Spatial patterns in phage-Rhizobium coevolutionary interactions across regions of common bean domestication

Bacteriophages play significant roles in the composition, diversity, and evolution of bacterial communities. Despite their importance, it remains unclear how phage diversity and phage-host interactions are spatially structured. Local adaptation may play a key role. Nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacteria, known as rhizobia, have been shown to locally adapt to domesticated common bean at its Mesoamerican and Andean sites of origin. This may affect phage-rhizobium interactions. However, knowledge about the diversity and coevolution of phages with their respective Rhizobium populations is lacking. Here, through the study of four phage-Rhizobium communities in Mexico and Argentina, we show that both phage and host diversity is spatially structured. Cross-infection experiments demonstrated that phage infection rates were higher overall in sympatric rhizobia than in allopatric rhizobia except for one Argentinean community, indicating phage local adaptation and host maladaptation. Phage-host interactions were shaped by the genetic identity and geographic origin of both the phage and the host. The phages ranged from specialists to generalists, revealing a nested network of interactions. Our results suggest a key role of local adaptation to resident host bacterial communities in shaping the phage genetic and phenotypic composition, following a similar spatial pattern of diversity and coevolution to that in the host.Subject terms: Microbial ecology, Bacteriophages, Microbial ecology, Biogeography, Microbial communities     

Ultrastructure and molecular phylogeny of Calkinsia aureus: cellular identity of a novel clade of deep-sea euglenozoans with epibiotic bacteria

Background  

The Euglenozoa is a large group of eukaryotic flagellates with diverse modes of nutrition. The group consists of three main subclades - euglenids, kinetoplastids and diplonemids - that have been confirmed with both molecular phylogenetic analyses and a combination of shared ultrastructural characteristics. Several poorly understood lineages of putative euglenozoans live in anoxic environments, such as Calkinsia aureus, and have yet to be characterized at the molecular and ultrastructural levels. Improved understanding of these lineages is expected to shed considerable light onto the ultrastructure of prokaryote-eukaryote symbioses and the associated cellular innovations found within the Euglenozoa and beyond.     

Substance P binding sites in the nucleus tractus solitarius of the cat

Substance P binding sites in the nucleus tractus solitarius were visualized with receptor autoradiography using Bolton-Hunter [¹²⁵I]substance P. Substance P binding sites were found to have distinct patterns within the cat nucleus tractus solitarius. The majority of substance P binding sites were present in the medial, intermediate and the peripheral rim of the parvocellular subdivisions. Lower amounts of substance P binding sites were present in the commissural, ventrolateral, interstitial and dorsolateral subdivisions. No substance P binding sites were present in the central region of the parvocellular subdivision or the solitary tract. The localization of substance P binding sites in the nucleus tractus solitarius is very similar to the patterns of substance P immunoreactive fibers previously described for this region. Results of this study add further support for a functional role of substance P in synaptic circuits of the nucleus tractus solitarius.     

Functional Activity of Blood Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes as an Oxidative Stress Biomarker in Human Subjects

In the present work, we studied the role of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) in aged individuals and coronary heart disease (CHD)-bearing patients, two physiopathological processes associated with overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The effects of antioxidant supplementation on the functional activity of PMN from CHD patients were also determined. The function of PMNs was evaluated by measuring of phagocytosis, killing activity, and ROS production. Luminol amplified chemiluminescence (CL) was used to estimate ROS production by stimulated PMNs. Total cholesterol and the LDL-cholesterol fraction from CHD patients were found to be higher than those recommended, returning to normal levels after antioxidant therapy. PMN CL of CHD patients was found to be higher than the associated control groups. Antioxidant therapy administrated to CHD patients lead to an increase in the killing activity accompanied by a decrease in PMN CL of these subjects. The study also showed that killing activity of PMN from human subjects over 60 years was significantly lower than the activity measured in younger subjects. PMN CL produced after stimulation was found to be positively correlated with the increasing age of human subjects (r = .946, p < .01).     

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection and hospitalization in high-risk patients in the year following detection

Background

Many studies have evaluated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections during single hospitalizations and subsequent readmissions to the same institution. None have assessed the comprehensive burden of MRSA infection in the period after hospital discharge while accounting for healthcare utilization across institutions.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients insured by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care who were newly-detected to harbor MRSA between January 1991 and December 2003 at a tertiary care medical center. We evaluated all MRSA-attributable infections associated with hospitalization in the year following new detection, regardless of hospital location. Data were collected on comorbidities, healthcare utilization, mortality and MRSA outcomes. Of 591 newly-detected MRSA carriers, 23% were colonized and 77% were infected upon detection. In the year following detection, 196 (33%) patients developed 317 discrete and unrelated MRSA infections. The most common infections were pneumonia (34%), soft tissue (27%), and primary bloodstream (18%) infections. Infections occurred a median of 56 days post-detection. Of all infections, 26% involved bacteremia, and 17% caused MRSA-attributable death. During the admission where MRSA was newly-detected, 14% (82/576) developed subsequent infection. Of those surviving to discharge, 24% (114/482) developed post-discharge infections in the year following detection. Half (99/185, 54%) of post-discharge infections caused readmission, and most (104/185, 55%) occurred over 90 days post-discharge.

