Cultivation Methods of Spirochetes from Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Complex and Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

The Borrelia consists of three groups of species, those of the Lyme borreliosis (LB) group, also known as B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.

Hydrological contraction patterns and duration of drying period shape microbial-mediated litter decomposition.

The length and number of streams experiencing intermittency is expected to increase in response to human population growth, associated water use, and climate change. In these streams, habitat contraction may occur at distinct rates giving rise to drying periods of distinct duration. To date, the impact of drought installation rate and duration have been mostly overlooked.

Leaf litter microbial decomposition in salinized streams under intermittency.

Human-induced salinization of freshwaters constitutes a growing global problem, whose consequences on streams functioning are largely unknown. Climate change projections predict enhanced evaporation, as well as an increase in extreme events and in variability of precipitation. This will result in more frequent, extended and severe drought periods that may aggravate water salinization of streams and rivers.

Biodiversity of leaf litter fungi in streams along a latitudinal gradient.

Global patterns of biodiversity have emerged for soil microorganisms, plants and animals, and the extraordinary significance of microbial functions in ecosystems is also well established. Virtually unknown, however, are large-scale patterns of microbial diversity in freshwaters, although these aquatic ecosystems are hotspots of biodiversity and biogeochemical processes. Here we report on the first large-scale study of biodiversity of leaf-litter fungi in streams along a latitudinal gradient unravelled by Illumina sequencing.

Are fungal strains from salinized streams adapted to salt-rich conditions?

Anthropogenic salinization of freshwater is a global problem with largely unknown consequences for stream functions. We compared the effects of salt addition (6 g l NaCl) in microcosms on leaf mass loss and microbial parameters in single- and multispecies assemblages of fungal strains (, HELU; , TEMA; , FLCU) isolated from a reference (R) or salinized (S) stream. Fungal growth and interactions were also assessed.

Under-Detection of Lyme Disease in Canada.

Lyme disease arises from infection with pathogenic species. In Canada, current case definition for confirmed Lyme disease requires serological confirmation by both a positive first tier ELISA and confirmatory second tier immunoblot (western blot). For surveillance and research initiatives, this requirement is intentionally conservative to exclude false positive results.

Stream salinization and fungal-mediated leaf decomposition: A microcosm study.

Salinization is of major global concern due to its effect on stream biota, and ecosystem functions and services. In small streams, litter decomposition is a key ecosystem-level process driven by decomposers, mainly fungi (aquatic hyphomycetes), which link litter and invertebrates. Here we assessed the effects of an environmentally relevant range of salt additions (0, 2, 4, 8, 16gL NaCl) on (1) fungal growth and species-specific reproductive output and (2) fungal mediated-decomposition of Quercus robur leaves.

Quantitative real-time PCR as a promising tool for the detection and quantification of leaf-associated fungal species - A proof-of-concept using Alatospora pulchella.

Traditional methods to identify aquatic hyphomycetes rely on the morphology of released conidia, which can lead to misidentifications or underestimates of species richness due to convergent morphological evolution and the presence of non-sporulating mycelia. Molecular methods allow fungal identification irrespective of the presence of conidia or their morphology. As a proof-of-concept, we established a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay to accurately quantify the amount of DNA as a proxy for the biomass of an aquatic hyphomycete species (Alatospora pulchella).

Metabarcoding-based fungal diversity on coarse and fine particulate organic matter in a first-order stream in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Most streams receive substantial inputs of allochthonous organic material in the form of leaves and twigs (CPOM , coarse particulate organic matter). Mechanical and biological processing converts this into fine particulate organic matter (FPOM). Other sources of particles include flocculated dissolved matter and soil particles.

Disgust versus Lust: Exploring the Interactions of Disgust and Fear with Sexual Arousal in Women.

Sexual arousal is a motivational state that moves humans toward situations that inherently pose a risk of disease transmission. Disgust is an emotion that adaptively moves humans away from such situations. Incongruent is the fact that sexual activity is elementary to human fitness yet involves strong disgust elicitors.

Incubation temperature and substrate quality modulate sporulation by aquatic hyphomycetes.

Frequency and amplitude of temperature oscillations can profoundly affect structure and function of ecosystems. Unless the rate of a biological process changes linearly within the range of these fluctuations, the cumulative effect of temperature differs from the effect measured at the average temperature (Jensen's inequality). Here, we measured numbers and types of spores released by aquatic hyphomycetes from oak and alder leaves that had been exposed in a Portuguese stream for between 7 and 94 days.

The biogeography of marine plankton traits.

Changes in marine plankton communities driven by environmental variability impact the marine food web and global biogeochemical cycles of carbon and other elements. To predict and assess these community shifts and their consequences, ecologists are increasingly investigating how the functional traits of plankton determine their relative fitness along environmental and biological gradients. Laboratory, field and modelling studies are adopting this trait-based approach to map the biogeography of plankton traits that underlies variations in plankton communities.

Effects of 4-n-nonylphenol on aquatic hyphomycetes.

We measured the removal of 4-n-nonylphenol (between 50 and 500 μg L(-1)) from an aqueous solution with or without linden and oak leaf disks. More 4-n-NP was removed when the leaves were first exposed for 3 weeks in a stream, which allowed colonization by aquatic hyphomycetes. The response of fungal sporulation rates from beech, linden, maple and oak leaves to increasing levels of 4-n-NP was complex.

Genomic imprinting in Drosophila has properties of both mammalian and insect imprinting.

Genomic imprinting is a process that marks DNA, causing a change in gene or chromosome behavior, depending on the sex of the transmitting parent. In mammals, most examples of genomic imprinting affect the transcription of individual or small clusters of genes whereas in insects, genomic imprinting tends to silence entire chromosomes. This has been interpreted as evidence of independent evolutionary origins for imprinting.

The white gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a protein with a role in courtship behavior.

The white gene of Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively studied, yet it is still not understood how its ectopic overexpression induces male-male courtship. To investigate the cellular basis of this behavior, we examined the sexual behavior of several classes of mutants. We find that male-male courtship is seen not only in flies overexpressing the white gene, but also in mutants expected to have mislocalized White protein.

Genome and chromosome structure: Twelve dynamic and evolving genomes.

Chromosomes are not inert structures that haul the genome through cell division. The dynamic properties of chromosomes, during the cell cycle, the lifetime of the organism and across evolutionary time, featured prominently at the 49(th) Annual Drosophila Research Conference. Platform presentations, workshops and posters focused on many aspects of chromosome structure and function including chromosome interactions such as trans-silencing and pairing between homologous and non-homologous chromosomes, specialized portions of the chromosome including the centromere and telomeres, the structure, function and evolution of the large heterochromatic domains such as the Y and 4(th) chromosomes, centric heterochromatin and subtelomeric heterochromatin.

Seasonal and substrate preferences of fungi colonizing leaves in streams: traditional versus molecular evidence.

Aquatic hyphomycetes are the main fungal decomposers of plant litter in streams. We compared the importance of substrate (three leaf species, wood) and season on fungal colonization. Substrates were exposed for 12 4-week periods.

Not just pretty eyes: Drosophila eye-colour mutations and lysosomal delivery.

Analysis of Drosophila eye-colour mutations has made seminal contributions to the fields of genetics and biochemistry. Recent findings suggest that a subset of eye-colour genes is crucial for vesicular transport of proteins to pigment granules, specialized lysosomes of eye-pigment cells. Thus, classical work describing more than 85 eye-colour mutations and their genetic interactions offers a remarkable, untapped resource for the genetic analysis of protein delivery to lysosomes.