Effect of psychotropic drugs on gastric ulcers induced by immobilization: Increased protective effect of amitriptyline caused by chlordiazepoxide

Amitriptyline, but not chlordiazepoxide, protects rats from the occurrence of gastric erosions and ulcers following immobilization. When, however, chlordiazepoxide is given together with amitriptyline the protective effect of the latter is markedly increased

Microbiome diversity and composition varies across body areas in a freshwater turtle

There is increasing recognition that microbiomes are important for host health and ecology, and understanding host microbiomes is important for planning appropriate conservation strategies. However, microbiome data are lacking for many taxa, including turtles. To further our understanding of the interactions between aquatic microbiomes and their hosts, we used next generation sequencing technology to examine the microbiomes of the Krefft's river turtle (Emydura macquarii krefftii). We examined the microbiomes of the buccal (oral) cavity, skin on the head, parts of the shell with macroalgae and parts of the shell without macroalgae. Bacteria in the phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the most common in most samples (particularly buccal samples), but Cyanobacteria, Deinococcus-thermus and Chloroflexi were also common (particularly in external microbiomes). We found significant differences in community composition among each body area, as well as significant differences among individuals. The buccal cavity had lower bacterial richness and evenness than any of the external microbiomes, and it had many amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) with a low relative abundance compared to other body areas. Nevertheless, the buccal cavity also had the most unique ASVs. Parts of the shell with and without algae also had different microbiomes, with particularly obvious differences in the relative abundances of the families Methylomonaceae, Saprospiraceae and Nostocaceae. This study provides novel, baseline information about the external microbiomes of turtles and is a first step in understanding their ecological roles

The interplay of fungal and bacterial microbiomes on rainforest frogs following a disease outbreak

Emerging infectious diseases are a serious threat to wildlife populations, and there is growing evidence that host microbiomes play important roles in infection dynamics, possibly even mitigating diseases. Nevertheless, most research on this topic has focused only on bacterial microbiomes, while fungal microbiomes have been largely neglected. To help fill this gap in our knowledge, we examined both the bacterial and fungal microbiomes of four sympatric Australian frog species, which had different population-level responses to the emergence of chytridiomycosis, a widespread disease caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). We sequenced 16,884 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) and 41,774 bacterial ASVs. Bacterial communities had higher richness and were less variable within frog species than were fungal communities. Nevertheless, both communities were correlated for both ASV richness and beta diversity (i.e., frogs with similar bacterial richness and community composition tended to also have similar fungal richness and community composition). This suggests that either one microbial community was having a large impact on the other or that they were both being driven by similar environmental factors. For both microbial taxa, we found little evidence of associations between Bd (prevalence or intensity) and either individuals' ASVs or beta diversity. However, there was mixed evidence of associations between richness (both bacterial and fungal) and Bd, with high richness potentially providing a protective effect. Surprisingly, the relative abundance of bacteria that have previously been shown to inhibit Bd was also positively associated with Bd infection intensity, suggesting that a high relative abundance of those bacteria provides poor protection against infection

The interplay of fungal and bacterial microbiomes on rainforest frogs following a disease outbreak

Emerging infectious diseases are a serious threat to wildlife populations, and there is growing evidence that host microbiomes play important roles in infection dynamics, possibly even mitigating diseases. Nevertheless, most research on this topic has focused only on bacterial microbiomes, while fungal microbiomes have been largely neglected. To help fill this gap in our knowledge, we examined both the bacterial and fungal microbiomes of four sympatric Australian frog species, which had different population-level responses to the emergence of chytridiomycosis, a widespread disease caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). We sequenced 16,884 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) and 41,774 bacterial ASVs. Bacterial communities had higher richness and were less variable within frog species than were fungal communities. Nevertheless, both communities were correlated for both ASV richness and beta diversity (i.e., frogs with similar bacterial richness and community composition tended to also have similar fungal richness and community composition). This suggests that either one microbial community was having a large impact on the other or that they were both being driven by similar environmental factors. For both microbial taxa, we found little evidence of associations between Bd (prevalence or intensity) and either individuals' ASVs or beta diversity. However, there was mixed evidence of associations between richness (both bacterial and fungal) and Bd, with high richness potentially providing a protective effect. Surprisingly, the relative abundance of bacteria that have previously been shown to inhibit Bd was also positively associated with Bd infection intensity, suggesting that a high relative abundance of those bacteria provides poor protection against infection

Digital droplet PCR-based environmental DNA tool for monitoring Cryptocaryon irritans in a marine fish farm from Hong Kong

