The marine intertidal zone shapes oyster and clam digestive bacterial microbiota

ABSTRACT Digestive microbiota provide a wide range of beneficial effects on host physiology and are therefore likely to play a key role in marine intertidal bivalve ability to acclimatize to the intertidal zone. This study investigated the effect of intertidal levels on the digestive bacterial microbiota of oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and clams (Ruditapes philippinarum), two bivalves with different ecological niches. Based on 16S rRNA region sequencing, digestive glands, seawater and sediments harbored specific bacterial communities, dominated by operational taxonomic units assigned to the Mycoplasmatales,Desulfobacterales and Rhodobacterales orders, respectively. Field implantation modified digestive bacterial microbiota of both bivalve species according to their intertidal position. Rhodospirillales and Legionellales abundances increased in oysters and clams from the low intertidal level, respectively. After a 14-day depuration process, these effects were still observed, especially for clams, while digestive bacterial microbiota of oysters were subjected to more short-term environmental changes. Nevertheless, 3.5 months stay on an intertidal zone was enough to leave an environmental footprint on the digestive bacterial microbiota, suggesting the existence of autochthonous bivalve bacteria. When comparing clams from the three intertidal levels, 20% of the bacterial assemblage was shared among the levels and it was dominated by an operational taxonomic unit affiliated to the Mycoplasmataceae and Spirochaetaceae families.

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Transcending Time and Space with Digital Emotional Support

10.31234/osf.io/cehtk ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tyler Colasante ◽

Lauren Lin ◽

Kalee DeFrance ◽

Tom Hollenstein

Keyword(s):

Emotional Support ◽

Negative Emotion ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Good News ◽

Social Avoidance ◽

Time And Space ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Digital Devices ◽

Wide Range ◽

Socially Isolated

In the current digital age, emotional support is increasingly received through digital devices. However, virtually all studies assessing the benefits of emotional support have focused on in-person support. Using an experience sampling methodology, we assessed participants’ negative emotions, digital and in-person support for those emotions, and success in regulating them three times per day for 14 days, thus covering a wide range of digital support scenarios (N = 164 participants with 6,530 collective measurement occasions). We also considered whether participants were alone versus with others at the time of their negative emotion and higher versus lower in social avoidance as plausible moderators of when digital support was utilized and effective. We expected more pronounced use and efficacy of digital support when participants were alone and higher in trait social avoidance. However, digital support was used and perceived as effective for regulating negative emotions regardless of these factors and its beneficial effects were on par with those of traditional in-person support. The unique benefits of digital support may not be restricted to socially isolated or socially avoidant users. These findings are timely given the widespread anxiety and isolation under the current COVID-19 pandemic. If transcending time and space with digital emotional support is the new norm, the good news is that it seems to be working.

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Identification of Putative Virulence Genes by DNA Methylation Studies in the Cereal Pathogen Fusarium graminearum

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10051192 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 1192

Author(s):

Francesco Tini ◽

Giovanni Beccari ◽

Gianpiero Marconi ◽

Andrea Porceddu ◽

Micheal Sulyok ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Fusarium Graminearum ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Virulent Strain ◽

Fungal Virulence ◽

Wheat Seedlings ◽

Wide Range ◽

Conidia Production ◽

Natural Hosts

DNA methylation mediates organisms’ adaptations to environmental changes in a wide range of species. We investigated if a such a strategy is also adopted by Fusarium graminearum in regulating virulence toward its natural hosts. A virulent strain of this fungus was consecutively sub-cultured for 50 times (once a week) on potato dextrose agar. To assess the effect of subculturing on virulence, wheat seedlings and heads (cv. A416) were inoculated with subcultures (SC) 1, 23, and 50. SC50 was also used to re-infect (three times) wheat heads (SC50×3) to restore virulence. In vitro conidia production, colonies growth and secondary metabolites production were also determined for SC1, SC23, SC50, and SC50×3. Seedling stem base and head assays revealed a virulence decline of all subcultures, whereas virulence was restored in SC50×3. The same trend was observed in conidia production. The DNA isolated from SC50 and SC50×3 was subject to a methylation content-sensitive enzyme and double-digest, restriction-site-associated DNA technique (ddRAD-MCSeEd). DNA methylation analysis indicated 1024 genes, whose methylation levels changed in response to the inoculation on a healthy host after subculturing. Several of these genes are already known to be involved in virulence by functional analysis. These results demonstrate that the physiological shifts following sub-culturing have an impact on genomic DNA methylation levels and suggest that the ddRAD-MCSeEd approach can be an important tool for detecting genes potentially related to fungal virulence.

