Mycobacterium avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis in the Inflamed Gut Tissues of Patients with Crohn’s Disease in China and its Potential Relationship to the Consumption of Cow’s Milk: A Preliminary Study

Summary Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection in domestic livestock is widespread in many countries throughout the world. Studies in Europe and the USA show that M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis can be cultured from retail pasteurized cow’s milk and that these organisms are being transmitted to humans by this route. Most people with chronic inflammation of the intestine of the Crohn’s disease type are infected with these chronic enteric pathogens. The production and consumption of cow’s milk has increased in China and so also has the incidence of Crohn’s disease. The present preliminary investigation was carried out to determine whether M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis is present in the intestinal tissues of Chinese patients with Crohn’s disease who have never left China. Archival paraffin-embedded surgical pathology blocks from patients having surgery for Crohn’s disease (CD) or for cancer (nIBD) in China were studied. M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis was detected by nested IS900 PCR with Southern blotting and amplicon sequencing. The intestinal tissues of 9 of 13 (69.2%) CD patients and 2 of 14 (14.3%) nIBD patients were IS900 PCR positive (P = 0.0063; odds ratio = 13.5). These initial studies suggest that people in China are exposed to M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis and that as in other countries, the infection is significantly associated with Crohn’s disease. M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis in dairy herds and retail milk in China needs to be investigated.     

综合性ICU铜绿假单胞菌医院内感染临床及药敏分析

目的 探讨综合性ICU铜绿假单胞菌（PA）引发的医院内感染临床及其药敏特点。方法 对温州医学院附属第一医院ICU 1997～2002年铜绿假单胞菌医院感染进行回顾性分析.用16种常用抗生素进行体外药敏试验,采用Kirby-Bauer纸片扩散法按NCCLS标准进行。结果 根据感染部位,PA引发的感染常见于下呼吸道（87.64%）、尿路（7.87%）及皮肤（4.49%）。患者基础疾患包括神经系统疾病（43.82%）,COPD（12.36%）,各种恶性肿瘤（8.99%）,以及各种创伤和大手术后等。体外药物敏感率从高到低依次为头孢哌酮-舒巴坦（84.85%）,头孢他啶（80%）,妥布霉素（78.46%）,庆大霉素（67.5%）,亚胺培南（56.72%）,奈替米星（55.74%）,培氟沙星（45.33%）,替卡西林（38.60%）,其它头孢3代的敏感率均较低。结论 综合性ICU内PA引起的机会感染率高,在临床上应在药敏指导下用药,经验性治疗则优先考虑选用头孢哌酮-舒巴坦、头孢他啶、氨基糖甙类和亚胺培南等敏感性较高的抗生素,同时注意防止是交叉感染,积极治疗原发病。     

Increased resistance to generalist herbivores in invasive populations of the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)

Escape from enemies in the native range is often assumed to contribute to the successful invasion of exotic species. Following optimal defence theory, which assumes a trade‐off between herbivore resistance and plant growth, some have predicted that the success of invasive species could be the result of the evolution of lower resistance to herbivores and increased allocation of resources to growth and reproduction. Lack of evidence for ubiquitous costs of producing plant toxins, and the recognition that invasive species may escape specialist, but not generalist enemies, has led to a new prediction: invasive species may escape ecological trade‐offs associated with specialist herbivores, and evolve increased, rather than decreased, production of defensive compounds that are effective at deterring generalist herbivores in the introduced range. We tested the performance of two generalist lepidopteran herbivores, Trichoplusia ni and Orgyia vetusta, when raised on diets of native and invasive populations of the California poppy, Eschscholzia californica. Pupae of T. ni were significantly larger when reared on native populations. Similarly, caterpillars of O. vetusta performed significantly better when raised on native populations, indicating that invasive populations of the California poppy are more resistant to herbivores than native populations. The chance of successful establishment of some non‐indigenous plant species may be increased by retaining resistance to generalist herbivores, and in some cases, invasive species may be able to escape ecological trade‐offs in their new range and evolve, as we observed, even greater resistance to generalist herbivores than native plants.     

