Analytical investigation of cannabis biomarkers in raw urban wastewater to refine consumption estimates.

Wastewater analysis of Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) biomarkers can provide essential information on trends in cannabis consumption. Although analysis is mostly focused on the aqueous phase, previous studies have illustrated the need of improving the measurements of raw influent wastewater (IWW) considering also suspended solids. This is important for cannabis biomarkers, because a substantial part of them is expected to be found in the suspended solids due to their more lipophilic character compared with other metabolites/drugs included in these types of studies.

Infection by a eukaryotic gut parasite in wild Daphnia sp. associates with a distinct bacterial community.

Host-associated bacterial communities play an important role in host fitness and resistance to diseases. Yet, few studies have investigated tripartite interaction between a host, parasite and host-associated bacterial communities in natural settings. Here, we use 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to compare gut- and body- bacterial communities of wild water fleas belonging to the Daphnia longispina complex, between uninfected hosts and those infected with the common and virulent eukaryotic gut parasite Caullerya mesnili (Family: Ichthyosporea).

Initial community composition determines the long-term dynamics of a microbial cross-feeding interaction by modulating niche availability.

Multi-step substrate consumption pathways can promote microbial biodiversity via cross-feeding. If one cell type preferentially consumes a primary substrate rather than the subsequently formed intermediates, then other cell types can specialize in consuming the intermediates. While this mechanism for promoting biodiversity is established, predicting the long-term persistence of such cross-feeding interactions remains challenging.

Multi-level network dataset of ten Swiss wetlands governance cases based on qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys.

The dataset of this paper originated from quantitative online surveys and qualitative expert interviews with organizational actors relevant to the governance of ten Swiss wetlands from 2019 till 2021. Multi-level networks represent the wetlands governance for each of the ten cases. The collaboration networks of actors form the first level of the multi-level networks and are connected to multiple other network levels that account for the social and ecological systems those actors are active in.

Water carrying in hills of Nepal-associations with women's musculoskeletal disorders, uterine prolapse, and spontaneous abortions.

More than a third of women in Nepal have to carry water from source to home to satisfy their families' daily needs. A cross-sectional study was carried out in a hilly area in Nepal to assess water-carrying practices and their association with women's health. Quantitative interviews were conducted with 1001 women of reproductive age and were complemented with health surveys carried out by health professionals and structured observations of water carrying.

Biosynthetic potential of the global ocean microbiome.

Natural microbial communities are phylogenetically and metabolically diverse. In addition to underexplored organismal groups, this diversity encompasses a rich discovery potential for ecologically and biotechnologically relevant enzymes and biochemical compounds. However, studying this diversity to identify genomic pathways for the synthesis of such compounds and assigning them to their respective hosts remains challenging.

Ingested nano- and microsized polystyrene particles surpass the intestinal barrier and accumulate in the body.

Plastic pollution is a major global challenge of our times, baring a potential threat for the environment and the human health. The increasing abundance of nanoplastic (NP) and microplastic (MP) particles in the human diet might negatively affect human health since they - particularly in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) - might surpass the intestinal barrier. To investigate whether ingested plastic particles cross the intestinal epithelium and promote bowel inflammation, mice were supplemented with NP or MP polystyrene (PS) particles for 24 or 12 weeks before inducing acute or chronic dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) colitis with continuous plastic administration.

Towards a system-level causative knowledge of pollinator communities.

Pollination plays a central role in both crop production and maintaining biodiversity. However, habitat loss, pesticides, invasive species and larger environmental fluctuations are contributing to a dramatic decline of pollinators worldwide. Different management solutions require knowledge of how ecological communities will respond following interventions.

Host-Associated Bacterial Communities Vary Between Daphnia galeata Genotypes but Not by Host Genetic Distance.

Host genotype may shape host-associated bacterial communities (commonly referred to as microbiomes). We sought to determine (a) whether bacterial communities vary among host genotypes in the water flea Daphnia galeata and (b) if this difference is driven by the genetic distance between host genotypes, by using D. galeata genotypes hatched from sediments of different time periods.

Genomic changes underlying repeated niche shifts in an adaptive radiation.

In adaptive radiations, single lineages rapidly diversify by adapting to many new niches. Little is known yet about the genomic mechanisms involved, that is, the source of genetic variation or genomic architecture facilitating or constraining adaptive radiation. Here, we investigate genomic changes associated with repeated invasion of many different freshwater niches by threespine stickleback in the Haida Gwaii archipelago, Canada, by resequencing single genomes from one marine and 28 freshwater populations.

Does habitat heterogeneity influence taxonomic richness and abundance? A case study from a terrestrial protected area in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Biodiversity is under enormous pressure from multiple threats including climate change, land use change, habitat alterations and hunting pressure. One way to ease this pressure on biodiversity and to mitigate the effects of above-mentioned threats, is to establish protected areas. Importance of protected increases many folds in regions that are considered as biodiversity poor regions i.

