Nasopharyngeal microbiota in children is associated with severe asthma exacerbations

Background: The respiratory microbiome has been associated with the etiology and disease course of asthma. Objective: We sought to assess the nasopharyngeal microbiota in children with a severe asthma exacerbation and their associations with medication, air quality, and viral infection. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among children aged 2 to 18 years admitted to the medium care unit (MCU; n = 84) or intensive care unit (ICU; n = 78) with an asthma exacerbation. For case-control analyses, we matched all cases aged 2 to 6 years (n = 87) to controls in a 1:2 ratio. Controls were participants of either a prospective case-control study or a longitudinal birth cohort (n = 182). The nasopharyngeal microbiota was characterized by 16S-rRNA-gene sequencing. Results: Cases showed higher Shannon diversity index (ICU and MCU combined; P = .002) and a distinct microbial community composition when compared with controls (permutational multivariate ANOVA R2 = 1.9%; P &lt; .001). We observed significantly higher abundance of Staphylococcus and “oral” taxa, including Neisseria, Veillonella, and Streptococcus spp. and a lower abundance of Dolosigranulum pigrum, Corynebacterium, and Moraxella spp. (MaAsLin2; q &lt; 0.25) in cases versus controls. Furthermore, Neisseria abundance was associated with more severe disease (ICU vs MCU MaAslin2, P = .03; q = 0.30). Neisseria spp. abundance was also related with fine particulate matter exposure, whereas Haemophilus and Streptococcus abundances were related with recent inhaled corticosteroid use. We observed no correlations with viral infection. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that children admitted with asthma exacerbations harbor a microbiome characterized by overgrowth of Staphylococcus and “oral” microbes and an underrepresentation of beneficial niche-appropriate commensals. Several of these associations may be explained by (environmental or medical) exposures, although cause-consequence relationships remain unclear and require further investigations.</p

Changements démographiques chez les petits pélagiques du Golfe du Lion : y a-t-il un contrôle bottom-up ?

