TY - JOUR
A1 - Schlägel, Ulrike E.
A1 - Mädlow, Wolfgang
T1 - All-season space use by non-native resident Mandarin Ducks (Aix galericulata) in northeastern Germany
JF - Journal of ornithology / publ. by Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft
N2 - Patterns of space use are often subject to large temporal and individual-level variation, due to seasonality in behaviour and environmental conditions as well as age- or sex-specific needs. Especially in temperate regions, seasonality likely influences space use even in non-migratory birds. In waterfowl of the family Anatidae, however, few studies have analyzed space use of the same individuals across the full annual cycle. We used a resident population of Mandarin Ducks (Aix galericulata) in northeast Germany to study their year-round space use in relation to season, sex, and age. We marked 172 birds with colour rings and surveyed relevant water bodies for re-encounters for several years. As space-use patterns we derived home ranges from minimum convex polygons and the number of water bodies used by individual birds. Our analysis revealed that individuals shifted their space use between seasons, in particular extending their home ranges during the non-breeding season. Between years, in contrast, birds tended to show season-specific site fidelity. Sex differences were apparent during both breeding and non-breeding season, males consistently having larger home ranges and using slightly more water bodies. No difference was found between first-year and adult birds. Our study demonstrates that mark-resighting can provide valuable information about space use in species with suitable behaviour and readily accessible habitat. In such cases, it may be a valid alternative to more expensive GPS-tracking or short-term manual radio telemetry, particularly within citizen-science projects.
N2 - Raumnutzungsmuster von Vögeln zeigen häufig große zeitliche und individuelle Variationen in Abhängigkeit vom saisonalen Verhalten und von Umweltbedingungen, aber auch alters- und geschlechtsspezifischen Ansprüchen. In gemäßigten Klimazonen können jahreszeitliche Einflussfaktoren die Raumnutzung auch von nicht ziehenden Arten bestimmen. Für Entenvögel (Anatidae) liegen bisher jedoch nur wenige Studien vor, die die Raumnutzung von Individuen über den gesamten Jahresverlauf hinweg betrachten. Wir untersuchten die ganzjährige Raumnutzung einer Standvogel-Population der Mandarinente (Aix galericulata) in Abhängigkeit von Jahreszeit, Geschlecht und Alter der Vögel. Wir markierten 172 Vögel mit Farbringen und kontrollierten mehrere Jahre lang die relevanten Gewässer, um Ringablesungen zu erzielen. Zur Analyse der Raumnutzung ermittelten wir Minimum-Convex-Polygone und die Anzahl der von den einzelnen Individuen genutzten Gewässer. Unsere Auswertung zeigte, dass die von den Vögeln genutzten Aktionsräume sich mit den Jahreszeiten veränderten. Insbesondere vergrößerte sich das besuchte Gebiet außerhalb der Brutzeit. Beim Vergleich mehrerer Jahre tendierten die Vögel zu einer saisonspezifischen Gebietstreue. Geschlechterunterschiede zeigten sich sowohl innerhalb als auch außerhalb der Brutzeit, wobei die Männchen stets größere Gebiete und eine größere Zahl an Gewässern nutzten. Zwischen Vögeln im ersten Lebensjahr und Adulten wurden keine Unterschiede gefunden. Unsere Untersuchung zeigt, dass Farbberingungsprogramme wertvolle Informationen zur Raumnutzung bei Arten liefern können, deren Verhalten dafür geeignet ist und die in gut zugänglichen Lebensräumen vorkommen. In diesen Fällen kann die Farbberingung eine geeignete Alternative zur teureren GPS- oder manuellen Telemetrie sein, vor allem wenn die vereinte Kraft von Amateurornithologen in die Untersuchungen einbezogen werden kann.
KW - Anatidae
KW - Aix galericulata
KW - Home range
KW - Site fidelity
KW - Movement
KW - Seasonality
Y1 - 2021
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-021-01932-7
SN - 2193-7192
SN - 2193-7206
VL - 163
IS - 1
SP - 71
EP - 82
PB - Springer
CY - Berlin
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Nakamura, Yasunori
A1 - Steup, Martin
A1 - Colleoni, Christophe
A1 - Iglesias, Alberto A.
A1 - Bao, Jinsong
A1 - Fujita, Naoko
A1 - Tetlow, Ian
T1 - Molecular regulation of starch metabolism
JF - Plant molecular biology : an international journal of fundamental research and genetic engineering
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-022-01253-0
SN - 0167-4412
SN - 1573-5028
VL - 108
IS - 4-5
SP - 289
EP - 290
PB - Springer
CY - Dordrecht
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Kath, Nadja Jeanette
A1 - Gaedke, Ursula
A1 - van Velzen, Ellen
T1 - The double-edged sword of inducible defences: costs and benefits of maladaptive switching from the individual to the community level
JF - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe
N2 - Phenotypic plasticity can increase individual fitness when environmental conditions change over time. Inducible defences are a striking example, allowing species to react to fluctuating predation pressure by only expressing their costly defended phenotype under high predation risk. Previous theoretical investigations have focused on how this affects predator–prey dynamics, but the impact on competitive outcomes and broader community dynamics has received less attention. Here we use a small food web model, consisting of two competing plastic autotrophic species exploited by a shared consumer, to study how the speed of inducible defences across three trade-off constellations affects autotroph coexistence, biomasses across trophic levels, and temporal variability. Contrary to the intuitive idea that faster adaptation increases autotroph fitness, we found that higher switching rates reduced individual fitness as it consistently provoked more maladaptive switching towards undefended phenotypes under high predation pressure. This had an unexpected positive impact on the consumer, increasing consumer biomass and lowering total autotroph biomass. Additionally, maladaptive switching strongly reduced autotroph coexistence through an emerging source-sink dynamic between defended and undefended phenotypes. The striking impact of maladaptive switching on species and food web dynamics indicates that this mechanism may be of more critical importance than previously recognized.
T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1288
Y1 - 2022
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-572006
SN - 1866-8372
IS - 1288
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Agne, Stefanie
A1 - Preick, Michaela
A1 - Straube, Nicolas
A1 - Hofreiter, Michael
T1 - Simultaneous Barcode Sequencing of Diverse Museum Collection Specimens Using a Mixed RNA Bait Set
JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
N2 - A growing number of publications presenting results from sequencing natural history collection specimens reflect the importance of DNA sequence information from such samples. Ancient DNA extraction and library preparation methods in combination with target gene capture are a way of unlocking archival DNA, including from formalin-fixed wet-collection material. Here we report on an experiment, in which we used an RNA bait set containing baits from a wide taxonomic range of species for DNA hybridisation capture of nuclear and mitochondrial targets for analysing natural history collection specimens. The bait set used consists of 2,492 mitochondrial and 530 nuclear RNA baits and comprises specific barcode loci of diverse animal groups including both invertebrates and vertebrates. The baits allowed to capture DNA sequence information of target barcode loci from 84% of the 37 samples tested, with nuclear markers being captured more frequently and consensus sequences of these being more complete compared to mitochondrial markers. Samples from dry material had a higher rate of success than wet-collection specimens, although target sequence information could be captured from 50% of formalin-fixed samples. Our study illustrates how efforts to obtain barcode sequence information from natural history collection specimens may be combined and are a way of implementing barcoding inventories of scientific collection material.
KW - target capture
KW - type specimens
KW - molecular species identification
KW - museum specimens
KW - cross-species capture
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.909846
SN - 2296-701X
VL - 10
PB - Frontiers Media S.A.
CY - Lausanne, Schweiz
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Apriyanto, Ardha
A1 - Ajambang, Walter
T1 - Transcriptomic dataset for early inflorescence stages of oil palm in response to defoliation stress
JF - Data in Brief
N2 - Oil palm breeding and seed development have been hindered due to the male parent's incapacity to produce male inflorescence as a source of pollen under normal conditions. On the other hand, a young oil palm plantation has a low pollination rate due to a lack of male flowers. These are the common problem of sex ratio in the oil palm industry. Nevertheless, the regulation of sex ratio in oil palm plants is a complex mechanism and remains an open question until now. Researchers have previously used complete defoliation to induce male inflorescences, but the biological and molecular mechanisms underlying this morphological change have yet to be discovered. Here, we present an RNA-seq dataset from three early stages of an oil palm inflorescence under normal conditions and complete defoliation stress. This transcriptomic dataset is a valuable resource to improve our understanding of sex determination mechanisms in oil palm inflorescence.
KW - Complete defoliation
KW - Flower development
KW - Leaf axil
KW - NGS
KW - RNA-seq
KW - Sex
KW - determination
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2022.107914
SN - 2352-3409
VL - 41
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Parry, Victor
A1 - Schlägel, Ulrike E.
A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1 - Weithoff, Guntram
T1 - Behavioural Responses of Defended and Undefended Prey to Their Predator
BT - A Case Study of Rotifera
JF - Biology
N2 - Predation is a strong species interaction causing severe harm or death to prey. Thus, prey species have evolved various defence strategies to minimize predation risk, which may be immediate (e.g., a change in behaviour) or transgenerational (morphological defence structures). We studied the behaviour of two strains of a rotiferan prey (Brachionus calyciflorus) that differ in their ability to develop morphological defences in response to their predator Asplanchna brightwellii. Using video analysis, we tested: (a) if two strains differ in their response to predator presence and predator cues when both are undefended; (b) whether defended individuals respond to live predators or their cues; and (c) if the morphological defence (large spines) per se has an effect on the swimming behaviour. We found a clear increase in swimming speed for both undefended strains in predator presence. However, the defended specimens responded neither to the predator presence nor to their cues, showing that they behave indifferently to their predator when they are defended. We did not detect an effect of the spines on the swimming behaviour. Our study demonstrates a complex plastic behaviour of the prey, not only in the presence of their predator, but also with respect to their defence status.
KW - animal behaviour
KW - transgenerational response
KW - Brachionus calyciflorus
KW - Asplanchna brightwellii
KW - video analysis
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11081217
SN - 2079-7737
VL - 11
IS - 8
PB - MDPI
CY - Basel, Schweiz
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wicaksono, Wisnu Adi
A1 - Braun, Maria
A1 - Bernhardt, Jörg
A1 - Riedel, Katharina
A1 - Cernava, Tomislav
A1 - Berg, Gabriele
T1 - Trade-off for survival
BT - microbiome response to chemical exposure combines activation of intrinsic resistances and adapted metabolic activity
JF - Environment international : a journal of science, technology, health, monitoring and policy
N2 - The environmental micmbiota is increasingly exposed to chemical pollution. While the emergence of multi-resistant pathogens is recognized as a global challenge, our understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) development from native microbiomes and the risks associated with chemical exposure is limited. By implementing a lichen as a bioindicator organism and model for a native microbiome, we systematically examined responses towards antimicrobials (colistin, tetracycline, glyphosate, and alkylpyrazine). Despite an unexpectedly high resilience, we identified potential evolutionary consequences of chemical exposure in terms of composition and functioning of native bacterial communities. Major shifts in bacterial composition were observed due to replacement of naturally abundant taxa; e.g. Chthoniobacterales by Pseudomonadales. A general response, which comprised activation of intrinsic resistance and parallel reduction of metabolic activity at RNA and protein levels was deciphered by a multi-omics approach. Targeted analyses of key taxa based on metagenome-assembled genomes reflected these responses but also revealed diversified strategies of their players. Chemical-specific responses were also observed, e.g., glyphosate enriched bacterial r-strategists and activated distinct ARGs. Our work demonstrates that the high resilience of the native micmbiota toward antimicrobial exposure is not only explained by the presence of antibiotic resistance genes but also adapted metabolic activity as a trade-off for survival. Moreover, our results highlight the importance of native microbiomes as important but so far neglected AMR reservoirs. We expect that this phenomenon is representative for a wide range of environmental microbiota exposed to chemicals that potentially contribute to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from natural environments.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107474
SN - 1873-6750
VL - 168
PB - Elsevier Science
CY - Amsterdam [u.a.]
