent pathway, whereas VQQ showed enhanced ganglioside binding but almost completely lost infectivity in 293TT cells. One plausible explanation of these observations is that the VQQ variant may have lost the ability to interact with the unknown entry receptor employed by the N-Q variant to infect 293TT cells, and that this interaction is required, in addition to sialic acid binding, for infectious entry.

FUT8 is upregulated under oxidative stress

A group from Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan, etc. has reported that FUT8 is upregulated under oxidative stress.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281516

The antioxidant response as defined by the Gene Ontology category includes 441 human genes, such as HMOX1 (Heme oxygenase 1) and GCLC (Glutamate—cysteine ligase catalytic subunit), which are typical antioxidant response genes. The expression of these genes helps reduce the oxidative condition in cells to protect them from oxidative stress. To test whether there is any changes in glycan expressions due to antioxidant responses, gene expressions in human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT were investigated with or without 5-hydroxy-4-phenyl-butenolide (5H4PB) and sulforaphane (SFN), which has been known to be an antioxidant.

It was found that FUT8 is upregulated in both cases (5H4PB and SFN) from gene analysis. This was also confirmed by flow cytometry using fluorescein-conjugated fucose binding lectin, UEA-I.

Effects of application of microbial organic fertilizers after dazomet fumigation

A group from Pest Integrated Management Key Laboratory of China Tobacco, Tobacco Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, China, etc. has reported about effects of application of microbial organic fertilizers after dazomet fumigation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891460/

Crop succession leads to continuous accumulation of pathogens in soil; for example, eggplant crop succession leads to severe occurrence of bacterial wilt and blight, watermelon crop succession leads to severe occurrence of wilt, and ginger crop succession can lead to severe ginger plague. This not only breaks the soil nutrient balance but also deteriorates the soil biological traits, which eventually results in the collapse of the soil microcosm and causes serious harm to crop yield and environmental safety. The using of biocontrol agent or organic fertilizer after fumigation can eliminate the negative effects of fumigants by promoting soil microcosm recovery and improving soil texture, which has become a hot research topic in this field.

This study reported about the effects of Junweinong and Junlisu microbial organic fertilizers (MOFs) applied after dazomet fumigation. these two MOFs after dazomet fumigation significantly reduced the rhizosphere soil available phosphorus, available potassium, and organic matter content, which means that plants could absorb these nutrients. Fumigation and post-fumigation application of organic fertilizer can increase soil pH. Soil pH is a key factor affecting soil health, and black shank and black root rot of tobacco have high incidence at pH 4.8–5.8. Rhizoctonia and sclerotinia diseases of cruciferous plants are prone to occur in acidic soils and hardly occur at pH 7.2–7.4 after changing soil acidity
The addition of both MOFs after fumigation increased the abundance of rhizosphere bacteria without significant effect on microbial diversity. However, it changed the composition of rhizosphere microorganisms, as bacteria such as Gaiella, norank_f_Vicinamibacteraceae, and Flavisolibacter and fungi such as Peroneutypa, Olpidium, and Microascus were significantly enriched. These microorganisms have important roles in enhancing crop system resistance and promoting nutrient uptake. In addition, the addition of MOF after dazomet fumigation increased the relative abundance of functional genes for 13 kinds of amino acid metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, TCA cycle, and pentose phosphate pathway in the rhizosphere soil.

Fucoidan reduces the proportion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the intestinal microbiota and improves immunity

A group from Molecular Infectious Disease Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, etc. has reported that focoidans mediate decolonization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from gut by inhibiting secreted virulence factor interactions with mucins and enriching Bacteroides population.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9896862/

Pseudomonas aeruginosa intestinal carriage rates are significantly higher in immunosuppressed individuals and hospitalized patients who therefore have increased risk of infections and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Although gut microbiota acts as a barrier against intestinal pathogens, P. aeruginosa overcomes the resistance to colonization mediated by gut microbiota and innate immune system, by producing an impressive array of virulence factors. P. aeruginosa carries large protein systems that belong to two-partner secretion (TPS) family, and there is a conserved hemagglutinin (HA) domain in this TPS. The TPS system effectors are designated as major virulence determinants that are beneficial to Gram-negative pathogens (Pseudomonas is a Gram-negative).

