Worldwide occurrence of haemoplasmas in wildlife: Insights into the patterns of infection, transmission, pathology and zoonotic potential

Haemotropic mycoplasmas (haemoplasmas) have increasingly attracted the attention of wildlife disease researchers due to a combination of wide host range, high prevalence and genetic diversity. A systematic review identified 75 articles that investigated haemoplasma infection in wildlife by molecular methods (chiefly targeting partial 16S rRNA gene sequences), which included 131 host genera across six orders. Studies were less common in the Eastern Hemisphere (especially Africa and Asia) and more frequent in the Artiodactyla and Carnivora. Meta-analysis showed that infection prevalence did not vary by geographic region nor host order, but wild hosts showed significantly higher prevalence than captive hosts. Using a taxonomically flexible machine learning algorithm, we also found vampire bats and cervids to have greater prevalence, whereas mink, a subclade of vesper bats, and true foxes all had lower prevalence compared to the remaining sampled mammal phylogeny. Haemoplasma genotype and nucleotide diversity varied little among wild mammals but were marginally lower in primates and bats. Coinfection with more than one haemoplasma species or genotype was always confirmed when assessed. Risk factors of infection identified were sociality, age, males and high trophic levels, and both prevalence and diversity were often higher in undisturbed environments. Haemoplasmas likely use different and concurrent transmission routes and typically display enzootic dynamics when wild populations are studied longitudinally. Haemoplasma pathology is poorly known in wildlife but appears subclinical. Candidatus Mycoplasma haematohominis, which causes disease in humans, probably has it natural host in bats. Haemoplasmas can serve as a model system in ecological and evolutionary studies, and future research on these pathogens in wildlife must focus on increasing the geographic range and taxa of studies and elucidating pathology, transmission and zoonotic potential. To facilitate such work, we recommend using universal PCR primers or NGS protocols to detect novel haemoplasmas and other genetic markers to differentiate among species and infer cross-species transmission

Рішення Європейського Суду з прав людини у системі джерел трудового права України

Волохов О. С. Рішення Європейського Суду з прав людини у системі джерел трудового права України / О. С. Волохов // Правове забезпечення ефективного виконання рішень і застосування практики Європейського суду з прав людини : зб. наук. cт. Міжнар. наук.­-практ. конф. (Одеса, 15 вересня 2012 р.) / за ред. С. В. Ківалова ; НУ «ОЮА». – Одеса : Фенікс, 2012. – С. 462-469.Стаття присвячена розгляду правової природи рішень Європейсько­го Суду з прав людини. Обґрунтовується думка, що рішення Європейського Суду з прав людини та практика, яка в них закріплюється, є актами тлумачен­ня і не входить до системи джерел трудового права України.В статье рассматривается правовая природа решений Европейского Суда по правам человека. Обосновывается идея, согласно которой судебные решения Европейского Суда по правам человека и практика, которая в них закреплена, являются актами толкования и не входят в систему источников трудового права Украины.The article is devoted to the analysis of the legal nature of the European Court of Human Rights judgemets. It is grounded that the judgemets and cases of the European Court of Human Rights are the interpretation acts, which doesn’t part to the system of Ukrainian labour law sources

КАТУШКИ ГЕЛЬМГОЛЬЦА ДЛЯ ИЗМЕРЕНИЯ МАГНИТНЫХ МОМЕНТОВ

The optimal configuration of the double Helmholtz coils for measuring of the magnetic dipole moments was defined. It was determined that measuring coils should have round shape and compensative coils – the square one. Analytically confirmed the feasibility of the proposed configuration of these coils as primary transmitters of magnetic dipole moments.Определена оптимальная конфигурация сдвоенных катушек Гельмгольца для измерения дипольных магнитных моментов. Установлено, что измерительные катушки должны быть круглыми, а компенсационные – квадратными. Аналитически подтверждена целесообразность применения предложенной конфигурации катушек в качестве первичного измерительного преобразователя дипольных магнитных моментов

Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles, and bacterial infection risk

