Katarina Soltys

Comenius University Bratislava · Faculty of Natural Sciences and Comenius University Science Park

Biological aging is linked to altered body composition and reduced neuroactive steroid hormones like dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), which can stimulate the GABA signaling pathway via gut microbiota. Our study examined the association of gut microbiota with lifespan in mice through comprehensive analysis of its composition and functional in...

During the screening of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) samples from the United Kingdom in 2015 using high throughput sequencing (HTS) technology, the genome of a novel virus was identified in a plant showing symptoms of stunting and yellowing. The virus genome consisted of two RNA molecules; an RNA1 of 6001 nt encoding a polyprotein with protein cofac...

Due to the falling water level in the Aral Sea and Muynak Lake, the content of salts dissolved in the water has gradually increased, and toxic elements have been deposited at the lake’s bottom and subsequently washed into the Aral region by the river. Bacteria, archaea and fungi are crucial for the cycling of several important inorganic nutrients i...

Analysis of the viromes of three symptomatic Fabaceae plants, i.e., red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), using high-throughput sequencing revealed complex infections and enabled the acquisition of complete genomes of a potyvirus, bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV). Based on phylogenetic a...

The gut microbiota of paediatric oncology patients undergoing a conditioning regimen before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is recently considered to play role in febrile neutropenia. Disruption of commensal microbiota and evolution of opportune pathogens community carrying a plethora of antibiotic-resistance genes play crucial role. Howeve...

Background: Severe alcohol-associated hepatitis (SAH) is the most serious phenotype of the alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) spectrum, characterized by high short-term mortality. The only approved therapy with corticosteroids (CS) has modest and short-term survival benefits; moreover, new therapeutic alternatives are unmet need. Fecal microbio...

Tellurite resistance gene clusters have been identified in numerous pathogenic bacteria, including clinical isolates of Escherichia coli . The rareness of tellurium in host organisms and the noncontaminated environment raises a question about the true functionality of tellurite resistance gene clusters in pathogenesis and their possible contributio...

Human gut microbiota has been in the centre of scientific interest for a long period of time. Overall health status of an individual has a great impact on the composition of gut microbiota; however, gut microbiota can affect human health. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are often a part of human gut microbiome. In this paper, total genomic DNA w...

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a severe complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Our study focused on identifying multidrug-resistant (MDR) gut bacteria associated with GvHD-prone guts and association with gut microbiota (GM) diversity, bacteriome, and mycobiome composition in post-HSCT patients. We examined 11 pediat...

Is the time ripe for microbiome to be levered in clinical hepatology? Is the preventive, predictive, and personalized medicine (3PM/PPPM) realm offering a framework for just an intellectual exercise in the world of natura cogitans, or can we already predict, personalize, and prevent liver diseases by targeting microbiome? Can the knowledge be extra...

With the rapid growth of massively parallel sequencing technologies, still more laboratories are utilising sequenced DNA fragments for genomic analyses. Interpretation of sequencing data is, however, strongly dependent on bioinformatics processing, which is often too demanding for clinicians and researchers without a computational background. Anoth...

Phaseolus vulgaris alphaendornavirus-1 (PvEV-1, family Endornaviridae) was identified by ribodepleted total RNA high-throughput sequencing in the virome of two bean plants (Phaseouls vulgaris L.) grown in a garden in western Slovakia. Two nearly complete PvEV-1 genomes (ca. 14.06 kb, named PV1 and PV2) were assembled, showing 99.9% nucleotide ident...

Background: Gut microbial composition seems to change in association with prediabetes. The purpose of this prospective cross-sectional study was to compare the composition of gut microbiota and energy metabolites between individuals with class III obesity but without type 2 diabetes mellitus (OB) and healthy normal weight controls. Methods: The sub...

The genus Elaphe Fitzinger, 1833 includes 17 species of charismatic, large-sized, non-venomous, Eurasian snakes. In the Western Palearctic, the genus is represented by three species from the Elaphe quatuorlineata group ranging from the Apennine peninsula to Central Asia. The southernmost population of this group is distributed in the mountains of t...

Background Physical exercise has favorable effects on the structure of gut microbiota and metabolite production in sedentary subjects. However, little is known whether adjustments in an athletic program impact overall changes of gut microbiome in high-level athletes. We therefore characterized fecal microbiota and serum metabolites in response to a...

