Heavy Hymenolepis nana Infection Possibly Through Organic Foods: Report of a Case

We encountered a patient with heavy Hymenolepis nana infection. The patient was a 44-year-old Korean man who had suffered from chronic hepatitis (type B) for 15 years. A large number of H. nana adult worms were found during colonoscopy that was performed as a part of routine health screening. The parasites were scattered throughout the colon, as well as in the terminal ileum, although the patient was immunocompetent. Based on this study, colonoscopy may be helpful for diagnosis of asymptomatic H. nana infections.     

Immunopathological Changes in the Brain of Immunosuppressed Mice Experimentally Infected with Toxocara canis

Toxocariasis is a soil-transmitted helminthozoonosis due to infection of humans by larvae of Toxocara canis. The disease could produce cognitive and behavioral disturbances especially in children. Meanwhile, in our modern era, the incidence of immunosuppression has been progressively increasing due to increased incidence of malignancy as well as increased use of immunosuppressive agents. The present study aimed at comparing some of the pathological and immunological alterations in the brain of normal and immunosuppressed mice experimentally infected with T. canis. Therefore, 180 Swiss albino mice were divided into 4 groups including normal (control) group, immunocompetent T. canis-infected group, immunosuppressed group (control), and immunosuppressed infected group. Infected mice were subjected to larval counts in the brain, and the brains from all mice were assessed for histopathological changes, astrogliosis, and IL-5 mRNA expression levels in brain tissues. The results showed that under immunosuppression, there were significant increase in brain larval counts, significant enhancement of reactive gliosis, and significant reduction in IL-5 mRNA expression. All these changes were maximal in the chronic stage of infection. In conclusion, the immunopathological alterations in the brains of infected animals were progressive over time, and were exaggerated under the effect of immunosuppression as did the intensity of cerebral infection.     

Fish recolonization of a lowland river with non-buffered storm water discharges but with abated pollution from a large municipality

Water pollution from industrial Metro Łódź (ML), Poland, made the Ner River almost fishless in its middle-lower course for most of the 19th and 20th century. The new sewage treatment plant of ML and reduction of industry have caused pollution abatement there since the 1990s. As a result, the Ner became repopulated, which was shown by fish samples collected along its course in 2000–2012. Multivariate statistical methods helped distinguish unpolluted (I and II, in the upper course), and recovered (III, IV and V, in the middle-lower course) sections of the river. Historical and present data indicated that section III (downstream of ML) recovered least, both before and during the study. Section V (outflow one) recovered most and its fish fauna (almost exclusively native) now displays high and stable biomass, abundance and species richness, including those of obligatory riverine species. Non-native Prussian carp's dominance followed the river degradation gradient, i.e. was highest in section III, and in section V declined to almost absence. This study shows that the revival of native fish fauna seems to be a method of restricting the dominance of this highly tolerant species. Despite the abatement, storm events are very harmful to fish (mostly in section III), because the Ner discharge may then increase manifold and all storm water is drained by the ML combined sewer system to the Ner in several hours. Other stressors are numerous dams and desorption of pollutants from sediment in the middle Ner, and perhaps pollutant inflow from agriculture or local urban areas. Some moderation of storm impact on water entering the Ner from ML by constructing buffer reservoirs would probably cause further fish recovery in section III.     

An invasive tree facilitates the persistence of native rodents on an over‐grazed floodplain in tropical Australia

In an ecosystem under simultaneous threat from multiple alien species, one invader may buffer the impact of another. Our surveys on a remote floodplain in the Kimberley region of north western Australia show that invasive chinee apple trees (Ziziphus mauritiana) provide critical refuge habitat for native rodents (pale field rats, Rattus tunneyi). Feral horses (Equus caballus) have trampled most of the remaining floodplain, but are excluded from the area around each chinee apple tree by thorny foliage. Although chinee apple trees constituted <10% of trees along our transects, they represented >50% of trees that harboured rat burrows. The mean number of burrows under each chinee apple tree was twice as high as under most other tree species, and we trapped more than seven times as many rats under chinee apple trees as under other types of trees. The extensive burrow systems under chinee apple trees contained female as well as male rats, whereas we only captured males around the smaller burrow systems under other tree species. Our data suggest that this invasive tree plays a critical role in the persistence of pale field rat populations in this degraded ecosystem, and that managers should maintain these trees (despite their alien origins) at least until feral horses have been removed.     