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Pawlak, Julia
A1 - Noetzel, Dominique Christian
A1 - Drago, Claudia
A1 - Weithoff, Guntram
T1 - Assessing the toxicity of polystyrene beads and silica particles on the microconsumer Brachionus calyciflorus at different timescales
JF - Frontiers in Environmental Science
N2 - Environmental pollution by microplastics has become a severe problem in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and, according to actual prognoses, problems will further increase in the future. Therefore, assessing and quantifying the risk for the biota is crucial. Standardized short-term toxicological procedures as well as methods quantifying potential toxic effects over the whole life span of an animal are required. We studied the effect of the microplastic polystyrene on the survival and reproduction of a common freshwater invertebrate, the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, at different timescales. We used pristine polystyrene spheres of 1, 3, and 6 µm diameter and fed them to the animals together with food algae in different ratios ranging from 0 to 50% nonfood particles. As a particle control, we used silica to distinguish between a pure particle effect and a plastic effect. After 24 h, no toxic effect was found, neither with polystyrene nor with silica. After 96 h, a toxic effect was detectable for both particle types. The size of the particles played a negligible role. Studying the long-term effect by using life table experiments, we found a reduced reproduction when the animals were fed with 3 µm spheres together with similar-sized food algae. We conclude that the fitness reduction is mainly driven by the dilution of food by the nonfood particles rather than by a direct toxic effect.
KW - microplastics
KW - rotifer
KW - freshwater
KW - natural particle
KW - toxicity
KW - environmental pollution
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.955425
SN - 2296-665X
SP - 1
EP - 11
PB - Frontiers
CY - Lausanne, Schweiz
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Jänicke, Clemens
A1 - Goddard, Adam
A1 - Stein, Susanne
A1 - Steinmann, Horst-Henning
A1 - Lakes, Tobia
A1 - Nendel, Claas
A1 - Müller, Daniel
T1 - Field-level land-use data reveal heterogeneous crop sequences with distinct regional differences in Germany
JF - European journal of agronomy
N2 - Crop cultivation intensifies globally, which can jeopardize biodiversity and the resilience of cropping systems. We investigate changes in crop rotations as one intensification metric for half of the croplands in Germany with annual field-level land-use data from 2005 to 2018. We proxy crop rotations with crop sequences and compare how these sequences changed among three seven-year periods. The results reveal an overall high diversity of crop sequences in Germany. Half of the cropland has crop sequences with four or more crops within a seven-year period, while continuous cultivation of the same crop is present on only 2% of the cropland. Larger farms tend to have more diverse crop sequences and organic farms have lower shares of cereal crops. In three federal states, crop rotations became less structurally diverse over time, i.e. the number of crops and the number of changes between crops decreased. In one state, structural diversity increased and the proportion of monocropping decreased. The functional diversity of the crop sequences, which measures the share of winter and spring crops as well as the share of leaf and cereal crops per sequence, remained largely stable. Trends towards cereal-or leaf -crop dominated sequences varied between the states, and no clear overall dynamic could be observed. However, the share of winter crops per sequence decreased in all four federal states. Quantifying the dynamics of crop sequences at the field level is an important metric of land-use intensity and can reveal the patterns of land-use intensification.
KW - crop production
KW - crop rotation
KW - cropping diversity
KW - IACS
KW - intensification
KW - land-use intensity
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2022.126632
SN - 1161-0301
SN - 1873-7331
VL - 141
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Schweigel, Ulrike
A1 - Batsios, Petros
A1 - Müller-Taubenberger, Annette
A1 - Gräf, Ralph
A1 - Grafe, Marianne
T1 - Dictyostelium spastin is involved in nuclear envelope dynamics during semi-closed mitosis
JF - Nucleus
N2 - Dictyostelium amoebae perform a semi-closed mitosis, in which the nuclear envelope is fenestrated at the insertion sites of the mitotic centrosomes and around the central spindle during karyokinesis. During late telophase the centrosome relocates to the cytoplasmic side of the nucleus, the central spindle disassembles and the nuclear fenestrae become closed. Our data indicate that Dictyostelium spastin (DdSpastin) is a microtubule-binding and severing type I membrane protein that plays a role in this process. Its mitotic localization is in agreement with a requirement for the removal of microtubules that would hinder closure of the fenestrae. Furthermore, DdSpastin interacts with the HeH/ LEM-family protein Src1 in BioID analyses as well as the inner nuclear membrane protein Sun1, and shows subcellular co-localizations with Src1, Sun1, the ESCRT component CHMP7 and the IST1-like protein filactin, suggesting that the principal pathway of mitotic nuclear envelope remodeling is conserved between animals and Dictyostelium amoebae.
KW - Spastin
KW - LEM-domain
KW - ESCRT
KW - sun1
KW - dictyostelium
KW - nuclear envelope
KW - mitosis
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/19491034.2022.2047289
SN - 1949-1034
SN - 1949-1042
VL - 13
IS - 1
SP - 144
EP - 154
PB - Taylor & Francis Group
CY - Philadelphia
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Tebbe, Jonas
A1 - Ottensmann, Meinolf
A1 - Havenstein, Katja
A1 - Efstratiou, Artemis
A1 - Lenz, Tobias L.
A1 - Caspers, Barbara A.
A1 - Forcada, Jaume
A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1 - Hoffman, Joseph
T1 - Intronic primers reveal unexpectedly high major histocompatibility complex diversity in Antarctic fur seals
JF - Scientific reports
N2 - The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a group of genes comprising one of the most important components of the vertebrate immune system. Consequently, there has been much interest in characterising MHC variation and its relationship with fitness in a variety of species. Due to the exceptional polymorphism of MHC genes, careful PCR primer design is crucial for capturing all of the allelic variation present in a given species. We therefore developed intronic primers to amplify the full-length 267 bp protein-coding sequence of the MHC class II DQB exon 2 in the Antarctic fur seal. We then characterised patterns of MHC variation among mother-offspring pairs from two breeding colonies and detected 19 alleles among 771 clone sequences from 56 individuals. The distribution of alleles within and among individuals was consistent with a single-copy, classical DQB locus showing Mendelian inheritance. Amino acid similarity at the MHC was significantly associated with genome-wide relatedness, but no relationship was found between MHC heterozygosity and genome-wide heterozygosity. Finally, allelic diversity was several times higher than reported by a previous study based on partial exon sequences. This difference appears to be related to allele-specific amplification bias, implying that primer design can strongly impact the inference of MHC diversity.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21658-7
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
IS - 1
PB - Nature Publishing Group
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Kiemel, Katrin
A1 - Weithoff, Guntram
A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph
T1 - DNA metabarcoding reveals impact of local recruitment, dispersal, and hydroperiod on assembly of a zooplankton metacommunity
JF - Molecular ecology
N2 - Understanding the environmental impact on the assembly of local communities in relation to their spatial and temporal connectivity is still a challenge in metacommunity ecology. This study aims to unravel underlying metacommunity processes and environmental factors that result in observed zooplankton communities. Unlike most metacommunity studies, we jointly examine active and dormant zooplankton communities using a DNA metabarcoding approach to overcome limitations of morphological species identification. We applied two-fragment (COI and 18S) metabarcoding to monitor communities of 24 kettle holes over a two-year period to unravel (i) spatial and temporal connectivity of the communities, (ii) environmental factors influencing local communities, and (iii) dominant underlying metacommunity processes in this system. We found a strong separation of zooplankton communities from kettle holes of different hydroperiods (degree of permanency) throughout the season, while the community composition within single kettle holes did not differ between years. Species richness was primarily dependent on pH and permanency, while species diversity (Shannon Index) was influenced by kettle hole location. Community composition was impacted by kettle hole size and surrounding field crops. Environmental processes dominated temporal and spatial processes. Sediment communities showed a different composition compared to water samples but did not differ between ephemeral and permanent kettle holes. Our results suggest that communities are mainly structured by environmental filtering based on pH, kettle hole size, surrounding field crops, and permanency. Environmental filtering based on specific conditions in individual kettle holes seems to be the dominant process in community assembly in the studied zooplankton metacommunity.
KW - bulk DNA
KW - dispersal
KW - DNA-metabarcoding
KW - environmental filtering;
KW - metacommunity
KW - zooplankton
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16627
SN - 0962-1083
SN - 1365-294X
VL - 32
IS - 23
PB - Wiley
CY - Hoboken
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Parry, Victor
A1 - Schlägel, Ulrike E.
A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1 - Weithoff, Guntram
T1 - Behavioural responses of defended and undefended prey to their predator
BT - a case study of rotifera
JF - Biology : open access journal
N2 - Many animals that have to cope with predation have evolved mechanisms to reduce their predation risk. One of these mechanisms is change in morphology, for example, the development of spines. These spines are induced, when mothers receive chemical signals of a predator (kairomones) and their daughters are then equipped with defensive spines. We studied the behaviour of a prey and its predator when the prey is either defended or undefended. We used common aquatic micro-invertebrates, the rotifers Brachionus calyciflorus (prey) and Asplanchna brightwellii (predator) as experimental animals. We found that undefended prey increased its swimming speed in the presence of the predator. The striking result was that the defended prey did not respond to the predator's presence. This suggests that defended prey has a different response behaviour to a predator than undefended conspecifics. Our study provides further insights into complex zooplankton predator-prey interactions. Predation is a strong species interaction causing severe harm or death to prey. Thus, prey species have evolved various defence strategies to minimize predation risk, which may be immediate (e.g., a change in behaviour) or transgenerational (morphological defence structures). We studied the behaviour of two strains of a rotiferan prey (Brachionus calyciflorus) that differ in their ability to develop morphological defences in response to their predator Asplanchna brightwellii. Using video analysis, we tested: (a) if two strains differ in their response to predator presence and predator cues when both are undefended; (b) whether defended individuals respond to live predators or their cues; and (c) if the morphological defence (large spines) per se has an effect on the swimming behaviour. We found a clear increase in swimming speed for both undefended strains in predator presence. However, the defended specimens responded neither to the predator presence nor to their cues, showing that they behave indifferently to their predator when they are defended. We did not detect an effect of the spines on the swimming behaviour. Our study demonstrates a complex plastic behaviour of the prey, not only in the presence of their predator, but also with respect to their defence status.
