Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Targets the Murine Olfactory Neuroepithelium for Host Entry

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is a ubiquitous and important human pathogen. It is known to persist in trigeminal ganglia (TG), but how it reaches this site has been difficult to determine, as viral transmission is sporadic, pathogenesis is complicated, and early infection is largely asymptomatic. We used mice to compare the most likely natural HSV-1 host entry routes: oral and nasal. Intranasal infection was 100-fold more efficient than oral and targeted predominantly the olfactory neuroepithelium. Live imaging of HSV-1-expressed luciferase showed infection progressing from the nose to the TG and then reemerging in the facial skin. The brain remained largely luciferase negative throughout. Infected cell tagging by viral Cre recombinase expression in floxed reporter gene mice showed nasal virus routinely reaching the TG and only rarely reaching the olfactory bulbs. Thus, HSV-1 spread from the olfactory neuroepithelium to the TG and reemerged peripherally without causing significant neurological disease. This recapitulation of typical clinical infection suggests that HSV-1 might sometimes also enter humans via the respiratory tract.     

Structure of the Tetramerization Domain of Measles Virus Phosphoprotein

The atomic structure of the stable tetramerization domain of the measles virus phosphoprotein shows a tight four-stranded coiled coil. Although at first sight similar to the tetramerization domain of the Sendai virus phosphoprotein, which has a hydrophilic interface, the measles virus domain has kinked helices that have a strongly hydrophobic interface and it lacks the additional N-terminal three helical bundles linking the long helices.     

Metagenomic Analysis of Healthy and White Plague-Affected Mussismilia braziliensis Corals

Coral health is under threat throughout the world due to regional and global stressors. White plague disease (WP) is one of the most important threats affecting the major reef builder of the Abrolhos Bank in Brazil, the endemic coral Mussismilia braziliensis. We performed a metagenomic analysis of healthy and WP-affected M. braziliensis in order to determine the types of microbes associated with this coral species. We also optimized a protocol for DNA extraction from coral tissues. Our taxonomic analysis revealed Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria, and Actinomycetes as the main groups in all healthy and WP-affected corals. Vibrionales, members of the Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides complex, Rickettsiales, and Neisseriales were more abundant in the WP-affected corals. Diseased corals also had more eukaryotic metagenomic sequences identified as Alveolata and Apicomplexa. Our results suggest that WP disease in M. braziliensis is caused by a polymicrobial consortium.     

From molecules to dynamic biological communities

Microbial ecology is flourishing, and in the process, is making contributions to how the ecology and biology of large organisms is understood. Ongoing advances in sequencing technology and computational methods have enabled the collection and analysis of vast amounts of molecular data from diverse biological communities. While early studies focused on cataloguing microbial biodiversity in environments ranging from simple marine ecosystems to complex soil ecologies, more recent research is concerned with community functions and their dynamics over time. Models and concepts from traditional ecology have been used to generate new insight into microbial communities, and novel system-level models developed to explain and predict microbial interactions. The process of moving from molecular inventories to functional understanding is complex and challenging, and never more so than when many thousands of dynamic interactions are the phenomena of interest. We outline the process of how epistemic transitions are made from producing catalogues of molecules to achieving functional and predictive insight, and show how those insights not only revolutionize what is known about biological systems but also about how to do biology itself. Examples will be drawn primarily from analyses of different human microbiota, which are the microbial consortia found in and on areas of the human body, and their associated microbiomes (the genes of those communities). Molecular knowledge of these microbiomes is transforming microbiological knowledge, as well as broader aspects of human biology, health and disease.     

Unexpected hybridization reveals the utility of genetics in native plant restoration

Native plant materials (NPMs) are increasingly utilized during the restoration of disturbed plant communities. Here, we analyze next‐generation genetic sequencing data for Hilaria jamesii, a dominant graminoid across drylands of the southwestern United States, and document that the species' only commercially‐available NPM, “Viva,” is a hybrid between H. jamesii and its sister species, Hilaria mutica. In fact, hybrids between these species are common where they geographically overlap. Furthermore, we show that the “Viva” hybrid has successfully been moved beyond the hybrid zone and into the core range of H. jamesii. The potential ramifications of introducing novel genetic material into H. jamesii are discussed, as well as the utility of genetic analyses to protect species' natural patterns of genetic diversity and help managers make informed decisions regarding the development and deployment of NPMs.     

Occupancy patterns of an apex avian predator across a forest landscape

Apex predators are integral parts of every ecosystem, having top‐down roles in food web maintenance. Understanding the environmental and habitat characteristics associated with predator occurrence is paramount to conservation efforts. However, detecting top order predators can be difficult due to small population sizes and cryptic behaviour. The endangered Tasmanian masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae castanops) is a nocturnal predator with a distribution understood to be associated with high mature forest cover at broad scales. With the aim to gather monitoring data to inform future conservation effort, we trialled an occupancy survey design to model masked owl occurrence across ~800 km² in the Tasmanian Southern Forests. We conducted 662 visits to assess masked owl occupancy at 160 sites during July–September 2018. Masked owl site occupancy was 12%, and estimated detectability was 0.26 (±0.06 SE). Cumulative detection probability of masked owls over four visits was 0.7. Occupancy modelling suggested owls were more likely to be detected when mean prey count was higher. However, low detection rates hindered the development of confident occupancy predictions. To inform effective conservation of the endangered Tasmanian masked owl, there is a need to develop novel survey techniques that better account for the ecology of this rare, wide‐ranging and cryptic predator. We discuss the potential to combine novel census approaches that exploit different aspects of masked owl ecology to obtain more robust and detailed data.     

Impacts of Intensive Logging on the Trophic Organisation of Ant Communities in a Biodiversity Hotspot

Trophic organisation defines the flow of energy through ecosystems and is a key component of community structure. Widespread and intensifying anthropogenic disturbance threatens to disrupt trophic organisation by altering species composition and relative abundances and by driving shifts in the trophic ecology of species that persist in disturbed ecosystems. We examined how intensive disturbance caused by selective logging affects trophic organisation in the biodiversity hotspot of Sabah, Borneo. Using stable nitrogen isotopes, we quantified the positions in the food web of 159 leaf-litter ant species in unlogged and logged rainforest and tested four predictions: (i) there is a negative relationship between the trophic position of a species in unlogged forest and its change in abundance following logging, (ii) the trophic positions of species are altered by logging, (iii) disturbance alters the frequency distribution of trophic positions within the ant assemblage, and (iv) disturbance reduces food chain length. We found that ant abundance was 30% lower in logged forest than in unlogged forest but changes in abundance of individual species were not related to trophic position, providing no support for prediction (i). However, trophic positions of individual species were significantly higher in logged forest, supporting prediction (ii). Consequently, the frequency distribution of trophic positions differed significantly between unlogged and logged forest, supporting prediction (iii), and food chains were 0.2 trophic levels longer in logged forest, the opposite of prediction (iv). Our results demonstrate that disturbance can alter trophic organisation even without trophically-biased changes in community composition. Nonetheless, the absence of any reduction in food chain length in logged forest suggests that species-rich arthropod food webs do not experience trophic downgrading or a related collapse in trophic organisation despite the disturbance caused by logging. These food webs appear able to bend without breaking in the face of some forms of anthropogenic disturbance.