I. ricinus is an obligate hematophagous parasitic arthropod that is responsible for the transmission of a wide range of zoonotic pathogens including spirochetes of the genus Borrelia, Rickettsia spp., C. burnetii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Francisella tularensis, which are part the tick´s microbiome. Most of the studies focus on “pathogens” and...

The increased interest in assisted reproduction through in vitro fertilization (IVF) leads to an urgent need to identify biomarkers that reliably highly predict the success of pregnancy. Despite advances in diagnostics, treatment, and IVF approaches, the 30% success rate of IVF seems insurmountable. Idiopathic infertility does not have any explanat...

Turnip yellows virus (TuYV) is one of the most important pathogens of oilseed rape worldwide. The virus has a large host range including many crop species (e.g., oilseed rape, pea, chickpea) and weeds from more than twenty plant families. Other than oilseed rape, we detected TuYV in many commonly grown weed species that share the fields and vegetat...

Many ancient manuscripts are littered with wax drippings from the candles used while writing or reading them. Bacterial and fungal species associated with the wax in a manuscript containing an unusually large number of wax drops were analysed by metabarcoding with Oxford Nanopore Sequencing (MinION). In addition, culturable fungi and bacteria were...

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV; Cucumovirus, Bromoviridae) is an omnipresent virus characterized by a large host range and high genetic variability. Using high-throughput sequencing, we have characterized near complete genomes of 14 Slovak CMV variants from different plant hosts. Of these, three variants originated from the Papaveraceae species (oilsee...

Gut microbiome impairment is a serious side effect of cancer treatment. The aim of this study was to identify the effects of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) treatment on gut microbiota composition in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Fecal microbiotas were categorized using specific primers targeting the V1–V3 region...

Dibothriocephalus latus is the most frequent causative agent of fish-borne zoonosis (diphyllobothriosis) in Europe, where it is currently circulating mainly in the Alpine lakes region (ALR) and Russia. Three mitochondrial genes ( cox 1, cob and nad 3) and 6 microsatellite loci were analysed to determine how is the recently detected triploidy/parthe...

The gut microbiome is linked to the development of individual diseases. Patients with congestive heart failure (HF) develop intestinal wall edema due to venous congestion, which impairs absorption function and allows bacterial overgrowth. Consequently, the pathogenous bacterial strains produce many harmful substances, including trimethylamine N-oxi...

Hospital vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) were evaluated in term of resistance and phylogenetic relatedness to estimate the location and possible route of transmission of resistance determinants. Hospital VREfm (n=49) were collected in the northern part of Slovakia during the years 2017 to 2020. The collection was analyzed for the...

Implementing omics studies into clinical practice involves understanding changes in the human body at several levels, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, and many more omics studies such as metagenomics, epigenomics, interactivity, lipidomics. This chapter describes the use of some omics techniques in reproductive med...

Precision medicine is the intersection of data science, analytics, and biomedicine in creating a healthy learning system that conducts research in the context of clinical care while optimizing the tools and information used to provide better outcomes for patients. Emerging technologies represent a novel, innovative, and fast-evolving trend within a...

A tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum Linnaeus, labelled KVE) displaying virus-like symptoms, tested negative for common tomato viruses, was subjected to high-throughput sequencing (HTS) on the Illumina MiSeq platform using ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNA as a template. The analysis has revealed the contigs mapping to Lettuce big-vein associated vi...

Study question The aim of the study was to identify molecules in the embryo culture medium as important predictive biomarkers of high-quality embryos Summary answer The study identified 14 canonical iso-miRNA molecules that prognostically determine the quality of the embryo with a prediction accuracy with 95% sensitivity and 80% specificity. What...

Background: With the rapid growth of massively parallel sequencing technologies, still more laboratories are utilizing sequenced DNA fragments for genomic analyses. Interpretation of sequencing data is, however, strongly dependent on bioinformatics processing, which is often too demanding for clinicians and researchers without a computational backg...

Regular physical activity seems to have a positive effect on the microbiota composition of the elderly, but little is known about the added possible benefits of strenuous endurance training. To gain insight into the physiology of the elderly and to identify biomarkers associated with endurance training, we combined different omics approaches. We ai...

