scholarly journals Metabarcoding reveals a high diversity of woody host-associatedPhytophthoraspp. in soils at public gardens and amenity woodlands in Britain

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn E. Riddell ◽  
Debbie Frederickson-Matika ◽  
April C. Armstrong ◽  
Matt Elliot ◽  
Jack Forster ◽  
...  

Forests and woodlands worldwide are being severely impacted by invasivePhytophthoraspecies, with initial outbreaks in some cases occurring on host trees located in public parks and gardens. These highly disturbed sites with diverse planting practices may indeed act as harbours for invasivePhytophthorapathogens which are particularly well adapted to surviving in soil. High throughput Illumina sequencing was used to analysePhytophthoraspecies diversity in soil samples collected from 14 public garden/amenity woodland sites in northern Britain. Bioinformatic analyses revealed some limitations to using internal transcribed spacer as the barcode region; namely reporting of false positives and ambiguous species matches. Taking this into account, 35 distinct sequences were amplified across the sites, corresponding to 23 knownPhytophthoraspecies as well as twelve oomycete sequences with no match to any knownPhytophthoraspecies.Phytophthora pseudosyringaeandP. austrocedri, both of which cause serious damage to trees and are regarded as fairly recent introductions to Britain, were the two most abundantPhytophthoraspecies detected. There was no evidence that any of the detectedPhytophthoraspecies were more associated with any one type of host, healthy or otherwise. This study has demonstrated the ubiquity and diversity ofPhytophthoraspecies endemic in highly managed, extensively planted soil environments in Britain. Suggested improvements to the methodology and the practical implications of the findings in terms of mitigatingPhytophthoraspread and impact are discussed.

HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 509b-509
Author(s):  
Jennifer Campbell Bradley

Public gardens, including public parks, botanical gardens, and arboreta are significant tourism destinations with increasingly popular appeal. In the United States alone, the number of gardens is continuing to rise impressively. Undeniably, there is a need for trained and educated horticulturists who can enter the horticulture industry, specifically in the area of public garden management. At the Univ. of Florida, a new course, ORH 4932, Public Gardens was offered. This course was designed with a field trip emphasis to help students visually understand and appreciate the value and diversity of such gardens. Students taking the course had an opportunity to visit and tour various gardens throughout the state of Florida. At the same time, students learned about the history, management, collections, and importance of such institutions to society. This session will explore the value of student experiences in the learning process, present an overview of how to develop a field trip class, and provide information to other educators interested in offering such a course.


Author(s):  
Sarah Green ◽  
Carolyn E. Riddell ◽  
Debbie Frederickson-Matika ◽  
April Armstrong ◽  
Matt Elliot ◽  
...  

The diversity of Phytophthora species in soils collected from 14 highly disturbed sites in northern Britain, including botanic gardens, arboreta, public parks and other amenity woodland sites, was analysed using a molecular technique known as DNA metabarcoding. This technique enables the identification of multiple species present in a single environmental sample based on a DNA ‘barcode’ unique to each species. The genus Phytophthora was targeted in this study due to its increasing impact on Britain’s forests and woodlands over thelast 20 years. The introduction and spread of new Phytophthora species into Britain has been strongly associated with the movement of traded containerised plants, with a number of Phytophthora outbreaks reported on host trees located in public gardens and parks that had recently undergone planting or landscape regeneration schemes. This study was undertaken to assess the extent to which these highly disturbed sites with extensive planting regimes act as harbours for woody-host infecting Phytophthora species. A total of 23 Phytophthora species, the majority of which are known to be pathogens of woody hosts, were detected across the 14 sites sampled. These included four quarantine-regulated pathogens and four species notpreviously recorded in Britain. Also detected were three as-yet undescribed Phytophthora species and nine oomycete sequences with no clear match to any known genus. There was no effect of geographical location, elevation, underlying soil type, host family or host health status on the Phytophthora assemblages at each site, suggesting that the Phytophthora communities detected are likely to comprise introduced species associated with planting programmes. P. austrocedri and P. pseudosyringae were two of the most abundant Phytophthoraspecies detected, both of which cause serious damage to trees and are regarded as fairly recent introductions to Britain. The practical implications of the findings in terms of mitigating Phytophthora introduction, spread and impact at botanic gardens, arboreta and urban parks are discussed.


Author(s):  
Beheshteh Haghparast-kenari ◽  
Tooran Nayeri ◽  
Shahabeddin Sarvi ◽  
Mohammad Taghi Rahimi ◽  
Ehsan Ahmadpour ◽  
...  

