DON content in oat grains in Norway related to weather conditions at different growth stages

High concentrations of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), produced by Fusarium graminearum have occurred frequently in Norwegian oats recently. Early prediction of DON levels is important for farmers, authorities and the Cereal Industry. In this study, the main weather factors influencing myco-toxin accumulation were identified and two models to predict the risk of DON in oat grains in Norway were developed: (1) as a warning system for farmers to decide if and when to treat with fungicide, and (2) for authorities and industry to use at harvest to identify potential food safety problems. Oat grain samples from farmers’ fields were collected together with weather data (2004–2013) A mathematical model was developed and used to esti- mate phenology windows of growth stages in oats (til- lering, flowering etc.). Weather summarisations were then calculated within these windows, and the Spearman rank correlation factor calculated between DON- contamination in oats at harvest and the weather summarisations for each phenological window. DON contamination was most clearly associated with the weather conditions around flowering and close to har- vest. Warm, rainy and humid weather during and around flowering increased the risk of DON accumulation in oats, as did dry periods during germination/seedling growth and tillering. Prior to harvest, warm and humid weather conditions followed by cool and dry conditions were associated with a decreased risk of DON accumu- lation. A prediction model, including only pre-flowering weather conditions, adequately forecasted risk of DON contamination in oat, and can aid in decisions about fungicide treatments

Evolution and global transmission of a multidrug-resistant, community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus lineage from the Indian subcontinent

The evolution and global transmission of antimicrobial resistance have been well documented for Gram-negative bacteria and health care-associated epidemic pathogens, often emerging from regions with heavy antimicrobial use. However, the degree to which similar processes occur with Gram-positive bacteria in the community setting is less well understood. In this study, we traced the recent origins and global spread of a multidrug-resistant, community-associated Staphylococcus aureus lineage from the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal Bay clone (ST772). We generated whole-genome sequence data of 340 isolates from 14 countries, including the first isolates from Bangladesh and India, to reconstruct the evolutionary history and genomic epidemiology of the lineage. Our data show that the clone emerged on the Indian subcontinent in the early 1960s and disseminated rapidly in the 1990s. Short-term outbreaks in community and health care settings occurred following intercontinental transmission, typically associated with travel and family contacts on the subcontinent, but ongoing endemic transmission was uncommon. Acquisition of a multidrug resistance integrated plasmid was instrumental in the emergence of a single dominant and globally disseminated clade in the early 1990s. Phenotypic data on biofilm, growth, and toxicity point to antimicrobial resistance as the driving force in the evolution of ST772. The Bengal Bay clone therefore combines the multidrug resistance of traditional health care-associated clones with the epidemiological transmission of community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Our study demonstrates the importance of whole-genome sequencing for tracking the evolution of emerging and resistant pathogens. It provides a critical framework for ongoing surveillance of the clone on the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere

The influence of environmental and soil-related variables on the spatial distribution of PCBs in Norwegian and UK soils: implications for global cycling.

This paper reports the influence of environmental variables on soil concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their global fractionation. Soils were sampled from remote woodland (coniferous and deciduous) and grassland locations on a latitudinal transect through the United Kingdom and Norway. Different processes control PCB concentrations and burdens in coniferous, deciduous, and grassland soil systems; these are discussed, with emphasis on the influence of canopy scavenging and soil organic matter (OM) content. In general, concentration differences between sites were 1−2 orders of magnitude for lighter PCBs and 2−3 orders of magnitude for heavier PCBs, when expressed on a pg g-1 dry weight basis. These differences decreased by up to an order of magnitude when expressed as pg g-1 OM. The dataset suggests that the more volatile PCBs are moving toward equilibrium with the OM burden of the soil compartment on a European regional scale, while the distribution of the “stickier”, heavier homologues appears to still be primarily influenced by their preferential deposition closer to source areas. The relative concentration of the tri- and tetra-PCBs increases with latitude, while that of the hepta- and octa-PCBs decreases, consistent with the global fractionation theory. However, the regression slopes are quite shallow, with high scatter, implying that many environmental and soil-related factors (such as precipitation, organic carbon content and type, other soil properties, local sources, etc.) are also influencing the observed congener patterns. Temperature-driven fractionation, while clearly operating and detectable, needs to be considered in this broader context