A framework for modelling soil structure dynamics induced by biological activity

Soil degradation is a worsening global phenomenon driven by socio‐economic pressures, poor land management practices and climate change. A deterioration of soil structure at timescales ranging from seconds to centuries is implicated in most forms of soil degradation including the depletion of nutrients and organic matter, erosion and compaction. New soil–crop models that could account for soil structure dynamics at decadal to centennial timescales would provide insights into the relative importance of the various underlying physical (e.g. tillage, traffic compaction, swell/shrink and freeze/thaw) and biological (e.g. plant root growth, soil microbial and faunal activity) mechanisms, their impacts on soil hydrological processes and plant growth, as well as the relevant timescales of soil degradation and recovery. However, the development of such a model remains a challenge due to the enormous complexity of the interactions in the soil–plant system. In this paper, we focus on the impacts of biological processes on soil structure dynamics, especially the growth of plant roots and the activity of soil fauna and microorganisms. We first define what we mean by soil structure and then review current understanding of how these biological agents impact soil structure. We then develop a new framework for modelling soil structure dynamics, which is designed to be compatible with soil–crop models that operate at the soil profile scale and for long temporal scales (i.e. decades, centuries). We illustrate the modelling concept with a case study on the role of root growth and earthworm bioturbation in restoring the structure of a severely compacted soil.     

Plant communities and environmental factors in the Guayana Highlands: monitoring for conservation under future climate change

The Guayana Highlands (GH) constitute a highly diverse, but relatively poorly studied Neotropical biome, comprised of ～50 flat-topped mountain summits (called tepuis). Previous studies based on warming forecasts for the region suggested that an upward displacement of environmental conditions of 500–700 m could occur by 2100, potentially resulting in the extinction of c. 50% of its endemic flora due to total habitat loss. To assess the ecological responses of the species to climate change, and select the appropriate conservation measures, long-term monitoring of the GH plant communities will be necessary. In this study, the baseline state for future comparisons was established for the best explored tepui in terms of its flora, Roraima-tepui (2810 m), through a floristic characterization of its different vegetation types. We also identified the environmental gradients underlying the major plant communities, and assessed the effects of human activities on the chemistry of soils and water at three field camps. Our results yielded five main community types: three meadows, one shrubland, and one forest, with their corresponding diagnostic species. The herbaceous communities were mainly influenced by the presence of flat sandy soils, with varying flooding capacity. Shrublands and forests were characterized by irregular organic soils with very low pH. Finally, pH values below 3 were measured on an organic soil of a field camp, although further studies will be necessary to attribute this deviation to human activities.     

Whole Genome Sequencing of Field Isolates Reveals a Common Duplication of the Duffy Binding Protein Gene in Malagasy Plasmodium vivax Strains

Background

Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent human malaria parasite, causing serious public health problems in malaria-endemic countries. Until recently the Duffy-negative blood group phenotype was considered to confer resistance to vivax malaria for most African ethnicities. We and others have reported that P. vivax strains in African countries from Madagascar to Mauritania display capacity to cause clinical vivax malaria in Duffy-negative people. New insights must now explain Duffy-independent P. vivax invasion of human erythrocytes.

Methods/Principal Findings

Through recent whole genome sequencing we obtained ≥70× coverage of the P. vivax genome from five field-isolates, resulting in ≥93% of the Sal I reference sequenced at coverage greater than 20×. Combined with sequences from one additional Malagasy field isolate and from five monkey-adapted strains, we describe here identification of DNA sequence rearrangements in the P. vivax genome, including discovery of a duplication of the P. vivax Duffy binding protein (PvDBP) gene. A survey of Malagasy patients infected with P. vivax showed that the PvDBP duplication was present in numerous locations in Madagascar and found in over 50% of infected patients evaluated. Extended geographic surveys showed that the PvDBP duplication was detected frequently in vivax patients living in East Africa and in some residents of non-African P. vivax-endemic countries. Additionally, the PvDBP duplication was observed in travelers seeking treatment of vivax malaria upon returning home. PvDBP duplication prevalence was highest in west-central Madagascar sites where the highest frequencies of P. vivax-infected, Duffy-negative people were reported.

Conclusions/Significance

The highly conserved nature of the sequence involved in the PvDBP duplication suggests that it has occurred in a recent evolutionary time frame. These data suggest that PvDBP, a merozoite surface protein involved in red cell adhesion is rapidly evolving, possibly in response to constraints imposed by erythrocyte Duffy negativity in some human populations.     

Interplay between human microglia and neural stem/progenitor cells in an allogeneic co‐culture model

Experimental neural cell therapies, including donor neural stem/progenitor cells (NPCs) have been reported to offer beneficial effects on the recovery after an injury and to counteract inflammatory and degenerative processes in the central nervous system (CNS). The interplay between donor neural cells and the host CNS still to a large degree remains unclear, in particular in human allogeneic conditions. Here, we focused our studies on the interaction of human NPCs and microglia utilizing a co‐culture model. In co‐cultures, both NPCs and microglia showed increased survival and proliferation compared with mono‐cultures. In the presence of microglia, a larger subpopulation of NPCs expressed the progenitor cell marker nestin, whereas a smaller group of NPCs expressed the neural markers polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule, A2B5 and glial fibrillary acidic protein compared with NPC mono‐cultures. Microglia thus hindered differentiation of NPCs. The presence of human NPCs increased microglial phagocytosis of latex beads. Furthermore, we observed that the expression of CD200 molecules on NPCs and the CD200 receptor protein on microglia was enhanced in co‐cultures, whereas the release of transforming growth factor‐β was increased suggesting anti‐inflammatory features of the co‐cultures. To conclude, the interplay between human allogeneic NPCs and microglia, significantly affected their respective proliferation and phenotype. Neural cell therapy including human donor NPCs may in addition to offering cell replacement, modulate host microglial phenotypes and functions to benefit neuroprotection and repair.     

Reduced striatal ecto-nucleotidase activity in schizophrenia patients supports the “adenosine hypothesis”

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a major chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a hyperdopaminergic state. The hypoadenosinergic hypothesis proposes that reduced extracellular adenosine levels contribute to dopamine D₂ receptor hyperactivity. ATP, through the action of ecto-nucleotidases, constitutes a main source of extracellular adenosine. In the present study, we examined the activity of ecto-nucleotidases (NTPDases, ecto-5′-nucleotidase, and alkaline phosphatase) in the postmortem putamen of SZ patients (n = 13) compared with aged-matched controls (n = 10). We firstly demonstrated, by means of artificial postmortem delay experiments, that ecto-nucleotidase activity in human brains was stable up to 24 h, indicating the reliability of this tissue for these enzyme determinations. Remarkably, NTPDase-attributable activity (both ATPase and ADPase) was found to be reduced in SZ patients, while ecto-5′-nucleotidase and alkaline phosphatase activity remained unchanged. In the present study, we also describe the localization of these ecto-enzymes in human putamen control samples, showing differential expression in blood vessels, neurons, and glial cells. In conclusion, reduced striatal NTPDase activity may contribute to the pathophysiology of SZ, and it represents a potential mechanism of adenosine signalling impairment in this illness.