970 research outputs found

    Diffusive over-hydration of olivine-hosted melt inclusions

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    The pre-eruptive water content of magma is often estimated using crystal-hosted melt inclusions. However, olivine-hosted melt inclusions are prone to post-entrapment modification by H+ diffusion as they re-equilibrate with their external environment. This effect is well established for the case of H+ loss from olivine-hosted inclusions that have cooled slowly in degassed magma. Here we present evidence for the opposite effect: the addition of H+ into inclusions that are held in melts that are enriched in H2O with respect to the trapped melts. The compositional variability in a suite of 211 olivine-hosted inclusions from the Laki and Skuggafjöll eruptions in Iceland's Eastern Volcanic Zone indicates that diffusive H+ gain governs the H2O content of incompatible trace element depleted inclusions. Individual eruptive units contain olivine-hosted inclusions with widely varying incompatible element concentrations but near-constant H2O. Furthermore, over 40% of the inclusions have H2O/Ce>380H2O/Ce>380, significantly higher than the H2O/Ce expected in primary Icelandic melts or mid-ocean ridge basalts (150–280). The fact that the highest H2O/Ce ratios are found in the most incompatible element depleted inclusions indicates that hydration is a consequence of the concurrent mixing and crystallisation of compositionally diverse primary melts. Hydration occurs when olivines containing depleted inclusions with low H2O contents are juxtaposed against more hydrous melts during mixing. Melt inclusions from a single eruption may preserve evidence of both diffusive H+ loss and H+ gain. Trace element data are therefore vital for determining H2O contents of melt inclusions at the time of inclusion trapping and, ultimately, the H2O content of the mantle source regions.This work was supported by NERC grant NE/I012508/1 and a NERC studentship NE/1528277/1 to DAN. MEH acknowledges a Junior Research Fellowship from Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X15003647#

    Market analysis of fresh vegetables in Solomon Islands

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    Christian Genova, Pepijn Schreinemachers and Victor Afari-Sef

    Endozoicomonas genomes reveal functional adaptation and plasticity in bacterial strains symbiotically associated with diverse marine hosts

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    © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 40579, doi:10.1038/srep40579.Endozoicomonas bacteria are globally distributed and often abundantly associated with diverse marine hosts including reef-building corals, yet their function remains unknown. In this study we generated novel Endozoicomonas genomes from single cells and metagenomes obtained directly from the corals Stylophora pistillata, Pocillopora verrucosa, and Acropora humilis. We then compared these culture-independent genomes to existing genomes of bacterial isolates acquired from a sponge, sea slug, and coral to examine the functional landscape of this enigmatic genus. Sequencing and analysis of single cells and metagenomes resulted in four novel genomes with 60–76% and 81–90% genome completeness, respectively. These data also confirmed that Endozoicomonas genomes are large and are not streamlined for an obligate endosymbiotic lifestyle, implying that they have free-living stages. All genomes show an enrichment of genes associated with carbon sugar transport and utilization and protein secretion, potentially indicating that Endozoicomonas contribute to the cycling of carbohydrates and the provision of proteins to their respective hosts. Importantly, besides these commonalities, the genomes showed evidence for differential functional specificity and diversification, including genes for the production of amino acids. Given this metabolic diversity of Endozoicomonas we propose that different genotypes play disparate roles and have diversified in concert with their hosts.This research was supported by a KAUST-WHOI Post-doctoral Partnership Award to M.J.N. and a KAUST-WHOI Special Academic Partnership Funding Reserve Award to C.R.V. and A.A. Additional research was supported from baseline funds to C.R.V. by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

    Diversity and function of prevalent symbiotic marine bacteria in the genus Endozoicomonas

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    © The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 100 (2016): 8315–8324, doi:10.1007/s00253-016-7777-0.Endozoicomonas bacteria are emerging as extremely diverse and flexible symbionts of numerous marine hosts inhabiting oceans worldwide. Their hosts range from simple invertebrate species, such as sponges and corals, to complex vertebrates, such as fish. Although widely distributed, the functional role of Endozoicomonas within their host microenvironment is not well understood. In this review, we provide a summary of the currently recognized hosts of Endozoicomonas and their global distribution. Next, the potential functional roles of Endozoicomonas, particularly in light of recent microscopic, genomic, and genetic analyses, are discussed. These analyses suggest that Endozoicomonas typically reside in aggregates within host tissues, have a free-living stage due to their large genome sizes, show signs of host and local adaptation, participate in host-associated protein and carbohydrate transport and cycling, and harbour a high degree of genomic plasticity due to the large proportion of transposable elements residing in their genomes. This review will finish with a discussion on the methodological tools currently employed to study Endozoicomonas and host interactions and review future avenues for studying complex host-microbial symbioses.This work was supported by a KAUST-WHOI Post-doctoral Partnership Award to MJN and a KAUST-WHOI Special Academic Partnership Funding Reserve Award to CRV and AA. Research in this study was further supported by baseline research funds to CRV by KAUST and NSF award OCE-1233612 to AA