KW - animal behaviour
KW - transgenerational response
KW - Brachionus calyciflorus
KW - Asplanchna brightwellii
KW - video analysis
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11081217
SN - 2079-7737
VL - 11
IS - 8
PB - MDPI
CY - Basel
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Emary, Clive
A1 - Malchow, Anne-Kathleen
T1 - Stability-instability transition in tripartite merged ecological networks
JF - Journal of mathematical biology
N2 - Although ecological networks are typically constructed based on a single type of interaction, e.g. trophic interactions in a food web, a more complete picture of ecosystem composition and functioning arises from merging networks of multiple interaction types. In this work, we consider tripartite networks constructed by merging two bipartite networks, one mutualistic and one antagonistic. Taking the interactions within each sub-network to be distributed randomly, we consider the stability of the dynamics of the network based on the spectrum of its community matrix. In the asymptotic limit of a large number of species, we show that the spectrum undergoes an eigenvalue phase transition, which leads to an abrupt destabilisation of the network as the ratio of mutualists to antagonists is increased. We also derive results that show how this transition is manifest in networks of finite size, as well as when disorder is introduced in the segregation of the two interaction types. Our random-matrix results will serve as a baseline for understanding the behaviour of merged networks with more realistic structures and/or more detailed dynamics.
KW - Random matrices
KW - Phase transition
KW - Random eigenvalues
KW - Population dynamics
KW - Community matrix
KW - Ecological network
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00285-022-01783-7
SN - 0303-6812
SN - 1432-1416
VL - 85
IS - 3
PB - Springer
CY - Heidelberg
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Schlör, Anja
A1 - Hirschberg, Stefan
A1 - Ben Amor, Ghada
A1 - Meister, Toni Luise
A1 - Arora, Prerna
A1 - Pöhlmann, Stefan
A1 - Hoffmann, Markus
A1 - Pfänder, Stephanie
A1 - Eddin, Omar Kamal
A1 - Kamhieh-Milz, Julian
A1 - Hanack, Katja
T1 - SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies as powerful tools for diagnostic and therapeutic applications
JF - Frontiers in Immunology
N2 - Introduction: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation caused by SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern such as B.1.617.2 (Delta) and recently, B.1.1.529 (Omicron) is posing multiple challenges to humanity. The rapid evolution of the virus requires adaptation of diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Objectives: In this study, we describe camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies (hcAb) as useful tools for novel in vitro diagnostic assays and for therapeutic applications due to their neutralizing capacity.
Methods: Five antibody candidates were selected out of a naïve camelid library by phage display and expressed as full length IgG2 antibodies. The antibodies were characterized by Western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, surface plasmon resonance with regard to their specificity to the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and to SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles. Neutralization assays were performed with authentic SARS-CoV-2 and pseudotyped viruses (wildtype and Omicron).
Results: All antibodies efficiently detect recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles in different ELISA setups. The best combination was shown with hcAb B10 as catcher antibody and HRP-conjugated hcAb A7.2 as the detection antibody. Further, four out of five antibodies potently neutralized authentic wildtype SARS-CoV-2 and particles pseudotyped with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins of the wildtype and Omicron variant, sublineage BA.1 at concentrations between 0.1 and 0.35 ng/mL (ND50).
Conclusion: Collectively, we report novel camelid hcAbs suitable for diagnostics and potential therapy.
KW - camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies
KW - single domain antibodies
KW - nanobodies
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - neutralization
KW - Omicron
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.930975
SN - 1664-3224
SP - 1
EP - 14
PB - Frontiers Media SA
CY - Lausanne, Schweiz
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Engel, Robert
A1 - Micheel, Burkhard
A1 - Hanack, Katja
T1 - Three-dimensional cell culture approach for in vitro immunization and the production of monoclonal antibodies
JF - Biomedical materials : materials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
N2 - The generation of monoclonal antibodies using an in vitro immunization approach is a promising alternative to conventional hybridoma technology. As recently published, the in vitro approach enables an antigen-specific activation of B lymphocytes within 10-12 d followed by immortalization and subsequent selection of hybridomas. This in vitro process can be further improved by using a three-dimensional surrounding to stabilize the complex microenvironment required for a successful immune reaction. In this study, the suitability of Geltrex as a material for the generation of monoclonal antigen-specific antibodies by in vitro immunization was analyzed. We could show that dendritic cells, B cells, and T cells were able to travel through and interact inside of the matrix, leading to the antigen-specific activation of T and B cells. For cell recovery and subsequent hybridoma technique the suitability of dispase and Corning cell recovery solution (CRS) was compared. In our experiments, the use of dispase resulted in a severe alteration of cell surface receptor expression patterns and significantly higher cell death, while we could not detect an adverse effect of Corning CRS. Finally, an easy approach for high-density cell culture was established by printing an alginate ring inside a cell culture vessel. The ring was filled with Geltrex, cells, and medium to ensure a sufficient supply during cultivation. Using this approach, we were able to generate monoclonal hybridomas that produce antigen-specific antibodies against ovalbumin and the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein.
KW - monoclonal antibody
KW - hybridoma technology
KW - in vitro immunization
KW - 3D
KW - cell culture
KW - Geltrex
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-605X/ac7b00
SN - 1748-6041
SN - 1748-605X
VL - 17
IS - 5
PB - Inst. of Physics
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Czarnecka, Malgorzata
A1 - Weichelt, Ulrike
A1 - Rödiger, Stefan
A1 - Hanack, Katja
T1 - Novel Anti Double-Stranded Nucleic Acids Full-Length Recombinant Camelid Heavy-Chain Antibody for the Detection of miRNA
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
N2 - The discovery that certain diseases have specific miRNA signatures which correspond to disease progression opens a new biomarker category. The detection of these small non-coding RNAs is performed routinely using body fluids or tissues with real-time PCR, next-generation sequencing, or amplification-based miRNA assays. Antibody-based detection systems allow an easy onset handling compared to PCR or sequencing and can be considered as alternative methods to support miRNA diagnostic in the future. In this study, we describe the generation of a camelid heavy-chain-only antibody specifically recognizing miRNAs to establish an antibody-based detection method. The generation of nucleic acid-specific binders is a challenge. We selected camelid binders via phage display, expressed them as VHH as well as full-length antibodies, and characterized the binding to several miRNAs from a signature specific for dilated cardiomyopathy. The described workflow can be used to create miRNA-specific binders and establish antibody-based detection methods to provide an additional way to analyze disease-specific miRNA signatures.
KW - antibody
KW - camelid antibody
KW - heavy-chain-only antibody
KW - miRNA
KW - nucleic acids
KW - novel biomarkers
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23116275
SN - 1422-0067
VL - 23
SP - 1
EP - 18
PB - MDPI
CY - Basel, Schweiz
ET - 11
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bognár, Zsófia
A1 - Supala, Eszter
A1 - Yarman, Aysu
A1 - Zhang, Xiaorong
A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian
A1 - Scheller, Frieder W.
A1 - Gyurcsanyi, Róbert E.
T1 - Peptide epitope-imprinted polymer microarrays for selective protein recognition
BT - application for SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein
JF - Chemical science / RSC, Royal Society of Chemistry
N2 - We introduce a practically generic approach for the generation of epitope-imprinted polymer-based microarrays for protein recognition on surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) chips. The SPRi platform allows the subsequent rapid screening of target binding kinetics in a multiplexed and label-free manner. The versatility of such microarrays, both as synthetic and screening platform, is demonstrated through developing highly affine molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the recognition of the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. A characteristic nonapeptide GFNCYFPLQ from the RBD and other control peptides were microspotted onto gold SPRi chips followed by the electrosynthesis of a polyscopoletin nanofilm to generate in one step MIP arrays. A single chip screening of essential synthesis parameters, including the surface density of the template peptide and its sequence led to MIPs with dissociation constants (K-D) in the lower nanomolar range for RBD, which exceeds the affinity of RBD for its natural target, angiotensin-convertase 2 enzyme. Remarkably, the same MIPs bound SARS-CoV-2 virus like particles with even higher affinity along with excellent discrimination of influenza A (H3N2) virus. While MIPs prepared with a truncated heptapeptide template GFNCYFP showed only a slightly decreased affinity for RBD, a single mismatch in the amino acid sequence of the template, i.e. the substitution of the central cysteine with a serine, fully suppressed the RBD binding.
Y1 - 2021
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/d1sc04502d
SN - 2041-6539
VL - 13
IS - 5
SP - 1263
EP - 1269
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry
CY - Cambridge
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Kiemel, Katrin
A1 - Gurke, Marie
A1 - Paraskevopoulou, Sofia
A1 - Havenstein, Katja
A1 - Weithoff, Guntram
A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph
T1 - Variation in heat shock protein 40 kDa relates to divergence in thermotolerance among cryptic rotifer species
JF - Scientific reports
N2 - Genetic divergence and the frequency of hybridization are central for defining species delimitations, especially among cryptic species where morphological differences are merely absent. Rotifers are known for their high cryptic diversity and therefore are ideal model organisms to investigate such patterns. Here, we used the recently resolved Brachionus calyciflorus species complex to investigate whether previously observed between species differences in thermotolerance and gene expression are also reflected in their genomic footprint. We identified a Heat Shock Protein gene (HSP 40 kDa) which exhibits cross species pronounced sequence variation. This gene exhibits species-specific fixed sites, alleles, and sites putatively under positive selection. These sites are located in protein binding regions involved in chaperoning and may therefore reflect adaptive diversification. By comparing three genetic markers (ITS, COI, HSP 40 kDa), we revealed hybridization events between the cryptic species. The low frequency of introgressive haplotypes/alleles suggest a tight, but not fully impermeable boundary between the cryptic species.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27137-3
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
IS - 1
PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Kiemel, Katrin
A1 - Gurke, Marie
A1 - Paraskevopoulou, Sofia
A1 - Havenstein, Katja
A1 - Weithoff, Guntram
A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph
T1 - Variation in heat shock protein 40 kDa relates to divergence in thermotolerance among cryptic rotifer species
JF - Scientific Reports
N2 - Genetic divergence and the frequency of hybridization are central for defining species delimitations, especially among cryptic species where morphological differences are merely absent. Rotifers are known for their high cryptic diversity and therefore are ideal model organisms to investigate such patterns. Here, we used the recently resolved Brachionus calyciflorus species complex to investigate whether previously observed between species differences in thermotolerance and gene expression are also reflected in their genomic footprint. We identified a Heat Shock Protein gene (HSP 40 kDa) which exhibits cross species pronounced sequence variation. This gene exhibits species-specific fixed sites, alleles, and sites putatively under positive selection. These sites are located in protein binding regions involved in chaperoning and may therefore reflect adaptive diversification. By comparing three genetic markers (ITS, COI, HSP 40 kDa), we revealed hybridization events between the cryptic species. The low frequency of introgressive haplotypes/alleles suggest a tight, but not fully impermeable boundary between the cryptic species.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27137-3
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
PB - Springer Nature
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Fiorini, Vanina D.
A1 - Domínguez, Marisol
A1 - Reboreda, Juan C.
A1 - Swaddle, John P.