Niche-based modelling as a tool for predicting the risk of alien plant invasions at a global scale

Predicting the probability of successful establishment of plant species by matching climatic variables has considerable potential for incorporation in early warning systems for the management of biological invasions. We select South Africa as a model source area of invasions worldwide because it is an important exporter of plant species to other parts of the world because of the huge international demand for indigenous flora from this biodiversity hotspot. We first mapped the five ecoregions that occur both in South Africa and other parts of the world, but the very coarse definition of the ecoregions led to unreliable results in terms of predicting invasible areas. We then determined the bioclimatic features of South Africa's major terrestrial biomes and projected the potential distribution of analogous areas throughout the world. This approach is much more powerful, but depends strongly on how particular biomes are defined in donor countries. Finally, we developed bioclimatic niche models for 96 plant taxa (species and subspecies) endemic to South Africa and invasive elsewhere, and projected these globally after successfully evaluating model projections specifically for three well‐known invasive species (Carpobrotus edulis, Senecio glastifolius, Vellereophyton dealbatum) in different target areas. Cumulative probabilities of climatic suitability show that high‐risk regions are spatially limited globally but that these closely match hotspots of plant biodiversity. These probabilities are significantly correlated with the number of recorded invasive species from South Africa in natural areas, emphasizing the pivotal role of climate in defining invasion potential. Accounting for potential transfer vectors (trade and tourism) significantly adds to the explanatory power of climate suitability as an index of invasibility. The close match that we found between the climatic component of the ecological habitat suitability and the current pattern of occurrence of South Africa alien species in other parts of the world is encouraging. If species' distribution data in the donor country are available, climatic niche modelling offers a powerful tool for efficient and unbiased first‐step screening. Given that eradication of an established invasive species is extremely difficult and expensive, areas identified as potential new sites should be monitored and quarantine measures should be adopted.     

Worldwide invasion of vector mosquitoes: present European distribution and challenges for Spain

An Asiatic mosquito species, Aedes albopictus, began to spread worldwide in the 1970s thanks to marine transport of tires and other goods, leading to colonization of many areas of the world. This species is a vector of major human diseases such as Dengue, Yellow Fever and the West Nile virus. In Europe, it was established in Albania and Italy and has been detected in other countries such as France; no records exist for Spain as yet. Colonization by Aedes albopictus is a major public health concern considering that the West Nile virus and several other viruses are known to circulate sporadically in the Mediterranean. Additionally, the parent species Aedes aegypti was the vector causing severe outbreaks of Dengue and Yellow Fever two centuries ago. Although Ae. aegypti was also introduced, it was eradicated from Spain. Both mosquitoes shared habitat types, diseases transmitted and many bionomic data. This article contains a review of the present Ae. albopictusdistribution range worldwide and discusses the likelihood of an establishment in Spain in view of climatological and geographical data. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Genetic variation and origin of red turpentine beetle (Dendroctonus valens LeConte) introduced to the People's Republic of China

Abstract 1 The red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens LeConte, is a recent New World introduction to the People's Republic of China. An outbreak of these beetles has infested over 0.5 million hectares of pine forests. 2 Efforts are underway to suppress this outbreak using biological control measures. However, the wide distribution in the native range of D. valens suggests regional variation of the beetle's biology, predators, and parasitoids. Thus, knowledge of the origin of these beetles can help devise precise and effective control measures. 3 A portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene was sequenced for 218 individuals from 32 populations throughout the native range of D. valens and in China. 4 Haplotype diversity was high. A total of 131 haplotypes were found and Jukes–Cantor corrected nucleotide difference ranged from 0 to 16%. Haplotype diversity ranged from 0.53 to 0.98 and unique haplotypes were found in most populations. 5 Parsimony and statistical parsimony analyses of these haplotypes support the hypothesis that the introduction of D. valens to China was recent and originated from the Pacific North‐west of the U.S.A. 6 In addition, the high haplotype diversity also suggests a large or multiple introductions. However, based on the genetics of the beetle's reproductive behaviour, this diversity may also be explained by a limited number of individuals or introductions.     

驱除侵袭大质粒pINV对福氏2a志贺氏杆菌2457T影响的比较蛋白质组学研究

将福氏志贺氏杆菌2a 2457T及其驱除侵袭大质粒pINV的菌株培养至对数生长中期,制备了全细胞蛋白质。用双向电泳分离两种细胞蛋白质混合物并进行比较,找出差异点,这些点经过胶内酶切后进行MALDI_TOF质谱鉴定。每个蛋白质点的肽指纹图谱都在福氏志贺氏杆菌2a 2457T株的蛋白质数据库用Mascot进行检索,共发现了10个差异表达的蛋白质。结果显示驱除大质粒后几个参与核酸代谢途径的酶表达量有所上升。其中胞啶/脱氧胞啶脱氨酶、嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶和尿嘧啶核苷磷酸化酶表达量的上升可能造成尿嘧啶和尿（嘧啶核）苷合成的增加。     

Does Wet Prairie Vegetation Retain More Nitrogen with or withoutPhalaris arundinaceainvasion?