Human activities create novel food resources that can alter wildlife–pathogen interactions. If resources amplify or dampen, pathogen transmission probably depends on both host ecology and pathogen biology, but studies that measure responses to provisioning across both scales are rare. We tested these relationships with a 4-year study of 369 common vampire bats across 10 sites in Peru and Belize that differ in the abundance of livestock, an important anthropogenic food source. We quantified innate and adaptive immunity from bats and assessed infection with two common bacteria. We predicted that abundant livestock could reduce starvation and foraging effort, allowing for greater investments in immunity. Bats from high-livestock sites had higher microbicidal activity and proportions of neutrophils but lower immunoglobulin G and proportions of lymphocytes, suggesting more investment in innate relative to adaptive immunity and either greater chronic stress or pathogen exposure. This relationship was most pronounced in reproductive bats, which were also more common in high-livestock sites, suggesting feedbacks between demographic correlates of provisioning and immunity. Infection with both Bartonella and haemoplasmas were correlated with similar immune profiles, and both pathogens tended to be less prevalent in high-livestock sites, although effects were weaker for haemoplasmas. These differing responses to provisioning might therefore reflect distinct transmission processes. Predicting how provisioning alters host–pathogen interactions requires considering how both within-host processes and transmission modes respond to resource shifts

СКРИНІНГОВІ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ АНТИГІПОКСИЧНИХ ВЛАСТИВОСТЕЙ ФАРМАЦЕВТИЧНОЇ КОМПОЗИЦІЇ НА ОСНОВІ ЛІВОКАРНІТИНУ ДЛЯ КОРЕКЦІЇ НАСЛІДКІВ ФЕТОПЛАЦЕНТАРНОЇ НЕДОСТАТНОСТІ

The aim of the work. To determine antihypoxic properties of pharmaceutical composition (PhC) based on L-carnitine. Materials and Methods. The researching of antihypoxic properties of the PhC based on L-carnitine has been fulfilled on two experimental models of acute hypoxia which were applied in non-line mice males (Mus musculus). The PhC has been introduced to animals during 15 days, daily and one hour before tests for detection of antihypoxic activity to be carried out; the reference drug – Mexikor® – has been introduced to mice of positive control group. Results and Discussion. It has been determined the L-carnitine based PhC in a dose of 25 mg/kg was demonstrated the highest antihypoxic activity on the model of acute normobaric hypoxia with hypocapnia. Its activity was 31 % which corresponded to the drug of comparison Mexicor® in a dose of 16 mg/kg. More expressed antihypoxic activity of PhC based on L-carnitine in a dose of 25 mg/kg has been detected on the model of acute hemic hypoxia. This efficiency was 41 % and was a little over comparing with Mexicor® in a dose of 16 mg/kg. Conclusions. It has been determined, L-carnitine based PhC in a dose of 25 mg/kg administrated intragastrically has demonstrated more expressed antihypoxic activity on the model of acute hemic hypoxia comparing with reference drug Mexicor® in a dose of 16 mg/kg (41 % vs 33 %). The prophylactic administration of PhC based on L-carnitine in a dose of 25 mg/kg has increased resistance of animals to hypoxic conditions. The expressed antihypoxic activity of PhC based on L-carnitine has been determined on the acute hemic hypoxia model which confirmed the perspectivity of further pharmacological investigations for using in medicine with the aim to prevent the consequences associated with fetoplacental insufficiency.Мета роботи: становити антигіпоксичні властивості фармацевтичної композиції на основі лівокарнітину. Матеріали та методи. Дослідження антигіпоксичних властивостей фармацевтичної композиції на основі лівокарнітину проведено на двох експериментальних моделях гострої гіпоксії, відтворених на нелінійних мишах-самцях (Mus musculus). Щоденно впродовж 15 діб та за годину до проведення тестів із визначення антигіпоксичної дії тваринам вводили ФК на основі лівокарнітину, а мишам групи позитивного контролю – референтний препарат – мексикор. Ефективність дії фармацевтичної композиції  на основі лівокарнітину на експериментальних моделях гіпоксії визначено за показниками: коефіцієнт антигіпоксичної активності, середня тривалість життя тварин та відносна антигіпоксична активність. Результати й обговорення. Встановлено, що фармацевтична композиція  на основі лівокарнітину в дозі 25 мг/кг на моделі гострої нормобаричної гіпоксії з гіперкапнією проявляє найбільшу антигіпоксичну активність, яка становить – 31 %, що відповідає активності препарату порівняння мексикор у дозі 16 мг/кг. На моделі гострої гемічної гіпоксії визначено більш виражену антигіпоксичну активність фармацевтичної композиції на основі лівокарнітину у дозі 25 мг/кг, яка становить 41 % та є дещо вищою порівняно із мексикором у дозі 16 мг/кг. Висновки. Визначено, що ФК на основі лівокарнітину у дозі 25 мг/кг при внутрішньошлунковому введенні мишам проявляє найбільш виражену антигіпоксичну дію на моделі гострої гемічної гіпоксії, порівняно із референс-препаратом мексикор у дозі 16 мг/кг (41 % проти 33 %). Профілактичне введення фармацевтичної композиції  на основі лівокарнітину у дозі 25 мг/кг підвищує стійкість тварин до гіпоксичних станів. Встановлено виражену антигіпоксичну активність фармацевтичної композиції на основі лівокарнітину на моделі гострої гемічної гіпоксії, що зумовлює перспективність подальших фармакологічних досліджень для застосування в медичній практиці з метою профілактики наслідків фетоплацентарної недостатності

