scholarly journals Metagenomic analyses of the late Pleistocene permafrost – additional tools for reconstruction of environmental conditions

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 12091-12119 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Rivkina ◽  
L. Petrovskaya ◽  
T. Vishnivetskaya ◽  
K. Krivushin ◽  
L. Shmakova ◽  
...  

Abstract. A comparative analysis of the metagenomes from two 30 000 year-old permafrost samples, one of lake-alluvial origin and the other from late Pleistocene Ice Complex sediments, revealed significant differences within microbial communities. The late Pleistocene Ice Complex sediments (which have been characterized by the absence of methane with lower values of redox-potential and Fe2+ content) showed both a low abundance of methanogenic archaea and enzymes from the carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles. The metagenomic and geochemical analyses described in the paper provide evidence that the formation of the late Pleistocene Ice Complex sediments likely took place under much more aerobic conditions than lake-alluvial sediments.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 2207-2219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Rivkina ◽  
Lada Petrovskaya ◽  
Tatiana Vishnivetskaya ◽  
Kirill Krivushin ◽  
Lyubov Shmakova ◽  
...  

Abstract. A comparative analysis of the metagenomes from two 30 000-year-old permafrost samples, one of lake-alluvial origin and the other from late Pleistocene Ice Complex sediments, revealed significant differences within microbial communities. The late Pleistocene Ice Complex sediments (which have been characterized by the absence of methane with lower values of redox potential and Fe2+ content) showed a low abundance of methanogenic archaea and enzymes from both the carbon and nitrogen cycles, but a higher abundance of enzymes associated with the sulfur cycle. The metagenomic and geochemical analyses described in the paper provide evidence that the formation of the sampled late Pleistocene Ice Complex sediments likely took place under much more aerobic conditions than lake-alluvial sediments.


1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 107-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Shaban ◽  
G. E. El-Taweel ◽  
G. H. Ali

In the present study, the effect of UV radiation on the inactivation of a range of microorganisms was studied. Each organism was seeded into sterile tap water and exposed to UV in batch experiments with changing turbidities. In addition, the effect of UV on microbial communities in river Nile water was examined. It was found that 1min contact time (0.5L/min flow rate) was effective against vegetative cells levels almost reaching zero (except with Staphylococcus aureus). On the other hand, spore-forming bacteria, Candida albicans and coliphage were more resistant to UV. This contact time caused coenobia cells in single form with Scenedesmus obliquus while for Microcystis aeruginosa colonies broke into smaller groups. Exposure of Nile water microbial communities to UV showed that yeasts and Aeromonas survived better than the other organisms while in the phytoplankton partial fragmentation occurred in some algal groups. The protective effect of turbidity differed between organisms, with increased contact time under conditions of stable turbidity having no effect on the organisms. At 20 NTU the UV radiation had no effect on the morphological characters of algal cells. In reactivation experiments, it is clear that photoreactivation, and not dark repair, takes place with bacterial cells. Only coliphage had no photoreactivation and dark repair responses although with coliphage and host, both reactivation processes worked well. Moreover, the irradiated algae regained their normal shape after 3 days in suitable media and enough light.


2021 ◽  
pp. 016344372110227
Author(s):  
Yingzi Wang ◽  
Thoralf Klein

This paper examines the changes and continuities in TV representations of Chinese Communist Party’s revolutionary history and interprets them within the broader context of China’s political, economic and cultural transformations since the 1990s. Drawing on a comparative analysis of three state-sponsored TV dramas produced between the late 1990s and mid-2010s, it traces how the state-sanctioned revolutionary narratives have changed over time in response to the Party’s propaganda imperatives on the one hand, and to the market-oriented production environment on the other. The paper argues that while recent TV productions in the new century have made increasing concessions to audience taste by adopting visually stimulating depictions and introducing fictional characters as points of identification for the audience, the revolutionary narratives were still aligned with the Party’s propaganda agenda at different times. This shows the ongoing competition between ideological and commercial interests in Chinese TV production during the era of market reforms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobby Lim-Ho Kong ◽  
Hyun-Seung Park ◽  
Tai-Wai David Lau ◽  
Zhixiu Lin ◽  
Tae-Jin Yang ◽  
...  

AbstractIlex is a monogeneric plant group (containing approximately 600 species) in the Aquifoliaceae family and one of the most commonly used medicinal herbs. However, its taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships at the species level are debatable. Herein, we obtained the complete chloroplast genomes of all 19 Ilex types that are native to Hong Kong. The genomes are conserved in structure, gene content and arrangement. The chloroplast genomes range in size from 157,119 bp in Ilex graciliflora to 158,020 bp in Ilex kwangtungensis. All these genomes contain 125 genes, of which 88 are protein-coding and 37 are tRNA genes. Four highly varied sequences (rps16-trnQ, rpl32-trnL, ndhD-psaC and ycf1) were found. The number of repeats in the Ilex genomes is mostly conserved, but the number of repeating motifs varies. The phylogenetic relationship among the 19 Ilex genomes, together with eight other available genomes in other studies, was investigated. Most of the species could be correctly assigned to the section or even series level, consistent with previous taxonomy, except Ilex rotunda var. microcarpa, Ilex asprella var. tapuensis and Ilex chapaensis. These species were reclassified; I. rotunda was placed in the section Micrococca, while the other two were grouped with the section Pseudoaquifolium. These studies provide a better understanding of Ilex phylogeny and refine its classification.