T1 - A recent invasive population of the European starling sturnus vulgaris has lower genetic diversity and higher fluctuating asymmetry than primary invasive and native populations
JF - Biological invasions : unique international journal uniting scientists in the broad field of biological invasions
N2 - Fluctuating asymmetries (FA) are small stress-induced random deviations from perfect symmetry that arise during the development of bilaterally symmetrical traits. One of the factors that can reduce developmental stability of the individuals and cause FA at a population level is the loss of genetic variation. Populations of founding colonists frequently have lower genetic variation than their ancestral populations that could be reflected in a higher level of FA. The European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is native to Eurasia and was introduced successfully in the USA in 1890 and Argentina in 1983. In this study, we documented the genetic diversity and FA of starlings from England (ancestral population), USA (primary introduction) and Argentina (secondary introduction). We predicted the Argentinean starlings would have the highest level of FA and lowest genetic diversity of the three populations. We captured wild adult European starlings in England, USA, and Argentina, measured their mtDNA diversity and allowed them to molt under standardized conditions to evaluate their FA of primary feathers. For genetic analyses, we extracted DNA from blood samples of individuals from Argentina and USA and from feather samples from individuals from England and sequenced the mitochondrial control region. Starlings in Argentina showed the highest composite FA and exhibited the lowest haplotype and nucleotide diversity. The USA population showed a level of FA and genetic diversity similar to the native population. Therefore, the level of asymmetry and genetic diversity found among these populations was consistent with our predictions based on their invasion history.
KW - Exotic bird species
KW - Fluctuating asymmetry
KW - Genetic variability
KW - Sturnus
KW - vulgaris
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02653-x
SN - 1387-3547
SN - 1573-1464
VL - 24
IS - 2
SP - 437
EP - 448
PB - Springer
CY - Dordrecht
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Hoffmann, Julia
A1 - Hölker, Franz
A1 - Eccard, Jana
T1 - Welcome to the dark side
BT - partial nighttime illumination affects night-and daytime foraging behavior of a small mammal
JF - Frontiers in ecology and evolution
N2 - Differences in natural light conditions caused by changes in moonlight are known to affect perceived predation risk in many nocturnal prey species. As artificial light at night (ALAN) is steadily increasing in space and intensity, it has the potential to change movement and foraging behavior of many species as it might increase perceived predation risk and mask natural light cycles. We investigated if partial nighttime illumination leads to changes in foraging behavior during the night and the subsequent day in a small mammal and whether these changes are related to animal personalities. We subjected bank voles to partial nighttime illumination in a foraging landscape under laboratory conditions and in large grassland enclosures under near natural conditions. We measured giving-up density of food in illuminated and dark artificial seed patches and video recorded the movement of animals. While animals reduced number of visits to illuminated seed patches at night, they increased visits to these patches at the following day compared to dark seed patches. Overall, bold individuals had lower giving-up densities than shy individuals but this difference increased at day in formerly illuminated seed patches. Small mammals thus showed carry-over effects on daytime foraging behavior due to ALAN, i.e., nocturnal illumination has the potential to affect intra- and interspecific interactions during both night and day with possible changes in personality structure within populations and altered predator-prey dynamics.
KW - light pollution
KW - inter-individual differences
KW - animal personality
KW - Myodes glareolus
KW - ALAN
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.779825
SN - 2296-701X
VL - 9
PB - Frontiers Media
CY - Lausanne
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Kindermann, Liana
A1 - Dobler, Magnus
A1 - Niedeggen, Daniela
A1 - Chimbioputo Fabiano, Ezequiel
A1 - Linstädter, Anja
T1 - Dataset on woody aboveground biomass, disturbance losses, and wood density from an African savanna ecosystem
JF - Data in Brief
N2 - This dataset comprises tree inventories and damage assessments performed in Namibia's semi-arid Zambezi Region. Data were sampled in savannas and savanna woodlands along steep gradients of elephant population densities to capture the effects of those (and other) disturbances on individual-level and stand-level aboveground woody biomass (AGB). The dataset contains raw data on dendrometric measures and processed data on specific wood density (SWD), woody aboveground biomass, and biomass losses through disturbance impacts. Allometric proxies (height, canopy diameters, and in adult trees also stem circumferences) were recorded for n = 6,179 tree and shrub individuals. Wood samples were taken for each encountered species to measure specific wood density.
These measurements have been used to estimate woody aboveground biomass via established allometric models, advanced through our improved methodologies and workflows that accounted for tree and shrub architecture shaped by disturbance impacts. To this end, we performed a detailed damage assessment on each woody individual in the field. In addition to estimations of standing biomass, our new method also delivered data on biomass losses to different disturbance agents (elephants, fire, and others) on the level of plant individuals and stands.
The data presented here have been used within a study published with Ecological Indicators (Kindermann et al., 2022) to evaluate the benefits of our improved methodology in comparison to a standard reference method of aboveground biomass estimations. Additionally, it has been employed in a study on carbon storage and sequestration in vegetation and soils (Sandhage-Hofmann et al., 2021).
The raw data of dendrometric measurements can be subjected to other available allometric models for biomass estimation. The processed data can be used to analyze disturbance impacts on woody aboveground biomass, or for regional carbon storage estimates. The data on species-specific wood density can be used for application to other dendrometric datasets to (re-) estimate biomass through allometric models requiring wood density. It can further be used for plant functional trait analyses.
KW - Damage assessment
KW - Disturbance impacts
KW - Disturbance indicator
KW - Elephant disturbance
KW - Tree allometry
KW - Specific wood density
KW - Woody aboveground biomass
KW - Wood specific gravity
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2022.108155
SN - 2352-3409
VL - 42
SP - 1
EP - 16
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam, Niederlande
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Scharf, Christina
A1 - Weinelt, Ferdinand Anton
A1 - Schroeder, Ines
A1 - Paal, Michael
A1 - Weigand, Michael
A1 - Zoller, Michael
A1 - Irlbeck, Michael
A1 - Kloft, Charlotte
A1 - Briegel, Josef
A1 - Liebchen, Uwe
T1 - Does the cytokine adsorber CytoSorb (R) reduce vancomycin exposure in critically ill patients with sepsis or septic shock?
BT - a prospective observational study
JF - Annals of intensive care
N2 - Background:
Hemadsorption of cytokines is used in critically ill patients with sepsis or septic shock. Concerns have been raised that the cytokine adsorber CytoSorb (R) unintentionally adsorbs vancomycin. This study aimed to quantify vancomycin elimination by CytoSorb (R) .
Methods:
Critically ill patients with sepsis or septic shock receiving continuous renal replacement therapy and CytoSorb (R) treatment during a prospective observational study were included in the analysis. Vancomycin pharmacokinetics was characterized using population pharmacokinetic modeling. Adsorption of vancomycin by the CytoSorb (R) was investigated as linear or saturable process. The final model was used to derive dosing recommendations based on stochastic simulations.
Results:
20 CytoSorb (R) treatments in 7 patients (160 serum samples/24 during CytoSorb (R)-treatment, all continuous infusion) were included in the study. A classical one-compartment model, including effluent flow rate of the continuous hemodialysis as linear covariate on clearance, best described the measured concentrations (without CytoSorb (R)). Significant adsorption with a linear decrease during CytoSorb (R) treatment was identified (p <0.0001) and revealed a maximum increase in vancomycin clearance of 291% (initially after CytoSorb (R) installation) and a maximum adsorption capacity of 572 mg. For a representative patient of our cohort a reduction of the area under the curve (AUC) by 93 mg/L*24 h during CytoSorb (R) treatment was observed. The additional administration of 500 mg vancomycin over 2 h during CytoSorb (R) attenuated the effect and revealed a negligible reduction of the AUC by 4 mg/L*24h.
Conclusion:
We recommend the infusion of 500 mg vancomycin over 2 h during CytoSorb (R) treatment to avoid subtherapeutic concentrations.
KW - Vancomycin
KW - Critically ill patients
KW - CytoSorb (R)
KW - Sepsis;
KW - Pharmacokinetics
KW - Adsorption
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13613-022-01017-5
SN - 2110-5820
VL - 12
IS - 1
PB - Springer
CY - Heidelberg
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Zurell, Damaris
A1 - König, Christian
A1 - Malchow, Anne-Kathleen
A1 - Kapitza, Simon
A1 - Bocedi, Greta
A1 - Travis, Justin M. J.
A1 - Fandos, Guillermo
T1 - Spatially explicit models for decision-making in animal conservation and restoration
JF - Ecography : pattern and diversity in ecology / Nordic Ecologic Society Oikos
N2 - Models are useful tools for understanding and predicting ecological patterns and processes. Under ongoing climate and biodiversity change, they can greatly facilitate decision-making in conservation and restoration and help designing adequate management strategies for an uncertain future. Here, we review the use of spatially explicit models for decision support and to identify key gaps in current modelling in conservation and restoration. Of 650 reviewed publications, 217 publications had a clear management application and were included in our quantitative analyses. Overall, modelling studies were biased towards static models (79%), towards the species and population level (80%) and towards conservation (rather than restoration) applications (71%). Correlative niche models were the most widely used model type. Dynamic models as well as the gene-to-individual level and the community-to-ecosystem level were underrepresented, and explicit cost optimisation approaches were only used in 10% of the studies. We present a new model typology for selecting models for animal conservation and restoration, characterising model types according to organisational levels, biological processes of interest and desired management applications. This typology will help to more closely link models to management goals. Additionally, future efforts need to overcome important challenges related to data integration, model integration and decision-making. We conclude with five key recommendations, suggesting that wider usage of spatially explicit models for decision support can be achieved by 1) developing a toolbox with multiple, easier-to-use methods, 2) improving calibration and validation of dynamic modelling approaches and 3) developing best-practise guidelines for applying these models. Further, more robust decision-making can be achieved by 4) combining multiple modelling approaches to assess uncertainty, and 5) placing models at the core of adaptive management. These efforts must be accompanied by long-term funding for modelling and monitoring, and improved communication between research and practise to ensure optimal conservation and restoration outcomes.
KW - adaptive management
KW - biodiversity conservation
KW - cost optimisation
KW - ecosystem restoration
KW - global change
KW - predictive models
Y1 - 2021
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05787
SN - 1600-0587
IS - 4
SP - 1
EP - 16
PB - Wiley-Blackwell
CY - Oxford
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Pohle, Lara
A1 - Hosoya, Georg
A1 - Pohle, Jennifer
A1 - Meyer-Jenßen, Lars
T1 - The relationship between early childhood teachers' instructional quality and children's mathematics development
JF - Learning and instruction : the journal of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction
N2 - This study examined how early childhood (EC) teachers' instructional quality predicted children's development in mathematics across two measurement occasions. Therefore, EC teachers' (n = 25) instructional quality was assessed using one standardized observation instrument covering both domain-specific and general aspects of instructional quality. Additionally, data on children's (n = 208) outcome in early number skills was collected applying a standardized test. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used accounting for nested data. Children's age and the average size of preschool groups were controlled for. Results revealed that EC teachers' instructional quality predicted children's development but was not associated with their initial achievement. The findings suggest that instruments covering domain-specific and general aspects might be helpful in order to measure EC teachers' instructional quality in mathematics and predict children's learning growth. Understanding the mechanisms between instructional quality and children's development may help EC teachers to enhance their math teaching in practice.
KW - Early childhood education
KW - Early childhood teachers
KW - Instructional
KW - quality
KW - Early mathematics development
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2022.101636
SN - 0959-4752
SN - 1873-3263
VL - 82
PB - Elsevier
CY - Oxford
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Foerster, Verena
A1 - Asrat, Asfawossen
A1 - Ramsey, Christopher Bronk
A1 - Brown, Erik T.
A1 - Chapot, Melissa S.
A1 - Deino, Alan
A1 - Düsing, Walter
A1 - Grove, Matthew
A1 - Hahn, Annette
A1 - Junginger, Annett
A1 - Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie
A1 - Lane, Christine S.
A1 - Opitz, Stephan
A1 - Noren, Anders
A1 - Roberts, Helen M.
