Cowpox Virus Outbreak in Banded Mongooses (Mungos mungo) and Jaguarundis (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) with a Time-Delayed Infection to Humans

Background

Often described as an extremely rare zoonosis, cowpox virus (CPXV) infections are on the increase in Germany. CPXV is rodent-borne with a broad host range and contains the largest and most complete genome of all poxviruses, including parts with high homology to variola virus (smallpox). So far, most CPXV cases have occurred individually in unvaccinated animals and humans and were caused by genetically distinguishable virus strains.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Generalized CPXV infections in banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) and jaguarundis (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) at a Zoological Garden were observed with a prevalence of the affected animal group of 100% and a mortality of 30%. A subsequent serological investigation of other exotic animal species provided evidence of subclinical cases before the onset of the outbreak. Moreover, a time-delayed human cowpox virus infection caused by the identical virus strain occurred in a different geographical area indicating that handling/feeding food rats might be the common source of infection.

Conclusions/Significance

Reports on the increased zoonotic transmission of orthopoxviruses have renewed interest in understanding interactions between these viruses and their hosts. The list of animals known to be susceptible to CPXV is still growing. Thus, the likely existence of unknown CPXV hosts and their distribution may present a risk for other exotic animals but also for the general public, as was shown in this outbreak. Animal breeders and suppliers of food rats represent potential multipliers and distributors of CPXV, in the context of increasingly pan-European trading. Taking the cessation of vaccination against smallpox into account, this situation contributes to the increased incidence of CPXV infections in man, particularly in younger age groups, with more complicated courses of clinical infections.     

Patterns of drought tolerance in major European temperate forest trees: climatic drivers and levels of variability

The future performance of native tree species under climate change conditions is frequently discussed, since increasingly severe and more frequent drought events are expected to become a major risk for forest ecosystems. To improve our understanding of the drought tolerance of the three common European temperate forest tree species Norway spruce, silver fir and common beech, we tested the influence of climate and tree‐specific traits on the inter and intrasite variability in drought responses of these species. Basal area increment data from a large tree‐ring network in Southern Germany and Alpine Austria along a climatic cline from warm‐dry to cool‐wet conditions were used to calculate indices of tolerance to drought events and their variability at the level of individual trees and populations. General patterns of tolerance indicated a high vulnerability of Norway spruce in comparison to fir and beech and a strong influence of bioclimatic conditions on drought response for all species. On the level of individual trees, low‐growth rates prior to drought events, high competitive status and low age favored resilience in growth response to drought. Consequently, drought events led to heterogeneous and variable response patterns in forests stands. These findings may support the idea of deliberately using spontaneous selection and adaption effects as a passive strategy of forest management under climate change conditions, especially a strong directional selection for more tolerant individuals when frequency and intensity of summer droughts will increase in the course of global climate change.     

Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases

Background

The spread of infectious diseases from person to person is determined by the frequency and nature of contacts between infected and susceptible members of the population. Although there is a long history of using mathematical models to understand these transmission dynamics, there are still remarkably little empirical data on contact behaviors with which to parameterize these models. Even starker is the almost complete absence of data from developing countries. We sought to address this knowledge gap by conducting a household based social contact diary in rural Vietnam.

Methods and Findings

A diary based survey of social contact patterns was conducted in a household-structured community cohort in North Vietnam in 2007. We used generalized estimating equations to model the number of contacts while taking into account the household sampling design, and used weighting to balance the household size and age distribution towards the Vietnamese population. We recorded 6675 contacts from 865 participants in 264 different households and found that mixing patterns were assortative by age but were more homogenous than observed in a recent European study. We also observed that physical contacts were more concentrated in the home setting in Vietnam than in Europe but the overall level of physical contact was lower. A model of individual versus household vaccination strategies revealed no difference between strategies in the impact on R ₀.

Conclusions and Significance

This work is the first to estimate contact patterns relevant to the spread of infections transmitted from person to person by non-sexual routes in a developing country setting. The results show interesting similarities and differences from European data and demonstrate the importance of context specific data.     

Mononuclear manganese(III) catechol compounds as substrate adduct complexes for manganese-substituted intradiol cleaving catechol dioxygenases

The complexes [Mn(L₁)(tcc)] (1), [Mn(L₂)(tcc)] · H₂O · 0.5CH₃OH (2), [Mn(L₃)(tcc)] · CH₂Cl₂ (3), [Mn(L₄)(tcc)] · 1.5CH₂Cl₂ (4), [Mn(L₅)(tcc)] (5), and (HN(C₂H₅)₃)[Mn(L₆)(tcc)] · CH₂Cl₂ (6) have been synthesized using the ligands HL₁ (2-[(bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl]phenol), HL₂ (2-[[((6-methylpyridin-2-yl)methyl)(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino]methyl] phenol), HL₃ (2-[[((6-methylpyridin-2-yl)methyl)(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino]methyl]-4-nitrophenol), HL₄ (2-[(bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl]-4-bromophenol), HL₅ (2-[(bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl]-6-methoxyphenol) and H₂L₆ ([(bis(2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl))(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)]amine) and characterized by X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and elemental analysis. Compounds 1 and 6 crystallize in the monoclinic space groups P2₁/n and P2₁/c, respectively, whereas the crystal structures of complexes 2, 3, and 4 were solved in the triclinic space group . Complex 5 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁. Complexes 1-6 are structural related to the proposed active site of intradiol cleaving catechol dioxygenase exhibiting a distorted octahedral N₃O₃ (1-5) and N₂O₄ (6) donor set, respectively. Complexes 1-6 can be regarded as structural manganese analogous for substituted forms of iron-containing intradiol cleaving catechol dioxygenases, where the substrate tetrachlorocatechol (tcc) is asymmetrically bound to the metal center.     

