Streptomyces luteolifulvus sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from soil in Nanjing,China

During the investigation of exploring potential sources of novel species and natural bioactives, a novel actinomycete, designated strain HIT-DPA4^T, was isolated from a soil sample, which was collected from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, PR China and characterized using a polyphasic approach. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities and the result of phylogenetic analysis, strain HIT-DPA4^T was most closely related to Streptomyces cyaneus CGMCC 4.1671 ^T, and shared the highest sequence similarity of 98.76%. In addition, the cell walls of the species HIT-DPA4^T contained LL-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and the whole-cell hydrolysates were identified as glucose and ribose, and the principal phospholipids were found to be diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine. MK-9(H₆) and MK-9(H₄) were predominant menaquinones; and C_16:0, anteiso-C_15:0 and C_15:0 as major cellular fatty acids of the organism HIT-DPA4^T. Gene Ontology database analysis and antiSMASH server predicted results displayed that strain HIT-DPA4^T was a promising classification units, which has various types of functions and contains multiple biosynthetic gene clusters with the similarity more than 80%. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of five housekeeping genes (atpD, gyrB, recA, rpoB and trpB) illustrated that Streptomyces luteolifulvus formed a separate branch in the genus Streptomyces. However, a combination of low level of DNA-DNA relatedness and physiological properties indicated that strain HIT-DPA4^T can be distinguished from its phylogenetically related species Streptomyces cyaneus CGMCC 4.1671 ^T. Moreover, gene synteny research could be further differed organism HIT-DPA4^T from similarity species. Therefore, the strain is concluded to represent a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces luteolifulvus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HIT-DPA4^T (=?CGMCC 4.7558 ^T?=?TISTR 2751 ^T).

     

Invasive potential of golden and zebra mussels in present and future climatic scenarios in the new world

Hydrobiologia - Biological invasions and climate change are important drivers of biodiversity loss. In freshwater ecosystems, golden and zebra mussels are two highly aggressive invasive species...     

Association of the invasive Haemaphysalis longicornis tick with vertebrate hosts,other native tick vectors,and tick-borne pathogens in New York City,USA

Haemaphysalis longicornis, the Asian longhorned tick, is an invasive ixodid tick that has rapidly spread across the northeastern and southeastern regions of the United States since first reported in 2017. The emergence of H. longicornis presents a potential threat for livestock, wildlife, and human health as the host associations and vector potential of this invasive pest in the United States are poorly understood. Previous field data from the United States has shown that H. longicornis was not associated with natural populations of small mammals or birds, but they show a preference for medium sized mammals in laboratory experiments. Therefore, medium and large sized mammals were sampled on Staten Island, New York, United States, to determine H. longicornis host associations and vector potential for a range of human and veterinary pathogens. A total of 97 hosts were sampled and five species of tick (Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis, H. longicornis, Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes cookei) were found feeding concurrently on these hosts. Haemaphysalis longicornis was found in the highest proportions compared with other native tick species on raccoons (55.4%), Virginia opossums (28.9%), and white-tailed deer (11.5%). Tissue, blood, and engorged larvae were tested for 17 different pathogens using a nanoscale PCR platform. Infection with five pathogens (Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Mycoplasma haemocanis, and Bartonella spp.) was detected in host samples, but no pathogens were found in any larval samples. These results suggest that although large and medium sized mammals feed large numbers of H. longicornis ticks in the environment, there is presently a low potential for H. longicornis to acquire pathogens from these wildlife hosts.     

Narrow H3K4me2 is required for chicken PGC formation

The development of primordial germ cells (PGCs) undergoes epigenetic modifications. The study of histone methylation in regulating PGCs is beneficial to understand the development and differentiation mechanism of germ stem cells. Notably, it provides a theoretical basis for directed induction and mass acquisition in vitro. However, little is known about the regulation of PGC formation by histone methylation. Here, we found the high enrichment of H3K4me2 in the blastoderm, genital ridges, and testis. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing was performed and the results revealed that genomic H3K4me2 is dynamic in embryonic stem cells, PGCs, and spermatogonial stem cells. This trend was consistent with the H3K4me2 enrichment in the gene promoter region. Additionally, narrow region triggered PGC‐related genes (Bmp4, Wnt5a, and Tcf7l2) and signaling pathways (Wnt and transforming growth factor‐β). After knocking down histone methylase Mll2 in vitro and vivo, the level of H3K4me2 decreased, inhibiting Cvh and Blimp1 expression, then repressing the formation of PGCs. Taken together, our study revealed the whole genome map of H3K4me2 in the formation of PGCs, contributing to improve the epigenetic study in PGC formation and providing materials for bird gene editing and rescue of endangered birds.     

祁连山5种典型灌丛土壤生态化学计量特征

土壤C、N、P生态化学计量特征是体现生态系统变化过程的重要依据。该研究以分布于祁连山北麓中段的甘青锦鸡儿、鲜黄小檗、金露梅、鬼箭锦鸡儿、吉拉柳等5种典型灌丛群落为研究对象,通过野外调查采样,测定土壤有机C、N、P含量,分析了不同灌丛群落土壤C、N、P含量及其生态化学计量比的垂直分布特征,并探讨了各指标间的耦合关系,为祁连山地区土壤-植物养分关系及退化植被恢复与重建提供理论依据。结果表明:(1)祁连山北麓中段5种灌丛群落土壤有机C(45.29 g/kg)、全N(3.85 g/kg)、全P含量(0.70 g/kg)较高,均高于全国平均水平。(2)相关性分析表明,土壤有机C与全N之间呈极显著正相关(P0.01),但土壤有机C与全P以及全N与全P之间没有明显的相关性,且土壤C、N含量变化几乎完全同步。(3)各灌丛类型土壤有机C、全N含量均表现为表层高于下层,而全P含量土层间差异不显著;各灌丛群落土壤有机C、全N含量均随土层加深呈现"倒金字塔"的分布格局,但不同灌丛类型全P含量随土层加深的变化规律却不一致,且土层对全P含量的影响不显著。(4)5种灌丛群落土壤整体C∶N、C∶P、N∶P(11.29、66.99、5.67)均低于全国平均水平,各灌丛群落土壤C∶P、N∶P随土层加深均呈不同程度的下降趋势,但不同灌丛群落土壤C∶N随土层加深的变化规律有所不同。(5)土壤有机C、全N与C∶N、C∶P、N∶P之间均具有极显著的二次函数关系(P0.01),土壤全P与C∶N、C∶P、N∶P之间关系不显著。研究认为,祁连山北麓中段土壤C∶N和P含量的稳定性较高(CV=3.99%和2.66%),C∶P、N∶P是判断研究区限制性养分的重要指标,祁连山北麓中段灌丛群落土壤主要受N素的限制。