La compréhension et la gestion des écosystèmes requièrent un maximum de connaissances sur les dynamiques de populations. Depuis 2007, la taille de la sardine (Sardina pilchardus) et de l’anchois (Engraulis encrasicolus) dans le Golfe du Lion a chuté tandis qu’au même moment, la population de sprat, qui a une faible valeur commerciale, a fortement augmenté. Les très forts enjeux économiques autour de ces espèces ont conduit au projet de recherche « EcoPelGol » dans lequel se situe cette étude portant sur les changements observés. La condition corporelle, la croissance ainsi que la structure en âge et en taille des sardines, des anchois et en partie des sprats ont été analysées sur les vingt dernières années. Alors qu’en 2005-2007, la situation semblait optimale pour les anchois et les sardines (taille et condition élevées), celle-ci s’est considérablement dégradée depuis 2008, l’anchois et la sardine étant significativement plus petits et plus maigres. De plus, une diminution de l’âge et de la croissance a été observée chez la sardine. Nous avons ensuite caractérisé les fluctuations des débarquements historiques (1865-2013) de l’anchois, de la sardine et du maquereau. La chute récente des débarquements a été mise en exergue, avec une situation inédite où la sardine est actuellement moins débarquée qu’avant les années 60, date à laquelle les débarquements ont fortement augmenté suite à un accroissement conséquent de l’effort de pêche. Bien que la majorité de la variance dans les séries de débarquements semble être engendré par les changements de l’effort de pêche, nous avons également observé une relation entre les débarquements et l’indice « Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation » pour l’anchois et la sardine et avec le « Western Mediterranean Oscillation » pour l'anchois. Dans une troisième analyse, la pression de prédation du thon rouge sur l’anchois, la sardine et le sprat a été estimée pour voir si l’accroissement de la population du thon depuis 2007 lié à de nouvelle mesures de gestion a pu impacté les poissons petits pélagiques. Mais bien que la sardine et l’anchois soient les proies principales du thon, moins de 2% de leurs populations ont été consommés chaque année entre 2011-2013, et ce, sans sélectivité sur la taille de ces proies de la part du thon. Ainsi, le thon rouge n’a pas pu avoir un impact significatif sur la structure en taille ou les abondances des petits pélagiques. Dans le chapitre final, nous avons considéré la possible influence de pathogènes. Des analyses globales dirigées vers la détection des parasites, des bactéries et des virus ont été effectuées tout au long de l’année et ont révélées la présence ponctuelle et relativement faible de bactéries des genres Tenacibaculum et Vibrio et celle systématique de microparasites. Malgré l’impossibilité d’exclure leur pathogénicité, aucune lésion tissulaire n’a été attribuée à ces organismes, réduisant fortement la probabilité d’une épizootie. Nos travaux indiquent que les mécanismes « top-down », des pathogènes ou encore la pêche ne sont probablement pas les facteurs clés pour expliquer les changements observés chez les poissons petites pélagiques. À l'opposé, certains paramètres environnementaux ont expliqué une partie de la variabilité dans la condition corporelle des poissons et leurs débarquements. Nous concluons donc qu’un contrôle « bottom-up », et particulièrement un changement dans la quantité et/ou qualité du zooplancton, peut être la cause des phénomènes dans les populations des poissons petits pélagiques. Si cette thèse permet une avancée dans la compréhension de leur dynamique, des analyses complémentaires seront nécessaires pour confirmer notre hypothèse principale et pour estimer l’influence des autres facteurs agissant potentiellement en synergie.Knowledge on population dynamics is key to the improvement of management and the understanding of ecosystem functioning. Since 2007, the size of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean) has severely decreased, which has strongly affected the fisheries. Simultaneously, the commercially uninteresting sprat population increased remarkably. As the economic and ecological stakes are high, the EcoPelGol project of which this PhD is part was established. We first analysed the sardine, anchovy and (partially) sprat population for changes in body condition, growth and size and age structure over the last 20 years. We concluded that sardine and anchovy have had from 2008 onwards a distinctively poor body condition and size, and that sardine have also showed a concurrent decrease in age and growth. In contrast, both species were in optimal and average “health” during 2005-2007 and 1992-2004, respectively. Subsequently, historical landings of sardine, anchovy and mackerel were considered (1865-2013), of which the fluctuations were characterised and statistically related to environmental variables. The recent dramatic landings decrease was put into perspective, as for example sardine is now for the first time landed less than before the 1960s, when a big probably effort-related upsurge occurred. Despite most of the variability being explained by what looks like changes in fishing effort, a link was found between the sardine and anchovy landings and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the anchovy landings and the Western Mediterranean Oscillation. Next, as a management associated bluefin tuna increase also happened since 2007, its predation pressure on all three small pelagic species was estimated. We concluded that although sardine and anchovy are bluefin tuna’s main prey items, less than 2% of each population (including sprat) was consumed annually during 2011-2013 and that there was no clear size selectivity. Thus, tuna could not have had a noticeable impact on the population abundance or size structure of the small pelagics. In the last chapter, an epizootic disease was considered. An all-embracing approach directed towards the all-year round detection of both general and specific parasites, bacteria and viruses revealed the mostly temporal and not necessarily high occurrence of only three groups: microparasites, Vibrio spp. (sometimes determined as Vibrio alginolyticus) and bacteria of the genus Tenacibaculum. Although we could not exclude their pathogenicity, significant tissue damage at a cellular or macroscopic level was never observed, making the disease hypothesis less likely. Thus, we considered several hypotheses and indicated that top-down control (through Bluefin tuna predation), pathogens and fisheries are unlikely to be main drivers. In contrast, some environmental parameters explained a part of the variability in fish condition and landings. After a final discussion on all probable theories we concluded that a bottom-up control, such as especially a planktonic change in quantity and/or quality, might be on the basis of the observed changes. Although this work is a great step towards the understanding of the small pelagic dynamics in the Gulf of Lions, further investigations will still be needed to confirm our main hypothesis and to estimate the potential synergetic effect of other drivers

Population changes in small pelagic fish of the Gulf of Lions : a bottom-up control?

