Publications by authors named "Obregon D"

Hybrid poplars are widely recognized for their effectiveness in remediating subsurface aromatic hydrocarbon contaminants, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene isomers (BTEX). While BTEX compounds are frequently found in the transpiration streams of poplars at contaminated sites, the microbial dynamics within these trees, particularly in response to hydrocarbon exposure, remain underexplored. This study utilized high-throughput amplicon sequencing to investigate the trunk microbiome in hybrid poplars at a field-scale toluene phytoremediation site.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores how liming, a method to increase soil pH, affects methane uptake in Amazonian soils, revealing significant results in both forest and pasture environments.
  • Liming treatments led to an increase in methane uptake by about 10% in forest soils and 25% in pasture soils, with specific methanotrophic communities actively incorporating carbon from methane in limed areas.
  • The findings suggest that liming not only enhances soil fertility in degraded Amazonian lands but also helps to improve methane oxidation, making it a beneficial practice for managing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Context: Communication is the foundation of optimal healthcare provision. Linguistic diversity is a reality in palliative care settings.

Objectives: To identify the state of the literature on language interpreting in palliative care and to examine inclusion of stakeholders in dissemination products.

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The Western honey bee () is a vital agricultural pollinator whose populations are threatened by the parasitic mite destructor and associated pathogens. While the impact of species on honey bees, particularly larvae causing American foulbrood, is documented, their effect on the microbiota of mites remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the influence of sp.

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  • Mosquitoes are important vectors for diseases, making it essential to understand their microbiota to improve disease management strategies.
  • The study found distinct microbial compositions and interaction patterns between two mosquito species, Culex pipiens f. molestus and Culex quinquefasciatus, with Escherichia-Shigella being more widespread and interacting with many network nodes in both species, while Wolbachia showed species-specific associations.
  • Computer simulations demonstrated that the removal of microorganisms impacted network stability differently in the two species, indicating the unique role of each bacterium in maintaining microbial networks.
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Background: It is unknown if gastrointestinal dysbiosis in diarrheic calves causes disease or is a consequence of the disease.

Objectives: Describe the fecal microbiota of calves before, during, and after recovering from diarrhea.

Animals: Fifteen female Holstein calves of 0 to 21 days old from a single farm.

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  • - This study builds on previous research about how antibiotics affect the tick microbiota, particularly the transmission of Babesia microti, by comparing antibiotic-treated (AT) and control-treated (CT) Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks to observe changes in their microbial community interactions.
  • - Results indicated that AT ticks had a more connected but less interactive microbial community, showing significant differences in network centrality measures, which reflect how different bacteria interact within the community.
  • - The findings highlight that certain bacteria like Coxiella and Acinetobacter play key roles in maintaining network stability, and the antibiotic treatment made these networks less robust, indicating a higher susceptibility to disturbances.
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Tick-borne rickettsioses, caused by Gram-negative bacteria of the Rickettsia genus, pose a growing global threat, with various arthropod vectors contributing to their transmission. Understanding the complex interactions within tick microbiota, including the role of Rickettsia species, is crucial for elucidating the dynamics of rickettsial diseases. Here, we investigate the taxonomic profiles and co-occurrence networks of Rickettsia in Rh.

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The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a key pollinator critical to global agriculture, facing threats from various stressors, including the ectoparasitic Varroa mite (Varroa destructor). Previous studies have identified shared bacteria between Varroa mites and honeybees, yet it remains unclear if these bacteria assemble similarly in both species. This study builds on existing knowledge by investigating co-occurrence patterns in the microbiomes of both Varroa mites and honeybees, shedding light on potential interactions.

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The Ornithodoros moubata (Om) soft tick, a vector for diseases like tick-borne human relapsing fever and African swine fever, poses challenges to conventional control methods. With diminishing insecticide efficacy, harnessing the tick's microbiota through innovative approaches like microbiota-driven vaccination emerges as a promising strategy for sustainable and targeted disease control. This study investigated the intricate relationship between Pseudomonas, a keystone taxon in the Om microbiome, and its impact on tick fitness, microbiome structure and network dynamics.

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Understanding the intricate ecological interactions within the microbiome of arthropod vectors is crucial for elucidating disease transmission dynamics and developing effective control strategies. In this study, we investigated the ecological roles of Coxiella-like endosymbiont (CLE) and Anaplasma marginale across larval, nymphal, and adult stages of Rhipicephalus microplus. We hypothesized that CLE would show a stable, nested pattern reflecting co-evolution with the tick host, while A.