Efficient oligonucleotide probe selection for pan-genomic tiling arrays

Background: Array comparative genomic hybridization is a fast and cost-effective method for detecting, genotyping, and comparing the genomic sequence of unknown bacterial isolates. This method, as with all microarray applications, requires adequate coverage of probes targeting the regions of interest. An unbiased tiling of probes across the entire length of the genome is the most flexible design approach. However, such a whole-genome tiling requires that the genome sequence is known in advance. For the accurate analysis of uncharacterized bacteria, an array must query a fully representative set of sequences from the species' pan-genome. Prior microarrays have included only a single strain per array or the conserved sequences of gene families. These arrays omit potentially important genes and sequence variants from the pan-genome. Results: This paper presents a new probe selection algorithm (PanArray) that can tile multiple whole genomes using a minimal number of probes. Unlike arrays built on clustered gene families, PanArray uses an unbiased, probe-centric approach that does not rely on annotations, gene clustering, or multi-alignments. Instead, probes are evenly tiled across all sequences of the pangenome at a consistent level of coverage. To minimize the required number of probes, probes conserved across multiple strains in the pan-genome are selected first, and additional probes are used only where necessary to span polymorphic regions of the genome. The viability of the algorithm is demonstrated by array designs for seven different bacterial pan-genomes and, in particular, the design of a 385,000 probe array that fully tiles the genomes of 20 different Listeria monocytogenes strains with overlapping probes at greater than twofold coverage. Conclusion: PanArray is an oligonucleotide probe selection algorithm for tiling multiple genome sequences using a minimal number of probes. It is capable of fully tiling all genomes of a species on a single microarray chip. These unique pan-genome tiling arrays provide maximum flexibility for the analysis of both known and uncharacterized strains.https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2105-10-29

Comparative genomics of the bacterial genus Listeria: Genome evolution is characterized by limited gene acquisition and limited gene loss

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The bacterial genus <it>Listeria </it>contains pathogenic and non-pathogenic species, including the pathogens <it>L. monocytogenes </it>and <it>L. ivanovii</it>, both of which carry homologous virulence gene clusters such as the <it>prfA </it>cluster and clusters of internalin genes. Initial evidence for multiple deletions of the <it>prfA </it>cluster during the evolution of <it>Listeria </it>indicates that this genus provides an interesting model for studying the evolution of virulence and also presents practical challenges with regard to definition of pathogenic strains.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To better understand genome evolution and evolution of virulence characteristics in <it>Listeria</it>, we used a next generation sequencing approach to generate draft genomes for seven strains representing <it>Listeria </it>species or clades for which genome sequences were not available. Comparative analyses of these draft genomes and six publicly available genomes, which together represent the main <it>Listeria </it>species, showed evidence for (i) a pangenome with 2,032 core and 2,918 accessory genes identified to date, (ii) a critical role of gene loss events in transition of <it>Listeria </it>species from facultative pathogen to saprotroph, even though a consistent pattern of gene loss seemed to be absent, and a number of isolates representing non-pathogenic species still carried some virulence associated genes, and (iii) divergence of modern pathogenic and non-pathogenic <it>Listeria </it>species and strains, most likely circa 47 million years ago, from a pathogenic common ancestor that contained key virulence genes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Genome evolution in <it>Listeria </it>involved limited gene loss and acquisition as supported by (i) a relatively high coverage of the predicted pan-genome by the observed pan-genome, (ii) conserved genome size (between 2.8 and 3.2 Mb), and (iii) a highly syntenic genome. Limited gene loss in <it>Listeria </it>did include loss of virulence associated genes, likely associated with multiple transitions to a saprotrophic lifestyle. The genus <it>Listeria </it>thus provides an example of a group of bacteria that appears to evolve through a loss of virulence rather than acquisition of virulence characteristics. While <it>Listeria </it>includes a number of species-like clades, many of these putative species include clades or strains with atypical virulence associated characteristics. This information will allow for the development of genetic and genomic criteria for pathogenic strains, including development of assays that specifically detect pathogenic <it>Listeria </it>strains.</p

