The functions and factors governing fungal communities and diversity in agricultural waters: insights into the ecosystem services aquatic mycobiota provide.

Introduction: Fungi are essential to the aquatic food web, nutrient cycling, energy flow, and ecosystem regulation. Fungal community structures in water can be influenced by adjacent terrestrial environments, which drive and control some ecosystem services they provide. However, the roles of freshwater fungal communities remain underexplored compared to bacterial communities in this context.

complex prevalence, spatial-temporal distribution, and contamination sources in Canadian aquatic environments.

(ACB) complex has been identified as a group of emerging opportunistic pathogens that cause nosocomial infections. The current study investigates the prevalence, distribution, and diversity of pathogenic ACB complex in various aquatic systems with different uses. Of the total 157 agricultural, raw drinking water intake, recreational beach, and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent samples, acinetobacters were isolated, quantified, and confirmed by genus- and ACB complex-specific PCR assays.

Stratified Effects of Tillage and Crop Rotations on Soil Microbes in Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles at Different Soil Depths in Long-Term Corn, Soybean, and Wheat Cultivation.

Understanding the soil bacterial communities involved in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling can inform beneficial tillage and crop rotation practices for sustainability and crop production. This study evaluated soil bacterial diversity, compositional structure, and functions associated with C-N cycling at two soil depths (0-15 cm and 15-30 cm) under long-term tillage (conventional tillage [CT] and no-till [NT]) and crop rotation (monocultures of corn, soybean, and wheat and corn-soybean-wheat rotation) systems. The soil microbial communities were characterized by metabarcoding the 16S rRNA gene V4-V5 regions using Illumina MiSeq.

Pathogen Surveillance in Swallows (family Hirundinidae): Investigation into Role as Avian Influenza Vector in Eastern Canada Agricultural Landscapes.

First detected in Atlantic Canada in December 2021, highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 clade 2.3.4.

Three novel multiplex PCR assays for rapid detection of virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and toxin genes in Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex species.

The Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii (ACB) complex is an often-overlooked group of nosocomial pathogens with a significant environmental presence. Rapid molecular screening methods for virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and toxin (VAT) genes are required to investigate the potential pathogenicity of environmental isolates. This study aimed to develop and apply novel ACB complex-specific multiplex PCR (mPCR) primers and protocols for the rapid detection of eight VAT genes.

Modeling West Nile Virus transmission in birds and humans: Advantages of using a cellular automata approach.

In Canada, the periodic circulation of West Nile Virus (WNV) is difficult to predict and, beyond climatic factors, appears to be related to the migratory movements of infected birds from the southern United States. This hypothesis has not yet been explored in a spatially distributed model. The main objective of this work was to develop a spatially explicit dynamic model for the transmission of WNV in Canada, that allows us to explore non-climate related hypotheses associated with WNV transmission.

A cost-effective RNA extraction and RT-qPCR approach to detect California serogroup viruses from pooled mosquito samples.

Mosquito-borne diseases pose ongoing global health concerns, demanding more cost-efficient methods to detect pathogens to support enhanced surveillance efforts. This study introduces an adapted TRIzol-based high-throughput RNA extraction protocol, tailored for the detection of California serogroup viruses in pooled mosquito samples in a rapid and cost-effective manner. This approach provided consistent RNA yields and sensitive viral detection relative to two commercial extraction kits (QIAGEN RNeasy Mini Kit and MACHEREY-NAGEL NucleoSpin RNA Plus Kit).

The role of species ecology in predicting Toxoplasma gondii prevalence in wild and domesticated mammals globally.

Macroecological approaches can provide valuable insight into the epidemiology of globally distributed, multi-host pathogens. Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan that infects any warm-blooded animal, including humans, in almost every habitat worldwide. Toxoplasma gondii infects its hosts through oocysts in the environment, carnivory of tissue cysts within intermediate host prey and vertical transmission.

Pathogenicity assessment of Arcobacter butzleri isolated from Canadian agricultural surface water.

Background: Water is considered a source for the transmission of Arcobacter species to both humans and animals. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence, distribution, and pathogenicity of A. butzleri strains, which can potentially pose health risks to humans and animals.

Identification of microplastics extracted from field soils amended with municipal biosolids.

Microplastic particles in arable soil are expected to impact the environment and potentially human health. The application of municipal biosolids (MBs) to agricultural land presents a further dilemma in that biosolids act as a fertilizer for crop growth, and a disposal pathway for wastewater treatment plants. They are also a direct path for emerging contaminants, such as microplastics to enter the terrestrial environment.

Relationships between water quality and mosquito presence and abundance: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs) are emerging in response to climate and land use changes. As mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) habitat selection is often contingent on water availability for egg and larval development, studies have recognized water quality also influences larval habitats. However, underlying species-, genera-, and mosquito level preferences for water quality conditions are varied.

