@article{MrochenSchulzFischeretal.2018, author = {Mrochen, Daniel M. and Schulz, Daniel and Fischer, Stefan and Jeske, Kathrin and El Gohary, Heba and Reil, Daniela and Imholt, Christian and Truebe, Patricia and Suchomel, Josef and Tricaud, Emilie and Jacob, Jens and Heroldova, Marta and Br{\"o}ker, Barbara M. and Strommenger, Birgit and Walther, Birgit and Ulrich, Rainer G. and Holtfreter, Silva}, title = {Wild rodents and shrews are natural hosts of Staphylococcus aureus}, series = {International Journal of Medical Microbiology}, volume = {308}, journal = {International Journal of Medical Microbiology}, number = {6}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Jena}, issn = {1438-4221}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijmm.2017.09.014}, pages = {590 -- 597}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Laboratory mice are the most commonly used animal model for Staphylococcus aureus infection studies. We have previously shown that laboratory mice from global vendors are frequently colonized with S. aureus. Laboratory mice originate from wild house mice. Hence, we investigated whether wild rodents, including house mice, as well as shrews are naturally colonized with S. aureus and whether S. aureus adapts to the wild animal host. 295 animals of ten different species were caught in different locations over four years (2012-2015) in Germany, France and the Czech Republic. 45 animals were positive for S. aureus (15.3\%). Three animals were co-colonized with two different isolates, resulting in 48 S. aureus isolates in total. Positive animals were found in Germany and the Czech Republic in each studied year. The S. aureus isolates belonged to ten different spa types, which grouped into six lineages (clonal complex (CC) 49, CC88, CC130, CC1956, sequence type (ST) 890, ST3033). CC49 isolates were most abundant (17/48, 35.4\%), followed by CC1956 (14/48, 29.2\%) and ST890 (9/48, 18.8\%). The wild animal isolates lacked certain properties that are common among human isolates, e.g., a phage-encoded immune evasion cluster, superantigen genes on mobile genetic elements and antibiotic resistance genes, which suggests long-term adaptation to the wild animal host. One CC130 isolate contained the mecC gene, implying wild rodents might be both reservoir and vector for methicillin-resistant. In conclusion, we demonstrated that wild rodents and shrews are naturally colonized with S. aureus, and that those S. aureus isolates show signs of host adaptation.}, language = {en} } @article{ReilImholtRosenfeldetal.2017, author = {Reil, Daniela and Imholt, Christian and Rosenfeld, Ulrike M. and Drewes, Stephan and Fischer, S. and Heuser, Emil and Petraityte-Burneikiene, Rasa and Ulrich, R. G. and Jacob, J.}, title = {Validation of the Puumala virus rapid field test for bank voles in Germany}, series = {Epidemiology and infection}, volume = {145}, journal = {Epidemiology and infection}, number = {3}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {New York}, issn = {0950-2688}, doi = {10.1017/S0950268816002557}, pages = {434 -- 439}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Puumala virus (PUUV) causes many human infections in large parts of Europe and can lead to mild to moderate disease. The bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is the only reservoir of PUUV in Central Europe. A commercial PUUV rapid field test for rodents was validated for bank-vole blood samples collected in two PUUV-endemic regions in Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wurttemberg). A comparison of the results of the rapid field test and standard ELISAs indicated a test efficacy of 93-95\%, largely independent of the origin of the antigens used in the ELISA. In ELISAs, reactivity for the German PUUV strain was higher compared to the Swedish strain but not compared to the Finnish strain, which was used for the rapid field test. In conclusion, the use of the rapid field test can facilitate short-term estimation of PUUV seroprevalence in bank-vole populations in Germany and can aid in assessing human PUUV infection risk.