Pathogens Are Linked to Human Moral Systems Across Time and Space

Infectious diseases have been an impending threat to the survival of individuals and groups throughout our evolutionary history. As a result, humans have developed psychological pathogen-avoidance mechanisms and groups have developed societal norms that respond to the presence of disease-causing microorganisms in the environment. In this work, we demonstrate that morality plays a central role in the cultural and psychological architectures that help humans avoid pathogens. We present a collection of studies which together provide an integrated understanding of the socio-ecological and psychological impacts of pathogens on human morality. Specifically, in Studies 1 (2,834 U.S. counties) and 2 (67 nations), we show that regional variation in pathogen prevalence is consistently related to aggregate moral Purity. In Study 3, we use computational linguistic methods to show that pathogen-related words co-occur with Purity words across multiple languages. In Studies 4 (n = 513) and 5 (n = 334), we used surveys and social psychological experimentation to show that pathogen-avoidance attitudes are correlated with Purity. Finally, in Study 6, we found that historical prevalence of pathogens is linked to Care, Loyalty, and Purity. We argue that particular adaptive moral systems are developed and maintained in response to the threat of pathogen occurrence in the environment. We draw on multiple methods to establish connections between pathogens and moral codes in multiple languages, experimentally induced situations, individual differences, U.S. counties, 67 countries, and historical periods over the last century.

Biodiversity of Pathogenic and Toxigenic Seed-Borne Mycoflora of Wheat in Egypt and Their Correlations with Weather Variables

Surveillance investigations for pathogenic and toxigenic fungi are important to refine our understanding of their epidemiology and help in predicting their outbreaks. During 2019, 198 samples of wheat grains were collected from 25 wheat-growing governorates in Egypt to detect and identify seed-borne mycoflora in vitro. Forty-four fungal species belonging to 20 genera were identified. Molecular data for these fungi were analyzed to construct a phylogenetic tree. Occurrence and biodiversity indicators were calculated. Two prevalent pathogens (average incidence > 40%) were Alternaria alternata and Cladosporium spp. Ustilago tritici was present in only seven of the 25 governorates, and less abundant than Tilletia tritici, the causal agent of stinking smut. Sinai governorate recorded the greatest species diversity, while the greatest species richness was in Qena and Sohag governorates. Canonical correspondence analysis of data for 20 fungal genera with temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed or solar radiation revealed that relative humidity was the most influential weather variable. It showed that occurrence and distribution of the 20 genera corresponded well with three out of four Egyptian climatic regions: Mediterranean, semi-arid, and arid. Knowing pathogen occurrence and distribution in Egypt is the first step to developing future disease management strategies to limit yield losses and improve food security. Despite this study being conducted on the wheat-growing areas in Egypt, our findings are useful for other wheat-growing countries that share the same climatic conditions. The correlation between a given fungus and the climatic variables can be useful in other ecosystems.

Mass mortality of pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata (Gould)) in Japan in 2019 and 2020 is caused by an unidentified infectious agent

Mass mortality of 0-year-old pearl oysters, Pinctada fucata (Gould), and anomalies in adults were observed in Japan’s major pearl farming areas in the summer of 2019 and 2020. Although adult oyster mortality was low, both adult and juvenile oysters underwent atrophy of the soft body, detachment of the mantle from nacre (the shiny inner surface of the valves), deposition of brownish material on the nacre, and loss of nacre luster. Infection trials were conducted to verify the involvement of pathogens in this phenomenon. Healthy adult pearl oysters were obtained from areas where this disease had not occurred to use as the recipients. The sources of infection were either affected adult oysters with atrophied soft bodies or batches of juveniles in which mortality had reached conspicuous levels. Transmission of the disease to the healthy oysters were tested either by cohabitation with affected oysters or by injections of the hemolymph of affected animals. The injection infection test examined the effects of filtration and chloroform exposure on the pathogen. Occurrence of the disease was confirmed by the appearance of brown deposits on the nacre and loss of nacre luster. The abnormalities of nacre were clearly reproduced in recipient shells in three out of four cohabitation trials with affected oysters. The disease was also reproduced in six out of six injection trails either with hemolymph filtered through 100 nm filter or with hemolymph treated with chloroform. In a serial passage with hemolymph injections, the disease was successfully transmitted through eight passages. These results suggest that the etiology of the disease is a non-enveloped virus with a diameter ≤100 nm.