Elevated nitrogen (N) levels accelerate expansion of Phalaris arundinacea L. (reed canary grass), a highly aggressive invader that displaces native vegetation and forms monotypes. Hence, Phalaris is commonly presumed to have high nutrient uptake that contributes to higher N retention in a wetland. We compared the capability of wet prairie vegetation with and without invading Phalaris under low-N and high-N treatments to (1) accumulate N in plant tissues, (2) retain N in soil and (3) remove N from water flowing through mesocosms. With high-N treatment, above-ground biomass increased by > 90% (P < 0.0004; yrs. 1–2) and percent total N in above-ground tissues increased by > 46% (P = 0.0005; yrs. 1–2). Consequently, there was ~3 times as much total N accumulation in above-ground tissue (calculated from biomass and percent total N in tissues) with high-N treatment vs. low-N treatment (P < 0.0001; yrs. 1–2). Without invading Phalaris, wet prairie vegetation produced over 49% more above-ground biomass (P ￡ 0.022; yrs. 1–2) and accumulated over 38% more N in its above-ground tissues (P = 0.009; yrs. 1–2), compared to invaded mesocosms. The high-N treatment increased concentrations of soil ammonium (NH4–N) up to 157% (P = 0.0001) and soil nitrate (NO3–N) up to 549% (P < 0.001). After N treatments began, we found no differences in total N or NO3–N in soils (P > 0.05) or in concentrations of NH4–N or NO3–N released in the discharged water (P > 0.1) from wet prairie mesocosms with and without invading Phalaris. Soil NH4–N did not differ between the wet prairie mesocosms with and without Phalaris invasions on five dates (P > 0.05); the one exception was in August 2004 (27% greater with invasion; P = 0.02). Our results from wet prairie mesocosms do not support the presumption that Phalaris retains more N than native plant assemblages.     

Relationships among non-native plants, diversity of plants and butterflies, and adequacy of spatial sampling

Non-native invasive species are altering ecosystems in undesirable ways, often leading to biotic homogenization and rapid reduction of evolutionary potential. However, lack of money and time hampers attempts to monitor the outcome of restoration efforts. Hence, it is useful to determine whether relatively limited sampling can provide valid inferences about biological responses to pattern-based and process-based variables that are affected by restoration actions. In the Mojave Desert, invasion of salt-cedar ( Tamarix ramosissima ) has altered vegetational communities and some measures of faunal diversity. We tested whether six vegetation-based predictor variables affected species richness of butterflies in the Muddy River drainage (Nevada, USA). We also explored whether similar conclusions about relationships between vegetation and butterflies could have been obtained by using data from a subset of the 85 locations included in the study. We found that the effect of non-native plants on species richness of butterflies was negligible. Availability of nectar had the greatest independent explanatory power on species richness of butterflies, followed by species richness of plants. In comparison with the full data set, subsamples including 10, 25 and 50% of sites yielded similar conclusions. Our results suggest that relatively limited data sets may allow us to draw reliable inferences for adaptive management in the context of ecological restoration and rehabilitation.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 85 , 157–166.     

海南黄鳝体内新棘衣虫和胃瘤线虫感染初报

首次报道了海南产野生黄鳝对新棘衣虫和胃瘤线虫(幼虫)的感染情况。结果表明,新棘衣虫的感染率为46.7%,感染强度为3.80,平均丰度为1.78;胃瘤线虫的感染率为24.3%,感染强度为2.15,平均丰度为0.52;黄鳝的感染与其自身的体长有一定关系,体长190 mm以下黄鳝对线虫未发现有感染,对棘头虫的感染率亦最低,为20%,而体长191 mm以上黄鳝对棘头虫和线虫均有较高的感染率,其中体长191~220 mm黄鳝的感染率最高;棘头虫和线虫的种群在黄鳝种群中均呈聚集分布,其负二项参数k值分别为0.2539和0.2176;棘头虫和线虫的感染均以210~220 mm体长段的阳性宿主最多,分别占26.0%和34.6%。