}, language = {en} } @article{SchallGossnerHeinrichsetal.2017, author = {Schall, Peter and Gossner, Martin M. and Heinrichs, Steffi and Fischer, Markus and Boch, Steffen and Prati, Daniel and Jung, Kirsten and Baumgartner, Vanessa and Blaser, Stefan and B{\"o}hm, Stefan and Buscot, Francois and Daniel, Rolf and Goldmann, Kezia and Kaiser, Kristin and Kahl, Tiemo and Lange, Markus and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg Hans and Overmann, J{\"o}rg and Renner, Swen C. and Schulze, Ernst-Detlef and Sikorski, Johannes and Tschapka, Marco and T{\"u}rke, Manfred and Weisser, Wolfgang W. and Wemheuer, Bernd and Wubet, Tesfaye and Ammer, Christian}, title = {The impact of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management on regional biodiversity of multiple taxa in European beech forests}, series = {Journal of applied ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society}, volume = {55}, journal = {Journal of applied ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society}, number = {1}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0021-8901}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2664.12950}, pages = {267 -- 278}, year = {2017}, abstract = {1. For managed temperate forests, conservationists and policymakers favour fine-grained uneven-aged (UEA) management over more traditional coarse-grained even-aged (EA) management, based on the assumption that within-stand habitat heterogeneity enhances biodiversity. There is, however, little empirical evidence to support this assumption. We investigated for the first time how differently grained forest management systems affect the biodiversity of multiple above- and below-ground taxa across spatial scales. 2. We sampled 15 taxa of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria within the largest contiguous beech forest landscape of Germany and classified them into functional groups. Selected forest stands have been managed for more than a century at different spatial grains. The EA (coarse-grained management) and UEA (fine-grained) forests are comparable in spatial arrangement, climate and soil conditions. These were compared to forests of a nearby national park that have been unmanaged for at least 20years. We used diversity accumulation curves to compare -diversity for Hill numbers D-0 (species richness), D-1 (Shannon diversity) and D-2 (Simpson diversity) between the management systems. Beta diversity was quantified as multiple-site dissimilarity. 3. Gamma diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for at least one of the three Hill numbers for six taxa (up to 77\%), while eight showed no difference. Only bacteria showed the opposite pattern. Higher -diversity in EA forests was also found for forest specialists and saproxylic beetles. 4. Between-stand -diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for one-third (all species) and half (forest specialists) of all taxa, driven by environmental heterogeneity between age-classes, while -diversity showed no directional response across taxa or for forest specialists. 5. Synthesis and applications. Comparing EA and uneven-aged forest management in Central European beech forests, our results show that a mosaic of different age-classes is more important for regional biodiversity than high within-stand heterogeneity. We suggest reconsidering the current trend of replacing even-aged management in temperate forests. Instead, the variability of stages and stand structures should be increased to promote landscape-scale biodiversity.}, language = {en} } @misc{HetenyiMolinariClintonetal.2018, author = {Hetenyi, Gyorgy and Molinari, Irene and Clinton, John and Bokelmann, Gotz and Bondar, Istvan and Crawford, Wayne C. and Dessa, Jean-Xavier and Doubre, Cecile and Friederich, Wolfgang and Fuchs, Florian and Giardini, Domenico and Graczer, Zoltan and Handy, Mark R. and Herak, Marijan and Jia, Yan and Kissling, Edi and Kopp, Heidrun and Korn, Michael and Margheriti, Lucia and Meier, Thomas and Mucciarelli, Marco and Paul, Anne and Pesaresi, Damiano and Piromallo, Claudia and Plenefisch, Thomas and Plomerova, Jaroslava and Ritter, Joachim and Rumpker, Georg and Sipka, Vesna and Spallarossa, Daniele and Thomas, Christine and Tilmann, Frederik and Wassermann, Joachim and Weber, Michael and Weber, Zoltan and Wesztergom, Viktor and Zivcic, Mladen and Abreu, Rafael and Allegretti, Ivo and Apoloner, Maria-Theresia and Aubert, Coralie and Besancon, Simon and de Berc, Maxime Bes and Brunel, Didier and Capello, Marco and Carman, Martina and Cavaliere, Adriano and Cheze, Jerome and Chiarabba, Claudio and Cougoulat, Glenn and Cristiano, Luigia and Czifra, Tibor and Danesi, Stefania and Daniel, Romuald and Dannowski, Anke and Dasovic, Iva and Deschamps, Anne and Egdorf, Sven and Fiket, Tomislav and Fischer, Kasper and Funke, Sigward and Govoni, Aladino and Groschl, Gidera and Heimers, Stefan and Heit, Ben and Herak, Davorka and Huber, Johann and Jaric, Dejan and Jedlicka, Petr and Jund, Helene and Klingen, Stefan and Klotz, Bernhard and Kolinsky, Petr and Kotek, Josef and Kuhne, Lothar and Kuk, Kreso and Lange, Dietrich and Loos, Jurgen and Lovati, Sara and Malengros, Deny and Maron, Christophe and Martin, Xavier and Massa, Marco and Mazzarini, Francesco and Metral, Laurent and Moretti, Milena and Munzarova, Helena and Nardi, Anna and Pahor, Jurij and Pequegnat, Catherine and Petersen, Florian and Piccinini, Davide