Inferring viral occurrence patterns through a synthetic data simulation

Viruses infecting humans are manifold and several of them provoke significant morbidity and mortality. Simulations creating large synthetic datasets from observed multiple viral strain infections in a limited population sample can be a powerful tool to infer significant pathogen occurrence and interaction patterns, particularly if limited number of observed data units is available. Here, to demonstrate diverse human papillomavirus (HPV) strain occurrence patterns, we used log-linear models combined with Bayesian framework for graphical independence network (GIN) analysis. That is, to simulate datasets based on modeling the probabilistic associations between observed viral data points, i.e different viral strain infections in a set of population samples. Our GIN analysis outperformed in precision all oversampling methods tested for simulating large synthetic viral strain-level prevalence dataset from observed set of HPVs data. Altogether, we demonstrate that network modeling is a potent tool for creating synthetic viral datasets for comprehensive pathogen occurrence and interaction pattern estimations.

Examining prevalence and diversity of tick-borne pathogens in questing Ixodes pacificus ticks in California.

Tick-borne diseases in California include Lyme disease (caused by Borrelia burgdorferi), infections with Borrelia miyamotoi, and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum). We surveyed multiple sites and habitats (woodland, grassland, coastal chaparral) in California to describe spatial patterns of tick-borne pathogen prevalence in western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus). We found that several species of Borrelia – B. burgdorferi, B. americana and B. bissettiae - were observed in habitats such as coastal chaparral that does not harbor obvious reservoir host candidates. Describing tick-borne pathogen prevalence is strongly influenced by the scale of surveillance: aggregating data from individual sites to match jurisdictional boundaries (e.g., county or state) can lower the reported infection prevalence. Considering multiple pathogen species in the same habitat allows a more cohesive interpretation of local pathogen occurrence. Importance Understanding the local host ecology and prevalence of zoonotic diseases is vital for public health. Using tick-borne diseases in California, we show that there is often a bias to our understanding and that studies tend to focus on particular habitats e.g., Lyme disease in oak woodlands. Other habitats may harbor a surprising diversity of tick-borne pathogens but have been neglected, e.g., coastal chaparral. Explaining pathogen prevalence requires descriptions of data at a local scale; otherwise, aggregating the data can misrepresent the local dynamics of tick-borne diseases.

Intraspecific host variation plays a key role in virus community assembly

Infection by multiple pathogens of the same host is ubiquitous in both natural and managed habitats. While intraspecific variation in disease resistance is known to affect pathogen occurrence, how differences among host genotypes affect the assembly of pathogen communities remains untested. In our experiment using cloned replicates of naive Plantago lanceolata plants as sentinels during a seasonal virus epidemic, we find non-random co-occurrence patterns of five focal viruses. Using joint species distribution modelling, we attribute the non-random virus occurrence patterns primarily to differences among host genotypes and local population context. Our results show that intraspecific variation among host genotypes may play a large, previously unquantified role in pathogen community structure.

Surgical-site infections in emergency abdominal paediatric surgeries at a tertiary-care hospital in Pakistan

A retrospective chart review was carried out in children (neonates to 18 years) who underwent acute surgical abdominal exploration during 2012-2016 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, to evaluate the post-operative surgical site infection rates in emergency paediatric abdominal surgery. Incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) was estimated. P-value was calculated, chi-square and non-parametric tests were performed by comparing pre-surgical and post-surgical procedure pathogen occurrence and pre-procedure wound status. Pathogen occurrence related to time-trend of 98 paediatric patients who underwent emergency abdominal surgery was plotted. Of the 94 who were discharged in stable condition, it was found that there was no significant difference between pre- and post-surgical pathogens. Escherichia coli (n=10) was found to be the most common pathogen. Contaminated wounds were associated with higher SSI (p=0.036, OR 1.95 95% CI 0.7-5.4). Continuous...

Sensitivity of Cercospora beticola to fungicides in Slovakia

The fungus Cercospora beticola Sacc. is the one of the most important pathogens on the sugar beet. The frequent application of fungicides with the same mode of action increase a risk of development of resistant strains of the pathogen. Occurrence of C. beticola resistant strains has been never researched in Slovakia. In this work, C. beticola isolates were collected from 10 localities of Slovakia and analysed for fungicide resistance in laboratory conditions. Nine fungicides with different mode of action were tested – trifloxystrobin + cyproconazole, kresoxim-methyl + epoxiconazole, azoxystrobin + cyproconazole, thiophanate-methyl + tetraconazole, thiophanate-methyl, prochloraz + propiconazole, picoxystrobin, tetraconazole, and difenoconazole. The results confirmed, that occurrence of fungicide resistance in C. beticola population was established in Slovakia. Different criteria of assessment of fungicide resistance (based on EC50 and on growth rate – inhibition percentage) showed slightly different results, but both criteria confirmed resistant C. beticola strains to thiophanate-methyl, picoxystrobin and difenoconazole. Fields with higher frequency of application of these fungicides significantly supported the development of resistant strains. Assessment of any C. beticola strains have not confirmed reduced sensitivity to active ingredients tetraconazole and prochloraz + propiconazole. The lowest level of risk of fungicide resistance was confirmed in the locality Oslany. It is very important to focus on anti-resistant strategy and reduce of using fungicides on localities, where the occurrence of resistant C. beticola strains was confirmed – Dolné Saliby (thiophanate-methyl and picoxystrobin) and Senec (picoxystrobin and difenoconazole).

