Frontiers in Microbiology最新文献

{"title":"<i>N</i>-acyl-homoserine lactone-based quorum sensing beyond canonical lineages: insights from Actinomycetota.","authors":"Christy R Handel, Rebecca D Prescott, Chien-Chi Lo, Timothy J O'Donnell, Landon Balkwill, Joshua Gurr, Jimmy H Saw, Gayatri Sharma, Jingjing Wang, Patrick D Curtis, Alan W Decho, Philip G Williams, Patrick S G Chain, Stuart P Donachie","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1738013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1738013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Classically, quorum sensing (QS) is defined as a form of bacterial communication that regulates gene expression in response to population density and other environmental conditions. While a variety of QS systems exist, <i>N</i>-acyl homoserine lactone-based quorum sensing (AHL-QS) is the best characterized in Gram-negative Pseudomonadota (formerly Proteobacteria), often in medically relevant taxa. However, it remains unclear what AHL-QS systems look like in underexplored environments, and how often or far the canonical model extends beyond the Pseudomonadota. Here, we investigated AHL production in environmental Bacteria from underexplored environments, including two newly described Pseudomonadota species, <i>Brenneria uluponensis</i> K61^T, from a taro lo'i in Hawai'i, and Bradyrhizobium prioriisuperbiae BL16A^T, from a lava cave on the Island of Hawai'i, and two Gram-positive Actinomycetota (formerly Actinobacteria), <i>Pseudonocardia alni</i> GV4, from a culture of Gloeobacter violaceus, and <i>Rhodococcus kroppenstedtii</i> Y88A, from a dehydrated hypersaline mat on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Custom hidden Markov models (HMMs) were used to identify putative <i>luxI/R</i> homologs, followed by analyses of genomic context, luxI/R-family protein phylogeny, and LuxR domain architecture. AHL production was assessed using liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry (LC-MRM-MS), and targeted gene disruption was performed in R. kroppenstedtii Y88A. Putative <i>luxI/R</i> homologs were identified in all strains. In <i>R. kroppenstedtii</i> Y88A, disruption of the sole luxI homolog resulted in loss of all detectable AHLs, indicating that this gene (designated rhdI) is required for AHL production under the tested conditions. Across Actinomycetota genomes, <i>luxI</i> genes occurred as solitary elements rather than canonical <i>luxI/R</i> pairs and were associated with genes linked to metabolism and redox processes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Actinomycetota <i>luxI/R</i>-family proteins diverge from canonical systems, with LuxR-family proteins lacking canonical autoinducer-binding domains and instead comprising only helix-turn-helix regulatory architectures. Together, these findings expand the known diversity of AHL-QS systems into underexplored microbial lineages and environments and suggest broader ecological roles for AHL signaling. The canonical <i>luxI/R</i> model derived largely from Pseudomonadota may represent only one of several evolutionary architectures for AHL signaling, raising the possibility that AHL production in Actinomycetota operates through regulatory frameworks distinct from classical AHL-QS systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1738013"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136126/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Newly isolated <i>Pakpunavirus</i>: efficacy and safety assessment in light of alternative therapies against <i>P. aeruginosa</i> skin infections.","authors":"Agnieszka Necel, Małgorzata Stasiłojć, Wojciech Wesołowski, Magdalena Narajczyk, Katarzyna Kosznik-Kwaśnicka, Natalia Kaźmierczak, Łukasz Naumiuk, Hanna Loika, Lidia Piechowicz, Anna Żywicka","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1807725","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1807725","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> is the major cause of hospital-acquired infections and morbidity and mortality in individuals with burn wounds, due to the emergence of antibiotic resistance. As a result, some scientists are concentrating on research for alternative treatment, with phage therapy being one of the suggestions. However, a thorough description of the phages under consideration for use is necessary to optimize the treatment process. Thus, we show in this paper that the newly isolated phage vB_Pa_AN-12, member of the <i>Pakpunavirus</i> genus, is a perfect fit for phage therapy. It can infect several clinical strains of <i>P. aeruginosa</i>, including those resistant to multiple antibiotics. It is also able to decrease the viability of host cells strain by 5 logs in 1 h. Furthermore, it does not carry any harmful genes, and has efficient intracellular development with about 100 progeny virions per infected cell. Additionally, it did not affect the viability of cell lines that represented keratinocytes (HaCaT), fibroblasts (BJ), and monocytes (SC). These results suggest that usage of this phage, especially for skin infections, won't cause any side effects resulting from phage-human cell interactions. Nevertheless, given there is a possibility of phage resistance development, the action of isolated phage should be further investigated in combinations with other antimicrobials.