Earthworms mitigate pesticide effects on soil microbial activities

Earthworms act synergistically with microorganisms in soils. They are ecosystem engineers involved in soil organic matter degradation and nutrient cycling, leading to the modulation of resource availability for all soil organisms. Using a soil microcosm approach, we aimed to assess the influence of the earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa on the response of soil microbial activities against two fungicides, i.e. Cuprafor micro® (copper oxychloride, a metal) and Swing® Gold (epoxiconazole and dimoxystrobin, synthetic organic compounds). The potential nitrification activity (PNA) and soil enzyme activities (glucosidase, phosphatase, arylamidase, and urease) involved in biogeochemical cycling were measured at the end of the incubation period, together with earthworm biomass. Two common indices of the soil biochemistry were used to aggregate the response of the soil microbial functioning: the geometric mean (Gmean) and the Soil Quality Index (SQI). At the end of the experiment, the earthworm biomass was not impacted by the fungicide treatments. Overall, in the earthworm-free soil microcosms, the two fungicides significantly increased several soil enzyme and nitrification activities, leading to a higher GMean Index as compared to the non-treated control soils. The microbial activity responses depended on the type of activity (nitrification was the most sensitive one), on the fungicide (Swing® Gold or Cuprafor micro®), and on the doses. The SQI indices revealed higher effects of both fungicides on the soil microbial activity in the absence of earthworms. The presence of earthworms enhanced all soil microbial activities in both the control and fungicide-contaminated soils. Moreover, the magnitude of the fungicide impact, integrated through the SQI index, was mitigated by the presence of earthworms, conferring a higher stability of microbial functional diversity. Our results highlight the importance of biotic interactions in the response of indicators of soil functioning (i.e., microbial activity) to pesticides

Результаты российского проспективного обсервационного исследования СПЕКТР

ПРОСПЕКТИВНЫЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯНАСЕЛЕНИЯ ГРУПП ИЗУЧЕНИЕВЕНОЗНАЯ НЕДОСТАТОЧНОСТЬКРОВЕНОСНЫХ СОСУДОВ БОЛЕЗН

Numerical magnitude affects temporal memories but not time encoding

Previous research has suggested that the perception of time is influenced by concurrent magnitude information (e.g., numerical magnitude in digits, spatial distance), but the locus of the effect is unclear, with some findings suggesting that concurrent magnitudes such as space affect temporal memories and others suggesting that numerical magnitudes in digits affect the clock speed during time encoding. The current paper reports 6 experiments in which participants perceived a stimulus duration and then reproduced it. We showed that though a digit of a large magnitude (e.g., 9), relative to a digit of a small magnitude (e.g., 2), led to a longer reproduced duration when the digits were presented during the perception of the stimulus duration, such a magnitude effect disappeared when the digits were presented during the reproduction of the stimulus duration. These findings disconfirm the account that large numerical magnitudes accelerate the speed of an internal clock during time encoding, as such an account incorrectly predicts that a large numerical magnitude should lead to a shorter reproduced duration when presented during reproduction. Instead, the findings suggest that numerical magnitudes, like other magnitudes such as space, affect temporal memories when numerical magnitudes and temporal durations are concurrently held in memory. Under this account, concurrent numerical magnitudes have the chance to influence the memory of the perceived duration when they are presented during perception but not when they are presented at the reproduction stage

Green Edge ice camp campaigns : understanding the processes controlling the under-ice Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom

The Green Edge initiative was developed to investigate the processes controlling the primary productivity and fate of organic matter produced during the Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom (PSB) and to determine its role in the ecosystem. Two field campaigns were conducted in 2015 and 2016 at an ice camp located on landfast sea ice southeast of Qikiqtarjuaq Island in Baffin Bay (67.4797∘ N, 63.7895∘ W). During both expeditions, a large suite of physical, chemical and biological variables was measured beneath a consolidated sea-ice cover from the surface to the bottom (at 360 m depth) to better understand the factors driving the PSB. Key variables, such as conservative temperature, absolute salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, and carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured at the ice camp. Meteorological and snow-relevant variables were also monitored. Here, we present the results of a joint effort to tidy and standardize the collected datasets, which will facilitate their reuse in other Arctic studies

Expansion of Regulatory T Cells in Patients with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis

Frederic Geissmann and colleagues find that Langerhans cell accumulation in Langerhans cell histiocytosis results from survival rather than uncontrolled proliferation, and is associated with the expansion of regulatory T cells

Cross-ocean patterns and processes in fish biodiversity on coral reefs through the lens of eDNA metabarcoding

