A novel endophytic bacterium, designated strain SZ4R5S7T, was isolated from surface-sterilized root of an endangered medicinal plant (Ferula songorica Pall. ex Spreng) collected from Xinjiang, north-west China. The taxonomic position of the strain was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. The strain was found to be aerobic, Gram-stain-positive, oxidase-negative and catalase-positive, short rods and non-motile. Strain SZ4R5S7T grew at 4-37 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 5.0-9.0 (pH 6.0-8.0) and in the presence of 0-4 % (w/v) NaCl. The polar lipids detected for strain SZ4R5S7T were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and two unidentified lipids. The predominant menaquinone of strain SZ4R5S7T was MK-8(H4), and the major fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0 and anteiso-C14 : 0. The DNA G+C content was determined to be 72.4 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain SZ4R5S7T belongs to the genus Nocardioides and showed highest levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to members of the strain Nocardioideskribbensis KSL-2T (97.8 %). On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data, strain SZ4R5S7T represents a novel species in the genus Nocardioides, for which the name Nocardioides ferulae sp. nov. is proposed and the type strain is SZ4R5S7T (=CGMCC 4.7456T=KCTC 39994T).

A Gram-stain-positive, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, motile, endospore-forming strain, SYSU K30001T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from a cave in Xingyi county, Guizhou province, south-west China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain SYSU K30001T belonged to the genus Bacillus , with the highest sequence similarity to the type strain of Bacillus panaciterrae (98.1 %). Growth occurred at pH 6.0–9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0), at 28–55 °C (optimum, 28 °C) and in the presence of 0–3 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum in the absence of NaCl). Strain SYSU K30001T contained meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan and MK-7 as the only isoprenoid quinone present. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified glycolipid. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 1 ω10c, anteiso-C14 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0. The genome G+C content was 39.8 mol%. The average nucleotide identity values between SYSU K30001T and B. panaciterrae DSM 19096T were 72.1 % (ANIb) and 83.1 % (ANIm), which were below the cut-off level (95–96 %) for species delineation. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular characterizations, strain SYSU K30001T represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus , for which the name Bacillus antri sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU K30001T (=KCTC 33954T=CGMCC 1.13871T).

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) characterized by immune escape is the most malignant primary brain tumors, which has strong immunosuppressive effect. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is a recognized immunosuppressive member on the surface of tumor cells, and plays a crucial role in immune evasion of tumors. Actually, little is known about the regulation of PD-L1 expression in GBM. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) is upregulated in GBM and is related to poor patient prognosis. However, it remains unclear whether IGFBP3 plays a role in the regulation of PD-L1 expression in GBM. Methods: The role of IGFBP3 in the glioma immune microenvironment was investigated using the CIBERSORT algorithm. The correlation between IGFBP3 and PD-L1 expression was analyzed using TCGA and CGGA databases. QRT-PCR, immunoblotting and RNA-seq were used to examine the regulatory effect of IGFBP3 on PD-L1 expression. Co-culture assay, cell counting kit (CCK-8), qRT-PCR, ELISA and flow cytometry were performed to explore the function of IGFBP3 in inducing immunosuppression. The biological role of IGFBP3 was verified using immunohistochemical, immunofluorescence and mice orthotopic tumor model. Results: In this study, we analyzed immune cells infiltration in gliomas and found that IGFBP3 may be associated with an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Then, by analyzing TCGA and CGGA databases, our results showed that IGFBP3 and PD-L1 expression were positively correlated in GBM patients, but not in LGG patients. In vitro experiments conducted on different GBM cell lines revealed that the overexpression of IGFBP3 led to an increase in PD-L1 expression, which was reversible upon knockdown IGFBP3. Mechanistically, IGFBP3 activated the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, leading to an increase in PD-L1 expression. Additionally, co-culture experiments results showed IGFBP3 overexpression induced upregulation of PD-L1 expression promoted apoptosis in Jurkat cells, and this effect was blocked by IGFBP3 antibody and PDL-1 inhibitors. Importantly, in vivo experiments targeting IGFBP3 suppressed tumor growth and significantly prolonged the survival of mice. Conclusions: This research demonstrated IGFBP3 is a novel regulator for PD-L1 expression in GBM, and identified a new mechanism by which IGFBP3 regulates immune evasion through PD-L1, suggesting that IGFBP3 may be a potential novel target for GBM therapy.

The present study was carried out to clarify the taxonomic relationship between two closely related Bacillus species, Bacillus okuhidensis Li et al. 2002 and Bacillus halodurans (ex Boyer 1973) Nielsen et al. 1995. The maximum-likelihood tree based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence and the phylogenomic tree based on concatenation of 16 protein-marker genes showed that these species were similar. Average nucleotide identity (ANIm 99.25 %, ANIb 98.2 %) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values (93.5 %) between B. okuhidensis DSM 13666T and B. halodurans DSM 497T were greater than the threshold values for bacterial species delineation, indicating that they belong to the same species. Therefore, B. okuhidensis Li et al. 2002 should be reclassified as a later heterotypic synonym of B. halodurans (ex Boyer 1973) Nielsen et al. 1995.