THE IMPACT OF THE CULTIVATED WHEAT VARIETIES ON FREQUENCY OF SEPTORIOSIS PATHOGEN OCCURRENCE

One of the important tasks of agricultural production is an opportunity to predict changes in the pathogenic complex of grain crops. It is important not only to identify presence of certain pests, but also to estimate a degree of pathogen development, a role of the host varieties, their immunological potential. The species S. tritici occupies a leading position among the pathogenic complex of septorious spots. Most commonly the species S. tritici was identified on the winter varieties “Moskovskaya 39” and “Severodonetskaya Yubileynaya” with a frequency of occurrence of 90%. The same situation was identified among spring wheat varieties. The species S. nodorum occupies the second position in the distribution of septorious spots in the pathogenic complex. The species S. avenae was significantly inferior to the first two. For each variety being tested, the degree of damage made by a separate type of septoria was calculated according to the frequency of occurrence of each type of pathogen (a species composition) and the plant incidence of septoria. Among the spring soft wheat varieties, there can be identified “L 503”, “Favorit”, “Tulaykovskaya 10”. The septoria incidence degree of these varieties was 27.9%, 23.6%, and 29.3% respectively. Since the S. tritici occurrence in these varieties was more often compared to others (84%, 78%, and 83%, respectively), these varieties can be classified as poorly susceptible to the pathogen. The spring durum wheat varieties are more resistant to Septoriosis. The variety “Orenburgskaya 10” is found the best in this trait with only 17.1% incidence degree. The variety “Krasnokutka 10” showed the largest incidence degree (37.9%). Using the F-test (Fisher test) and the multiple comparisons (Bonferroni-Holm method), there has been shown a significant effect of the agroclimatic year conditions, a life form and the species on the formation of the species composition of Septoria spots. At the same time, the ratio of the species S. tritici, S. nodorum, S. avena throughout all years of study remains stable.

Factors Influencing the Occurrence of Foliar Pathogens in Commercial Watermelon Fields in South Carolina Based on Stratified Cluster Sampling

The influence of environmental and management factors on the occurrence of foliar pathogens of watermelon was analyzed using survey-sampling data collected from commercial farms in South Carolina in spring 2015 and spring and fall 2016. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling design was used to sample symptomatic watermelon leaves from 56 fields of 27 growers in seven counties representing the main watermelon-producing areas in the state. In the sampling design, counties corresponded to strata, growers to first-stage clusters, and fields to second-stage clusters. Pathogens were identified on 100 leaves collected per field based on reproductive structures that formed on the leaves. Information about previous crops, fruit type, field size, transplanting date, first harvest date, and fungicides applied within 7 days and within 7 to 14 days prior to sampling was obtained from growers. Field alignment was determined with a compass. Survey-specific logistic regression procedures were used to analyze the effect of these factors on the probabilities of pathogen occurrence. Five fungal pathogens, Stagonosporopsis spp., Podosphaera xanthii, Cercospora citrullina, Colletotrichum orbiculare, and Myrothecium sensu lato (s.l.), and the oomycete Pseudoperonospora cubensis were included in the analyses. Among the factors we analyzed, there was a consistent increased probability of occurrence of Stagonosporopsis spp. in fields with a previous cucurbit crop, increasing probabilities of pathogen occurrence with increasing plant age, a lower probability of occurrence of some pathogens on triploid cultivars compared with diploid cultivars, and a decrease in probability of pathogen occurrence in fields aligned toward southwest or west. Application of fungicides significantly reduced the probability of observing C. citrullina, P. cubensis, and Stagonosporopsis spp. in 2015 and P. xanthii in spring 2016. This study emphasizes the importance of crop rotation and fungicide applications to manage foliar diseases of watermelon, particularly gummy stem blight, powdery mildew, and downy mildew. Crop age, cultivar type, and field alignment also were found to significantly influence the probability of pathogen occurrence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study examining the influence of various factors on foliar pathogens of watermelon with data collected from commercial fields.