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Upon ingestion from an infected host, tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) have to overcome colonization resistance, a defense mechanism by which tick microbiota prevent microbial invasions. Previous studies have shown that the pathogen alters the microbiota composition of the nymphs of , but its impact on tick colonization resistance remains unclear. We analyzed tick microbiome genetic data using published Illumina 16S rRNA sequences, assessing microbial diversity within ticks (alpha diversity) through species richness, evenness, and phylogenetic diversity.

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Interactions within the tick microbiome involving symbionts, commensals, and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) play a pivotal role in disease ecology. This study explored temporal changes in the microbiome of , an important cattle tick vector, focusing on its interaction with . To overcome limitations inherent in sampling methods relying on questing ticks, which may not consistently reflect pathogen presence due to variations in exposure to infected hosts in nature, our study focused on ticks fed on chronically infected cattle.

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Deforestation rapidly increases in tropical regions, primarily driven by converting natural habitats into pastures for extensive cattle ranching. This landscape transformation, coupled with pesticide use, are key drivers of bee population decline. Here, we investigate the impact of pasture-dominated landscapes on colony performance, pesticide exposure, and insecticide sensitivity of the stingless bee .

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In recent decades, tick-borne diseases (TBDs) have surged and expanded globally due to factors like changes in human activities, land use patterns, and climate change, and it have been associated with the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Cuba faces the impact of ticks on human health and the economy. Although Cuba has studied TBDs extensively for the past 50 years, focus on tick-borne viral pathogens affecting humans remains scant.

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Background: Rabies remains a deadly zoonotic disease, primarily prevalent in Eastern European countries, with a significant global burden in Asia and Africa. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is critical to prevent clinical rabies. Serbia, a country with a relatively low animal rabies incidence, has been implementing a 4-dose Essen PEP regimen for 13 years.

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Avian malaria infection has been known to affect host microbiota, but the impact of infection on the colonization resistance in bird gut microbiota remains unexplored. This study investigated the dynamics of infection in canaries, aiming to explore the hypothesis that microbiota modulation by would reduce colonization resistance. Canaries were infected with , while a control group was maintained.

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Background: Ixodid ticks, particularly Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l., are important vectors of various disease-causing agents in dogs and humans in Cuba.

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Context: Pathogens can manipulate microbial interactions to ensure survival, potentially altering the functional patterns and microbiome assembly. The present study investigates how Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection affects the functional diversity, composition, and assembly of the Ixodes scapularis microbiome, with a focus on high central pathways-those characterized by elevated values in centrality metrics such as eigenvector, betweenness, and degree measures, in the microbial community.

Methods: Using previously published data from nymphs' gut V4 region's amplicons of bacterial 16S rRNA, we predicted the functional diversity and composition in control and A.

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Article Synopsis
  • Dirofilarioses are diseases caused by mosquito-borne nematodes, notably Dirofilaria immitis, which primarily affects dogs in America; past studies in Cuba relied on non-specific methods for identification.* -
  • This study provided a molecular characterization of nematodes from a dog in Cuba, confirming they were D. immitis using specific gene analysis, with sequences matching those from other animals and mosquito vectors.* -
  • Further research is needed to understand the spread of canine dirofilariosis in Cuba and to identify which mosquito species are effective vectors for these parasites.*
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Recent studies show that mosquito-microbiota interactions affects vector competence and fitness. We investigated if host antibodies modifying microbiota impact mosquito physiology. We focused on three prevalent bacteria (Acinetobacter, Pantoea, and Chryseobacterium), originally isolated from the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus.

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The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in animal health and homeostasis, particularly in endangered species conservation. This study investigated the fecal microbiota composition of European captive-bred African savanna elephants () housed in French zoos, and compared it with wild African savanna elephants. Fecal samples were collected and processed for DNA extraction and amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.

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is an obligate intraerythrocytic bacterium of bovines, responsible for large economic losses worldwide. It is mainly transmitted by ticks and, despite mounting evidence suggesting transovarial transmission, the occurrence of this phenomenon remains controversial. We evaluated the vector competence of larvae vertically infected with to transmit the bacterium to a naïve bovine.

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Background: Ticks can transmit a broad variety of pathogens of medical importance, including Borrelia afzelii, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis in Europe. Tick microbiota is an important factor modulating, not only vector physiology, but also the vector competence. Anti-microbiota vaccines targeting keystone taxa of tick microbiota can alter tick feeding and modulate the taxonomic and functional profiles of bacterial communities in the vector.

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