Genome-scale analyses of health-promoting bacteria: probiogenomics

The human body is colonized by an enormous population of bacteria (microbiota) that provides the host with coding capacity and metabolic activities. Among the human gut microbiota are health-promoting indigenous species (probiotic bacteria) that are commonly consumed as live dietary supplements. Recent genomics-based studies (probiogenomics) are starting to provide insights into how probiotic bacteria sense and adapt to the gastrointestinal tract environment. In this Review, we discuss the application of probiogenomics in the elucidation of the molecular basis of probiosis using the well-recognized model probiotic bacteria genera Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus as examples.

Nuove intersezioni: crimine e storia nella narrativa Italiana al cambio di millennio

My research investigates a recent tendency in Italian literature, characterized by elements of renewal within the novel-writing tradition and of discontinuity with postmodern culture. It proposes an interpretation of the genres of the historical novel and crime fiction in the last fifteen years, in order to underline the important role played by these types of narrative in revitalizing contemporary Italian literature. These modalities of writing are considered both individually and in their connections beyond a traditional notion of genre, emphasizing those characteristics which may be assumed as irreconcilable with a postmodern approach to fiction and those which, furthermore, seem to indicate attempts to take a new course. In particular, my study analyses the recent literary tendency to combine the elements of ‘crime’ and ‘history’ in order to represent political and social reality, and how the works examined relate to postmodern narrative. For this reason, I pay particular attention to the relationship between literature and the past and to the socio-political aspects connected with the praxis of narrating, offering an original interpretation of the way in which the authors studied engage with these characteristics.