Geological stories from the journey of mollusks fossils in Java

The journey began in the Eocene with the presence of mollusk fossil in the Nanggulan Formation (near Yogyakarta) in Central Java. Many experts believe this was the early part of the Tethys system which might still be connected to the Tethys system in Europe.The oldest mollusk fossils type locality after Nanggulan is the Early Miocene Jonggrangan Formation in Kulon Progo near the city of Yogyakarta, which is dominated by the gastropod Haustator specimen. Molluscan paleontological studies of this type of locality reflect a restricted environment with less influence of the Tethyan system. Haustator are considered as the ancestor of the Turritellidae group, which is found mostly on Java Island, during the younger Tertiary to Quaternary Periods.The story continued to the Middle Miocene where the Tethyan realms indication was clearly observed by the presence of some typical Tethys species such as Volema and Babylonia from Nyalindung Formation, West Java. The regional sea level rise in this epoch (around 12 Ma) that was indicated by the presence of Vicarya as an index fossil, which occurrence was due to land submerging to become mangroves area. The fossil then quickly become extinct when the sea level dropped back.Late Miocene to Pliocene was like the transition period from the Tethyan realm to the Pacific realm, where the Tethyan fauna was no longer present. Only evolutional traces of the Middle Miocene mollusk fossils were observed. This continuous evolution is most clearly seen in Turritella cramatensis (late Miocene), Turritella acuticarinata (early Pliocene) and Turritella cikumpaiensis (late Pliocene) which was interpreted to have originated from Turritella angulata as their ancestors.Earth cooling environment that happened in the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene has led the diversity and evolution of a new group of mollusks, most clearly observed from the abundance of Turritella bantamensis in the Bojong Formation, Banten. The new Turritella group has a curved whorl that different from its predecessor with an angled whorl shape.Plio-Pleistocene tectonics event has ended the period of Java marine mollusks domination, then only freshwater mollusk fossils can be found in almost all Quaternary mollusks-bearing deposits.

Siderophore-Mediated Iron Acquisition Plays a Critical Role in Biofilm Formation and Survival of Staphylococcus epidermidis Within the Host

Iron acquisition through siderophores, a class of small, potent iron-chelating organic molecules, is a widely spread strategy among pathogens to survive in the iron-restricted environment found in the host. Although these molecules have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several species, there is currently no comprehensive study addressing siderophore production in Staphylococcus epidermidis. Staphylococcus epidermidis is an innocuous skin commensal bacterium. The species, though, has emerged as a leading cause of implant-associated infections, significantly supported by an inherent ability to form biofilms. The process of adaptation from skin niche environments to the hostile conditions during invasion is yet not fully understood. Herein, we addressed the possible role of siderophore production in S. epidermidis virulence. We first identified and deleted a siderophore homolog locus, sfaABCD, and provided evidence for its involvement in iron acquisition. Our findings further suggested the involvement of siderophores in the protection against oxidative stress-induced damage and demonstrated the in vivo relevance of a siderophore-mediated iron acquisition during S. epidermidis infections. Conclusively, this study addressed, for the first time in this species, the underlying mechanisms of siderophore production, highlighting the importance of a siderophore-mediated iron acquisition under host relevant conditions and, most importantly, its contribution to survival within the host.

Microfacies and Depositional Conditions of Jurassic to Eocene Carbonates: Implication on Ionian Basin Evolution

In order to decipher the paleo-depositional environments, during the Late Jurassic to Early Eocene syn-rift stage, at the margins of the Ionian basin, two different areas with exposed long sequences have been selected, Kastos Island (external margin) and Araxos peninsula (internal margin), and were examined by means of microfacies analysis and biostratigraphy. On Kastos Island, based on lithological and sedimentological features, the following depositional environments have been recognized: an open marine/restricted environment prevailed during the Early Jurassic (“Pantokrator” limestones), changing upwards into deep-sea and slope environments during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (Vigla limestones). The Upper Cretaceous (Senonian limestones) is characterized by a slope environment, whereas during the Paleogene, deep-sea and toe of slope conditions prevailed. In Araxos peninsula, Lower Cretaceous deposits (“Vigla” limestones) were accumulated in a deep-sea environment; Upper Cretaceous ones (Senonian limestones) were deposited in slope or toe of slope conditions. Paleocene limestones correspond to a deep-sea environment. In Araxos peninsula, changes occurred during the Cretaceous, whereas on Kastos Island, they occurred during the Paleocene/Eocene, related to different stages of tectonic activity in the Ionian basin from east to west.