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Leeches as the intermediate host for strigeid trematodes: genetic diversity and taxonomy of the genera Australapatemon Sudarikov, 1959 and Cotylurus Szidat, 1928

Parasites & Vectors ◽

10.1186/s13071-020-04538-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ewa Pyrka ◽

Gerard Kanarek ◽

Grzegorz Zaleśny ◽

Joanna Hildebrand

Keyword(s):

Intermediate Host ◽

Life Cycles ◽

Coi Gene ◽

Small Rivers ◽

Ecological Niches ◽

Its2 Region ◽

28S Rrna ◽

Intermediate Hosts ◽

Internal Transcribed Spacer Region ◽

Wide Range

Abstract Background Leeches (Hirudinida) play a significant role as intermediate hosts in the circulation of trematodes in the aquatic environment. However, species richness and the molecular diversity and phylogeny of larval stages of strigeid trematodes (tetracotyle) occurring in this group of aquatic invertebrates remain poorly understood. Here, we report our use of recently obtained sequences of several molecular markers to analyse some aspects of the ecology, taxonomy and phylogeny of the genera Australapatemon and Cotylurus, which utilise leeches as intermediate hosts. Methods From April 2017 to September 2018, 153 leeches were collected from several sampling stations in small rivers with slow-flowing waters and related drainage canals located in three regions of Poland. The distinctive forms of tetracotyle metacercariae collected from leeches supplemented with adult Strigeidae specimens sampled from a wide range of water birds were analysed using the 28S rDNA partial gene, the second internal transcribed spacer region (ITS2) region and the cytochrome c oxidase (COI) fragment. Results Among investigated leeches, metacercariae of the tetracotyle type were detected in the parenchyma and musculature of 62 specimens (prevalence 40.5%) with a mean intensity reaching 19.9 individuals. The taxonomic generic affiliation of metacercariae derived from the leeches revealed the occurrence of two strigeid genera: Australapatemon Sudarikov, 1959 and Cotylurus Szidat, 1928. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on the partial 28S rRNA gene, ITS2 region and partial COI gene confirmed the separation of the Australapatemon and Cotylurus clades. Taking currently available molecular data and our results into consideration, recently sequenced tetracotyle of Australapatemon represents most probably Au. minor; however, unclear phylogenetic relationships between Au. burti and Au. minor reduce the reliability of this conclusion. On the other hand, on the basis of the obtained sequences, supplemented with previously published data, the metacercariae of Cotylurus detected in leeches were identified as two species: C. strigeoides Dubois, 1958 and C. syrius Dubois, 1934. This is the first record of C. syrius from the intermediate host. Conclusions The results of this study suggest the separation of ecological niches and life cycles between C. cornutus (Rudolphi, 1808) and C. strigeoides/C. syrius, with potential serious evolutionary consequences for a wide range of host–parasite relationships. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses corroborated the polyphyletic character of C. syrius, the unclear status of C. cornutus and the separate position of Cotylurus raabei Bezubik, 1958 within Cotylurus. The data demonstrate the inconsistent taxonomic status of the sequenced tetracotyle of Australapatemon, resulting, in our opinion, from the limited availability of fully reliable, comparative sequences of related taxa in GenBank.

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Microglial Pruning: Relevance for Synaptic Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Experimental Models

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10030686 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 686

Author(s):

Maria Concetta Geloso ◽

Nadia D’Ambrosi

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Neuronal Death ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Experimental Models ◽