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1807725"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136285/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147835994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterization of <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> Outer Membrane Vesicles over time, in biofilm and planktonic phenotypes.","authors":"Valentina Puca, Beatrice Marinacci, Sara Pagotto, Paweł Krzyżek, Federica Di Cintio, Benedetta Pellegrini, Laura Pietrangelo, Maurizio Ronci, Rossella Grande","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1765988","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1765988","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong><i>Helicobacter pylori</i> is known to be a major pathogen causing gastric diseases via its direct colonization of the gastric mucosa. <i>H. pylori</i> releases Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) throughout the growth process both in planktonic and biofilm phenotypes. The number, size and content of <i>H. pylori</i> OMVs over time, especially in <i>H. pylori</i> biofilm, remain unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we analyzed <i>H. pylori</i> biofilm at 2, 6, and 10 days as well as we extracted and characterized <i>H. pylori</i> pOMVs and bOMVs over time by transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, dynamic light scattering, electrophoretic light scattering and proteomic technology.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong><i>Helicobacter pylori</i> ATCC 43629 formed a multi-structured biofilm with large clusters characterized by mostly live cells and some fractures corresponding to water channels. Analysis of <i>H. pylori</i> OMVs reveals that the bacterial growth time and phenotype affect their number, size, and composition. Proteomic analysis revealed that in the early growth phase pOMVs are enriched with multiple virulence factors associated with host cell destruction whereas during later growth phases vesicles contain factors involved in the metabolic processing. The proteome of bOMVs was much more homogeneous and stable over time: in late growth stages, bOMVs proteomic analysis identified proteins involved in iron accumulation, protection against oxidative stress, immunosuppression in the gastric environment, and virulence promoting inflammation and tumorigenesis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study suggests that <i>H. pylori</i> induces pathogenicity at least partially by secreting bOMVs that could promote tissue destruction related to tumorigenesis; therefore, the development of gastric cancer could be associated not only with the microorganism itself, but also with OMVs that it produces.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1765988"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136172/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revealing the effects of <i>Aspergillus cristatus</i>, golden flower fungus, fermenting on the roots of the medicinal and edible plant <i>Panax ginseng</i>.","authors":"Lei Wang, Qi Wei, Chuhan He, Xu Li, Shouan Liu","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1803757","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1803757","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Panax ginseng</i> is one of the most important medicinal and edible plants with pharmacological compounds mainly concentrated in the roots. Although chemical transformations of ginseng active compounds have been studied, their biotransformation processes by beneficial microbes are less reported. This study aimed to reveal changes in the functional components in <i>P. ginseng</i> roots fermented by the golden flower fungus <i>Aspergillus cristatus</i>. <i>P. ginseng</i> roots were incubated with <i>A. cristatus,</i> and the final product was given the name \"Golden Flower Chinese Ginseng (GFCG).\" A high-performance liquid chromatography (HP-LC) and liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (LC-MS) system revealed that fermentation by <i>A. cristatus</i> caused metabolite changes in GFCG and promoted the production of rare ginsenosides. Transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that more than 72% of significantly differentially expressed genes in <i>A. cristatus</i> showed a decrease during interaction with <i>P. ginseng</i>. In the meantime, transcription-related genes were suppressed, while translational and post-translational events were activated, suggesting a special role of the fungal microbe when it is colonizing medical and edible plants. Therefore, this study provides detailed chemical characterization of GFCG and the potential molecular mechanism underlying the biotransformation of <i>P. ginseng.</i></p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1803757"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136136/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Gut microbiota affects the progression of colorectal cancer under the intervention of exercise.","authors":"Linlin Tao, Huan Zhou, Wenjiao Shao, Dongmei Liu, Yingwen Ruan, Mingwei Chen","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1833893","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1833893","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1728541.].</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1833893"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13138538/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147835681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maternal Taishan Panshi San supplementation is associated with improved foal growth performance, accompanied by alterations in gut microbiota and metabolic profiles.","authors":"Han Fu, Jianlong Li, Ronghao Miao, Zhanhai Mai, Yabin Lu, Ying Xiao, Ling Kuang, Qingyong Guo","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1787938","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1787938","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To investigate the effects of Taishan Panshi San (TSPSS) supplementation on foal growth and immunity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twelve pregnant mares and their foals were divided into three groups: control (NC), TSPSS every other month (GY), and TSPSS monthly (MY) from gestation day 30. Maternal blood was sampled on days 65, 185, and 305 for hormone analysis. Foals were assessed for growth, cytokines, antioxidants, and immunoglobulins at birth, and onset of diarrhea (FQ), from 30 to 120 days after birth. Intestinal microbiota and metabolites were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>GY foals showed elevated levels of IL-6, IFN-γ, TNF-α, GH, IGF-I, insulin, IgA, IgG, IgM, SOD, and T-AOC (<i>p</i> < 0.05 or <i>p</i> < 0.01), with reduced MDA (<i>p</i> < 0.01). TSPSS upregulated placental nutrient transporters, vascular genes, and hormone receptors. GY foals exhibited increased abundance of <i>Synergistetes</i> spp. and decreased abundance of <i>Chlamydiae</i> spp. and <i>Phascolarctobacterium</i> spp., which correlated with enhanced bile acid synthesis. MY foals showed enrichment of <i>Odoribacter</i> spp. and <i>Akkermansia</i> spp. at FQ and <i>Ruminococcus</i> spp. at 90 d, which were linked to steroid and amino acid metabolism. Short-chain fatty acids (such as acetate, etc.) decreased at FQ/30 d, with group-specific correlations.