A1 - Stockhecke, Mona
A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1 - Vidal, Celine M.
A1 - Vogelsang, Ralf
A1 - Cohen, Andrew S.
A1 - Lamb, Henry F.
A1 - Schaebitz, Frank
A1 - Trauth, Martin H.
T1 - Pleistocene climate variability in eastern Africa influenced hominin evolution
JF - Nature geoscience
N2 - Despite more than half a century of hominin fossil discoveries in eastern Africa, the regional environmental context of hominin evolution and dispersal is not well established due to the lack of continuous palaeoenvironmental records from one of the proven habitats of early human populations, particularly for the Pleistocene epoch. Here we present a 620,000-year environmental record from Chew Bahir, southern Ethiopia, which is proximal to key fossil sites. Our record documents the potential influence of different episodes of climatic variability on hominin biological and cultural transformation. The appearance of high anatomical diversity in hominin groups coincides with long-lasting and relatively stable humid conditions from similar to 620,000 to 275,000 years bp (episodes 1-6), interrupted by several abrupt and extreme hydroclimate perturbations. A pattern of pronounced climatic cyclicity transformed habitats during episodes 7-9 (similar to 275,000-60,000 years bp), a crucial phase encompassing the gradual transition from Acheulean to Middle Stone Age technologies, the emergence of Homo sapiens in eastern Africa and key human social and cultural innovations. Those accumulative innovations plus the alignment of humid pulses between northeastern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean during high-frequency climate oscillations of episodes 10-12 (similar to 60,000-10,000 years bp) could have facilitated the global dispersal of H. sapiens.
KW - Evolutionary ecology
KW - Limnology
KW - Palaeoclimate
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01032-y
SN - 1752-0894
SN - 1752-0908
VL - 15
IS - 10
SP - 805
EP - 811
PB - Nature Publ. Group
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Zhang, Shanshan
A1 - Liu, Yue
A1 - Machatschek, Rainhard Gabriel
A1 - Lendlein, Andreas
T1 - Ultrathin collagen type I films formed at the air-water interface
JF - MRS advances : a journal of the Materials Research Society (MRS)
N2 - Collagen-based biomaterials with oriented fibrils have shown great application potential in medicine. However, it is still challenging to control the type I collagen fibrillogenesis in ultrathin films. Here, we report an approach to produce cohesive and well-organized type I collagen ultrathin films of about 10 nm thickness using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Ellipsometry, rheology, and Brewster angle microscopy are applied to investigate in situ how the molecules behave at the air-water interface, both at room temperature and 37 degrees C. The interfacial storage modulus observed at room temperature vanishes upon heating, indicating the existence and disappearance of the network structure in the protein nanosheet. The films were spanning over holes as large as 1 mm diameter when transferred at room temperature, proving the strong cohesive interactions. A highly aligned and fibrillar structure was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical microscopy.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-021-00160-8
SN - 2059-8521
VL - 7
IS - 4
SP - 56
EP - 62
PB - Springer Nature Switzerland AG
CY - Cham
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Olimi, Expedito
A1 - Kusstatscher, Peter
A1 - Wicaksono, Wisnu Adi
A1 - Abdelfattah, Ahmed
A1 - Cernava, Tomislav
A1 - Berg, Gabriele
T1 - Insights into the microbiome assembly during different growth stages and storage of strawberry plants
JF - Environmental microbiome
N2 - Background: Microbiome assembly was identified as an important factor for plant growth and health, but this process is largely unknown, especially for the fruit microbiome. Therefore, we analyzed strawberry plants of two cultivars by focusing on microbiome tracking during the different growth stages and storage using amplicon sequencing, qPCR, and microscopic approaches.
Results: Strawberry plants carried a highly diverse microbiome, therein the bacterial families Sphingomonadaceae (25%), Pseudomonadaceae (17%), and Burkholderiaceae (11%); and the fungal family Mycosphaerella (45%) were most abundant. All compartments were colonized by high number of bacteria and fungi (10(7)-10(10) marker gene copies per g fresh weight), and were characterized by high microbial diversity (6049 and 1501 ASVs); both were higher for the belowground samples than in the phyllosphere. Compartment type was the main driver of microbial diversity, structure, and abundance (bacterial: 45%; fungal: 61%) when compared to the cultivar (1.6%; 2.2%). Microbiome assembly was strongly divided for belowground habitats and the phyllosphere; only a low proportion of the microbiome was transferred from soil via the rhizosphere to the phyllosphere. During fruit development, we observed the highest rates of microbial transfer from leaves and flowers to ripe fruits, where most of the bacteria occured inside the pulp. In postharvest fruits, microbial diversity decreased while the overall abundance increased. Developing postharvest decay caused by Botrytis cinerea decreased the diversity as well, and induced a reduction of potentially beneficial taxa.
Conclusion: Our findings provide insights into microbiome assembly in strawberry plants and highlight the importance of microbe transfer during fruit development and storage with potential implications for food health and safety.
KW - Fragaria x ananassa
KW - Microbiome assembly
KW - Fruit pathogens
KW - Bacterial
KW - communities
KW - Fungal communities
KW - Amplicon sequencing
KW - CLSM
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40793-022-00415-3
SN - 2524-6372
VL - 17
IS - 1
PB - BMC
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Çabuk, Uğur
A1 - Ünlü, Ercan Selçuk
T1 - A combined de novo assembly approach increases the quality of prokaryotic draft genomes
JF - Folia microbiologica : international journal for general, environmental and applied microbiology, and immunology
N2 - Next-generation sequencing methods provide comprehensive data for the analysis of structural and functional analysis of the genome. The draft genomes with low contig number and high N50 value can give insight into the structure of the genome as well as provide information on the annotation of the genome. In this study, we designed a pipeline that can be used to assemble prokaryotic draft genomes with low number of contigs and high N50 value. We aimed to use combination of two de novo assembly tools (SPAdes and IDBA-Hybrid) and evaluate the impact of this approach on the quality metrics of the assemblies. The followed pipeline was tested with the raw sequence data with short reads (< 300) for a total of 10 species from four different genera. To obtain the final draft genomes, we firstly assembled the sequences using SPAdes to find closely related organism using the extracted 16 s rRNA from it. IDBA-Hybrid assembler was used to obtain the second assembly data using the closely related organism genome. SPAdes assembler tool was implemented using the second assembly, produced by IDBA-hybrid as a hint. The results were evaluated using QUAST and BUSCO. The pipeline was successful for the reduction of the contig numbers and increasing the N50 statistical values in the draft genome assemblies while preserving the coverage of the draft genomes.
KW - De novo assembly
KW - Prokaryotes
KW - Bacteria
KW - NGS
KW - Short reads
KW - Draft genome
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-022-00980-7
SN - 0015-5632
SN - 1874-9356
VL - 67
SP - 801
EP - 810
PB - Springer
CY - Dordrecht
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Iltis, Peter W.
A1 - Frahm, Jens
A1 - Voit, Dirk
A1 - Wood, Danielle
A1 - Taylor, Scott
T1 - Oral cavity movements of the tongue during large interval slurs in high-level horn players br a descriptive study
JF - Medical problems of performing artists
N2 - OBJECTIVE:
Recent publications describing lingual movement strategies within the oral cavity of brass players have established the existence of efficient and predictable movement patterns in healthy performers for a variety of performance tasks. In this study we extend the research to include the playing of large interval slurs in horn players.
METHODS:
Real-time MRI films at 40-msec resolution were simultaneously obtained in the sagittal
and coronal planes in 9 professional horn players as they performed 2 repetitions each of 3 slur sequences spanning 1 octave, 1 octave + 3rd, and 1 octave + 5th at a mezzo forte dynamic level. Nine profile lines were overlaid on the images allowing the measurement of dorsal tongue edge movement using a customized MATLAB toolkit. Movement along lines representing the anterior, middle, and posterior oral cavity in the sagittal plane, as well as the vertical height of an air channel observed in the coronal plane, are reported.
RESULTS:
Both sagittal and coronal views demonstrate patterned tongue movements that narrow and widen the air channel during ascending and descending slurs, respectively. The magnitude of these movements is greater during larger intervals, though not perfectly consistent within each slur sequence. Additionally, the tongue position during notes
tends to drift in the direction of the subsequent note in each sequence. We suggest that the observed movements may help to modulate air speed through the lips, possible attenuating embouchure muscle tension changes by assisting changes in lip vibration frequency.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.21091/mppa.2022.2014
SN - 0885-1158
SN - 1938-2766
VL - 3
IS - 2
SP - 89
EP - 97
PB - Science & Medicine, Inc.
CY - Narberth
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Laun, Konstantin
A1 - Duffus, Benjamin R.
A1 - Wahlefeld, Stefan
A1 - Katz, Sagie
A1 - Belger, Dennis Heinz
A1 - Hildebrandt, Peter
A1 - Mroginski, Maria Andrea
A1 - Leimkühler, Silke
A1 - Zebger, Ingo
T1 - Infrared spectroscopy flucidates the inhibitor binding sites in a metal-dependent formate dehydrogenase
JF - Chemistry - a European journal
N2 - Biological carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction is an important step by which organisms form valuable energy-richer molecules required for further metabolic processes. The Mo-dependent formate dehydrogenase (FDH) from Rhodobacter capsulatus catalyzes reversible formate oxidation to CO2 at a bis-molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide (bis-MGD) cofactor. To elucidate potential substrate binding sites relevant for the mechanism, we studied herein the interaction with the inhibitory molecules azide and cyanate, which are isoelectronic to CO2 and charged as formate. We employed infrared (IR) spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory (DFT) and inhibition kinetics. One distinct inhibitory molecule was found to bind to either a non-competitive or a competitive binding site in the secondary coordination sphere of the active site. Site-directed mutagenesis of key amino acid residues in the vicinity of the bis-MGD cofactor revealed changes in both non-competitive and competitive binding, whereby the inhibitor is in case of the latter interaction presumably bound between the cofactor and the adjacent Arg587.
KW - CO2 reduction
KW - DFT
KW - formate oxidation
KW - inhibition kinetics
KW - IR
KW - spectroscopy
KW - molybdoenzyme
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202201091
SN - 0947-6539
SN - 1521-3765
PB - Wiley-VCH
CY - Weinheim
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Klauschies, Toni
A1 - Isanta-Navarro, Jana
T1 - The joint effects of salt and 6PPD contamination on a freshwater herbivore
JF - The science of the total environment : an international journal for scientific research into the environment and its relationship with man
N2 - Using sodium chloride (NaCl) for de-icing roads is known to have severe consequences on freshwater organisms when washed into water bodies. N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N '-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine, also known as 6PPD, is an antiozonant mainly found in automobile tire rubber to prevent ozone mediated cracking or wear-out. Especially the ozonated derivate, 6PPD-quinone, which is washed into streams after storm events, has been found to be toxic for coho salmon. Studies on other freshwater organisms could not confirm those findings, pointing towards distinct species-specific differences. Storm events result in greater run-offs from all water-soluble contaminants into freshwater bodies, potentially enhancing the concentrations of both chloride and 6PPD during winter. Here we show that these two contaminants have synergistic negative effects on the population growth of the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, a common freshwater herbivore. Hence, while only high concentrations of 6PPD and even higher concentrations of 6PPD-quinone, beyond environmentally relevant concentrations, had lethal effects on rotifers, the addition of NaCl enhanced the sensitivity of the rotifers towards the application of 6PPD so that their negative effects were more pronounced at lower concentrations. Similarly, 6PPD increased the lethal effect of NaCl. Our results support the species-specific toxicity of 6PPD and demonstrate a synergistic effect of the antiozonant on the toxicity of other environmentally relevant stressors, such as road salt contamination.