    Multiple approaches to microbial source tracking in tropical northern Australia

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    © The Author(s), 2014. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in MicrobiologyOpen 3 (2014): 860–874, doi:10.1002/mbo3.209.Microbial source tracking is an area of research in which multiple approaches are used to identify the sources of elevated bacterial concentrations in recreational lakes and beaches. At our study location in Darwin, northern Australia, water quality in the harbor is generally good, however dry-season beach closures due to elevated Escherichia coli and enterococci counts are a cause for concern. The sources of these high bacteria counts are currently unknown. To address this, we sampled sewage outfalls, other potential inputs, such as urban rivers and drains, and surrounding beaches, and used genetic fingerprints from E. coli and enterococci communities, fecal markers and 454 pyrosequencing to track contamination sources. A sewage effluent outfall (Larrakeyah discharge) was a source of bacteria, including fecal bacteria that impacted nearby beaches. Two other treated effluent discharges did not appear to influence sites other than those directly adjacent. Several beaches contained fecal indicator bacteria that likely originated from urban rivers and creeks within the catchment. Generally, connectivity between the sites was observed within distinct geographical locations and it appeared that most of the bacterial contamination on Darwin beaches was confined to local sources

    Dairy cows housed both full- and part-time with their calves form strong maternal bonds

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    \ua9 2024 The Authors. Dairy cow and calf are typically separated shortly after calving preventing the formation of a maternal-filial bond. To allow some cow-calf contact, part-time contact during the first weeks is thought to be a feasible solution, but it is unknown if it weakens maternal bond, i.e., if maternal motivation is lower. This study aimed to investigate how different amounts of calf contact (full-time, part-time, and no contact) affect cows’ maternal motivation. Using pneumatic push gates, we assessed cows’ motivation to access their own calf using the maximum price paid (MPP) method. To mitigate frustration at high prices, cows could also access an unfamiliar calf at a constant low price. We expected that cows would access the unfamiliar calf when reaching the maximum price that they were motivated to pay to access their own calf. Following 48 h in a calving pen, cow-calf pairs were allocated to three different treatments: full-time (23 h contact/d, 28 pairs), part-time (10 h contact/d, 27 pairs), and no contact (0 h contact/d, 26 pairs). Approximately 40 d after calving, cows were trained to pass through each of two push gates: one leading to their own and one leading to an unfamiliar calf. The weight on the gate leading to the cows’ own calf increased following each passing, while the gate leading to the unfamiliar calf remained light. Cows were tested once daily, until they failed to pass through the gate leading to their own calf on two consecutive days. MPP was analysed using a Cox\u27s proportional hazards mixed effects model. Fewer no-contact cows than full- and part-time cows fulfilled the learning criteria. Furthermore, no-contact cows paid a lower maximum price compared to the two contact treatments, while the MPP of full- and part-time cows did not differ. Most cows remained in the start box if they did not pass the gate to their own calf, indicating that an unfamiliar calf could not substitute for their own calf at high prices. We conclude that cows with part-time calf contact form a maternal bond of similar strength to cows with full-time calf contact. Additionally, cows separated from their calf at 48 h after calving have a weaker maternal motivation at 40 days postpartum

    Dairy cows’ motivation to nurse their calves

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    \ua9 The Author(s) 2024. When weaning offspring, female mammals limit nursing opportunities. This study aimed to investigate whether imposing a gradual reduction in daily contact time, by separating cows from their calves as an attempt to stimulate weaning, reduced dairy cows’ motivation to nurse their calves. For seven weeks, 84 Holstein–Friesian cow-calf pairs were housed with either full-time (23 h contact/d), part-time (10 h contact/d), or no contact. In the following two weeks, half of full- and part-time pairs were subjected to reduced contact (50% of initial contact in week 8, 25% of initial contact in week 9), while the other half continued with unchanged contact. In weeks 8 and 9, cows’ motivation to obtain full contact to and opportunity to nurse their calves was measured using weighted push gates using a novel maximum price paid method providing an alternative choice to the cows to reduce frustration. Cows with reduced calf contact were more motivated than cows with unchanged contact; however, cows used the alternative choice less than expected. The results show that cows’ motivation for full calf contact and opportunity to nurse increases when daily calf contact is reduced, illustrating that dairy cows are motivated to continue nursing their 9- to 10-week-old calves
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