and Pondrelli, Silvia and Prevolnik, Snjezan and Racine, Roman and Regnier, Marc and Reiss, Miriam and Salimbeni, Simone and Santulin, Marco and Scherer, Werner and Schippkus, Sven and Schulte-Kortnack, Detlef and Solarino, Stefano and Spieker, Kathrin and Stipcevic, Josip and Strollo, Angelo and Sule, Balint and Szanyi, Gyongyver and Szucs, Eszter and Thorwart, Martin and Ueding, Stefan and Vallocchia, Massimiliano and Vecsey, Ludek and Voigt, Rene and Weidle, Christian and Weyland, Gauthier and Wiemer, Stefan and Wolf, Felix and Wolyniec, David and Zieke, Thomas}, title = {The AlpArray seismic network}, series = {Surveys in Geophysics}, volume = {39}, journal = {Surveys in Geophysics}, number = {5}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Dordrecht}, organization = {ETHZ SED Elect Lab AlpArray Seismic Network Team AlpArray OBS Cruise Crew AlpArray Working Grp}, issn = {0169-3298}, doi = {10.1007/s10712-018-9472-4}, pages = {1009 -- 1033}, year = {2018}, abstract = {The AlpArray programme is a multinational, European consortium to advance our understanding of orogenesis and its relationship to mantle dynamics, plate reorganizations, surface processes and seismic hazard in the Alps-Apennines-Carpathians-Dinarides orogenic system. The AlpArray Seismic Network has been deployed with contributions from 36 institutions from 11 countries to map physical properties of the lithosphere and asthenosphere in 3D and thus to obtain new, high-resolution geophysical images of structures from the surface down to the base of the mantle transition zone. With over 600 broadband stations operated for 2 years, this seismic experiment is one of the largest simultaneously operated seismological networks in the academic domain, employing hexagonal coverage with station spacing at less than 52 km. This dense and regularly spaced experiment is made possible by the coordinated coeval deployment of temporary stations from numerous national pools, including ocean-bottom seismometers, which were funded by different national agencies. They combine with permanent networks, which also required the cooperation of many different operators. Together these stations ultimately fill coverage gaps. Following a short overview of previous large-scale seismological experiments in the Alpine region, we here present the goals, construction, deployment, characteristics and data management of the AlpArray Seismic Network, which will provide data that is expected to be unprecedented in quality to image the complex Alpine mountains at depth.}, language = {en} } @article{UhlmannKorupHuggeletal.2013, author = {Uhlmann, Manuela and Korup, Oliver and Huggel, Christian and Fischer, Luzia and Kargel, Jeffrey S.}, title = {Supra-glacial deposition and flux of catastrophic rock-slope failure debris, south-central Alaska}, series = {Earth surface processes and landforms : the journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group}, volume = {38}, journal = {Earth surface processes and landforms : the journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group}, number = {7}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0197-9337}, doi = {10.1002/esp.3311}, pages = {675 -- 682}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The ongoing debate over the effects of global environmental change on Earth's cryosphere calls for detailed knowledge about process rates and their variability in cold environments. In this context, appraisals of the coupling between glacier dynamics and para-glacial erosion rates in tectonically active mountains remain rare. We contribute to filling this knowledge gap and present an unprecedented regional-scale inventory of supra-glacial sediment flux and hillslope erosion rates inferred from an analysis of 123 large (> 0 center dot 1km2) catastrophic bedrock landslides that fell onto glaciers in the Chugach Mountains, Alaska, as documented by satellite images obtained between 1972 to 2008. Assuming these supra-glacial landslide deposits to be passive strain markers we infer minimum decadal-scale sediment yields of 190 to 7400tkm-2yr-1 for a given glacier-surface cross-section impacted by episodic rock-slope failure. These rates compare to reported fluvial sediment yields in many mountain rivers, but are an order of magnitude below the extreme sediment yields measured at the snouts of Alaskan glaciers, indicating that the bulk of debris discharged derives from en-glacial, sub-glacial or ice-proximal sources. We estimate an average minimum para-glacial erosion rate by large, episodic rock-slope failures at 0 center dot 5-0 center dot 7mmyr-1 in the Chugach Mountains over a 50-yr period, with earthquakes likely being responsible for up to 73\% of this rate. Though ranking amongst the highest decadal landslide erosion rates for this size of study area worldwide, our inferred rates of hillslope erosion in the Chugach Mountains remain an order of magnitude below the pace of extremely rapid glacial sediment export and glacio-isostatic surface uplift previously reported from the region.