An FDA bioinformatics tool for microbial genomics research on molecular characterization of bacterial foodborne pathogens using microarrays

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Advances in microbial genomics and bioinformatics are offering greater insights into the emergence and spread of foodborne pathogens in outbreak scenarios. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed a genomics tool, ArrayTrack^TM, which provides extensive functionalities to manage, analyze, and interpret genomic data for mammalian species. ArrayTrack^TM has been widely adopted by the research community and used for pharmacogenomics data review in the FDA’s Voluntary Genomics Data Submission program. </p> <p>Results</p> <p>ArrayTrack^TM has been extended to manage and analyze genomics data from bacterial pathogens of human, animal, and food origin. It was populated with bioinformatics data from public databases such as NCBI, Swiss-Prot, KEGG Pathway, and Gene Ontology to facilitate pathogen detection and characterization. ArrayTrack^TM’s data processing and visualization tools were enhanced with analysis capabilities designed specifically for microbial genomics including flag-based hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), flag concordance heat maps, and mixed scatter plots. These specific functionalities were evaluated on data generated from a custom Affymetrix array (FDA-ECSG) previously developed within the FDA. The FDA-ECSG array represents 32 complete genomes of <it>Escherichia coli</it> and<it> Shigella.</it> The new functions were also used to analyze microarray data focusing on antimicrobial resistance genes from <it>Salmonella</it> isolates in a poultry production environment using a universal antimicrobial resistance microarray developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The application of ArrayTrack^TM to different microarray platforms demonstrates its utility in microbial genomics research, and thus will improve the capabilities of the FDA to rapidly identify foodborne bacteria and their genetic traits (e.g., antimicrobial resistance, virulence, etc.) during outbreak investigations. ArrayTrack^TM is free to use and available to public, private, and academic researchers at <url>http://www.fda.gov/ArrayTrack</url>. </p

High Density Microarray Analysis Reveals New Insights into Genetic Footprints of Listeria monocytogenes Strains Involved in Listeriosis Outbreaks

Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne bacterial pathogen, causes invasive and febrile gastroenteritis forms of listeriosis in humans. Both invasive and febrile gastroenteritis listeriosis is caused mostly by serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b and 4b strains. The outbreak strains of serotype 1/2a and 4b could be further classified into several epidemic clones but the genetic bases for the diverse pathophysiology have been unsuccessful. DNA microarray provides an important tool to scan the entire genome for genetic signatures that may distinguish the L. monocytogenes strains belonging to different outbreaks. We have designed a pan-genomic microarray chip (Listeria GeneChip) containing sequences from 24 L. monocytogenes strains. The chip was designed to identify the presence/absence of genomic sequences, analyze transcription profiles and identify SNPs. Analysis of the genomic profiles of 38 outbreak strains representing 1/2a, 1/2b and 4b serotypes, revealed that the strains formed distinct genetic clusters adhering to their serotypes and epidemic clone types. Although serologically 1/2a and 1/b strains share common antigenic markers microarray analysis revealed that 1/2a strains are further apart from the closely related 1/2b and 4b strains. Within any given serotype and epidemic clone type the febrile gastroenteritis and invasive strains can be further distinguished based on several genetic markers including large numbers of phage genome, and intergenic sequences. Our results showed that the microarray-based data can be an important tool in characterization of L. monocytogenes strains involved in both invasive and gastroenteritis outbreaks. The results for the first time showed that the serotypes and epidemic clones are based on extensive pan-genomic variability and the 1/2b and 4bstrains are more closely related to each other than the 1/2a strains. The data also supported the hypothesis that the strains causing these two diverse outbreaks are genotypically different and this finding might be important in understanding the pathophysiology of this organism