Background: Soil-transmitted parasites (STPs) are significant intestinal parasites that infect humans and animals and impose considerable burdens on human society and animal husbandry industries. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the prevalence of parasitic elements of soil samples collected from the north of Iran. Methods: A total of 256 soil samples were collected from public parks, public places, vegetable gardens, sand heaps, and shadow areas near houses in the north of Iran and examined using the sucrose flotation method. Results: Out of 256 examined samples, 131 (51.2%) ones showed parasitic contamination including larvae (43%), oocysts (14.1%), and different eggs (6.6%). According to the results, the most and least common parasites observed in the samples were larvae (43%), as well as Toxascaris leonina, and Trichuris trichiura (0.4%), respectively. Moreover, the most and least contaminated locations were sand heaps (62.5%) and shadow areas near houses (45.6%), respectively. Regarding cities, Behshahr (68.3%) and Sari (67.5%) had the highest contaminated soil samples, whereas Chalus (37.5%) showed the lowest contamination. On the other hand, rural samples showed more contamination, compared to urban areas (P< 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate that the overall prevalence of STPs in examined areas and highly contaminated soil samples can be considered as a potential source of human contamination particularly tourists with STPs.


ENTOMON ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-284
Author(s):  
S. Barathy ◽  
T. Sivaruban ◽  
Srinivasan Pandiarajan ◽  
Isack Rajasekaran ◽  
M. Bernath Rosi

In the study on the diversity and community structure of Ephemeroptera in the freshwater stream of Chinnasuruli falls on Megamalai hills, a total of 523 specimens belonging to thirteen genera and five families were collected in six month periods. Of the five families, Teloganodidae and Leptophlebiidae exhibited high diversity and Caenidae showed low diversity. Choroterpes alagarensis (Leptophlebiidae) is the most dominant species. Diversity indices such as Shannon and Simpson indices showed that diversity was maximum in November and December and it was minimum in August and January. Canonical Correspondence Analysis revealed that rainfall, water flow, turbidity, and air temperature were the major stressors in affecting the Ephemeropteran community structure.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Su ◽  
Hua Zhu ◽  
Peilin Sun ◽  
Xue Li ◽  
Bochao Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Penicillium and Acaulium species are common in the fresh of herbivore dung and can produce abundant secondary metabolism, which play important roles as decomposers of organic materials, food industry, and enzyme factories. Besides, the well-characterized diversity of dung fungi offers accessible systems for dissecting the function of fungi in gut and for exploring potential to produce high cellulases in herbivorous animal. During a survey of intestinal fungi from herbivorous animal in China, more than 400 were isolated, 38 belonging to Penicillium and 4 belonging to Acaulium were obtained from 12 healthy animals including marmot and chinchilla and selected for detailed study. Putative taxa were characterized by a multi-gene sequencing analysis testing the partial β-tubulin (TUB), the internal transcribed spacer rDNA (ITS), calmodulin (CAM), and RPB2, and a detailed phenotypic study. Penicillium strains were identified as six sections, 12 known species. In addition, four Acaulium isolates were identified as Acaulium album and Acaulium stericum sp. nov. based on morphology and phylogeny of multi-gene sequences. This study shows that the species diversity of Penicillium on herbivore dung has not been widely studied and that seems to be a good source of offers opportunities for discovery of new cellulases from microbial communities.


Author(s):  
RP Jose ◽  
WA Aureo ◽  
CI Narido ◽  
TD Reyes Jr ◽  
MB Sarnowski

A comprehensive inventory of faunal biodiversity was conducted within three Key Biodiversity Areas of Central Visayas. Mt. Bandilaan Natural Park (MBNP), Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park (BTLNP), and Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (RSPL). Three primary wildlife groups were surveyed: bats, birds and amphibians. Species diversity and population trends were then analyzed to assess areas of biodiversity importance. RSPL generally had the highest species richness and diversity index while MBNP consistently had the lowest. When pooled. The surveyed areas resulted in a high diversity index and rate of endemicity showing the importance of multiple areas of protection. These findings can be utilized to prioritize habitat protection as well as to serve as a baseline information for future biodiversity inventories. J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2020, 6(2): 27-34


Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 302 (3) ◽  
pp. 266
Author(s):  
YANWEI ZHANG ◽  
YAO WANG ◽  
GUI-PING ZENG ◽  
WANHAO CHEN ◽  
ZOU XIAO ◽  
...  

