scholarly journals On the phenology of protists: Recurrent patterns reveal seasonal variation of protistan (Rhizaria: Cercozoa, Endomyxa) communities in tree canopies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Walden ◽  
Robin-Tobias Jauss ◽  
Kai Feng ◽  
Anna Maria Fiore-Donno ◽  
Kenneth Dumack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Microbial Colonization ◽  
Specific Primers ◽  
Phenological Changes ◽  
Tree Canopies ◽  
Microclimatic Conditions ◽  
Recurrent Patterns

AbstractTree canopies are colonized by billions of highly specialized microorganisms that are well adapted to the extreme microclimatic conditions, caused by diurnal fluctuations and seasonal changes. In this study we investigated seasonality patterns of protists in tree canopies of a temperate floodplain forest via high-throughput sequencing with group-specific primers for the phyla Cercozoa and Endomyxa. We observed consistent seasonality and identified divergent spring and autumn taxa. Tree crowns were characterized by a dominance of bacterivores and omnivores, while eukaryvores gained a distinctly larger share in litter and soil communities on the ground. Seasonality was largest among communities detected on the foliar surface. Higher variance within alpha diversity of foliar communities in spring indicated greater heterogeneity during community assembly. However, communities underwent distinct changes during the aging of leaves in autumn, reflecting recurring phenological changes during microbial colonization of leaves. Surprisingly, endomyxan root pathogens appeared to be exceptionally abundant across tree canopies during autumn season, demonstrating a potential role of the canopy surface as an important reservoir for wind-dispersed propagules. Overall, about 80% of detected OTUs could not be assigned to known species – representing only a fraction of dozens of microeukaryotic taxa whose canopy inhabitants are waiting to be discovered.

scholarly journals Staphylococcal Communities on Skin Are Associated with Atopic Dermatitis and Disease Severity

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 432
Author(s):  
Sofie Marie Edslev ◽  
Caroline Meyer Olesen ◽  
Line Brok Nørreslet ◽  
Anna Cäcilia Ingham ◽  
Søren Iversen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atopic Dermatitis ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Skin Microbiota ◽  
Specific Primers ◽  
Staphylococcus Lugdunensis ◽  
Disease Symptoms ◽  
Lesional Skin ◽  
Staphylococcus Capitis ◽  
Staphylococcus Hominis

The skin microbiota of atopic dermatitis (AD) patients is characterized by increased Staphylococcus aureus colonization, which exacerbates disease symptoms and has been linked to reduced bacterial diversity. Skin bacterial communities in AD patients have mostly been described at family and genus levels, while species-level characterization has been limited. In this study, we investigated the role of the bacteria belonging to the Staphylococcus genus using targeted sequencing of the tuf gene with genus-specific primers. We compared staphylococcal communities on lesional and non-lesional skin of AD patients, as well as AD patients with healthy controls, and determined the absolute abundance of bacteria present at each site. We observed that the staphylococcal community, bacterial alpha diversity, and bacterial densities were similar on lesional and non-lesional skin, whereas AD severity was associated with significant changes in staphylococcal composition. Increased S. aureus, Staphylococcus capitis, and Staphylococcus lugdunensis abundances were correlated with increased severity. Conversely, Staphylococcus hominis abundance was negatively correlated with severity. Furthermore, S. hominis relative abundance was reduced on AD skin compared to healthy skin. In conclusion, various staphylococcal species appear to be important for skin health.

scholarly journals From Forest Soil to the Canopy: Increased Habitat Diversity Does Not Increase Species Richness of Cercozoa and Oomycota in Tree Canopies

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin-Tobias Jauss ◽  
Susanne Walden ◽  
Anna Maria Fiore-Donno ◽  
Kenneth Dumack ◽  
Stefan Schaffer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Beta Diversity ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Habitat Diversity ◽  
Specific Primers ◽  
Operational Taxonomic Units ◽  
Microbial Eukaryotes ◽  
Tree Canopies ◽  
Species Performance ◽  
Factor Governing

