Complex patterns of grooming and sexual activity in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

Grooming in primates is often considered a “currency” that can be exchanged for other “services” or “commodities” such as reciprocal grooming, coalitionary support, infant handling, tolerance around food sources, active food sharing, or mating opportunities. Previous studies on primate grooming‐for‐sex exchange viewed the males as the demanding class, with the females as suppliers of mating opportunities. In this study, we examine the broader context of grooming‐for‐mating exchange in Barbary macaques in Gibraltar. Our data show that Barbary macaque males groom females with whom they are mating more frequently and for longer periods than other females, and the relationship between grooming and mating remains significant in both sexual and nonsexual contexts. In addition, females groomed males with whom they were mating more frequently and for longer periods than other males. In both sexes, grooming was observed to be far more frequent and to occur for longer durations in sexual compared to nonsexual contexts. We did not find any difference in grooming behavior between presexual and postsexual contexts. Our data suggest that there is no simple model to describe Barbary macaque grooming patterns in sexual contexts. Although our results are partly consistent with male use of grooming as payment for mating, broadly assessed grooming‐mating patterns cannot be solely explained by a male‐driven grooming‐for‐mating exchange.     

A new mite species of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lasioseius</Emphasis> (Acari: Gamasina: Ascidae) from central Europe

Lasioseius minor sp. n. (Acari: Gamasina: Ascidae) is described from the soil of thermophilic oak forest from south-western Slovakia. L. minor sp. n. belongs to the subgenus Crinidens having not reduced number of dorsal setae, separate metapodal platelets, epistomal margin with three well developed branches and only two small smooth pointed dorsal setae.     

The Relationship between the Structure of the Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Strains and Their Pathogenic Properties

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is transmitted to vertebrates by taiga or forest ticks through bites, inducing disease of variable severity. The reasons underlying these differences in the severity of the disease are unknown. In order to identify genetic factors affecting the pathogenicity of virus strains, we have sequenced and compared the complete genomes of 34 Far-Eastern subtype (FE) TBEV strains isolated from patients with different disease severity (Primorye, the Russian Far East). We analyzed the complete genomes of 11 human pathogenic strains isolated from the brains of dead patients with the encephalitic form of the disease (Efd), 4 strains from the blood of patients with the febrile form of TBE (Ffd), and 19 strains from patients with the subclinical form of TBE (Sfd). On the phylogenetic tree, pathogenic Efd strains formed two clusters containing the prototype strains, Senzhang and Sofjin, respectively. Sfd strains formed a third separate cluster, including the Oshima strain. The strains that caused the febrile form of the disease did not form a separate cluster. In the viral proteins, we found 198 positions with at least one amino acid residue substitution, of which only 17 amino acid residue substitutions were correlated with the variable pathogenicity of these strains in humans and they authentically differed between the groups. We considered the role of each amino acid substitution and assumed that the deletion of 111 amino acids in the capsid protein in combination with the amino acid substitutions R16K and S45F in the NS3 protease may affect the budding process of viral particles. These changes may be the major reason for the diminished pathogenicity of TBEV strains. We recommend Sfd strains for testing as attenuation vaccine candidates.     

The mechanism of the resistance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to phages from the International Collection

The resistance of methicillin-resistant staphylococci to phage 85 is due to the presence of a certain system restriction modification in microbial cells. The loss of the capacity for restricting phage DNA by the cell as the consequence of the loss of the mec determinant is not accompanied by the loss of its capacity for modifying phage DNA.     

Towards resolving conservation issues through historical aerial imagery: vegetation cover changes in the Central European tundra

Mountain ecosystems are considered to be sensitive to global change and human disturbance. Our retrospective analysis of archival aerial imagery showed dynamics of arctic-alpine tundra vegetation in the Krkono?e Mountains, Czech Republic; image classification revealed a change in land cover classes in 44% of the study area over the past eighty years. This particular ecosystem holds many rare features, such as high numbers of endemic, glacial relict and rare species as well as relict geomorphological components such as sorted patterned ground. Our study revealed an accelerating expansion of the native and planted shrub, Pinus mugo, from 30.6% of the study area in 1936 to 48.6% in 2018, mostly at the expense of grasslands that decreased from 59.3% in 1936 to 44.2% in 2018. Shrub expansion represents a threat to relict periglacial landforms, covering 8% of the sorted patterned ground in 1936 and 26.5% in 2018. Shrub encroachment was shown to be due to artificial planting of the pine in the past as well as the cessation of former farming (mowing and cattle grazing) and, most probably, also by global change. Both dwarf pine stands and tundra grasslands hold high conservation value (Natura 2000 habitats); a balance between different nature protection interests must, therefore, be ensured. Detailed spatio-temporally, explicit outputs of the remote sensing analysis can serve as a baseline for nature conservation in order to prepare corresponding management plans.