Nutritional grade fucoidans 0.5% (w/v), from Fucus vesiculosus (FV) and Ascophyllum nodusum (AN), were supplemented in the drinking water of mice for 19 days. Among the mice that were fed with fucoidans for 14 days p.i., two patterns of decolonization were observed: (1) P. aeruginosa was eliminated from a higher proportion of the mice with time, (2) but in the remaining mice P. aeruginosa persisted throughout the study period but with declining bacterial loads over time. Of note, between p.i. day 15 and day 30 among the fucoidan fed groups proportion of the mice that were decolonized further increased to 60% (P < 0.05). It was found that there are two mechanisms by which fucoidans mediate their protective effects: first, inhibition of virulence factors TPS interactions with mucins and second, selectively promoting the growth of beneficial Bacteroides species. IC50s of interaction between TPS and intestinal mucins by FV fucoidan and AN fucoidan were less than 1 μg/mL.

The type of consortia of beneficial rhizospheric bacteria changes with soil nutritional status and agro-climatic datasets

A group from Soil and Environmental Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (NIBGE-C, PIEAS), Punjab, Pakistan, etc. has reported that the type of consortia of beneficial rhizospheric bacteria changes with soil nutritional status and agro-climatic datasets
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9878846/

Despite the great significance of biostimulants in sustainable agriculture, there is still a lack of integrated technology encompassing the successful competitiveness of inoculated phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) in agricultural systems in the context of climatic conditions/meteorological factors and soil nutritional status.

Bacterial strains used in this study are a subset of a large collection of PSB isolated from the rhizosphere soil of wheat grown in different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan. All of the strains used in the present study have multiple plant growth-promoting attributes, i.e., phosphate solubilization, zinc solubilization, indole acetic acid production, and organic acid production.

Three different consortia were designed by selecting soil-/site-specific PSB for recommended wheat varieties to that particular site.
Consortium-1, Enterobacter spp. ZW32, Ochrobactrum sp. SSR, and Enterobacter spp. ZW9.
Consortium-2, Enterobacter spp. D1, Ochrobactrum sp. SSR, and Pantoea sp. S1
Consortium-3, Bacillus sp. TAYB, Ochrobactrum sp. SSR, and Pseudomonas sp. TJA

Interestingly, soil-specific consortia improved various wheat growth parameters under respective soil conditions.
For instance, the maximum grain yield (5,390 kg ha-1) was observed as a result of consortium-1 inoculation at site 2 followed by site 3 (5,240 kg ha-1) and site 1 (4,806 kg ha-1), and in the case of consortium-2, the maximum grain yield (5,324 kg ha-1) was observed as a result of consortium-2 inoculation at site 6 followed by site 5 (4,806 kg ha-1). The effect of consortium-3 was not so significant compared with consortium-1 and -2. However, the effect is clearly shown compared to the state with 20% less fertilizer.

This study demonstrates for the first time the need to integrate soil biological health and agro-climatic conditions for consistent performance of augmented PSB and enhanced P nutrient uptake to reduce soil pollution caused by the extensive use of agrochemicals.

Glycan modification is different spatiotemporaly in cardiac tissues

A group from Research Team for Geriatric Medicine (Vascular Medicine), Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan. etc. has reported about spatiotemporal changes of tissue glycans depending on localization in cardiac aging.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9841240/

To investigate the characteristics of glycans in mouse cardiac tissues, eight parts of the short-axis slices from normal female mouse hearts, including the left ventricular wall (ventral sides and dorsal sides), the papillary muscle, and the ventricular septum were analyzed for three age groups (2 months, 12–14 months, and 23–25 months) using the lectin microarray.

The glycan profiles of the eight areas of the hearts of 2-month-old mice were analyzed in detail using PCA. Interestingly, it was fond that glycan profiles differ in each region of the cardiac tissue. For instance, papillary muscle and ventricular septum were characterized by sialic acid residues, and ventral left ventricular wall were characterized by O-glycan residues and large-branched and asialo N-glycan residues.

It was also found that sialic acid resides decreases with aging, although the rate of change varied from area to area.