The human gastrointestinal microbiota and its unique metabolites regulate a diverse array of physiological processes with substantial implications for human health and performance. Chronic exercise training positively modulates the gut microbiota and its metabolic output. The benefits of chronic exercise for the gut microbiota may be influenced by acute changes in microbial community structure and function that follow a single exercise bout (i.e., acute exercise). Thus, an improved understanding of changes in the gut microbiota that occur with acute exercise could aid in the development of evidence‐based exercise training strategies to target the gut microbiota more effectively. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary of the existing literature on the acute and very short‐term (<3 weeks) exercise responses of the gut microbiota and faecal metabolites in humans. We conclude by highlighting gaps in the literature and providing recommendations for future research in this area.

Malignant tumors, characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation, are a leading global health challenge, responsible for over 9.7 million deaths in 2022, with new cases expected to rise to 35 million annually by 2050. Immunotherapy is preferred to other cancer therapies, offering precise targeting of malignant cells while simultaneously strengthening the immune system’s complex responses. Advances in this novel field of science have been closely linked to a deeper knowledge of tumor biology, particularly the intricate interplay between tumor cells, the immune system, and the tumor microenvironment (TME), which are central to cancer progression and immune evasion. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of the molecular mechanisms that govern these interactions, emphasizing their critical role in the development of effective immunotherapeutic products. We critically evaluate the current immunotherapy approaches, including cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell therapies, and cytokine‐based treatments, highlighting their efficacy and safety. We also explore the latest advancements in combination therapies, which synergistically integrate multiple immunotherapeutic strategies to overcome resistance and enhance therapeutic outcomes. This review offers key insights into the future of cancer immunotherapy with a focus on advancing more effective and personalized treatment strategies.

Background: Hypertension is a global health crisis linked to increased heart disease and stroke. Black individuals have the greatest burden of hypertension and related diseases. Recent research suggests that the gut microbial production of short‐chain fatty acids, such as butyrate, is associated with blood pressure (BP) regulation. We hypothesize that acutely increasing gut butyrate would lead to a significant reduction in BP within a 24‐hour period. Methods: Ten Black adults with normal BP and 10 with stage 1 hypertension (age and sex‐matched) participated in this study. In a crossover experiment, participants with hypertension randomly self‐administered a low dose (5 mmol/L) and a high dose (80 mmol/L) butyrate enema 7 days apart. Blood butyrate levels were measured before and 30 minutes post enema, with BP monitored via 24‐hour ambulatory devices. Preintervention fecal samples were sequenced via the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene and microbiome characteristics assessed. Results: We observed that daytime systolic BP was significantly lower after the 80 mmol/L butyrate enema. There was no significant difference in blood butyrate between controls and the group with hypertension before or after either enema. Microbial diversity did not significantly differ between groups; however, pathways for carbohydrate fermentation were significantly lower with differentially abundance butyrate‐producing microbes in participants with hypertension compared with those with normal BP. Conclusions: This study suggests that increasing gut butyrate availability can improve BP. The findings bolster the evidence that gut butyrate regulates BP and supports studies needed to test strategies to boost gut butyrate availability for BP control. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier NCT04415333.

Increasing diversity in STEM disciplines has been a goal at scientific institutions for many decades. Black representation in STEM, however, has remained critically low at all levels (high school, undergraduate, graduate, and professional) for over 40 years, highlighting the need for innovative strategies that promote and retain Black students and professionals in STEM. We refocus efforts on increasing Black representation in STEM by promoting early exposure and continued engagement while leveraging national laboratories—an underutilized resource with immense potential to centralize diversity and inclusion efforts nationally.

Background: Humans emit approximately 30 million microbial cells per hour into their immediate vicinity. However, sampling of aerosolized microbial taxa (aerobiome) remains largely uncharacterized due to the complexity and limitations of sampling techniques, which are highly susceptible to low biomass and rapid sample degradation. Recently, there has been an interest in developing technology that collects naturally occurring water from the atmosphere, even within the built environment. Here, we analyze the feasibility of indoor aerosol condensation collection as a method to capture and analyze the aerobiome. Methods: Aerosols were collected via condensation or active impingement in a laboratory setting over the course of 8 h. Microbial DNA was extracted from collected samples and sequenced (16S rRNA) to analyze microbial diversity and community composition. Dimensional reduction and multivariate statistics were employed to identify significant (p < 0.05) differences in relative abundances of specific microbial taxa observed between the two sampling platforms. Results: Aerosol condensation capture is highly efficient with a yield greater than 95% when compared to expected values. Compared to air impingement, aerosol condensation showed no significant difference (ANOVA, p > 0.05) in microbial diversity. Among identified taxa, Streptophyta and Pseudomonadales comprised approximately 70% of the microbial community composition. Conclusion: The results suggest that condensation of atmospheric humidity is a suitable method for the capture of airborne microbial taxa reflected by microbial community similarity between devices. Future investigation of aerosol condensation may provide insight into the efficacy and viability of this new tool to investigate airborne microorganisms. Importance: On average, humans shed approximately 30 million microbial cells each hour into their immediate environment making humans the primary contributor to shaping the microbiome found within the built environment. In addition, recent events have highlighted the importance of understanding how microorganisms within the built environment are aerosolized and dispersed, but more importantly, the lack in development of technology that is capable of actively sampling the ever-changing aerosolized microbiome, i.e., aerobiome. This research highlights the capability of sampling the aerobiome by taking advantage of naturally occurring atmospheric humidity. Our novel approach reproduces the biological content in the atmosphere and can provide insight into the environmental microbiology of indoor spaces.

Background and Aims: The flowering plant family Apocynaceae exhibits diverse adaptations with biological and pharmaceutical significance, many of which have been studied with RNA-seq. However, despite the available transcriptomic data, no focused phylotranscriptomic study has been conducted to characterize the patterns of molecular evolution in this group. In this study, we leverage a dataset composed predominately of publicly available transcriptomes to infer relationships within Apocynaceae and explore the molecular processes that have shaped their divergences. Methods: We extracted nuclear, chloroplast, and mitochondrial genes from 47 publicly available and one newly sequenced transcriptome to assemble and infer species relationships across Apocynaceae. Leveraging the gene-rich nuclear phylotranscriptomic data, we inferred molecular dates and investigated the complex history of gene tree conflict, molecular rate shifts, and gene duplications. To investigate the genomic basis of adaptations, we analyzed the inferred 14,838 gene duplications at the base of Apocynaceae for shared functional enrichment of genes related to evolutionary innovations. Key Results: The Apocynaceae topology inferred from our phylotranscriptomic analysis is highly concordant with the current consensus. Notably, a genome-wide acceleration in molecular rate subtends the Ceropegieae tribe. We observed that a decreased time between divergences is associated with a higher rate of gene tree conflict, a pattern especially prevalent across the Apocynaceae’s historically recalcitrant backbone relationships. Furthermore, gene duplications may underlie evolutionary innovations, such as immunity-related gene expansion in the genus Asclepias and duplications associated with trichome modifications in the epiphytic Hoya . Finally, we discuss the contentious history of whole-genome duplication (WGD) within the Apocynaceae and emphasize the need for further investigation into the placement of WGDs. Conclusions: Repurposing transcriptomes is a powerful means of accumulating data for novel insights in plant evolution, especially during uncertain funding and cases where budget restrictions exist. Leveraging this gene-dense dataset, we obtained novel insights into the molecular evolution of Apocynaceae and identified areas for future investigations.