Acrophialophora liboensis, a new fungus from soil samples in Libo County, Guizhou Province, China, is illustrated and described on the basis of morphological and molecular sequences data. Phylogenetic analysis based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and β-tubulin sequences demonstrated that A. liboensis is a distinct species closely related to A. cinerea and A. furcata. Morphologically, A. liboensis is characterized by solitary and lateral phialides tapering into thin necks and long chains of ellipsoidal or oval conidia. The ex-type living culture has been deposited in CGMCC, Beijing City, China.


Author(s):  
S. Mukaratirwa ◽  
M. Taruvinga

In an attempt to assess the possible risk to humans of soil-transmitted canine helminths of of zoonotic significance, 161 faecal samples and 81 soil samples were collected from 6 public parks and playgrounds in Harare between March and June 1998 and examined for nematode ova. Of the 161 faecal samples collected, 17.4 % were positive for Ancylostoma sp. ova and 5.6 % were positive for T. canis ova. No other nematode species ova were found. Over 50 % of the faecal samples positive for Ancylostoma sp. ova were 'moist', and this suggests that the moisture content of faeces contributes to the development and survival of this parasite in the environment. Only 3 of the 81 soil samples collected were positive for T. canis. The low levels of contamination of public playgrounds and parks with T. canis ova suggests that environmental contamination might not be important in the aetiology of human toxocarosis in Harare.


Author(s):  
M. Rajkumar ◽  
Jun Sun ◽  
I. R. Jenkinson ◽  
M.M. Rahman

A twelve-month investigation was undertaken on how copepod community structure varied in relation to environmental factors in the Coleroon estuary, south-east India. Sampling was monthly, from Station 1 in the sea to Station 4 in the Vettar backwaters. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was applied to elucidate the environmental factors affecting the copepod community. A total of 104 copepod species in 38 genera and 26 families were recorded, with the Calanoids, Acartia erythraea and Oithona brevicornis being the most dominant. At all four stations, both these species loaded near the intercept of CCA axes 1 and 2, perhaps reflecting that they were autochthonous. Most species occurred in distinct seasonal patterns. Abundances ranged from 13 × 103 to 215 × 103 (ind. m−3). Coleroon waters showed high diversity (bits/ind.), from 5.29 at Station 3 to 4.97 at Station 4. Abundance correlated positively with temperature and salinity and negatively with rainfall, dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) and pH. Species diversity correlated strongly with abundance (P < 0.01). Abundance and diversity were highest during the summer, and both correlated positively with salinity. Temperatures (air and water), salinity, pH and DO varied in the ranges 26–36°C, 25–34.2°C, 9–38, 7.0–8.7 and 3.0–6.8 ml l-1, respectively. Nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and silicate (µM) varied in the ranges: 4.7–64.5, 0.4–14.1, 0.2–12.9 and 9.3–148, respectively.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Deshmukh ◽  
Shilpa Amit Verekar

The parks of Mumbai are frequently visited by local residents every morning and evening. However, there are no reports on the occurrence of keratinophilic fungi in these areas. The purpose of this research was to study the occurrence of keratinophilic fungi in the public parks of Mumbai. One hundred soil samples were collected from five public parks: Kamla Nehru Park, Powai Garden, CD Deshmukh Garden, Five Gardens and Chota Kashmir. Keratinophilic fungi were isolated by the hair baiting technique using human hair as keratin bait. The cultures were identified using macroand micro-morphological features. Identification was also confirmed by the BLAST search of sequences of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA region against the NCBI/Genbank data and compared with deposited sequences. The ability of these fungi to use human hair was also evaluated by release of protein in liquid media. A total of 75 strains of keratinophilic fungi were recovered from 100 (75.0%) soil samples. The isolated fungi were composed of eleven species of eight genera: <em>Arthrographis kalrae</em>, A<em>uxarthron conjugatum</em>, <em>Chrysosporium indicum</em>, <em>C. queenslandicum</em>, <em>C. zonatum, Gymnascella dankaliensis</em>, <em>G. hyalinospora</em>,<em> Microsporum gypseum</em> (15.0%), <em>Myriodontium keratinophilum</em>, <em>Trichophyton mentagrophytes</em> and <em>Uncinocarpus reesii</em>. These fungi can release 148.8-307.6 μg/mL protein in liquid media when grown on human hair in shake flask culture and also decompose 16.2-38.6% of human hair after four weeks of incubation. Our study indicates that keratinophilic fungi are to be found in the soils of various public parks in Mumbai and that human hair can be a source of pathogenic fungi.


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