}, language = {en} } @article{PenoneAllanSoliveresetal.2019, author = {Penone, Caterina and Allan, Eric and Soliveres, Santiago and Felipe-Lucia, Maria R. and Gossner, Martin M. and Seibold, Sebastian and Simons, Nadja K. and Schall, Peter and van der Plas, Fons and Manning, Peter and Manzanedo, Ruben D. and Boch, Steffen and Prati, Daniel and Ammer, Christian and Bauhus, Juergen and Buscot, Francois and Ehbrecht, Martin and Goldmann, Kezia and Jung, Kirsten and Mueller, Joerg and Mueller, Joerg C. and Pena, Rodica and Polle, Andrea and Renner, Swen C. and Ruess, Liliane and Schoenig, Ingo and Schrumpf, Marion and Solly, Emily F. and Tschapka, Marco and Weisser, Wolfgang W. and Wubet, Tesfaye and Fischer, Markus}, title = {Specialisation and diversity of multiple trophic groups are promoted by different forest features}, series = {Ecology letters}, volume = {22}, journal = {Ecology letters}, number = {1}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1461-023X}, doi = {10.1111/ele.13182}, pages = {170 -- 180}, year = {2019}, abstract = {While forest management strongly influences biodiversity, it remains unclear how the structural and compositional changes caused by management affect different community dimensions (e.g. richness, specialisation, abundance or completeness) and how this differs between taxa. We assessed the effects of nine forest features (representing stand structure, heterogeneity and tree composition) on thirteen above- and belowground trophic groups of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria in 150 temperate forest plots differing in their management type. Canopy cover decreased light resources, which increased community specialisation but reduced overall diversity and abundance. Features increasing resource types and diversifying microhabitats (admixing of oaks and conifers) were important and mostly affected richness. Belowground groups responded differently to those aboveground and had weaker responses to most forest features. Our results show that we need to consider forest features rather than broad management types and highlight the importance of considering several groups and community dimensions to better inform conservation.}, language = {en} } @article{FloeelWernerGrittneretal.2014, author = {Fl{\"o}el, Agnes and Werner, Cordula and Grittner, Ulrike and Hesse, Stefan and J{\"o}bges, Michael and Knauss, Janet and Seifert, Michael and Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth and Goevercin, Mehmet and Dohle, Christian and Fischer, Wolfgang and Schlieder, Regina and Nave, Alexander Heinrich and Meisel, Andreas and Ebinger, Martin and Wellwood, Ian}, title = {Physical fitness training in Subacute Stroke (PHYS-STROKE) - study protocol for a randomised controlled trial}, series = {Trials}, volume = {15}, journal = {Trials}, publisher = {BioMed Central}, address = {London}, issn = {1745-6215}, doi = {10.1186/1745-6215-15-45}, pages = {12}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Background: Given the rising number of strokes worldwide, and the large number of individuals left with disabilities after stroke, novel strategies to reduce disability, increase functions in the motor and the cognitive domains, and improve quality of life are of major importance. Physical activity is a promising intervention to address these challenges but, as yet, there is no study demonstrating definite outcomes. Our objective is to assess whether additional treatment in the form of physical fitness-based training for patients early after stroke will provide benefits in terms of functional outcomes, in particular gait speed and the Barthel Index (co-primary outcome measures) reflecting activities of daily living (ADL). We will gather secondary functional outcomes as well as mechanistic parameters in an exploratory approach. Methods/Design: Our phase III randomised controlled trial will recruit 215 adults with moderate to severe limitations of walking and ADL 5 to 45 days after stroke onset. Participants will be stratified for the prognostic variables of "centre", "age", and "stroke severity", and randomly assigned to one of two groups. The interventional group receives physical fitness training delivered as supported or unsupported treadmill training (cardiovascular active aerobic training; five times per week, over 4 weeks; each session 50 minutes; total of 20 additional physical fitness training sessions) in addition to standard rehabilitation treatment. The