Knowledge on population dynamics is key to the improvement of management and the understanding of ecosystem functioning. Since 2007, the size of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean) has severely decreased, which has strongly affected the fisheries. Simultaneously, the commercially uninteresting sprat population increased remarkably. As the economic and ecological stakes are high, the EcoPelGol project of which this PhD is part was established. We first analysed the sardine, anchovy and (partially) sprat population for changes in body condition, growth and size and age structure over the last 20 years. We concluded that sardine and anchovy have had from 2008 onwards a distinctively poor body condition and size, and that sardine have also showed a concurrent decrease in age and growth. In contrast, both species were in optimal and average “health” during 2005-2007 and 1992-2004, respectively. Subsequently, historical landings of sardine, anchovy and mackerel were considered (1865-2013), of which the fluctuations were characterised and statistically related to environmental variables. The recent dramatic landings decrease was put into perspective, as for example sardine is now for the first time landed less than before the 1960s, when a big probably effort-related upsurge occurred. Despite most of the variability being explained by what looks like changes in fishing effort, a link was found between the sardine and anchovy landings and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the anchovy landings and the Western Mediterranean Oscillation. Next, as a management associated bluefin tuna increase also happened since 2007, its predation pressure on all three small pelagic species was estimated. We concluded that although sardine and anchovy are bluefin tuna’s main prey items, less than 2% of each population (including sprat) was consumed annually during 2011-2013 and that there was no clear size selectivity. Thus, tuna could not have had a noticeable impact on the population abundance or size structure of the small pelagics. In the last chapter, an epizootic disease was considered. An all-embracing approach directed towards the all-year round detection of both general and specific parasites, bacteria and viruses revealed the mostly temporal and not necessarily high occurrence of only three groups: microparasites, Vibrio spp. (sometimes determined as Vibrio alginolyticus) and bacteria of the genus Tenacibaculum. Although we could not exclude their pathogenicity, significant tissue damage at a cellular or macroscopic level was never observed, making the disease hypothesis less likely. Thus, we considered several hypotheses and indicated that top-down control (through Bluefin tuna predation), pathogens and fisheries are unlikely to be main drivers. In contrast, some environmental parameters explained a part of the variability in fish condition and landings. After a final discussion on all probable theories we concluded that a bottom-up control, such as especially a planktonic change in quantity and/or quality, might be on the basis of the observed changes. Although this work is a great step towards the understanding of the small pelagic dynamics in the Gulf of Lions, further investigations will still be needed to confirm our main hypothesis and to estimate the potential synergetic effect of other drivers.La compréhension et la gestion des écosystèmes requièrent un maximum de connaissances sur les dynamiques de populations. Depuis 2007, la taille de la sardine (Sardina pilchardus) et de l’anchois (Engraulis encrasicolus) dans le Golfe du Lion a chuté tandis qu’au même moment, la population de sprat, qui a une faible valeur commerciale, a fortement augmenté. Les très forts enjeux économiques autour de ces espèces ont conduit au projet de recherche « EcoPelGol » dans lequel se situe cette étude portant sur les changements observés. La condition corporelle, la croissance ainsi que la structure en âge et en taille des sardines, des anchois et en partie des sprats ont été analysées sur les vingt dernières années. Alors qu’en 2005-2007, la situation semblait optimale pour les anchois et les sardines (taille et condition élevées), celle-ci s’est considérablement dégradée depuis 2008, l’anchois et la sardine étant significativement plus petits et plus maigres. De plus, une diminution de l’âge et de la croissance a été observée chez la sardine. Nous avons ensuite caractérisé les fluctuations des débarquements historiques (1865-2013) de l’anchois, de la sardine et du maquereau. La chute récente des débarquements a été mise en exergue, avec une situation inédite où la sardine est actuellement moins débarquée qu’avant les années 60, date à laquelle les débarquements ont fortement augmenté suite à un accroissement conséquent de l’effort de pêche. Bien que la majorité de la variance dans les séries de débarquements semble être engendré par les changements de l’effort de pêche, nous avons également observé une relation entre les débarquements et l’indice « Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation » pour l’anchois et la sardine et avec le « Western Mediterranean Oscillation » pour l'anchois. Dans une troisième analyse, la pression de prédation du thon rouge sur l’anchois, la sardine et le sprat a été estimée pour voir si l’accroissement de la population du thon depuis 2007 lié à de nouvelle mesures de gestion a pu impacté les poissons petits pélagiques. Mais bien que la sardine et l’anchois soient les proies principales du thon, moins de 2% de leurs populations ont été consommés chaque année entre 2011-2013, et ce, sans sélectivité sur la taille de ces proies de la part du thon. Ainsi, le thon rouge n’a pas pu avoir un impact significatif sur la structure en taille ou les abondances des petits pélagiques. Dans le chapitre final, nous avons considéré la possible influence de pathogènes. Des analyses globales dirigées vers la détection des parasites, des bactéries et des virus ont été effectuées tout au long de l’année et ont révélées la présence ponctuelle et relativement faible de bactéries des genres Tenacibaculum et Vibrio et celle systématique de microparasites. Malgré l’impossibilité d’exclure leur pathogénicité, aucune lésion tissulaire n’a été attribuée à ces organismes, réduisant fortement la probabilité d’une épizootie. Nos travaux indiquent que les mécanismes « top-down », des pathogènes ou encore la pêche ne sont probablement pas les facteurs clés pour expliquer les changements observés chez les poissons petites pélagiques. À l'opposé, certains paramètres environnementaux ont expliqué une partie de la variabilité dans la condition corporelle des poissons et leurs débarquements. Nous concluons donc qu’un contrôle « bottom-up », et particulièrement un changement dans la quantité et/ou qualité du zooplancton, peut être la cause des phénomènes dans les populations des poissons petits pélagiques. Si cette thèse permet une avancée dans la compréhension de leur dynamique, des analyses complémentaires seront nécessaires pour confirmer notre hypothèse principale et pour estimer l’influence des autres facteurs agissant potentiellement en synergie