KW - Anthropogenic impact
KW - Car tire rubber
KW - Environmental stressor
KW - Rotifer
KW - Sodium chloride
KW - 6PPD quinone
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154675
SN - 0048-9697
SN - 1879-1026
VL - 829
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Andrade, Luis
A1 - Lu, Yunlong
A1 - Cordeiro, Andre
A1 - Costa, João M. F.
A1 - Wigge, Philip Anthony
A1 - Saibo, Nelson J. M.
A1 - Jaeger, Katja E.
T1 - The evening complex integrates photoperiod signals to control flowering in rice
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America : PNAS
N2 - Plants use photoperiodism to activate flowering in response to a particular daylength. In rice, flowering is accelerated in short-day conditions, and even a brief exposure to light during the dark period (night-break) is sufficient to delay flowering. Although many of the genes involved in controlling flowering in rice have been uncovered, how the long- and short-day flowering pathways are integrated, and the mechanism of photoperiod perception is not understood. While many of the signaling components controlling photoperiod-activated flowering are conserved between Arabidopsis and rice, flowering in these two systems is activated by opposite photoperiods. Here we establish that photoperiodism in rice is controlled by the evening complex (EC). We show that mutants in the EC genes LUX ARRYTHMO (LUX) and EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3) paralogs abolish rice flowering. We also show that the EC directly binds and suppresses the expression of flowering repressors, including PRR37 and Ghd7. We further demonstrate that light acts via phyB to cause a rapid and sustained posttranslational modification of ELF3-1. Our results suggest a mechanism by which the EC is able to control both long- and short-day flowering pathways.
KW - rice
KW - flowering
KW - ELF3
KW - LUX
KW - Evening Complex
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2122582119
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
VL - 119
IS - 26
PB - National Acad. of Sciences
CY - Washington
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Fujihara, Kenji M.
A1 - Zhang, Bonnie Z.
A1 - Jackson, Thomas D.
A1 - Ogunkola, Moses
A1 - Nijagal, Brunda
A1 - Milne, Julia V.
A1 - Sallman, David A.
A1 - Ang, Ching-Seng
A1 - Nikolic, Iva
A1 - Kearney, Conor J.
A1 - Hogg, Simon J.
A1 - Cabalag, Carlos S.
A1 - Sutton, Vivien R.
A1 - Watt, Sally
A1 - Fujihara, Asuka T.
A1 - Trapani, Joseph A.
A1 - Simpson, Kaylene J.
A1 - Stojanovski, Diana
A1 - Leimkühler, Silke
A1 - Haupt, Sue
A1 - Phillips, Wayne A.
A1 - Clemons, Nicholas J.
T1 - Eprenetapopt triggers ferroptosis, inhibits NFS1 cysteine desulfurase, and synergizes with serine and glycine dietary restriction
JF - Science Advances
N2 - The mechanism of action of eprenetapopt (APR-246, PRIMA-1MET) as an anticancer agent remains unresolved, al-though the clinical development of eprenetapopt focuses on its reported mechanism of action as a mutant-p53 reactivator. Using unbiased approaches, this study demonstrates that eprenetapopt depletes cellular antioxidant glutathione levels by increasing its turnover, triggering a nonapoptotic, iron-dependent form of cell death known as ferroptosis. Deficiency in genes responsible for supplying cancer cells with the substrates for de novo glutathione synthesis (SLC7A11, SHMT2, and MTHFD1L), as well as the enzymes required to synthesize glutathione (GCLC and GCLM), augments the activity of eprenetapopt. Eprenetapopt also inhibits iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis by limit-ing the cysteine desulfurase activity of NFS1, which potentiates ferroptosis and may restrict cellular proliferation. The combination of eprenetapopt with dietary serine and glycine restriction synergizes to inhibit esophageal xenograft tumor growth. These findings reframe the canonical view of eprenetapopt from a mutant-p53 reactivator to a ferroptosis inducer.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm9427
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 8
IS - 37
PB - American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science
CY - Washington
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Mumm, Rebekka
A1 - Scheffler, Christiane
A1 - Hermanussen, Michael
T1 - Locally structured correlation (LSC) plots describe inhomogeneity in normally distributed correlated bivariate variables
JF - Archives of Public Health
N2 - Background
The association between bivariate variables may not necessarily be homogeneous throughout the whole range of the variables. We present a new technique to describe inhomogeneity in the association of bivariate variables.
Methods
We consider the correlation of two normally distributed random variables. The 45° diagonal through the origin of coordinates represents the line on which all points would lie if the two variables completely agreed. If the two variables do not completely agree, the points will scatter on both sides of the diagonal and form a cloud. In case of a high association between the variables, the band width of this cloud will be narrow, in case of a low association, the band width will be wide. The band width directly relates to the magnitude of the correlation coefficient. We then determine the Euclidean distances between the diagonal and each point of the bivariate correlation, and rotate the coordinate system clockwise by 45°. The standard deviation of all Euclidean distances, named “global standard deviation”, reflects the band width of all points along the former diagonal. Calculating moving averages of the standard deviation along the former diagonal results in “locally structured standard deviations” and reflect patterns of “locally structured correlations (LSC)”. LSC highlight inhomogeneity of bivariate correlations. We exemplify this technique by analyzing the association between body mass index (BMI) and hip circumference (HC) in 6313 healthy East German adults aged 18 to 70 years.
Results
The correlation between BMI and HC in healthy adults is not homogeneous. LSC is able to identify regions where the predictive power of the bivariate correlation between BMI and HC increases or decreases, and highlights in our example that slim people have a higher association between BMI and HC than obese people.
Conclusion
Locally structured correlations (LSC) identify regions of higher or lower than average correlation between two normally distributed variables.
KW - Standard deviation
KW - Locally structured standard deviation
KW - Locally structured correlation
KW - Variance
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00748-4
SN - 0778-7367
SN - 2049-3258
VL - 80
PB - Springer Nature BMC
CY - Bruxelles
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Mumm, Rebekka
A1 - Scheffler, Christiane
A1 - Hermanussen, Michael
T1 - Locally structured correlation (LSC) plots describe inhomogeneity in normally distributed correlated bivariate variables
JF - Archives of public health = Archives belges de santé publique = Belgisch archief voor volksgezondheid
N2 - Background
The association between bivariate variables may not necessarily be homogeneous throughout the whole range of the variables. We present a new technique to describe inhomogeneity in the association of bivariate variables.
Methods
We consider the correlation of two normally distributed random variables. The 45 degrees diagonal through the origin of coordinates represents the line on which all points would lie if the two variables completely agreed. If the two variables do not completely agree, the points will scatter on both sides of the diagonal and form a cloud. In case of a high association between the variables, the band width of this cloud will be narrow, in case of a low association, the band width will be wide. The band width directly relates to the magnitude of the correlation coefficient. We then determine the Euclidean distances between the diagonal and each point of the bivariate correlation, and rotate the coordinate system clockwise by 45 degrees. The standard deviation of all Euclidean distances, named "global standard deviation", reflects the band width of all points along the former diagonal. Calculating moving averages of the standard deviation along the former diagonal results in "locally structured standard deviations" and reflect patterns of "locally structured correlations (LSC)". LSC highlight inhomogeneity of bivariate correlations. We exemplify this technique by analyzing the association between body mass index (BMI) and hip circumference (HC) in 6313 healthy East German adults aged 18 to 70 years.
Results
The correlation between BMI and HC in healthy adults is not homogeneous. LSC is able to identify regions where the predictive power of the bivariate correlation between BMI and HC increases or decreases, and highlights in our example that slim people have a higher association between BMI and HC than obese people.
Conclusion
Locally structured correlations (LSC) identify regions of higher or lower than average correlation between two normally distributed variables.
KW - Standard deviation
KW - Locally structured standard deviation
KW - Locally
KW - structured correlation
KW - Variance
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00748-4
SN - 0778-7367
SN - 2049-3258
VL - 80
IS - 1
PB - BMC
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Sauter, Tilman
A1 - Kratz, Karl
A1 - Farhan, Muhammad
A1 - Heuchel, Matthias
A1 - Lendlein, Andreas
T1 - Design and fabrication of fiber mesh actuators
JF - Applied materials today
N2 - Soft actuator performance can be tuned by chemistry or mechanical manipulation, but this adjustability is limited especially in view of their growing technological relevance. Inspired from textile engineering, we designed and fabricated fiber mesh actuators and introduced new features like anisotropic behavior and soft-tissue like elastic deformability. Design criteria for the meshes are the formation of fiber bundles, the angle between fiber bundles in different stacked layers and covalent crosslinks forming within and between fibers at their interfacial contact areas. Through crosslinking the interfiber bond strength increased from a bond transmitting neither axial nor rotational loads (pin joint) to a bond strength capable of both (welded joint). For non-linear elastic stiffening, stacked fiber bundles with four embracing fibers were created forming microstructural rhombus shapes. Loading the rhombus diagonally allowed generation of “soft tissue”-like mechanics. By adjustment of stacking angles, the point of strong increase in stress is tuned. While the highest stresses are observed in aligned and crosslinked fiber mats along the direction of the fiber, the strongest shape-memory actuation behavior is found in randomly oriented fiber mats. Fiber mesh actuators controlled by temperature are of high significance as soft robot skins and as for active patches supporting tissue regeneration.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2022.101562
SN - 2352-9407
VL - 29
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Hermanussen, Michael
A1 - Erofeev, Sergei
A1 - Scheffler, Christiane
T1 - The socio-endocrine regulation of human growth
JF - Acta paediatrica : nurturing the child
N2 - Aim Growth is a multifarious phenomenon that has been studied by nutritionists, economists, paediatric endocrinologists; archaeologists, child psychologists and other experts. Yet, a unifying theory of understanding growth regulation is still lacking. Method Critical review of the literature. Results We summarise evidence linking social competition and its effect on hierarchies in social structures, with the neuronal networks of the ventromedial hypothalamus and body size. The endocrine signalling system regulating growth hormone, Insulin-like-Growth-Factor1 and skeletal growth, is well conserved in the evolution of vertebrata for some 400 million years. The link between size and status permits adaptive plasticity, competitive growth and strategic growth adjustments also in humans. Humans perceive size as a signal of dominance with tallness being favoured and particularly prevalent in the upper social classes. Conclusion Westernised societies are competitive. People are tall, and "open to change." Social values include striving for status and prestige implying socio-economic domination. We consider the transition of political and social values following revolutions and civil wars, as key elements that interact with the evolutionarily conserved neuroendocrine competence for adaptive developmental plasticity, overstimulate the hypothalamic growth regulation and finally lead to the recent historic increases in average height.