control intervention consists of relaxation sessions (non-cardiovascular active; five times per week week, over 4 weeks; each session 50 minutes) in addition to standard rehabilitation treatment. Co-primary efficacy endpoints will be gait speed (in m/s, 10 m walk) and the Barthel Index (100 points total) at 3 months post-stroke, compared to baseline measurements. Secondary outcomes include standard measures of quality of life, sleep and mood, cognition, arm function, maximal oxygen uptake, and cardiovascular risk factors including blood pressure, pulse, waist-to-hip ratio, markers of inflammation, immunity and the insulin-glucose pathway, lipid profile, and others. Discussion: The goal of this endpoint-blinded, phase III randomised controlled trial is to provide evidence to guide post-stroke physical fitness-based rehabilitation programmes, and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this intervention.}, language = {en} } @article{HolzmeierWolfGiengeretal.2018, author = {Holzmeier, Fabian and Wolf, Thomas J. A. and Gienger, Christian and Wagner, Isabella and Bozek, J. and Nandi, S. and Nicolas, C. and Fischer, Ingo and G{\"u}hr, Markus and Fink, Reinhold F.}, title = {Normal and resonant Auger spectroscopy of isocyanic acid, HNCO}, series = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, volume = {149}, journal = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, number = {3}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville}, issn = {0021-9606}, doi = {10.1063/1.5030621}, pages = {13}, year = {2018}, abstract = {In this paper, we investigate HNCO by resonant and nonresonant Auger electron spectroscopy at the K-edges of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, employing soft X-ray synchrotron radiation. In comparison with the isosteric but linear CO2 molecule, spectra of the bent HNCO molecule are similar but more complex due to its reduced symmetry, wherein the degeneracy of the π-orbitals is lifted. Resonant Auger electron spectra are presented at different photon energies over the first core-excited 1s → 10a′ resonance. All Auger electron spectra are assigned based on ab initio configuration interaction computations combined with the one-center approximation for Auger intensities and moment theory to consider vibrational motion. The calculated spectra were scaled by a newly introduced energy scaling factor, and generally, good agreement is found between experiment and theory for normal as well as resonant Auger electron spectra. A comparison of resonant Auger spectra with nonresonant Auger structures shows a slight broadening as well as a shift of the former spectra between -8 and -9 eV due to the spectating electron. Since HNCO is a small molecule and contains the four most abundant atoms of organic molecules, the reported Auger electron decay spectra will provide a benchmark for further theoretical approaches in the computation of core electron spectra.}, language = {en} } @article{TuckerBoehningGaeseFaganetal.2018, author = {Tucker, Marlee A. and Boehning-Gaese, Katrin and Fagan, William F. and Fryxell, John M. and Van Moorter, Bram and Alberts, Susan C. and Ali, Abdullahi H. and Allen, Andrew M. and Attias, Nina and Avgar, Tal and Bartlam-Brooks, Hattie and Bayarbaatar, Buuveibaatar and Belant, Jerrold L. and Bertassoni, Alessandra and Beyer, Dean and Bidner, Laura and van Beest, Floris M. and Blake, Stephen and Blaum, Niels and Bracis, Chloe and Brown, Danielle and de Bruyn, P. J. Nico and Cagnacci, Francesca and Calabrese, Justin M. and Camilo-Alves, Constanca and Chamaille-Jammes, Simon and Chiaradia, Andre and Davidson, Sarah C. and Dennis, Todd and DeStefano, Stephen and Diefenbach, Duane and Douglas-Hamilton, Iain and Fennessy, Julian and Fichtel, Claudia and Fiedler, Wolfgang and Fischer, Christina and Fischhoff, Ilya and Fleming, Christen H. and Ford, Adam T. and Fritz, Susanne A. and Gehr, Benedikt and Goheen, Jacob R. and Gurarie, Eliezer and Hebblewhite, Mark and Heurich, Marco and Hewison, A. J. Mark and Hof, Christian and Hurme, Edward and Isbell, Lynne A. and Janssen, Rene and Jeltsch, Florian and Kaczensky, Petra and Kane, Adam and Kappeler, Peter M. and Kauffman, Matthew and Kays, Roland and Kimuyu, Duncan and Koch, Flavia and Kranstauber, Bart and LaPoint, Scott and Leimgruber, Peter and Linnell, John D. C. and Lopez-Lopez, Pascual and Markham, A. Catherine and Mattisson, Jenny and Medici, Emilia Patricia and Mellone, Ugo and Merrill, Evelyn and Mourao, Guilherme de Miranda and Morato, Ronaldo G. and Morellet, Nicolas and Morrison, Thomas A. and Diaz-Munoz, Samuel L. and Mysterud, Atle and Nandintsetseg, Dejid and Nathan, Ran and Niamir, Aidin and Odden, John and Oliveira-Santos, Luiz Gustavo R. and Olson, Kirk A. and Patterson, Bruce