Impact of environmental factors on recruitment and hatching patterns of Horse Mackerel (L.) collected in a nearshore rocky reef system

Horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus, Linnaeus, 1758) is a highly exploited fish species, common throughout the North-East Atlantic. As a pelagic-neritic fish it typically occurs over the shelf at 100-200 m depth on sandy bottom and most research has focused on adults or early life stages (eggs and larvae), caught or examined in deeper waters. Nevertheless, larvae and early stages of Trachurus species have been observed in the nearshore environment of a rocky reef system in Portugal. More research is needed in order to understand the importance of nearshore environments for horse mackerel. In addition little is known on how environmental processes might affect early life parameters of this species. In this study we monitored the arrival of early juvenile horse mackerel to the reef environment at a fine time scale, and analyzed the relationship of environmental factors with patterns of recruitment and hatching, revealed by otolith microstructure analysis. In total around 2500 fish were collected with Standard Monitoring Units for the Recruitment of Fish (SMURF) and a distinct depth preference was recorded as 99% of fish were sampled with surface SMURFs. A GAM and GAMM analysis of the recruitment and hatching pattern, respectively, revealed a strong relationship with the lunar cycle and local up-welling. Both recruitment and hatching had a periodic pattern with peaks near the new moon; upwelling had a negative impact. Further, the study indicated that the nearshore environment might be an important nursery area for the post-larval growth of horse mackerel

Fish population growth in the Gulf of St Lawrence: effects of climate, fishing and predator abundance

Climate variability, fishing and predation are the main factors affecting fish population dynamics. In this study, the drivers of population growth variability were investigated for 7 fish stocks (2 cod, 4 herring and 1 mackerel stock) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (NW Atlantic). The annual population growth sensitivity to both recruitment and survival (i.e. how much population growth depends on recruitment and survival) was estimated through elasticity analyses before being linked to harvesting history as well as environmental conditions (climate and predation). Stock-specific generalized additive models showed that population growth was most sensitive to recruitment variability with decreasing fish generation time, increasing water temperature and, in some cases, with predation. The dependence of population growth on recruitment, however, was generally close to 0, albeit higher for pelagic stocks than for demersal ones. This indicates that adult survival was more important than recruitment in shaping population growth and thus population size. As climate mainly acts on recruitment while fishing affects adult survival, management efforts seem more important than climate variability in regulating population growth, especially for long-lived cod. Nevertheless, population growth may become increasingly dependent on recruitment variability with warming waters; therefore, more flexible management strategies should be developed to cope with these oscillations

Assessment modelling approaches for stocks with spawning components, seasonal and spatial dynamics, and limited resources for data collection.

