Most of the microbial degradation in oil reservoirs is believed to take place at the oil-water transition zone (OWTZ). However, a recent study indicates microbial life enclosed in μl-sized water droplets dispersed in heavy oil of the Pitch Lake in Trinidad & Tobago. This life in oil suggests that microbial degradation of oil also takes place in water pockets in the oil-bearing rock of an oil leg independent of the OWTZ. However, it is unknown if microbial life in water droplets dispersed in oil is a generic property of oil reservoirs rather than an exotic exception.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/bpv-hopic.html  Hence, we took samples from three heavy oil seeps, the Pitch Lake (Trinidad & Tobago), the La Brea Tar Pits (CA, USA) and an oil seep on the McKittrick oil field (CA, USA). All three tested oil seeps contained dispersed water droplets. Larger droplets between 1-10 μl revealed high cell densities of up to 109 cells ml-1 Tests for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content and LIVE/DEAD staining showed that these populations consist of active and viable m separate oil seeps that are located thousands of kilometers away from each other, we propose that water droplets populated with microorganisms might be a generic trait of biodegraded oil reservoirs. Furthermore, microbes in these water droplets can contribute to the degradation of the oil. Copyright © 2020 Pannekens et al.While only a subset of Vibrio cholerae are human diarrheal pathogens, all are aquatic organisms. In this environment, they often persist in close association with arthropods. In the intestinal lumen of the model arthropod Drosophila melanogaster, methionine and methionine sulfoxide decrease susceptibility to V. cholerae infection. In addition to its structural role in proteins, methionine participates in the methionine cycle, which carries out synthetic and regulatory methylation reactions. It is, therefore, essential for the growth of both animals and bacteria. Methionine is scarce in some environments, and the facile conversion of free methionine to methionine sulfoxide in oxidizing environments interferes with its utilization. To ensure an adequate supply of methionine, the genomes of most organisms encode multiple high affinity uptake pathways for methionine as well as multiple methionine sulfoxide reductases, which reduce free and protein-associated methionine sulfoxide to methionine. To explore the roleust be identified and mutagenized. Here we have mutagenized every high affinity methionine uptake system and methionine sulfoxide reductase encoded in the genome of the diarrheal pathogen V. cholerae We use this information to determine that high affinity methionine uptake systems are sufficient to acquire methionine in the intestine of the model arthropod Drosophila melanogaster but are not involved in virulence and that the intestinal concentration of methionine must be between 0.05 mM and 0.5 mM. Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology.The purple nonsulfur phototrophic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris strain CGA009 uses the three-carbon dicarboxylic acid malonate as a sole carbon source under phototrophic conditions. However, this bacterium grows extremely slowly on this compound and does not have operons for the two pathways for malonate degradation that have been described in other bacteria. Many bacteria grow on a spectrum of carbon sources, some of which are classified as "poor" growth substrates because they support slow growth rates. This trait is rarely addressed in the literature, but slow growth is potentially useful in biotechnological applications where it is imperative for bacteria to divert cellular resources to value-added products rather than to growth. This prompted us to explore the genetic and physiological basis for the slow growth of R. palustris with malonate as a carbon source. There are two unlinked genes annotated as encoding a malonyl-CoA synthetase (MatB) and a malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MatA) in the genome of m of malonate, but some of these elements are apparently not very efficient. R. palustris cells growing with malonate have the potential to be excellent biocatalysts because cells would be able to divert cellular resources to the production of value-added compounds instead of to support rapid growth. In addition, our results suggest that R. palustris is a candidate for directed evolution studies to improve growth on malonate and to observe the kinds of genetic adaptations that occur to make a metabolic pathway operate more efficiently. Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology.OBJECTIVE To update the 2012 EULAR/ERA-EDTA recommendations for the management of lupus nephritis (LN). METHODS Following the EULAR standardised operating procedures, a systematic literature review was performed. Members of a multidisciplinary Task Force voted independently on their level of agreeement with the formed statements. RESULTS The changes include recommendations for treatment targets, use of glucocorticoids and calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) and management of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). The target of therapy is complete response (proteinuria 1 g/24 hours despite renin-angiotensin-aldosterone blockade, MMF in combination with glucocorticoids is preferred. Assessment for kidney and extra-renal disease activity, and management of comorbidities is lifelong with repeat kidney biopsy in cases of incomplete response or nephritic flares. In ESKD, transplantation is the preferred kidney replacement option with immunosuppression guided by transplant protocols and/or extra-renal manifestations. Treatment of LN in children follows the same principles as adult disease. CONCLUSIONS We have updated the EULAR recommendations for the management of LN to facilitate homogenization of patient care. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.This review highlights current treatments, limitations, and pitfalls in the management of pancreatic cancer and discusses current research in novel targets and drug development to overcome these clinical challenges. We begin with a review of the clinical landscape of pancreatic cancer, including genetic and environmental risk factors, as well as limitations in disease diagnosis and prevention. We next discuss current treatment paradigms for pancreatic cancer and the shortcomings of targeted therapy in this disease. Targeting major driver mutations in pancreatic cancer, such as dysregulation in the KRAS and TGF-β signaling pathways, have failed to improve survival outcomes compared to non-targeted chemotherapy; thus, we describe new advances in therapy such as Ras binding pocket inhibitors. We then review next-generation approaches in nanomedicine and drug delivery, focusing on preclinical advancements in novel optical probes, antibodies, small molecule agents, and nucleic acids to improve surgical outcomes in resectable disease, augment current therapies, expand druggable targets, and minimize morbidity.