Weight loss interventions with probiotics have favourable effects on gut microbiota composition and derived metabolites. However, little is known about whether the consumption of natural probiotics, such as Bryndza cheeses, brings similar benefits. The purpose of the study was to find the effect of short-term weight loss programs and Bryndza cheese...

Aim The study of minimal ter operon as a determinant of tellurium resistance (Te R ) is important for the purpose of confirming the relationship of these genes to the pathogenicity of microorganisms. The ter operon is widespread among bacterial species and pathogens, implicated also in phage inhibition, oxidative stress and colicin resistance. So f...

To evaluate the multiplicity of reactions to toxic metalloid arsenic (As) with specific emphasis on the role of plant peroxidases, a model plant Nicotiana benthamiana was cultivated in in vitro conditions at various doses of As (applied as As⁵⁺ up to 80 μM). After 28-day cultivation, several physiological characteristics such as plant growth, photo...

In recent years, high throughput sequencing (HTS) has brought new possibilities to the study of the diversity and complexity of plant viromes. Mixed infection of a single plant with several viruses is frequently observed in such studies. We analyzed the virome of 10 tomato and sweet pepper samples from Slovakia, all showing the presence of potato v...

Acute abdominal clinical presentations as initial manifestation of meningococcal infection are uncommon and frequently provoked by hyperinvasive isolates of meningococci. 10% of patients infected by the meningococcal strain, that is on the rise in Europe, suffer from abdominal pain. We hereby report the first laboratory confirmed fatal case of an o...

intestinal microbiota is becoming a significant marker that reflects differences between health and disease status also in terms of gut-brain axis communication. Studies show that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have a mix of gut microbes that is distinct from the neurotypical children. Various assays are being used for microbiot...

A multi-disciplinary investigation was undertaken to determine the cause of corrosion of iron nails from a skeletal structure in a museum setting. Corroded iron nails were removed from a large whale skeleton, that had been assembled in the 1930s and exhibited for over 80 years at the Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom. Oxford Nanopore...

Introduction: In contrast to obesity, little is known about the human lean phenotype associated with gut microbiota composition. Objective: We aimed to investigate whether the bacterial composition of lean athletes with a positive energy balance differs from the equal-calorie food group. Methods: Twenty-four male participants were included in thi...

Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus, GBS) represents a leading cause of invasive bacterial infections in newborns and is also responsible for diseases in older and immunocompromised adults. Prophages represent an important factor contributing to the genome plasticity and evolution of new strains. In the present study, prophage content w...

Wine production is a complex procedure in which an important role is played by many microorganisms, particularly yeasts and bacteria. In modern wineries, alcoholic fermentation is usually carried out by adding microbial starter cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for precisely controlled production. Nowadays, in Slovak republic, autochthon...

A historical crypt offers us a particular view of the conditions of some buried materials (in this case textiles) and the various biogenic phenomena to which they were subjected over the centuries. In addition, significant knowledge can come by studying the DNA of buried objects which allows the recognition of materials, but also to reveal some pra...

Dibothriocephalus dendriticus is one of the causative agents of the fish-borne zoonosis diphyllobothriosis. Polymorphic microsatellite markers were originally developed for future genetic studies using microsatellite library screening and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Out of 128 microsatellite candidates selected after NGS analysis, 126 yielded...

The ribosomal-depleted total RNA from white-berry grapevine (Vitis vinifera, SK933) plant showing severe chlorosis and downrolling of leaves was used for the high-throughput sequencing (HTS) analysis in order to unravel the potential contribution of the viral pathogens to the symptomatology observed. The combination of de novo assembly and mapping...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex of neurodevelopmental conditions with increasing incidence. The microbiota of children with ASD is distinct from neurotypical children, their food habits are also different, and it is known that nutrient intake influences microbiota in a specific way. Thus, this study investigates the food habits of child...

Higher probability of the development of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) as a possible consequence of the north-south gradient has been recently suggested. Living far north or south of the equator is manifested in fluctuation of vitamin D (vitD) levels depending on the season in both healthy and affected individuals. In the present...

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), with extremely broad host range including both monocots and dicots around the world, belongs to most important viral crop threats. Either natural or genetically constructed sources of resistance are being intensively investigated; for this purpose, exhaustive knowledge of molecular virus-host interaction during compatib...

Ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNAs from a sweet pepper plant (Capsicum annuum, labelled as N65) grown in western Slovakia and showing severe virus-like symptoms (chlorosis, mottling and deformation of leaf lamina) were subjected to high-throughput sequencing (HTS) on an Illumina MiSeq platform. The de novo assembly of ca. 5.5 million reads, followed...

There has been much more damage to forests in the Slovak Republic in the second half of the 20th century than to other European countries. Forested mountain massifs have become a filter of industrial and transportation emissions from abroad, as well as from domestic origins. There are not only acidic deposits of sulphur and heavy metals present in...

It is well known that smoking is the risk factor in the development and clinical course of Crohn´'s disease (CD), but on the other hand, smoking is a protective factor against ulcerative colitis (UC). The pathways that are influenced by smoking in CD and UC are poorly understood. The aim of our study was to analyse the influence of smoking on the m...

Several high throughput sequencing platforms are available in order to study the microbiome of the relics belonging to the cultural heritage. In this study we have compared the microbial consortia composition obtained by MiSeq, one of the most used platforms from Illumina and the MinION developed by the company Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Analyze...

Recent research suggests the involvement of bidirectional gut-brain axis in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to establish the role of changed gut microbiota in behavioural and gastrointestinal manifestations, but also in astrocyte activation in children with ASD. Distinct faecal microbiota in children with ASD was found to...

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) can accumulate as much as 1% silicon (Si), but not much is known about the mechanisms inherent to this process. Here, we investigated in detail the uptake, accumulation and distribution of Si in date palms, and the phylogeny of Si transporter genes in plants. We characterized the PdNIP2 transporter following heterolo...

The potential of K2FeO4 as a pretreatment agent of a lignocellulosic material was examined on leaves of Acer platanodides as the sole substrate for biogas production by anaerobic digestion carried out through modelling laboratory-scaled semi-continuous reactors differing in loading rates and substrate (pretreated and untreated leaves). The quality...

A multidisciplinary approach was carried out in order to study the biodeterioration and the associated microbiome of a XVIII Century wax seal coloured with minium. A small wax seal fragment was observed by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM‐EDS) in non‐destructive mode. The same object was analysed by RAM...

Pathogenic fungi, as an increasing global threat to human health, represent a sizable risk. However, significant attention should also be paid to the yeast biofilms. One promising strategy for combating resistant microbes, as well as fungal biofilms, is to extend the lifespan and efficacy of our currently employed drugs by using combination therapy...

The mitochondrial genome is an independent genetic system in each eukaryotic cell outside the nuclear genome. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) appears in high copy number within one cell, unlike nuclear DNA, which exists in two copies. But nevertheless, mtDNA represent only small part of total cellular DNA what causes problematic analysis and identificati...

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is thought to result from an inappropriate and continuing inflammatory response to commensal microbes in a genetically susceptible host. One of hundreds independent SNPs connected to IBD pathogenesis are considered polymorphisms in the g...

The catabolism of milk protein in cheese is one way how the microorganisms influence the sensorial characteristics of the final product. In this investigation, we paid attention to four genes [prtP (cell-envelope proteinase gene), pepX (X-prolyl dipeptidyl aminopeptidase gene), pepN (aminopeptidase gene) and bcaT (branched chain aminotransferase ge...

Here, we present complete mitochondrial genome of the four-lined snake, Elaphe quatuorlineata (Bonnaterre, 1790) and its comparison with closely related E. sauromates (Pallas, 1814). The complete sequence of the mitogenome is 17,183 bp long and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA and 22 tRNA genes, and two control regions. It possesses th...

Here, we present the complete mitochondrial genome of the Blotched snake, Elaphe sauromates (Pallas, 1814). Mitogenome complete sequence is 17,187 bp long and consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes and two control regions. The species mitochondrial genome has the same gene order as other mitogenomes of Elaphe...

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) analysis of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) samples revealed the presence of Potato virus M (PVM) in this crop in Slovakia. Full-length genomes of three PVM isolates were obtained using both HTS and Sanger sequencing validation. While two isolates (T40 and T50) were shown to belong to major Group I, a divergent T20 is...