The importance of alternative splicing in adaptive evolution.

Although alternative splicing is a ubiquitous co-transcriptional gene regulatory mechanism in plants, animals and fungi, its contribution to evolutionary transitions is understudied. Alternative splicing enables different mRNA isoforms to be generated from the same gene, expanding transcriptomic and thus proteomic diversity. While the role of gene expression variation in adaptive evolution is widely accepted, biologists still debate the functional impact of alternative isoforms on phenotype.

Rare and localized events stabilize microbial community composition and patterns of spatial self-organization in a fluctuating environment.

Spatial self-organization is a hallmark of surface-associated microbial communities that is governed by local environmental conditions and further modified by interspecific interactions. Here, we hypothesize that spatial patterns of microbial cell-types can stabilize the composition of cross-feeding microbial communities under fluctuating environmental conditions. We tested this hypothesis by studying the growth and spatial self-organization of microbial co-cultures consisting of two metabolically interacting strains of the bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri.

The enrichment paradox in adaptive radiations: Emergence of predators hinders diversification in resource rich environments.

Adaptive radiations are known for rapid niche diversification in response to ecological opportunity. While most resources usually exist prior to adaptive radiation, novel niches associated with novel resources can be created as a clade diversifies. For example, in African lake cichlid radiations some species prey upon other species of the clade (intraclade consumers).

Toward Characterizing the Genetic Basis of Trace Organic Contaminant Biotransformation in Activated Sludge: The Role of Multicopper Oxidases as a Case Study.

Activated sludge treatment leverages the ability of microbes to uptake and (co)-metabolize chemicals and has shown promise in eliminating trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) during wastewater treatment. However, targeted interventions to optimize the process are limited as the fundamental drivers of the observed reactions remain elusive. In this work, we present a comprehensive workflow for the identification and characterization of key enzymes involved in TrOCs biotransformation pathways in complex microbial communities.

Chromosomal Fusions Facilitate Adaptation to Divergent Environments in Threespine Stickleback.

Chromosomal fusions are hypothesized to facilitate adaptation to divergent environments, both by bringing together previously unlinked adaptive alleles and by creating regions of low recombination that facilitate the linkage of adaptive alleles; but, there is little empirical evidence to support this hypothesis. Here, we address this knowledge gap by studying threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), in which ancestral marine fish have repeatedly adapted to freshwater across the northern hemisphere. By comparing the threespine and ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) genomes to a de novo assembly of the fourspine stickleback (Apeltes quadracus) and an outgroup species, we find two chromosomal fusion events involving the same chromosomes have occurred independently in the threespine and ninespine stickleback lineages.

Application of UV absorbance and electron-donating capacity as surrogates for micropollutant abatement during full-scale ozonation of secondary-treated wastewater.

Ozonation of secondary-treated wastewater for the abatement of micropollutants requires a reliable control of ozone doses. Changes in the UV absorbance of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during ozonation allow to estimate micropollutant abatement on-line and were therefore identified as feed-back control parameter. In this study, the suitability of the electron-donating capacity (EDC) as an additional surrogate parameter which is independent of optical DOM properties was evaluated during full-scale ozonation.

Oxidant-reactive carbonous moieties in dissolved organic matter: Selective quantification by oxidative titration using chlorine dioxide and ozone.

The application of oxidants for disinfection or micropollutant abatement during drinking water and wastewater treatment is accompanied by oxidation of matrix components such as dissolved organic matter (DOM). To improve predictions of the efficiency of oxidation processes and the formation of oxidation products, methods to determine concentrations of oxidant-reactive phenolic, olefinic or amine-type DOM moieties are critical. Here, a novel selective oxidative titration approach is presented, which is based on reaction kinetics of oxidation reactions towards certain DOM moieties.

Terrestrial-type nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between seagrass and a marine bacterium.

Symbiotic N-fixing microorganisms have a crucial role in the assimilation of nitrogen by eukaryotes in nitrogen-limited environments. Particularly among land plants, N-fixing symbionts occur in a variety of distantly related plant lineages and often involve an intimate association between host and symbiont. Descriptions of such intimate symbioses are lacking for seagrasses, which evolved around 100 million years ago from terrestrial flowering plants that migrated back to the sea.

The Natural Products Atlas 2.0: a database of microbially-derived natural products.

Within the natural products field there is an increasing emphasis on the study of compounds from microbial sources. This has been fuelled by interest in the central role that microorganisms play in mediating both interspecies interactions and host-microbe relationships. To support the study of natural products chemistry produced by microorganisms we released the Natural Products Atlas, a database of known microbial natural products structures, in 2019.