Overgrowth on ammonite conchs: environmental implications for the Lower Toarcian Posidonia Shale

Ammonites of the south–west German Posidonia Shale (Early Toarcian) are occasionally overgrown by bivalves, brachiopods or serpulids. Attachment to both sides of the conchs in some specimens suggests attachment during the ammonite's lifetime, with a pseudoplanktic mode of life for the epizoans. However, dense overgrowth restricted to the upper surface of some ammonite shells indicates post–mortem colonization. Our study shows that apart from oxygen supply as a main factor controlling benthic colonization, substrate consistency also played an important part. Unfavourable living conditions prevailed during deposition of the organic–rich sediments, excluding macrofauna in the benthic environment. However, less than 0.1 per cent of the ammonite conchs found during the excavation show overgrowth, indicating that pseudoplanktonism was an infrequently adopted strategy for inhabiting surface waters.     

The Third Replicon of Members of the Burkholderia cepacia Complex,Plasmid pC3, Plays a Role in Stress Tolerance

The metabolically versatile Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) occupies a variety of niches, including the plant rhizosphere and the cystic fibrosis lung (where it is often fatal to the patient). Bcc members have multipartite genomes, of which the third replicon, pC3 (previously chromosome 3), has been shown to be a nonessential megaplasmid which confers virulence and both antifungal and proteolytic activity on several strains. In this study, pC3 curing was extended to cover strains of 16 of the 17 members of the Bcc, and the phenotypes conferred by pC3 were determined. B. cenocepacia strains H111, MCO-3, and HI2424 were previously cured of pC3; however, this had not proved possible in the epidemic strain K56-2. Here, we investigated the mechanism of this unexpected stability and found that efficient toxin-antitoxin systems are responsible for maintaining pC3 of strain K56-2. Identification of these systems allowed neutralization of the toxins and the subsequent deletion of K56-2pC3. The cured strain was found to exhibit reduced antifungal activity and was attenuated in both the zebrafish and the Caenorhabditis elegans model of infection. We used a PCR screening method to examine the prevalence of pC3 within 110 Bcc isolates and found that this replicon was absent in only four cases, suggesting evolutionary fixation. It is shown that plasmid pC3 increases the resistance of B. cenocepacia H111 to various stresses (oxidative, osmotic, high-temperature, and chlorhexidine-induced stresses), explaining the prevalence of this replicon within the Bcc.     

Variant rs1801157 in the 3’UTR of SDF-1? Does Not Explain Variability of Healthy-Donor G-CSF Responsiveness

The genetics responsible for the inter-individually variable G-CSF responsiveness remain elusive. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 3’UTR of CXCL12, rs1801157, was implicated in X4-tropic HiV susceptibility and later, in two small studies, in G-CSR responsiveness in patients and donors. The position of the SNP in the 3’UTR together with in-silico predictions suggested differential binding of micro-RNA941 as an underlying mechanism. In a cohort of 515 healthy stem cell donors we attempted to reproduce the correlation of the CXCL12 3’UTR SNP and mobilization responses and tested the role of miR941 in this context. The SNP was distributed with the expected frequency. Mobilization efficiency for CD34+ cells in WT, heterozygous and homozygous SNP individuals was indistinguishable, even after controlling for gender. miR941 expression in non-hematopoietic bone marrow cells was undetectable and miR941 did not interact with the 3’ UTR of CXCL12. Proposed effects of the SNP rs1801157 on G-CSF responsiveness cannot be confirmed in a larger cohort.     

DNA integrity in sexed bull sperm assessed by neutral Comet assay and sperm chromatin structure assay

During the production of sex-sorted spermatozoa from bull semen, the cells are exposed to a number of potential hazards including: dilution, centrifugation, incubation, exposure to DNA stains and laser light. These factors may affect the survival capacity and fertilization potential of the sperm. The objective of this study was to determine whether sex-sorted bull spermatozoa have more DNA damage than sperm from conventional processed bull semen. Two methods were used to determine DNA integrity: the neutral Comet assay (NCA) and the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). The NCA showed that the conventional samples had a higher tail moment (TM) (P < 0.017) than the sorted samples and that there was no difference between the samples in tail length (TL) (P = 0.36). The SCSA showed that the DNA fragmentation index (DFI) was higher for conventional than the sorted samples (P = 0.011), but the standard deviation of DFI (SD-DFI) was higher for the sorted samples (P < 0.001). We conclude that the NCA and SCSA can be used in assessing DNA integrity in bovine sperm and that cell sorting by flow cytometry improves the integrity of the sperm cell population. Additionally the results from the SCSA indicated that the sex-sorted sperm had less homogenous sperm chromatin. In the future assessment of sperm DNA integrity may be used to select bulls for sperm sex sorting and optimizing sperm sex sorting procedures.