Tree canopies provide habitats for diverse and until now, still poorly characterized communities of microbial eukaryotes. One of the most general patterns in community ecology is the increase in species richness with increasing habitat diversity. Thus, environmental heterogeneity of tree canopies should be an important factor governing community structure and diversity in this subsystem of forest ecosystems. Nevertheless, it is unknown if similar patterns are reflected at the microbial scale within unicellular eukaryotes (protists). In this study, high-throughput sequencing of two prominent protistan taxa, Cercozoa (Rhizaria) and Oomycota (Stramenopiles), was performed. Group specific primers were used to comprehensively analyze their diversity in various microhabitats of a floodplain forest from the forest floor to the canopy region. Beta diversity indicated highly dissimilar protistan communities in the investigated microhabitats. However, the majority of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was present in all samples, and therefore differences in beta diversity were mainly related to species performance (i.e., relative abundance). Accordingly, habitat diversity strongly favored distinct protistan taxa in terms of abundance, but due to their almost ubiquitous distribution the effect of species richness on community composition was negligible.

scholarly journals The Potential Role of Marine Fungi in Plastic Degradation – A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emna Zeghal ◽  
Annika Vaksmaa ◽  
Hortense Vielfaure ◽  
Teun Boekhout ◽  
Helge Niemann
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Marine Fungi ◽  
Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Microbial Colonization ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Marine Realm ◽  
Plastic Degradation ◽  
Marine Plastic Debris

Plastic debris has been accumulating in the marine realm since the start of plastic mass production in the 1950s. Due to the adverse effects on ocean life, the fate of plastics in the marine environment is an increasingly important environmental issue. Microbial degradation, in addition to weathering, has been identified as a potentially relevant breakdown route for marine plastic debris. Although many studies have focused on microbial colonization and the potential role of microorganisms in breaking down marine plastic debris, little is known about fungi-plastic interactions. Marine fungi are a generally understudied group of microorganisms but the ability of terrestrial and lacustrine fungal taxa to metabolize recalcitrant compounds, pollutants, and some plastic types (e.g., lignin, solvents, pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polyurethane, and polyethylene) indicates that marine fungi could be important degraders of complex organic matter in the marine realm, too. Indeed, recent studies demonstrated that some fungal strains from the ocean, such as Zalerion maritimum have the ability to degrade polyethylene. This mini-review summarizes the available information on plastic-fungi interactions in marine environments. We address (i) the currently known diversity of fungi colonizing marine plastic debris and provide (ii) an overview of methods applied to investigate the role of fungi in plastic degradation, highlighting their advantages and drawbacks. We also highlight (iii) the underestimated role of fungi as plastic degraders in marine habitats.

POPDC proteins and cardiac function

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1393-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Brand
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
And Function

Abstract The Popeye domain-containing gene family encodes a novel class of cAMP effector proteins in striated muscle tissue. In this short review, we first introduce the protein family and discuss their structure and function with an emphasis on their role in cyclic AMP signalling. Another focus of this review is the recently discovered role of POPDC genes as striated muscle disease genes, which have been associated with cardiac arrhythmia and muscular dystrophy. The pathological phenotypes observed in patients will be compared with phenotypes present in null and knockin mutations in zebrafish and mouse. A number of protein–protein interaction partners have been discovered and the potential role of POPDC proteins to control the subcellular localization and function of these interacting proteins will be discussed. Finally, we outline several areas, where research is urgently needed.

The Effect of Path Length and Display Size on Memory for Spatial Information

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Guérard ◽  
Sébastien Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Path Length ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Serial Memory ◽  
Fixed Reference ◽  
A Minor

In serial memory for spatial information, some studies showed that recall performance suffers when the distance between successive locations increases relatively to the size of the display in which they are presented (the path length effect; e.g., Parmentier et al., 2005) but not when distance is increased by enlarging the size of the display (e.g., Smyth & Scholey, 1994). In the present study, we examined the effect of varying the absolute and relative distance between to-be-remembered items on memory for spatial information. We manipulated path length using small (15″) and large (64″) screens within the same design. In two experiments, we showed that distance was disruptive mainly when it is varied relatively to a fixed reference frame, though increasing the size of the display also had a small deleterious effect on recall. The insertion of a retention interval did not influence these effects, suggesting that rehearsal plays a minor role in mediating the effects of distance on serial spatial memory. We discuss the potential role of perceptual organization in light of the pattern of results.

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