KW - competitive growth
KW - developmental plasticity
KW - evolution
KW - growth
KW - hormone-releasing hormone
KW - strategic growth adjustments
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16504
SN - 0803-5253
SN - 1651-2227
PB - Wiley
CY - Hoboken
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Baral, Hans Otto
A1 - Rönsch, Peter
A1 - Richter, Udo
A1 - Urban, Alexander
A1 - Kruse, Julia
A1 - Bemmann, Martin
A1 - Kummer, Volker
A1 - Javier Valencia, Francisco
A1 - Huth, Wolfgang
T1 - Schroeteria decaisneana, S. poeltii, and Ciboria ploettneriana (Sclerotiniaceae, Helotiales, Ascomycota), three parasites on Veronica seeds
BT - first report of teleomorphs in Schroeteria
JF - Mycological progress : international journal of the German Mycological Society
N2 - Ciboria ploettneriana, Schroeteria decaisneana, and S. poeltii produce morphologically very similar apothecia emerging from fallen stromatized seeds of Veronica spp., the former two on V. hederifolia agg. in temperate central Europe and S. poeltii on V. cymbalaria in mediterranean southern Europe. They are described and illustrated in detail based on fresh collections or moist chamber cultures of infected seeds. A key is provided to differentiate the three species from their teleomorphs. For the first time, connections between two teleomorphs and two Schroeteria anamorphs are reported. Members of the anamorph-typified genus Schroeteria are known as host-specific plant parasites that infect seeds of different Veronica spp. In earlier times, they were classified in the Ustilaginales (Basidiomycota), but since more than 30 years, they are referred to as false smut fungi producing smut-like chlamydospores, based on light microscopic and ultrastructural studies which referred them to the Sclerotiniaceae (Helotiales). During the present study, rDNA sequences were obtained for the first time from chlamydospores of Schroeteria bornmuelleri (on V. rubrifolia), S. decaisneana (on V. hederifolia), S. delastrina (generic type, on V. arvensis), and S. poeltii (on V. cymbalaria) and from apothecia of C. ploettneriana, S. decaisneana, and S. poeltii. As a result, the anamorph-teleomorph connection could be established for S. decaisneana and S. poeltii by a 100% ITS similarity, whereas C. ploettneriana could not be connected to a smut-like anamorph. Ciboria ploettneriana in the here-redefined sense clustered in our combined phylogenetic analyses of ITS and LSU in relationship of Sclerotinia s.l., Botrytis, and Myriosclerotinia rather than Ciboria, but its placement was not supported. Its affiliation in Ciboria was retained until a better solution is found. Also Schroeteria poeltii clustered unresolved in this relationship but with a much higher molecular distance. The remaining three Schroeteria spp. formed a strongly supported monophyletic group, here referred to as "Schroeteria core clade", which clustered with medium to high support as a sister clade of Monilinia jezoensis, a member of the Monilinia alpina group of section Disjunctoriae. We observed ITS distances of 5-6.3% among members of the Schroeteria core clade, but 13.8-14.7% between this clade and S. poeltii, which appears to be correlated with the deviating chlamydospore morphology of S. poeltii. Despite its apparent paraphyly, Schroeteria is accepted here in a wide sense as a genus distinct from Monilinia, particularly because of its very special anamorphs. A comparable heterogeneity in rDNA analyses was observed in Monilinia and other genera of Sclerotiniaceae. Such apparent heterogeneity should be met with skepticism, however, because the inclusion of protein-coding genes in phylogenetic analyses resulted in a monophyletic genus Monilinia. More sclerotiniaceous taxa should be analysed for protein-coding genes in the future, including Schroeteria. Four syntype specimens of Ciboria ploettneriana in B were reexamined in the present study, revealing a mixture of the two species growing on V. hederifolia agg. Based on its larger ascospores in comparison with S. decaisneana, a lectotype is proposed for C. ploettneriana.
KW - anamorph-teleomorph connection
KW - plant parasite
KW - false smut fungi
KW - seed
KW - infection
KW - Veronica hederifolia
KW - Veronica cymbalaria
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-021-01742-4
SN - 1617-416X
SN - 1861-8952
VL - 21
IS - 1
SP - 359
EP - 407
PB - Springer
CY - Berlin ; Heidelberg
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bergholz, Kolja
A1 - Sittel, Lara-Pauline
A1 - Ristow, Michael
A1 - Jeltsch, Florian
A1 - Weiss, Lina
T1 - Pollinator guilds respond contrastingly at different scales to landscape parameters of land-use intensity
JF - Ecology and evolution
N2 - Land-use intensification is the main factor for the catastrophic decline of insect pollinators. However, land-use intensification includes multiple processes that act across various scales and should affect pollinator guilds differently depending on their ecology. We aimed to reveal how two main pollinator guilds, wild bees and hoverflies, respond to different land-use intensification measures, that is, arable field cover (AFC), landscape heterogeneity (LH), and functional flower composition of local plant communities as a measure of habitat quality. We sampled wild bees and hoverflies on 22 dry grassland sites within a highly intensified landscape (NE Germany) within three campaigns using pan traps. We estimated AFC and LH on consecutive radii (60-3000 m) around the dry grassland sites and estimated the local functional flower composition. Wild bee species richness and abundance was positively affected by LH and negatively by AFC at small scales (140-400 m). In contrast, hoverflies were positively affected by AFC and negatively by LH at larger scales (500-3000 m), where both landscape parameters were negatively correlated to each other. At small spatial scales, though, LH had a positive effect on hoverfly abundance. Functional flower diversity had no positive effect on pollinators, but conspicuous flowers seem to attract abundance of hoverflies. In conclusion, landscape parameters contrarily affect two pollinator guilds at different scales. The correlation of landscape parameters may influence the observed relationships between landscape parameters and pollinators. Hence, effects of land-use intensification seem to be highly landscape-specific.
KW - hoverflies
KW - landscape homogenization
KW - plant functional trait
KW - syrphids
KW - wild bees
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8708
SN - 2045-7758
VL - 12
IS - 3
PB - Wiley
CY - Hoboken
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bergholz, Kolja
A1 - Sittel, Lara-Pauline
A1 - Ristow, Michael
A1 - Jeltsch, Florian
A1 - Weiß, Lina
T1 - Pollinator guilds respond contrastingly at different scales to landscape parameters of land-use intensity
JF - Ecology and Evolution
N2 - Land-use intensification is the main factor for the catastrophic decline of insect pollinators. However, land-use intensification includes multiple processes that act across various scales and should affect pollinator guilds differently depending on their ecology. We aimed to reveal how two main pollinator guilds, wild bees and hoverflies, respond to different land-use intensification measures, that is, arable field cover (AFC), landscape heterogeneity (LH), and functional flower composition of local plant communities as a measure of habitat quality. We sampled wild bees and hoverflies on 22 dry grassland sites within a highly intensified landscape (NE Germany) within three campaigns using pan traps. We estimated AFC and LH on consecutive radii (60–3000 m) around the dry grassland sites and estimated the local functional flower composition. Wild bee species richness and abundance was positively affected by LH and negatively by AFC at small scales (140–400 m). In contrast, hoverflies were positively affected by AFC and negatively by LH at larger scales (500–3000 m), where both landscape parameters were negatively correlated to each other. At small spatial scales, though, LH had a positive effect on hoverfly abundance. Functional flower diversity had no positive effect on pollinators, but conspicuous flowers seem to attract abundance of hoverflies. In conclusion, landscape parameters contrarily affect two pollinator guilds at different scales. The correlation of landscape parameters may influence the observed relationships between landscape parameters and pollinators. Hence, effects of land-use intensification seem to be highly landscape-specific.
KW - hoverflies
KW - landscape homogenization
KW - plant functional trait
KW - syrphids
KW - wild bees
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8708
SN - 2045-7758
VL - 12
IS - 3
PB - John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CY - Hoboken (New Jersey)
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Eccard, Jana
A1 - Herde, Antje
A1 - Schuster, Andrea C.
A1 - Liesenjohann, Thilo
A1 - Knopp, Tatjana
A1 - Heckel, Gerald
A1 - Dammhahn, Melanie
T1 - Fitness, risk taking, and spatial behavior covary with boldness in experimental vole populations
JF - Ecology And Evolution
N2 - Individuals of a population may vary along a pace-of-life syndrome from highly fecund, short-lived, bold, dispersive “fast” types at one end of the spectrum to less fecund, long-lived, shy, plastic “slow” types at the other end. Risk-taking behavior might mediate the underlying life history trade-off, but empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis is still ambiguous. Using experimentally created populations of common voles (Microtus arvalis)—a species with distinct seasonal life history trajectories—we aimed to test whether individual differences in boldness behavior covary with risk taking, space use, and fitness. We quantified risk taking, space use (via automated tracking), survival, and reproductive success (via genetic parentage analysis) in 8 to 14 experimental, mixed-sex populations of 113 common voles of known boldness type in large grassland enclosures over a significant part of their adult life span and two reproductive events. Populations were assorted to contain extreme boldness types (bold or shy) of both sexes. Bolder individuals took more risks than shyer ones, which did not affect survival. Bolder males but not females produced more offspring than shy conspecifics. Daily home range and core area sizes, based on 95% and 50% Kernel density estimates (20 ± 10 per individual, n = 54 individuals), were highly repeatable over time. Individual space use unfolded differently for sex-boldness type combinations over the course of the experiment. While day ranges decreased for shy females, they increased for bold females and all males. Space use trajectories may, hence, indicate differences in coping styles when confronted with a novel social and physical environment. Thus, interindividual differences in boldness predict risk taking under near-natural conditions and have consequences for fitness in males, which have a higher reproductive potential than females. Given extreme inter- and intra-annual fluctuations in population density in the study species and its short life span, density-dependent fluctuating selection operating differently on the sexes might maintain (co)variation in boldness, risk taking, and pace-of-life.
KW - animal personality
KW - automated radio telemetry
KW - behavioral type
KW - fitness
KW - home range
KW - Microtus arvalis
KW - parentage
KW - reproductive success
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8521
SN - 2045-7758
SP - 1
EP - 15
PB - John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CY - Vereinigte Staaten
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Hoffmann, Julia
A1 - Hölker, Franz
A1 - Eccard, Jana
T1 - Welcome to the Dark Side
BT - Partial Nighttime Illumination Affects Night-and Daytime Foraging Behavior of a Small Mammal
JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
N2 - Differences in natural light conditions caused by changes in moonlight are known to affect perceived predation risk in many nocturnal prey species. As artificial light at night (ALAN) is steadily increasing in space and intensity, it has the potential to change movement and foraging behavior of many species as it might increase perceived predation risk and mask natural light cycles. We investigated if partial nighttime illumination leads to changes in foraging behavior during the night and the subsequent day in a small mammal and whether these changes are related to animal personalities. We subjected bank voles to partial nighttime illumination in a foraging landscape under laboratory conditions and in large grassland enclosures under near natural conditions. We measured giving-up density of food in illuminated and dark artificial seed patches and video recorded the movement of animals. While animals reduced number of visits to illuminated seed patches at night, they increased visits to these patches at the following day compared to dark seed patches. Overall, bold individuals had lower giving-up densities than shy individuals but this difference increased at day in formerly illuminated seed patches. Small mammals thus showed carry-over effects on daytime foraging behavior due to ALAN, i.e., nocturnal illumination has the potential to affect intra- and interspecific interactions during both night and day with possible changes in personality structure within populations and altered predator-prey dynamics.
KW - light pollution
KW - inter-individual differences
KW - animal personality
KW - Myodes glareolus
KW - ALAN
Y1 - 2021
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.779825
SN - 2296-701X
VL - 9
PB - Frontiers Media
CY - Lausanne
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Stripp, Sven T.