The true spatiotemporal structure of a fish population is often more complex than represented in assessments because movement between spawning components is disregarded and data at the necessary scale are unavailable. This can generate poor advice. We explore the impacts of modelling choices and their associated risks given limited data and lack of biological knowledge on spawning component structure and connectivity. Pseudo-data for an age structured fish population were simulated with two spawning components that experience various levels of connectivity and that might overlap during a certain period but segregate during reproduction. A variety of implicit spatiotemporal and simpler models were fitted to the pseudo-datasets, mimicking different situations of data availability. To reproduce the true stock characteristics, the spatiotemporal models required total catch data disaggregated by spawning component; however, catch-at-age was not as important nor were disaggregated biomass indices to reproduce true dynamics. Even with just 5% connectivity between spawning components, both the spatiotemporal models and simpler alternatives generally overestimated stock biomass. Although bias was smallest when considering one unit population, spawning components might still need to be considered for management and conservation. In such case, the spatiotemporal model was less influenced by ignored connectivity patterns compared to a model focussing on one spawning component only

Sub-chapter 2.1.2. Climate change induces bottom-up changes in the food webs of the Mediterranean Sea

At the global scale, one of the main effects of climate change on marine ecosystems is changing the rate and patterns of primary production (Brown et al. 2010). In the Mediterranean Sea, although there is no consensus and no clear trends have emerged, several studies expect that, by increasing the vertical stability of the water column and by decreasing nutrient replenishment, seawater warming will cause changes in phytoplankton bloom phenology, biomass and community structure (Goffart et al...

Early life history of larvae and early juvenile Atlantic horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus off the Portuguese west coast

Early life history traits (ELHTs) are key to understand recruitment patterns in marine animals. However, for reef fishes, studies on ELHTs are mainly focused on tropical systems and little is known for temperate reefs. In this study we used SMURFs (Standard Monitoring Units for the Recruitment of Reef Fishes) to collect fish in a temperate rocky reef system (Arrabida Marine Park, Portugal) on a weekly basis for three months during the recruitment period. Six sub-surface SMURFs sampled 2490 Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) postlarvae and juveniles. Sagittal and lapilli otoliths were extracted from a subsample of 296 fish and ELHTs, such as size and age at settlement, growth rate and age at first secondary growth formation were examined. Additionally, we tested three growth curves and selected the best suited to back-calculate the hatching pattern based on the lengths of all sampled fish. Standard length ranged from 6.13 mm to 48.56 mm and subsampled fish were aged between 19 days to 44 days. Age and size at settlement were estimated between 19 days and 36 days for individuals of 6.13 mm and 24.95 mm, respectively. Otolith shape changed clearly with increasing age and, on average, secondary growth started to form on day 33 (+/-3 days). Age/length relationship was well described by a Gompertz growth model which was used to back-calculate hatching dates. Four distinct hatching cohorts were identified with fish of the earliest cohort showing a faster body and otolith growth. This study indicates that the nearshore environment might have an important role in the early growth, development and hence recruitment of Atlantic horse mackerel. Information on the early life history of Atlantic horse mackerel is key to understand recruitment processes for this economically and biologically important species. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The fisheries history of small pelagics in the Northern Mediterranean

Since 2007, the biomass of sardine and anchovy in the NW Mediterranean has remained persistently low, whereas the biomass of the commercially low-valued sprat has exploded. Also, simultaneous decreases in condition, size, and/or age of these populations were observed. Altogether, this resulted in a drop in landings of small pelagics. To understand the amplitude of these events and to provide a baseline scenario against which current changes can be compared, we compiled exceptionally long landing series (1865–2013) of sardine, anchovy, and mackerel for different subregions of the southern French coast. We characterized the fluctuations of these landings and compared these with environmental drivers (sea surface temperature, Rhône river discharge, North Atlantic Oscillation, Western Mediterranean Oscillation—WeMO, and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation—AMO), using different time-series analyses. We also collated historical data to infer qualitative changes in fishing effort over time. A fishing effort related increase in landings was observed around 1962 for all three species, although current sardine landings have dropped below levels observed before this period. Sardine and anchovy landings were, respectively, positively and negatively related to the AMO index and anchovy landings were also positively related to the WeMO. We finished by discussing the potential role of the environmental variables and fishing on long-term fishery landings trends