Genome sequences of Human Adenovirus 14 isolates from mild respiratory cases and a fatal pneumonia, isolated during 2006-2007 epidemics in North America

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human adenovirus 14 (HAdV-14) is a recognized causative agent of epidemic febrile respiratory illness (FRI). Last reported in Eurasia in 1963, this virus has since been conspicuously absent in broad surveys, and was never isolated in North America despite inclusion of specific tests for this serotype in surveillance methods. In 2006 and 2007, this virus suddenly emerged in North America, causing high attack rate epidemics of FRI and, in some cases, severe pneumonias and occasional fatalities. Some outbreaks have been relatively mild, with low rates of progression beyond uncomplicated FRI, while other outbreaks have involved high rates of more serious outcomes.</p> <p>Methodology and Findings</p> <p>In this paper we present the complete genomic sequence of this emerging pathogen, and compare genomic sequences of isolates from both mild and severe outbreaks. We also compare the genome sequences of the recent isolates with those of the prototype HAdV-14 that circulated in Eurasia 30 years ago and the closely related sequence of HAdV-11a, which has been circulating in southeast Asia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data suggest that the currently circulating strain of HAdV-14 is closely related to the historically recognized prototype throughout its genome, though it does display a couple of potentially functional mutations in the fiber knob and E1A genes. There are no polymorphisms that suggest an obvious explanation for the divergence in severity between outbreak events, suggesting that differences in outcome are more likely environmental or host determined rather than viral genetics.</p

Geology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis

The sedimentary succession exposed in the Gorzów Wielkopolski area includes Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) or Early Weichselian (MIS 5d–e) deposits. The sedimentary sequence has been the object of intense interdisciplinary study, which has resulted in the identification of at least two palaeolake horizons. Both yielded fossil remains of large mammals, alongside pollen and plant macrofossils. All these proxies have been used to reconstruct the environmental conditions prevailing at the time of deposition, as well as to define the geological context and the biochronological position of the fauna. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the glaciofluvial layers of the GS3 succession to 123.6 ± 10.1 (below the lower palaeolake) and 72.0 ± 5.2 ka (above the upper palaeolake) indicate that the site formed during the Middle–Late Pleistocene (MIS 6 – MIS 5). Radiocarbon-dating of the lacustrine organic matter revealed a tight cluster of Middle Pleniglacial Period (MIS 3) ages in the range of ~41–32 ka cal bp (Hengelo – Denekamp Interstadials). Holocene organic layers have also been found, with C ages within a range of 4330–4280 cal bp (Neolithic). Pollen and plant macrofossil records, together with sedimentological and geochemical data, confirm the dating to the Eemian Interglacial.This research was supported by grant 0201/2048/18 ‘Life and death of extinctrhino (Stephanorhinus sp.) from Western Poland: a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental approach’ financed by the National Science Centre, Poland. LiDAR DTM data presented in this study were used under academic licences DIO.DFT.DSI.7211.1619.2015_PL_N and DIO.DFT.7211.9874. 2015_PL_N awarded to the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Environmental Management University of Wrocław, in accordance with the Polish legal regulations of the administration of the Head Office of Land Surveying and Cartography