Conclusions/Significance

In high-risk tertiary care patients, newly-detected MRSA carriage confers large risks of infection and substantial attributable mortality in the year following acquisition. Most infections occur post-discharge, and 18% of infections associated with readmission occurred in hospitals other than the one where MRSA was newly-detected. Despite gains in reducing MRSA infections during hospitalization, the risk of MRSA infection among critically and chronically ill carriers persists after discharge and warrants targeted prevention strategies.     

Important marine habitat off east Antarctica revealed by two decades of multi‐species predator tracking

Satellite telemetry data are a key source of animal distribution information for marine ecosystem management and conservation activities. We used two decades of telemetry data from the East Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean. Habitat utilization models for the spring/summer period were developed for six highly abundant, wide‐ranging meso‐ and top‐predator species: Adélie Pygoscelis adeliae and emperor Aptenodytes forsteri penguins, light‐mantled albatross Phoebetria palpebrata, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella, southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina, and Weddell seals Leptonychotes weddellii. The regional predictions from these models were combined to identify areas utilized by multiple species, and therefore likely to be of particular ecological significance. These areas were distributed across the longitudinal breadth of the East Antarctic sector, and were characterized by proximity to breeding colonies, both on the Antarctic continent and on subantarctic islands to the north, and by sea‐ice dynamics, particularly locations of winter polynyas. These areas of important habitat were also congruent with many of the areas reported to be showing the strongest regional trends in sea ice seasonality. The results emphasize the importance of on‐shore and sea‐ice processes to Antarctic marine ecosystems. Our study provides ocean‐basin‐scale predictions of predator habitat utilization, an assessment of contemporary habitat use against which future changes can be assessed, and is of direct relevance to current conservation planning and spatial management efforts.     

Summer irrigation,grazing and seed addition differentially influence community composition in an invaded serpentine grassland

Community assembly theory predicts that resource availability, biotic interactions, and dispersal dynamics will determine community composition. Recent work has demonstrated that manipulating these processes or “filters” to exclude exotic species may assist in restoring invaded plant communities. In this study, we began by manipulating an abiotic filter, summer water availability, on the theory that irrigation prior to the growing season could trigger the germination of exotic species during unfavorable environmental conditions. First, we performed a greenhouse experiment to assess the germination traits of 23 native and exotic species at low (16°C, spring) and high (30°C, summer) temperatures. At summer temperatures, we found high emergence of many exotic and native grasses and low emergence of native forbs suggesting that summer irrigation may help deplete the exotic seed bank. In a second experiment, we established field plots to test the efficacy of summer irrigation and simultaneously manipulated a biotic and a dispersal filter, subjecting some plots to grazing and/or native seed addition. Summer irrigation and seed addition had no effect on percent cover or species richness while grazing reduced native cover but increased native species richness and soil nitrogen content. Our data suggest that manipulating grazing (a biotic filter) may be more effective than altering abiotic or dispersal filters when restoring invaded serpentine grassland. However, summer irrigation may also be effective, if applied at lower temperatures or for longer periods.     

Engineering stress tolerance in transgenic plants

Research in our laboratory has focused on the analysis of the functions of a variety of enzymes that are involved in the scavenging of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) such as superoxide radicals (·O ₂ ⁻ ) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Recent work has been on transgenic plants that over-express glutathione S-transferases (GST) that also have glutathione peroxidase activity. Transgenic tobacco plants that contain gene constructs that encode two different tobacco GST’s had elevated levels of both GST and GPX activity. Analysis of mature vegetative transgenic tobacco plants that over-express GST/GPX failed to show any increase in paraquat tolerance or protection from photooxidative stress. However, seeds of these GST/GPX-expressing tobacco lines are capable of more rapid germination and seedling growth at low temperatures and at elevated salt concentrations. Reduced levels of lipid peroxidation were noted in GST/GPX-expressing seedling compared to control seedlings under both stressful and non-stressful conditions. In addition, GST/GPX-expressing seedlings significantly accumulated more oxidized glutathione (GSSG) than control seedlings during stress. These characteristics clearly indicate that over-expression of GST/GPX in transgenic seedlings can have substantial effects on their stress tolerance. Furthermore, it appears that this effect is due primarily to the elevated levels of GPX activity.