Increasing speed and magnitude of global change threaten the world's biodiversity and particularly coral reef fishes. A better understanding of large-scale patterns and processes on coral reefs is essential to prevent fish biodiversity decline but it requires new monitoring approaches. Here, we use environmental DNA metabarcoding to reconstruct well-known patterns of fish biodiversity on coral reefs and uncover hidden patterns on these highly diverse and threatened ecosystems. We analysed 226 environmental DNA (eDNA) seawater samples from 100 stations in five tropical regions (Caribbean, Central and Southwest Pacific, Coral Triangle and Western Indian Ocean) and compared those to 2047 underwater visual censuses from the Reef Life Survey in 1224 stations. Environmental DNA reveals a higher (16%) fish biodiversity, with 2650 taxa, and 25% more families than underwater visual surveys. By identifying more pelagic, reef-associated and crypto-benthic species, eDNA offers a fresh view on assembly rules across spatial scales. Nevertheless, the reef life survey identified more species than eDNA in 47 shared families, which can be due to incomplete sequence assignment, possibly combined with incomplete detection in the environment, for some species. Combining eDNA metabarcoding and extensive visual census offers novel insights on the spatial organization of the richest marine ecosystems

The Blursday database as a resource to study subjective temporalities during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns triggered worldwide changes in the daily routines of human experience. The Blursday database provides repeated measures of subjective time and related processes from participants in nine countries tested on 14 questionnaires and 15 behavioural tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 2,840 participants completed at least one task, and 439 participants completed all tasks in the first session. The database and all data collection tools are accessible to researchers for studying the effects of social isolation on temporal information processing, time perspective, decision-making, sleep, metacognition, attention, memory, self-perception and mindfulness. Blursday includes quantitative statistics such as sleep patterns, personality traits, psychological well-being and lockdown indices. The database provides quantitative insights on the effects of lockdown (stringency and mobility) and subjective confinement on time perception (duration, passage of time and temporal distances). Perceived isolation affects time perception, and we report an inter-individual central tendency effect in retrospective duration estimation

Vers un bioessai pour la caractérisation biochimique de la contamination des sols

National audienceLa plateforme Biochem-Env, créée en 2011 par l’INRA, est un partenaire du projet ANAEE France, qui vise à doter la France d'un réseau intégré de plateformes expérimentales, analytiques et numériques dédiées à l'étude des écosystèmes continentaux, terrestres et aquatiques. Elle représente une infrastructure essentielle en tant que plateforme technologique pour assurer la caractérisation du patrimoine sol dans un contexte de développement durable. Elle ambitionne de devenir un dispositif analytique de soutien aux dispositifs expérimentaux, unique en France et en Europe, dédié à la mesure d’indicateurs biochimiques dans les sols, à la conservation et à l’analyse des données produites. Elle a également pour ambition de développer des méthodologies et technologies de pointe pour assurer la caractérisation biochimique des sols. Dans ce cadre, la plateforme Biochem-Env développe des bioindicateurs de réponse des sols aux différents stress anthropiques. La mise en place d’un bioessai, comme test d'écotoxicité, permettra de mettre en évidence l’impact des contaminants sur des sols d’agrosystèmes contaminés. Parmi les indicateurs les plus pertinents, une enzyme fongique (la laccase) a été sélectionnée parce que répondant à différents stress chimiques (métalliques et organiques). L’objectif de cette étude est de montrer que la laccase sécrétée par Trametes versicolor est un indicateur de contamination des sols. Celui-ci est couramment utilisé comme organisme modèle et est caractérisé par sa grande efficacité à dégrader entièrement les composés du bois comme la lignine et la cellulose. L’activité laccase induite par exposition de Trametes versicolor aux différents polluants deviendrait par conséquence un outil d’évaluation de l’écotoxicité des sols

Vers un bioessai pour la caractérisation biochimique de la contamination des sols

National audienceLa plateforme Biochem-Env, créée en 2011 par l’INRA, est un partenaire du projet ANAEE France, qui vise à doter la France d'un réseau intégré de plateformes expérimentales, analytiques et numériques dédiées à l'étude des écosystèmes continentaux, terrestres et aquatiques. Elle représente une infrastructure essentielle en tant que plateforme technologique pour assurer la caractérisation du patrimoine sol dans un contexte de développement durable. Elle ambitionne de devenir un dispositif analytique de soutien aux dispositifs expérimentaux, unique en France et en Europe, dédié à la mesure d’indicateurs biochimiques dans les sols, à la conservation et à l’analyse des données produites. Elle a également pour ambition de développer des méthodologies et technologies de pointe pour assurer la caractérisation biochimique des sols. Dans ce cadre, la plateforme Biochem-Env développe des bioindicateurs de réponse des sols aux différents stress anthropiques. La mise en place d’un bioessai, comme test d'écotoxicité, permettra de mettre en évidence l’impact des contaminants sur des sols d’agrosystèmes contaminés. Parmi les indicateurs les plus pertinents, une enzyme fongique (la laccase) a été sélectionnée parce que répondant à différents stress chimiques (métalliques et organiques). L’objectif de cette étude est de montrer que la laccase sécrétée par Trametes versicolor est un indicateur de contamination des sols. Celui-ci est couramment utilisé comme organisme modèle et est caractérisé par sa grande efficacité à dégrader entièrement les composés du bois comme la lignine et la cellulose. L’activité laccase induite par exposition de Trametes versicolor aux différents polluants deviendrait par conséquence un outil d’évaluation de l’écotoxicité des sols