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Maternal TSPSS supplementation during pregnancy may modulate placental gene expression and improve gut microbiota and metabolism, thereby promoting the growth and development of foals.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1787938"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136102/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147835958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanistic insights into nitrogen fertilizer regulation of carbon-nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas emissions: a metagenomics-based investigation.","authors":"Tiantian Meng, Jingjing Shi, Xiangqian Zhang, Xiaoyu Zhao, Yanan Liu, Meiren Rong, Liyu Chen, Yu Dai, Shuli Wei, Jiawei Liu, Zhanyuan Lu","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1808047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1808047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nitrogen (N) fertilizer application can regulate the structure of soil microbial community and influence the abundance of functional genes involved in carbon (C) and N cycling, thereby affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study was conducted in 2023-2024, setting up six nitrogen application rates: N0 (0 kg·ha^-1), N120 (0 kg·ha^-1), N180 (0 kg·ha^-1), N240 (0 kg·ha^-1), N300 (0 kg·ha^-1), and N360 (0 kg·ha^-1). Using 16S amplicon sequencing technology and metagenomic sequencing, the study analyzed the abundance of carbon and nitrogen cycling functional genes. Combined with measurements of CH₄, N₂O, and CO₂ emission fluxes, the research elucidated the mechanism by which nitrogen fertilizer regulates microbial modulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The results indicated that nitrogen application significantly increased greenhouse gas (CH₄, N₂O, CO₂) emissions, with the highest emissions observed under the N300 treatment. Nitrogen application regulated soil nutrients, increasing soil total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, and microbial biomass carbon content. Reasonable nitrogen application (N240) increased bacterial <i>α</i>-diversity (Shannon index, Chao index, PD index) in the soil by 10.82, 14.65, and 1.92%, respectively, compared to N0. It also increased the abundance of dominant nitrogen-fixing bacterial phyla, including Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Nitrospirota. Furthermore, it regulated the abundance of microbial-mediated functional genes involved in dissimilatory nitrate reduction (<i>nirB</i>), assimilatory nitrate reduction (<i>nasA</i>), denitrification (<i>narG</i>, <i>narH</i>, <i>nirS</i>), nitrification (<i>norC</i>, <i>nxrA</i>, <i>nxrB</i>, <i>hao</i>, <i>amoC</i>), as well as those in the carbon cycle related to methane metabolism (<i>pmoA</i>, <i>pmoC</i>, <i>mttC</i>), carbon fixation (<i>por/nifj</i>, <i>rbcl/cbbl</i>), and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis (<i>mch</i>, <i>hdrA</i>, <i>frdE</i>). This regulation further modulated greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, this study clarifies the microbe-associated mechanisms underlying the N fertilizer-driven coupling of C and N cycles with GHG emissions through an integrated analysis of microbial diversity and metagenomics. Furthermore, it offers new insights for sustainable N fertilizer management and emission mitigation strategies in agricultural systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1808047"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13132864/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147813256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gut microbiota regulates growth retardation in pigs through their metabolites of taurine and butyric acids.","authors":"Tao Shen, Yunyan Zhou, Jun Gao, Xinwei Xiong, Congying Chen","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1811659","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1811659","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Growth retardation of piglets has always been observed in current pig production system. Here we defined these pigs as stunted pigs. Stunted pigs show normal feed intake, but exhibit extremely slow growth speed. This brings a big economic loss to pig industry. Many factors can lead to growth retardation, including gut microbiota which has been reported to play important roles in growth retardation of children. However, whether and which gut microbial taxa are associated with growth retardation of piglets are largely unknown. Here we used 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to identify bacterial taxa associated with growth retardation in 126 pigs including stunted pigs and their pairwise littermates showing normal growth. We identified several <i>Clostridium</i> spp. significantly enriched in the gut of normal growing pigs, including <i>Clostridium symbiosum</i> which was the key biomarker distinguishing stunted pigs and normal growing pigs, while several <i>Bacteroides</i> spp. had higher abundances in stunted pigs. <i>Clostridium</i> spp. was significantly associated with the shifts of functional capacities of the gut microbiome between normal and stunted pigs, e.g., biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids. Untargeted serum metabolome analysis found that normal growing pigs had higher concentration of taurine in serum. Increased concentration of serum taurine was associated with increased abundance of <i>Clostridium symbiosum</i>. Furthermore, all metabolites having higher abundances in normal growing pigs were enriched in the pathway of taurine and hypotaurine metabolism. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) analysis identified butyric acid having higher concentration in feces of normal growing pigs in both discovery and validation cohorts, and the changes in the abundances of <i>Clostridium symbiosum</i> was correlated with the shifts of the concentrations of fecal SCFAs. These results suggested that <i>Clostridium</i> spp., especially <i>Clostridium symbiosum</i> improved pig growth by increasing the concentrations of serum taurine and fecal butyric acid, and was an important biomarker associated with pig growth. This study provided important insights into the effect of the gut microbiome on pig growth retardation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1811659"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13132826/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147813259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using gnotobiotic ruminants to dissect host-microbe interactions for sustainable agriculture.","authors":"Fernanda Batistel","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1771182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1771182","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ruminant animals host one of the most complex gut microbial ecosystems, enabling the conversion of fibrous plant biomass into nutrient-dense foods such as meat and milk, which are essential for global food security. Over time, successive waves of research-from the initial recognition of microbes in the rumen, through anaerobic cultivation, to more recent multi-omics approaches-have progressively expanded our understanding of rumen microbial composition and its links to animal production and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these advances, most insights into rumen microbial composition and traits of interest are based on associative or correlative evidence, and the host-derived mechanisms that actively shape rumen microbial composition and function remain poorly defined. Early gnotobiotic studies in ruminants demonstrated the value of maintaining animals under defined microbial conditions to dissect host-microbe interactions; however, this experimental capability has largely been lost from contemporary rumen research. This <i>Perspective</i> argues that revisiting gnotobiotic ruminant models is both timely and necessary for establishing causal mechanisms that govern host-microbe interactions in the rumen. Integrating gnotobiotic ruminant models is essential for establishing causal relationships between host biology and rumen microbial composition, thereby providing a foundation for biologically informed strategies that can enhance the sustainability of ruminant production systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1771182"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13132871/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147812893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coordinated proteome-scale remodeling underlies polyextremophilic survival in Antarctic cryo-hypersaline brines.","authors":"Shubham Pandey, Anjali Gupta, Ashwini Chauhan, Mohammad Ali Amoozegar, Ram Karan","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2026.1822442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1822442","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cryo-hypersaline brines combine sub-zero temperatures with near-saturated salinity, creating one of Earth's most extreme habitats. Antarctic Deep Lake provides a natural model for studying how proteins remain stable and functional under this dual stress and serves as a terrestrial analog for Martian cryo-brines.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed a comparative proteome-scale analysis of <i>Halorubrum lacusprofundi</i>, the dominant haloarchaeon of Antarctic Deep Lake, to define the molecular basis of protein function under simultaneous cold and hypersaline stress. High-confidence structural prediction was integrated with genome-wide physicochemical profiling of more than 3,000 proteins and comparative analysis against mesophilic, psychrophilic, and halophilic reference organisms was performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The cryo-hypersaline proteome displayed pronounced acidic enrichment, lower isoelectric points, reduced hydrophobicity, and extensive surface charge redistribution, consistent with enhanced solubility under high ionic strength. However, flexibility profiling showed that this acidic, highly charged framework is not accompanied by uniform rigidification; instead, conformational dynamics were selectively preserved in functionally important regions. Substitution analysis further supported a layered adaptation strategy in which halophilic acidification is retained while cold-relevant mobility is superimposed on this background.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These results indicate that the defining feature of cryo-hypersaline adaptation is not any single exclusive structural trait, but the coordinated integration of halophilic solubility determinants with selective dynamic tuning for low-temperature function. Together, this work establishes a multi-layered adaptive framework for protein persistence in Antarctic cryo-brines and provides insight into molecular adaptation in polyextreme environments, including habitats relevant to Martian cryo-brines.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1822442"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13133045/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147812475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}