Twins in Guinea-Bissau have a 'thin-fat' body composition compared to singletons

Undernourished Indian babies are paradoxically more adipose compared to European babies. In utero, twins are in a growth restricted environment and share nutritional sources, therefore, they might have a 'thin-fat' body composition compared to singletons. We compared anthropometry of twins (n=209, 97 males) and singletons (n=182, 86 males), using linear mixed-effect models in the Guinea-Bissau Twin Registry at the Bandim Health Project. Twins had lower birth weight (2420 vs 3100 g, p<0.001); and at follow-up, lower height (HAZ mean Z-score difference, -0.21, p=0.055), weight (WAZ -0.73, p=0.024) and BMI (BAZ -0.22, p=0.079) compared to singletons but higher adiposity (skinfolds: 0.33, p=0.001). Twins also had higher fasting (0.38, p<0.001) and 2-hr OGTT glucose concentrations (0.29, p<0.05). Data on prematurity was not available in this cohort. The thin-fat phenotype of Guinea-Bissau twins could suggest that it is a manifestation of early life undernutrition and is not exclusive to Indians. Keywords: Twins, adiposity, thin-fat, early life undernutrition, Guinea-Bissau.

Developmental environment shapes honeybee worker response to virus infection

The consequences of early-life experiences are far reaching. In particular, the social and nutritional environments that developing animals experience can shape their adult phenotypes. In honeybees, larval nutrition determines the eventual social roles of adults as reproductive queens or sterile workers. However, little is known about the effects of developmental nutrition on important adult worker phenotypes such as disease resilience. In this study, we manipulated worker developmental nutrition in two distinct ways under semi-natural field conditions. In the first experiment, we restricted access to nutrition via social isolation by temporarily preventing alloparental care. In the second experiment, we altered the diet quality experienced by the entire colony, leading to adult bees that had developed entirely in a nutritionally restricted environment. When bees from these two experiments reached the adult stage, we challenged them with a common bee virus, Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) and compared mortality, body condition, and the expression of immune genes across diet and viral inoculation treatments. Our findings show that both forms of early life nutritional stress, whether induced by lack of alloparental care or diet quality restriction, significantly reduced bees’ resilience to virus infection and affected the expression of several key genes related to immune function. These results extend our understanding of how early life nutritional environment can affect phenotypes relevant to health and highlight the importance of considering how nutritional stress can be profound even when filtered through a social group. These results also provide important insights into how nutritional stress can affect honeybee health on a longer time scale and its potential to interact with other forms of stress (i.e. disease).

Depositional Environment of the Upper Triassic Baluti Formation in Gara Anticline, Kurdistan Region, North Iraq: Insight from Microfacies and Biomarker Characteristics

The studied section is located in the core of the Gara Anticline, about 12 km southeast of Amedi Town. The Baluti Formation is generally composed of grey and green shale, calcareous, dolostone with intercalations of thinly bedded dolostones, dolomitic limestones, and silicified limestones which are occasionally brecciated. The petrographic study shows five main microfacies in the Baluti Formation namely; finely laminated dolomudstone, fossil-barren and lime mudstone, fenestral mudstone/packstone, peloids and ooids wackestone, and lithoclasts (intraclasts) grainstones. The mudstones facies with no fauna and radial-fibrous ooids can point to a protected and low energy environment. Moreover, fenestral structures are reliable criteria for identifying a tidal flat environment. The presence of the lithoclasts (intraclasts) with radial ooids and a few terrestrial fragments may represent a quiet environment, albeit one affected by infrequent storm deposits. As a supplementary to microfacies, the biomarker characterizations were used to deduce the depositional environment of the Baluti Formation. Biomarker parameters show that the Baluti Formation could be deposited in anoxic to suboxic environment, and organic matter input is more likely characterized by land plant organic matter. This study showed that the most likely paleoenvironments for the Baluti Formation were supratidal, intertidal, subtidal, and sand shoals setting. However, the lack and/or very low diversity of skeletal fauna, and the lack of subaerial exposure may indicate that some parts of the formation seem to be deposited in low energy and restricted environment (Lagoon).