The invention relates to means for carrying out conjugation between bacteria, and in particular the invention relates to carrier bacteria comprising antimicrobial agents and methods of use. The carrier bacteria are capable of conjugative transfer of DNA encoding the agent to a target cells. The invention further relates to growth or feed conversion ratio promotion in animals. The invention further relates to killing Salmonella or inhibiting the growth or proliferation of Salmonella.

The invention relates to methods, uses, systems, arrays, engineered nucleotide sequences and vectors for inhibiting bacterial population growth or for altering the relative ratio of sub-populations of first and second bacteria in a mixed population of bacteria. The invention is particularly useful, for example, for treatment of microbes such as for environmental, medical, food and beverage use. The invention relates inter alia to methods of controlling microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) or biofouling of a substrate or fluid in an industrial or domestic system.

Methods and systems are provided for diagnosis and possibly treatment of the large intestine, using samples from at least three portions of the large intestine, including sampling the ascending proximal portion thereof. Samples from the ascending portions of the large intestine were found to differ in their microbial characteristics significantly from prior art stool samples and from samples taken from the descending and transverse parts of the large intestine—enabling more accurate diagnosis and possibly more effective treatment of diseases of the large intestine.

The present embodiments relate to selection of agents effective in reducing or preventing gastrointestinal pain in a subject. Such an agent is selected and identified if it is capable of reducing spontaneous and/or induced transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) activation.

A method for reducing the likelihood of developing depression in an individual involves providing in the gut of an individual a population of beneficial bacteria selected from the group consisting of bacterial species able to make small chain fatty acids, and preferably butyrate, and administering fiber to the individual to maintain a therapeutically effective amount of the beneficial bacteria in the gut of the individual. The individual's gut microbiome is modified to reduce the number of undesired bacteria and to increase the number of beneficial bacteria. Bacteria are preferably modified to remove one or more virulence facts or alternatively to produce increased amounts of SCFA's, such as butyrate. Beneficial bacteria may be encapsulated in a frangible enclosure to ensure they arrive in an individual's body while still viable, e.g. such as being first released in the lower gut rather than being exposed to the harsh conditions of an individual's stomach. In other embodiments, a therapeutically effective amount of a bacterial formulation comprising Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is administered. Other embodiments include the administration of a bacterial formulation comprising at least one of Coprococcus, Roseburia, Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and L. casei to treat depression.

A method of treating bacterial vaginosis in a subject is disclosed. The method comprises administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a composition which comprises between three and twenty species of bacteria or a secretion thereof, wherein at least 70% of the bacteria of the composition are of the species Lactobacillus crispatus, thereby treating the bacterial vaginosis.

The present invention provides a new method and composition to improve the growth, development, and/or nutritional value of a host organism, such as black soldier flies, utilizing oleaginous microbes, such as Arthrobacter and Rhodococcus species, to provide improved feed sources for animals and benefits to agriculture and energy.

The present invention relates to the novel lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus mucosae and Bifidobacterium longum, and specifically, to a composition comprising the novel lactic acid bacteria, the composition enabling the inhibition of the expression of the p16 protein, which is an aging factor, and the inhibition of inflammatory factors, thereby being useful in preventing and treating memory impairment, learning disabilities or mental disorders, and in preventing and treating inflammatory diseases.

This disclosure relates to Cas9-nucleic acid complexes and uses related thereto. In certain embodiments, the disclosure contemplates transgenic plants and animals genetically engineered to express Cas9-nucleic acid complexes disclosed herein. In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to methods of treating or preventing, diseases, conditions, cancer, viral infections or other pathogenic infection using vectors configured to express a Cas9-nucleic acid complex disclosed herein.

Compositions, systems and methods of improving the health of the microbiome of an individual's skin relate to the provision of skin contacting formulations containing beneficial bacteria, postbiotics, metabolites and other microbe components to foster the growth and maintenance of a healthy skin microbiome. One embodiment includes a topical application of Lactobacillus Crispatus to ameliorate skin barrier damage and inflammation using unique combinations of probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, and other skin-beneficial ingredients, effectively treating inflammatory skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and acne, through the production of tryptophan metabolites that act as AHR agonists.