Synaptic Dysfunction ◽

Synapse Elimination ◽

Neurodegenerative Process ◽

Immune Mediated ◽

Wide Range ◽

Demyelinating Lesions

Microglia, besides being able to react rapidly to a wide range of environmental changes, are also involved in shaping neuronal wiring. Indeed, they actively participate in the modulation of neuronal function by regulating the elimination (or “pruning”) of weaker synapses in both physiologic and pathologic processes. Mounting evidence supports their crucial role in early synaptic loss, which is emerging as a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and its preclinical models. MS is an inflammatory, immune-mediated pathology of the white matter in which demyelinating lesions may cause secondary neuronal death. Nevertheless, primitive grey matter (GM) damage is emerging as an important contributor to patients’ long-term disability, since it has been associated with early and progressive cognitive decline (CD), which seriously worsens the quality of life of MS patients. Widespread synapse loss even in the absence of demyelination, axon degeneration and neuronal death has been demonstrated in different GM structures, thus raising the possibility that synaptic dysfunction could be an early and possibly independent event in the neurodegenerative process associated with MS. This review provides an overview of microglial-dependent synapse elimination in the neuroinflammatory process that underlies MS and its experimental models.

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Enhancing the resilience of coupled human and natural systems of alpine rangelands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The Rangeland Journal ◽

10.1071/rj14117 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. i ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Shikui Dong ◽

Ruth Sherman

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Science Policy ◽

Sustainable Management ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Policy Design ◽

Rangeland Management ◽

Special Issue ◽

Natural Systems ◽

Wide Range ◽

Science Policy Interface

This special issue covers a wide range of topics on the protection and sustainable management of alpine rangelands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), including Indigenous knowledge of sustainable rangeland management, science-policy interface for alpine rangeland biodiversity conservation, adaptations of local people to social and environmental changes and policy design for managing coupled human-natural systems of alpine rangelands.

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The Research and Application of Artificial Intelligence in the Field of Intelligent Robot

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.898.763 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 898 ◽

pp. 763-766

Author(s):

Zhi Hao Li

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Vision System ◽

Mineral Exploration ◽

Intelligent Robot ◽

Application Range ◽

Intelligent Robots ◽

External Data ◽

Wide Range ◽

Artificial Intelligence Application

The research and application of artificial intelligence has a very wide range in intelligent robot field. Intelligent robot can not only make use of artificial intelligence gain access to external data, information, (such as stereo vision system, face recognition and tracking, etc.), and then deal with it so as to exactly describe external environment, and complete a task independently, owing the ability of learning knowledge, but also have self-many kinds of artificial intelligence like judgment and decision making, processing capacity and so on. It can make corresponding decision according to environmental changes. Its application range is expanding. In deep sea exploration, star exploration, mineral exploration, heavy pollution, domestic service, entertainment clubs, health care and so on, the figure of intelligent robots artificial intelligence application can all be seen.

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Antioxidant Strategies and Respiratory Disease of the Preterm Newborn: An Update

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity ◽

10.1155/2014/721043 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Chiara Poggi ◽

Carlo Dani

Keyword(s):

Lung Damage ◽

Preterm Newborn ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Melatonin Administration ◽

Targeted Treatments ◽

Wide Range ◽

Nonenzymatic Antioxidants ◽

Respiratory Outcomes ◽

Preterm Newborns

Preterm newborns are challenged by an excessive oxidative burden, as a result of several perinatal stimuli, as intrauterine infections, resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and postnatal complications, in the presence of immature antioxidant capacities. “Oxygen radical disease of neonatology” comprises a wide range of conditions sharing a common pathway of pathogenesis and includes bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and other main complications of prematurity. Antioxidant strategies may be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress- (OS-) related lung disease of the preterm newborn. Endotracheal supplementation or lung-targeted overexpression of superoxide dismutase was proved to reduce lung damage in several models; however, the supplementation in preterm newborn failed to reduce the risk of BPD, although long-term respiratory outcomes were improved. Also melatonin administration to small cohorts of preterm newborns suggested beneficial effects on lung OS. The possibility to identify single nucleotide polymorphism affecting the risk of BPD may help to identify specific populations with particularly high risk of OS-related diseases and may pose the basis for individually targeted treatments. Finally, surfactant replacement may lead to local anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, thanks to specific enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants naturally present in animal surfactants.