Microbiome ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Pascual-García

AbstractIn this comment, we analyse the conceptual framework proposed by Aguirre de Cárcer (Microbiome 7:142, 2019), introducing the novel concept of Phylogenetic Core Groups (PCGs). This notion aims to complement the traditional classification in operational taxonomic units (OTUs), widely used in microbial ecology, to provide a more intrinsic taxonomical classification which avoids the use of pre-determined thresholds. However, to introduce this concept, the author frames his proposal in a wider theoretical framework based on a conceptualization of selection that we argue is a tautology. This blurs the subsequent formulation of an assembly principle for microbial communities, favouring that some contradictory examples introduced to support the framework appear aligned in their conclusions. And more importantly, under this framework and its derived methodology, it is not possible to infer PCGs from data in a consistent way. We reanalyse the proposal to identify its logical and methodological flaws and, through the analysis of synthetic scenarios, we propose a number of methodological refinements to contribute towards the determination of PCGs in a consistent way. We hope our analysis will promote the exploration of PCGs as a potentially valuable tool, helping to bridge the gap between environmental conditions and community composition in microbial ecology.


2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Flann ◽  
Pauline Y. Ladiges ◽  
Neville G. Walsh

A study of morphological variation in Leptorhynchos squamatus (Labill.) Less. across its range in south-eastern Australia was undertaken to test the hypothesis that L. squamatus includes two taxa. Phenetic pattern analyses of both field-collected and herbarium specimens on the basis of morphology confirmed two major groups. Bract, cypsela, pappus bristle and leaf characters were particularly important in separating the two groups. The taxa are separated by altitude differences with one being a low-altitude plant found in many habitats and the other being a high-altitude taxon that is a major component of alpine meadows. Lowland plants have dark bract tips, fewer and wider pappus bristles than alpine plants, papillae on the cypselas and more linear leaves. A somewhat intermediate population from the Major Mitchell Plateau in the Grampians shows some alpine and some lowland characters but is included in the lowland taxon. Seeds from five populations (two alpine, two lowland and Major Mitchell) were germinated and plants grown for 18 weeks under four controlled sets of environmental conditions. The experiment showed that leaf size and some other characters are affected by environmental conditions, but that there are underlying genetic differences between the lowland and alpine forms. Leptorhynchos squamatus subsp. alpinus Flann is described here to accommodate the highland taxon.


Author(s):  
Ekta Sharma

The Presented summary paper target is to draw the attention of the public to the benefits of Environment and how we are connected to the Environment. To show that if there’s any change in the Environmental conditions, then how the conditions change in human beings lives. Living Being, whether a Human Being or Animals or plants,  are all directly or indirectly Dependent on the Environment for their Survival. When asked truly it can be said that none of the living being can survive without the presence of Environment. It is difficult to find absolutely natural environments, and it is common that the naturalness varies in a continuum, from ideally 100% natural in one extreme to 0% natural in the other. More precisely, we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment, and see that their degree of naturalness is not uniform.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Namkil Kang

The ultimate goal of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of rely on and depend on in the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the British National Corpus. The COCA clearly shows that the expression rely on government is the most preferred by Americans, followed by rely on people, and rely on data. The COCA further indicates that the expression depend on slate is the most preferred by Americans, followed by depend on government, and depend on people. The BNC shows, on the other hand, that the expression rely on others is the most preferred by the British, followed by rely on people, and rely on friends. The BNC further indicates that depend on factors and depend on others are the most preferred by the British, followed by depend on age, and depend on food. Finally, in the COCA, the nouns government, luck, welfare, people, information, state, fossil, water, family, oil, food, and things are linked to both rely on and depend on, but many nouns are not still linked to both of them. On the other hand, in the BNC, only the nouns state, chance, government, and others are linked to both rely on and depend on, but many nouns are not still linked to both rely on and depend on. It can thus be inferred from this that rely on is slightly different from depend on in its use.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5086 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-89
Author(s):  
BADAMDORJ BAYARTOGTOKH ◽  
SERGEY G. ERMILOV ◽  
UMUKUSUM YA. SHTANCHAEVA ◽  
LUIS S. SUBÍAS

Although the juvenile instars of oribatid mite subfamily Sphaerozetinae is well known compared to the other subfamilies of Ceratozetidae (Ceratozetinae and Trichoribatinae), information on morphological ontogeny of some species is still incomplete. Herein, Melanozetes paramollicomus sp. nov. is proposed from Ethiopia, based on adult and juvenile instars. Additionally, comparative analysis of ontogenetic instars of species belonging various genera of Sphaerozetinae with known juveniles, is given, and the major characteristics of juvenile instars of 20 species are presented.  


Author(s):  
Lars Lyngsgaard Fjord Kristensen

In a region that is traditionally considered to be transnational, Nordic cinema has often posed as the prime case for a transnational cinema. The paper contests this notion of Nordic transnationality by analysing two films that depict two Russian women travelling to Sweden. Interdevochka/Intergirl (Todorovski, 1989, USSR) and Lilya-4-ever (Moodysson, 2004, Sweden) challenge the inclusiveness of the region and make explicit the fact that Russian identities are not part of the homogenous mixture of the region. Instead, Russian identities of cross-border prostitution are cinematically subjected to rejection and victimisation. This paper examines how Lilya-4-ever adheres to a European anxiety narrative by performing a Russian return narrative and how Interdevochka/Intergirl portrays ‘the fallen soviet woman’ by travelling to Sweden. These cinematic representations of the female Russian identity travelling to Sweden differ from each national context, but by probing into a comparative analysis the paper will reveal that both films need the Other to narrate these stories of transnational labour migration.


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