A1 - Duffus, Benjamin R.
A1 - Fourmond, Vincent
A1 - Leger, Christophe
A1 - Leimkühler, Silke
A1 - Hirota, Shun
A1 - Hu, Yilin
A1 - Jasniewski, Andrew
A1 - Ogata, Hideaki
A1 - Ribbe, Markus W.
T1 - Second and outer coordination sphere effects in nitrogenase, hydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase, and CO dehydrogenase
JF - Chemical reviews : CR
N2 - Gases like H-2, N-2, CO2, and CO are increasingly recognized as critical feedstock in "green" energy conversion and as sources of nitrogen and carbon for the agricultural and chemical sectors. However, the industrial transformation of N-2, CO2, and CO and the production of H-2 require significant energy input, which renders processes like steam reforming and the Haber-Bosch reaction economically and environmentally unviable. Nature, on the other hand, performs similar tasks efficiently at ambient temperature and pressure, exploiting gas-processing metalloenzymes (GPMs) that bind low-valent metal cofactors based on iron, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, and sulfur. Such systems are studied to understand the biocatalytic principles of gas conversion including N-2 fixation by nitrogenase and H-2 production by hydrogenase as well as CO2 and CO conversion by formate dehydrogenase, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, and nitrogenase. In this review, we emphasize the importance of the cofactor/protein interface, discussing how second and outer coordination sphere effects determine, modulate, and optimize the catalytic activity of GPMs. These may comprise ionic interactions in the second coordination sphere that shape the electron density distribution across the cofactor, hydrogen bonding changes, and allosteric effects. In the outer coordination sphere, proton transfer and electron transfer are discussed, alongside the role of hydrophobic substrate channels and protein structural changes. Combining the information gained from structural biology, enzyme kinetics, and various spectroscopic techniques, we aim toward a comprehensive understanding of catalysis beyond the first coordination sphere.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00914
SN - 0009-2665
SN - 1520-6890
VL - 122
IS - 14
SP - 11900
EP - 11973
PB - American Chemical Society
CY - Washington, DC
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Ristow, Michael
A1 - Panitsa, Maria
A1 - Meyer, Stefan
A1 - Bergmeier, Erwin
T1 - Factors of detection deficits in vascular plant inventories - an island case study
JF - Diversity
N2 - The degree of completeness of large-scale floristic inventories is often difficult to judge. We compared prior vascular plant species inventories of the Mediterranean island of Limnos (North Aegean, Greece) with 231 recent records from 2016-2021. Together with the recent records, the known number of vascular plant species on the island is 960 native taxa, 63 established neophytes, and 27 species of as yet casual status for a total of 1050 taxa. We looked at a number of traits (plant family, size, flower color, perceptibility, habitat, reproduction period, rarity, and status) to investigate whether they were overrepresented in the dataset of the newly found taxa. Overrepresentation was found in some plant families (e.g., Poaceae and Chenopodiaceae) and for traits such as hydrophytic life form, unobtrusive flower color, coastal as well as agricultural and ruderal habitats, and late (summer/autumn) reproduction period. Apart from the well-known fact of esthetic bias, we found evidence for ecological and perceptibility biases. Plant species inventories based on prior piecemeal collated data should focus on regionally specific species groups and underrepresented and rare habitats.
KW - Aegean flora
KW - floristic survey
KW - Mediterranean island
KW - perceptibility
KW - habitat
KW - plant traits
KW - rarity
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/d14040303
SN - 1424-2818
VL - 14
IS - 4
PB - MDPI
CY - Basel
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Agarwal, Saloni
A1 - Warmt, Christian
A1 - Henkel, Jörg
A1 - Schrick, Livia
A1 - Nitsche, Andreas
A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian
T1 - Lateral flow-based nucleic acid detection of SARS-CoV-2 using enzymatic incorporation of biotin-labeled dUTP for POCT use
JF - Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry : a merger of Fresenius' journal of analytical chemistry, Analusis and Quimica analitica
N2 - The degree of detrimental effects inflicted on mankind by the COVID-19 pandemic increased the need to develop ASSURED (Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and Robust, Equipment-free, and Deliverable) POCT (point of care testing) to overcome the current and any future pandemics. Much effort in research and development is currently advancing the progress to overcome the diagnostic pressure built up by emerging new pathogens. LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) is a well-researched isothermal technique for specific nucleic acid amplification which can be combined with a highly sensitive immunochromatographic readout via lateral flow assays (LFA). Here we discuss LAMP-LFA robustness, sensitivity, and specificity for SARS-CoV-2 N-gene detection in cDNA and clinical swab-extracted RNA samples. The LFA readout is designed to produce highly specific results by incorporation of biotin and FITC labels to 11-dUTP and LF (loop forming forward) primer, respectively. The LAMP-LFA assay was established using cDNA for N-gene with an accuracy of 95.65%. To validate the study, 82 SARS-CoV-2-positive RNA samples were tested. Reverse transcriptase (RT)-LAMP-LFA was positive for the RNA samples with an accuracy of 81.66%; SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was detected by RT-LAMP-LFA for as low as CT-33. Our method reduced the detection time to 15 min and indicates therefore that RT-LAMP in combination with LFA represents a promising nucleic acid biosensing POCT platform that combines with smartphone based semi-quantitative data analysis.
KW - Point of care testing (POCT)
KW - Lateral flow assay (LFA)
KW - COVID-19
KW - Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP);
KW - SARS-CoV-2 N-gene
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-03880-4
SN - 1618-2642
SN - 1618-2650
VL - 414
IS - 10
SP - 3177
EP - 3186
PB - Springer
CY - Heidelberg
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Lischeid, Gunnar
A1 - Webber, Heidi
A1 - Sommer, Michael
A1 - Nendel, Claas
A1 - Ewert, Frank
T1 - Machine learning in crop yield modelling
BT - A powerful tool, but no surrogate for science
JF - Agricultural and forest meteorology
N2 - Provisioning a sufficient stable source of food requires sound knowledge about current and upcoming threats to agricultural production. To that end machine learning approaches were used to identify the prevailing climatic and soil hydrological drivers of spatial and temporal yield variability of four crops, comprising 40 years yield data each from 351 counties in Germany. Effects of progress in agricultural management and breeding were subtracted from the data prior the machine learning modelling by fitting smooth non-linear trends to the 95th percentiles of observed yield data. An extensive feature selection approach was followed then to identify the most relevant predictors out of a large set of candidate predictors, comprising various soil and meteorological data. Particular emphasis was placed on studying the uniqueness of identified key predictors. Random Forest and Support Vector Machine models yielded similar although not identical results, capturing between 50% and 70% of the spatial and temporal variance of silage maize, winter barley, winter rapeseed and winter wheat yield. Equally good performance could be achieved with different sets of predictors. Thus identification of the most reliable models could not be based on the outcome of the model study only but required expert's judgement. Relationships between drivers and response often exhibited optimum curves, especially for summer air temperature and precipitation. In contrast, soil moisture clearly proved less relevant compared to meteorological drivers. In view of the expected climate change both excess precipitation and the excess heat effect deserve more attention in breeding as well as in crop modelling.
KW - Crop modelling
KW - Machine learning
KW - Random forests
KW - Support vector
KW - machine
KW - Feature selection
KW - Equivocality
Y1 - 2021
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108698
SN - 0168-1923
SN - 1873-2240
VL - 312
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Pan, Xuefeng
A1 - Sarhan, Radwan Mohamed
A1 - Kochovski, Zdravko
A1 - Chen, Guosong
A1 - Taubert, Andreas
A1 - Mei, Shilin
A1 - Lu, Yan
T1 - Template synthesis of dual-functional porous MoS2 nanoparticles with photothermal conversion and catalytic properties
JF - Nanoscale
N2 - Advanced catalysis triggered by photothermal conversion effects has aroused increasing interest due to its huge potential in environmental purification.
In this work, we developed a novel approach to the fast degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-Nip) using porous MoS2 nanoparticles as catalysts, which integrate the intrinsic catalytic property of MoS2 with its photothermal conversion capability.
Using assembled polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine) block copolymers as soft templates, various MoS 2 particles were prepared, which exhibited tailored morphologies (e.g., pomegranate-like, hollow, and open porous structures).
The photothermal conversion performance of these featured particles was compared under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation.
Intriguingly, when these porous MoS2 particles were further employed as catalysts for the reduction of 4-Nip, the reaction rate constant was increased by a factor of 1.5 under NIR illumination.
We attribute this catalytic enhancement to the open porous architecture and light-to-heat conversion performance of the MoS2 particles. This contribution offers new opportunities for efficient photothermal-assisted catalysis.
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/d2nr01040b
SN - 2040-3372
VL - 14
IS - 18
SP - 6888
EP - 6901
PB - RSC Publ. (Royal Society of Chemistry)
CY - Cambridge
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Biermann, Robin Tim
A1 - Bach, Linh T.
A1 - Kläring, Hans-Peter
A1 - Baldermann, Susanne
A1 - Börnke, Frederik
A1 - Schwarz, Dietmar
T1 - Discovering tolerance-A computational approach to assess abiotic stress tolerance in tomato under greenhouse conditions
JF - Frontiers in sustainable food systems
N2 - Modern plant cultivars often possess superior growth characteristics, but within a limited range of environmental conditions. Due to climate change, crops will be exposed to distressing abiotic conditions more often in the future, out of which heat stress is used as example for this study. To support identification of tolerant germplasm and advance screening techniques by a novel multivariate evaluation method, a diversity panel of 14 tomato genotypes, comprising Mediterranean landraces of Solanum lycopersicum, the cultivar "Moneymaker" and Solanum pennellii LA0716, which served as internal references, was assessed toward their tolerance against long-term heat stress. After 5 weeks of growth, young tomato plants were exposed to either control (22/18 degrees C) or heat stress (35/25 degrees C) conditions for 2 weeks. Within this period, water consumption, leaf angles and leaf color were determined. Additionally, gas exchange and leaf temperature were investigated. Finally, biomass traits were recorded. The resulting multivariate dataset on phenotypic plasticity was evaluated to test the hypothesis, that more tolerant genotypes have less affected phenotypes upon stress adaptation. For this, a cluster-analysis-based approach was developed that involved a principal component analysis (PCA), dimension reduction and determination of Euclidean distances. These distances served as measure for the phenotypic plasticity upon heat stress. Statistical evaluation allowed the identification and classification of homogeneous groups consisting each of four putative more or less heat stress tolerant genotypes. The resulting classification of the internal references as "tolerant" highlights the applicability of our proposed tolerance assessment model. PCA factor analysis on principal components 1-3 which covered 76.7% of variance within the phenotypic data, suggested that some laborious measure such as the gas exchange might be replaced with the determination of leaf temperature in larger heat stress screenings. Hence, the overall advantage of the presented method is rooted in its suitability of both, planning and executing screenings for abiotic stress tolerance using multivariate phenotypic data to overcome the challenge of identifying abiotic stress tolerant plants from existing germplasms and promote sustainable agriculture for the future.
KW - abiotic stress
KW - breeding
KW - heat stress
KW - phenotyping
KW - Solanum
KW - lycopersicum
KW - screening
KW - stress tolerance
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.878013
SN - 2571-581X
VL - 6
PB - Frontiers Media
CY - Lausanne
ER -