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The Protective Role of Butyrate against Obesity and Obesity-Related Diseases

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26030682 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 682

Author(s):

Serena Coppola ◽

Carmen Avagliano ◽

Antonio Calignano ◽

Roberto Berni Canani

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Diseases ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Short Chain Fatty Acids ◽

Protective Role ◽

Health Concern ◽

Predisposing Factor ◽

Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

The Individual

Worldwide obesity is a public health concern that has reached pandemic levels. Obesity is the major predisposing factor to comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, dyslipidemia, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The common forms of obesity are multifactorial and derive from a complex interplay of environmental changes and the individual genetic predisposition. Increasing evidence suggest a pivotal role played by alterations of gut microbiota (GM) that could represent the causative link between environmental factors and onset of obesity. The beneficial effects of GM are mainly mediated by the secretion of various metabolites. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) acetate, propionate and butyrate are small organic metabolites produced by fermentation of dietary fibers and resistant starch with vast beneficial effects in energy metabolism, intestinal homeostasis and immune responses regulation. An aberrant production of SCFAs has emerged in obesity and metabolic diseases. Among SCFAs, butyrate emerged because it might have a potential in alleviating obesity and related comorbidities. Here we reviewed the preclinical and clinical data that contribute to explain the role of butyrate in this context, highlighting its crucial contribute in the diet-GM-host health axis.

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Adaptation limits ecological diversification and promotes ecological tinkering during the competition for substitutable resources

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1807530115 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 115 (44) ◽

pp. E10407-E10416 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Benjamin H. Good ◽

Stephen Martis ◽

Oskar Hallatschek

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Dynamics ◽

Competitive Exclusion ◽

Directional Selection ◽

Ecological Niches ◽

Ecological Diversification ◽

Effective Competition ◽

Uptake Rates ◽

Wide Range ◽

Dynamical Features ◽

Adaptation Limits

Microbial communities can evade competitive exclusion by diversifying into distinct ecological niches. This spontaneous diversification often occurs amid a backdrop of directional selection on other microbial traits, where competitive exclusion would normally apply. Yet despite their empirical relevance, little is known about how diversification and directional selection combine to determine the ecological and evolutionary dynamics within a community. To address this gap, we introduce a simple, empirically motivated model of eco-evolutionary feedback based on the competition for substitutable resources. Individuals acquire heritable mutations that alter resource uptake rates, either by shifting metabolic effort between resources or by increasing the overall growth rate. While these constitutively beneficial mutations are trivially favored to invade, we show that the accumulated fitness differences can dramatically influence the ecological structure and evolutionary dynamics that emerge within the community. Competition between ecological diversification and ongoing fitness evolution leads to a state of diversification–selection balance, in which the number of extant ecotypes can be pinned below the maximum capacity of the ecosystem, while the ecotype frequencies and genealogies are constantly in flux. Interestingly, we find that fitness differences generate emergent selection pressures to shift metabolic effort toward resources with lower effective competition, even in saturated ecosystems. We argue that similar dynamical features should emerge in a wide range of models with a mixture of directional and diversifying selection.

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Ecological opportunities and specializations shaped genetic divergence in a highly mobile marine top predator

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2014.1558 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 281 (1795) ◽

pp. 20141558 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Marie Louis ◽

Michael C. Fontaine ◽

Jérôme Spitz ◽

Erika Schlund ◽

Willy Dabin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Demographic History ◽

World Ocean ◽

Ecological Niches ◽

Morphological Divergence ◽

Evolutionary Diversification ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Population Demographic

Environmental conditions can shape genetic and morphological divergence. Release of new habitats during historical environmental changes was a major driver of evolutionary diversification. Here, forces shaping population structure and ecotype differentiation (‘pelagic’ and ‘coastal’) of bottlenose dolphins in the North-east Atlantic were investigated using complementary evolutionary and ecological approaches. Inference of population demographic history using approximate Bayesian computation indicated that coastal populations were likely founded by the Atlantic pelagic population after the Last Glacial Maxima probably as a result of newly available coastal ecological niches. Pelagic dolphins from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea likely diverged during a period of high productivity in the Mediterranean Sea. Genetic differentiation between coastal and pelagic ecotypes may be maintained by niche specializations, as indicated by stable isotope and stomach content analyses, and social behaviour. The two ecotypes were only weakly morphologically segregated in contrast to other parts of the World Ocean. This may be linked to weak contrasts between coastal and pelagic habitats and/or a relatively recent divergence. We suggest that ecological opportunity to specialize is a major driver of genetic and morphological divergence. Combining genetic, ecological and morphological approaches is essential to understanding the population structure of mobile and cryptic species.

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