D. and de Paula, Rogerio Cunha and Pedrotti, Luca and Reineking, Bjorn and Rimmler, Martin and Rogers, Tracey L. and Rolandsen, Christer Moe and Rosenberry, Christopher S. and Rubenstein, Daniel I. and Safi, Kamran and Said, Sonia and Sapir, Nir and Sawyer, Hall and Schmidt, Niels Martin and Selva, Nuria and Sergiel, Agnieszka and Shiilegdamba, Enkhtuvshin and Silva, Joao Paulo and Singh, Navinder and Solberg, Erling J. and Spiegel, Orr and Strand, Olav and Sundaresan, Siva and Ullmann, Wiebke and Voigt, Ulrich and Wall, Jake and Wattles, David and Wikelski, Martin and Wilmers, Christopher C. and Wilson, John W. and Wittemyer, George and Zieba, Filip and Zwijacz-Kozica, Tomasz and Mueller, Thomas}, title = {Moving in the Anthropocene}, series = {Science}, volume = {359}, journal = {Science}, number = {6374}, publisher = {American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0036-8075}, doi = {10.1126/science.aam9712}, pages = {466 -- 469}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Animal movement is fundamental for ecosystem functioning and species survival, yet the effects of the anthropogenic footprint on animal movements have not been estimated across species. Using a unique GPS-tracking database of 803 individuals across 57 species, we found that movements of mammals in areas with a comparatively high human footprint were on average one-half to one-third the extent of their movements in areas with a low human footprint. We attribute this reduction to behavioral changes of individual animals and to the exclusion of species with long-range movements from areas with higher human impact. Global loss of vagility alters a key ecological trait of animals that affects not only population persistence but also ecosystem processes such as predator-prey interactions, nutrient cycling, and disease transmission.}, language = {en} } @article{FischerMayerSchollImholtetal.2018, author = {Fischer, Stefan and Mayer-Scholl, Anne and Imholt, Christian and Spierling, Nastasja G. and Heuser, Elisa and Schmidt, Sabrina and Reil, Daniela and Rosenfeld, Ulrike M. and Jacob, Jens and N{\"o}ckler, Karsten and Ulrich, Rainer G.}, title = {Leptospira genomospecies and sequence type prevalence in small mammal populations in Germany}, series = {Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases}, volume = {18}, journal = {Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases}, number = {4}, publisher = {Liebert}, address = {New Rochelle}, issn = {1530-3667}, doi = {10.1089/vbz.2017.2140}, pages = {188 -- 199}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Leptospirosis is a worldwide emerging infectious disease caused by zoonotic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. Numerous mammals, including domestic and companion animals, can be infected by Leptospira spp., but rodents and other small mammals are considered the main reservoir. The annual number of recorded human leptospirosis cases in Germany (2001-2016) was 25-166. Field fever outbreaks in strawberry pickers, due to infection with Leptospira kirschneri serovar Grippotyphosa, were reported in 2007 and 2014. To identify the most commonly occurring Leptospira genomospecies, sequence types (STs), and their small mammal host specificity, a monitoring study was performed during 2010-2014 in four federal states of Germany. Initial screening of kidney tissues of 3,950 animals by PCR targeting the lipl32 gene revealed 435 rodents of 6 species and 89 shrews of three species positive for leptospiral DNA. PCR-based analyses resulted in the identification of the genomospecies L. kirschneri (62.7\%), Leptospira interrogans (28.3\%), and Leptospira borgpetersenii (9.0\%), which are represented by four, one, and two STs, respectively. The average Leptospira prevalence was highest (approximate to 30\%) in common voles (Microtus arvalis) and field voles (Microtus agrestis). Both species were exclusively infected with L. kirschneri. In contrast, in bank voles (Myodes glareolus) and yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), DNA of all three genomospecies was detected, and in common shrews (Sorex araneus) DNA of L. kirschneri and L. borgpetersenii was identified. The association between individual infection status and demographic factors varied between species; infection status was always positively correlated to body weight. In conclusion, the study confirmed a broad geographical distribution of Leptospira in small mammals and suggested an important public health relevance of common and field voles as reservoirs of L. kirschneri. Furthermore, the investigations identified seasonal, habitat-related, as well as individual influences on Leptospira prevalence in small mammals that might impact public health.}, language = {en} }