Impacts of repeated coastal flooding on soil and groundwater following managed dike realignment.

Coastal defense structures (e.g., dikes, seawalls) protect vulnerable communities along marine coastlines and estuaries from the physical and chemical influences of adjacent water bodies.

How many microplastic particles are present in Canadian biosolids?

Application of treated sewage sludge (biosolids) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to farmlands is an important pathway through which microplastic particles (MPs) enter terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, microplastic concentrations in Canadian biosolids have only been estimated in samples from four WWTPs previously. We aimed to fill this knowledge gap by quantifying microplastics in biosolids from 22 WWTPs located in nine provinces and two commercial fertilizer producers in Canada.

Environmental Concentrations of the Type 2 Diabetes Medication Metformin and Its Transformation Product Guanylurea in Surface Water and Sediment in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

Metformin, used to treat Type 2 diabetes, is the active ingredient of one of the most prescribed drugs in the world, with over 120 million yearly prescriptions globally. In wastewater-treatment plants (WWTPs), metformin can undergo microbial transformation to form the product guanylurea, which could have toxicological relevance in the environment. Surface water samples from 2018 to 2020 and sediment samples from 2020 were collected from six mixed-use watersheds in Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and analyzed to determine the metformin and guanylurea concentrations at each site.

Core and conditionally rare taxa as indicators of agricultural drainage ditch and stream health and function.

Background: The freshwater microbiome regulates aquatic ecological functionality, nutrient cycling, pathogenicity, and has the capacity to dissipate and regulate pollutants. Agricultural drainage ditches are ubiquitous in regions where field drainage is necessary for crop productivity, and as such, are first-line receptors of agricultural drainage and runoff. How bacterial communities in these systems respond to environmental and anthropogenic stressors are not well understood.

In silico identification of multiple conserved motifs within the control region of Culicidae mitogenomes.

Mosquitoes are important vectors for human and animal diseases. Genetic markers, like the mitochondrial COI gene, can facilitate the taxonomic classification of disease vectors, vector-borne disease surveillance, and prevention. Within the control region (CR) of the mitochondrial genome, there exists a highly variable and poorly studied non-coding AT-rich area that contains the origin of replication.

Effects of land use and weather on the presence and abundance of mosquito-borne disease vectors in a urban and agricultural landscape in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

Weather and land use can significantly impact mosquito abundance and presence, and by consequence, mosquito-borne disease (MBD) dynamics. Knowledge of vector ecology and mosquito species response to these drivers will help us better predict risk from MBD. In this study, we evaluated and compared the independent and combined effects of weather and land use on mosquito species occurrence and abundance in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

Microbial water quality at contrasting recreational areas in a mixed-use watershed in eastern Canada.

Recreational water use is an important source of human enteric illness. Enhanced (episodic) surveillance of natural recreational waters as a supplement to beach monitoring can enrich our understanding of human health risks. From 2011 to 2013, water sampling was undertaken at recreational sites on a watershed in eastern Canada.

Human density is associated with the increased prevalence of a generalist zoonotic parasite in mammalian wildlife.

Macroecological approaches can provide valuable insight into the epidemiology of globally distributed, multi-host pathogens. is a zoonotic protozoan that infects any warm-blooded animal, including humans, in almost every ecosystem worldwide. There is substantial geographical variation in prevalence in wildlife populations and the mechanisms driving this variation are poorly understood.

Monitoring of Environmental Contaminants in Mixed-Use Watersheds Combining Targeted and Nontargeted Analysis with Passive Sampling.

Understanding the environmental fate, transport, and occurrence of pesticides and pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments is of utmost concern to regulators. Traditionally, monitoring of environmental contaminants in surface water has consisted of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analyses for a set of targeted compounds in discrete samples. These targeted approaches are limited by the fact that they only provide information on compounds within a target list present at the time and location of sampling.

The Effects of Ditch Management in Agroecosystems on Embryonic and Tadpole Survival, Growth, and Development of Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens).

Agricultural drainage ditches help remove excess water from fields and provide habitat for wildlife. Drainage ditch management, which includes various forms of vegetation clearing and sediment dredging, can variably affect the ecological function of these systems. To determine whether ditch conditions following dredging/vegetation clearing management affected the survival, growth, and development of embryos and tadpoles of northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens), we conducted three field studies using in situ cages over 2 years.

Mosquito Identification From Bulk Samples Using DNA Metabarcoding: a Protocol to Support Mosquito-Borne Disease Surveillance in Canada.

Approximately 80 species of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) have been documented in Canada. Exotic species such as Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) are becoming established. Recently occurring endemic mosquito-borne diseases (MBD) in Canada including West-Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) are having significant public health impacts.