An evaluation of semi‐automated methods for collecting ecosystem‐level data in temperate marine systems

Historically, marine ecologists have lacked efficient tools that are capable of capturing detailed species distribution data over large areas. Emerging technologies such as high‐resolution imaging and associated machine‐learning image‐scoring software are providing new tools to map species over large areas in the ocean. Here, we combine a novel diver propulsion vehicle (DPV) imaging system with free‐to‐use machine‐learning software to semi‐automatically generate dense and widespread abundance records of a habitat‐forming algae over ~5,000 m² of temperate reef. We employ replicable spatial techniques to test the effectiveness of traditional diver‐based sampling, and better understand the distribution and spatial arrangement of one key algal species. We found that the effectiveness of a traditional survey depended on the level of spatial structuring, and generally 10–20 transects (50 × 1 m) were required to obtain reliable results. This represents 2–20 times greater replication than have been collected in previous studies. Furthermore, we demonstrate the usefulness of fine‐resolution distribution modeling for understanding patterns in canopy algae cover at multiple spatial scales, and discuss applications to other marine habitats. Our analyses demonstrate that semi‐automated methods of data gathering and processing provide more accurate results than traditional methods for describing habitat structure at seascape scales, and therefore represent vastly improved techniques for understanding and managing marine seascapes.     

The EF‐1α promoter maintains high‐level transgene expression from episomal vectors in transfected CHO‐K1 cells

In our previous study, we demonstrated that episomal vectors based on the characteristic sequence of matrix attachment regions (MARs) and containing the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter allow transgenes to be maintained episomally in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. However, the transgene expression was unstable and the number of copies was low. In this study, we focused on enhancers, various promoters and promoter variants that could improve the transgene expression stability, expression magnitude (level) and the copy number of a MAR‐based episomal vector in CHO‐K1 cells. In comparison with the CMV promoter, the eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 α (EF‐1α, gene symbol EEF1A1) promoter increased the transfection efficiency, the transgene expression, the proportion of expression‐positive clones and the copy number of the episomal vector in long‐term culture. By contrast, no significant positive effects were observed with an enhancer, CMV promoter variants or CAG promoter in the episomal vector in long‐term culture. Moreover, the high‐expression clones harbouring the EF‐1α promoter tended to be more stable in long‐term culture, even in the absence of selection pressure. According to these findings, we concluded that the EF‐1α promoter is a potent regulatory sequence for episomal vectors because it maintains high transgene expression, transgene stability and copy number. These results provide valuable information on improvement of transgene stability and the copy number of episomal vectors.     

Nutrients are assimilated efficiently by Lymantria dispar caterpillars from the mature leaves of trees in the Salicaceae

The efficient aquisition of nutrients from leaves by insect herbivores increases their nutrient assimilation rates and overall fitness. Caterpillars of the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) have high protein assimilation efficiencies (PAE) from the immature leaves of trees such as red oak (Quercus rubra) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) (71–81%) but significantly lower PAE from their mature leaves (45–52%). By contrast to this pattern, both PAE and carbohydrate assimilation efficiencies (CAE) remain high for L. dispar larvae on the mature leaves of poplar (Populus alba × Populus tremula) grown in greenhouse conditions. The present study tests two alternative hypotheses: (i) outdoor environmental stresses cause decreased nutrient assimilation efficiencies from mature poplar leaves and (ii) nutrients in the mature leaves of trees in the poplar family (Salicaceae) remain readily available for L. dispar larvae. When poplar trees are grown in ambient outdoor conditions, PAE and CAE remain high (approximately 75% and 78%, respectively) in L. dispar larvae, in contrast to the first hypothesis. When larvae feed on the mature leaves of species in the Salicaceae [aspen (Populus tremuloides), cottonwood (Populus deltoides), willow (Salix nigra) and poplar], PAE and CAE also remain high (68–76% and 72–92%, respectively), consistent with the second hypothesis. Larval growth rates are strongly associated with protein assimilation rates, and more strongly associated with protein assimilation rates than with carbohydrate assimilation rates. It is concluded that tree species in the Salicaceae are relatively high‐quality host plants for L. dispar larvae, in part, because nutrients in their mature leaves remain readily available.     

Resistance to pathogens in terpene down-regulated orange fruits inversely correlates with the accumulation of D-limonene in peel oil glands

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are secondary metabolites acting as a language for the communication of plants with the environment. In orange fruits, the monoterpene D-limonene accumulates at very high levels in oil glands from the peel. Drastic down-regulation of D-limonene synthase gene expression in the peel of transgenic oranges harboring a D-limonene synthase transgene in antisense (AS) configuration altered the monoterpene profile in oil glands, mainly resulting in reduced accumulation of D-limonene. This led to fruit resistance against Penicillium digitatum (Pd), Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) and other specialized pathogens. Here, we analyze resistance to pathogens in independent AS and empty vector (EV) lines, which have low, medium or high D-limonene concentrations and show that the level of resistance is inversely related to the accumulation of D-limonene in orange peels, thus explaining the need of high D-limonene accumulation in mature oranges in nature for the efficient attraction of specialized microorganism frugivores.