The adoption of new investigative strategies based on environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used to monitor parasites, associated bacterial microbiomes, and physical-chemical parameters in fish farms. In this study, we used the economically important and globally distributed fish ciliate parasite Cryptocaryon irritans as a model to understand the parasite abundance and potential drivers of its presence in marine fish farms. Environmental (rainfall) and physical-chemical (temperature, oxygen, salinity, pH) data collected from a marine fish farm in Hong Kong were analyzed together with the eDNA approach targeting C. irritans abundance based on digital droplet PCR and 16S metagenomics to determine associations and triggers between parasites and specific bacterial groups. Rainfall and temperature demonstrated positive associations with high abundance of C. irritans (eDNA) at the studied marine fish cage farm. However, rainfall was the only parameter tested that demonstrated a significant association with parasite eDNA, indicating that the raining season is a risky period for fish farmers in Hong Kong. Coraliomargarita was the bacterial genus with the most significant relationship with low abundance of C. irritans in water. Understanding the environmental triggers of ciliate parasites propagation and associated bacterial microbiome could elucidate new insights into environmental control, microbial management, and promote the reduction of chemical use in marine fish farms

microDecon: a highly accurate read‐subtraction tool for the post‐sequencing removal of contamination in metabarcoding studies

Contamination is a ubiquitous problem in microbiome research and can skew results, especially when small amounts of target DNA are available. Nevertheless, no clear solution has emerged for removing microbial contamination. To address this problem, we developed the R package microDecon (https://github.com/donaldtmcknight/microDecon), which uses the proportions of contaminant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) or amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in blank samples to systematically identify and remove contaminant reads from metabarcoding data sets. We rigorously tested microDecon using a series of computer simulations and a sequencing experiment. We also compared it to the common practice of simply removing all contaminant OTUs/ASVs and other methods for removing contamination. Both the computer simulations and our sequencing data confirmed the utility of microDecon. In our largest simulation (100,000 samples), using microDecon improved the results in 98.1% of samples. Additionally, in the sequencing data and in simulations involving groups, it enabled accurate clustering of groups as well as the detection of previously obscured patterns. It also produced more accurate results than the existing methods for identifying and removing contamination. These results demonstrate that microDecon effectively removes contamination across a broad range of situations. It should, therefore, be widely applicable to microbiome studies, as well as to metabarcoding studies in general

Integrating complementary methods to improve diet analysis in fishery‐targeted species

Developing efficient, reliable, cost‐effective ways to identify diet is required to understand trophic ecology in complex ecosystems and improve food web models. A combination of techniques, each varying in their ability to provide robust, spatially and temporally explicit information can be applied to clarify diet data for ecological research. This study applied an integrative analysis of a fishery‐targeted species group—Plectropomus spp. in the central Great Barrier Reef, Australia, by comparing three diet‐identification approaches. Visual stomach content analysis provided poor identification with ~14% of stomachs sampled resulting in identification to family or lower. A molecular approach was successful with prey from ~80% of stomachs identified to genus or species, often with several unique prey in a stomach. Stable isotope mixing models utilizing experimentally derived assimilation data, identified similar prey as the molecular technique but at broader temporal scales, particularly when prior diet information was incorporated. Overall, Caesionidae and Pomacentridae were the most abundant prey families (>50% prey contribution) for all Plectropomus spp., highlighting the importance of planktivorous prey. Less abundant prey categories differed among species/color phases indicating possible niche segregation. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the extent of taxonomic resolution provided by molecular techniques, and, like other studies, illustrates that temporal investigations of dietary patterns are more accessible in combination with stable isotopes. The consumption of mainly planktivorous prey within this species group has important implications within coral reef food webs and provides cautionary information regarding the effects that changing resources could have in reef ecosystems

Integrating complementary methods to improve diet analysis in fishery-targeted species

Developing efficient, reliable, cost-effective ways to identify diet is required to understand trophic ecology in complex ecosystems and improve food web models. A combination of techniques, each varying in their ability to provide robust, spatially and temporally explicit information can be applied to clarify diet data for ecological research. This study applied an integrative analysis of a fishery-targeted species group—Plectropomus spp. in the central Great Barrier Reef, Australia, by comparing three diet-identification approaches. Visual stomach content analysis provided poor identification with ~14% of stomachs sampled resulting in identification to family or lower. A molecular approach was successful with prey from ~80% of stomachs identified to genus or species, often with several unique prey in a stomach. Stable isotope mixing models utilizing experimentally derived assimilation data, identified similar prey as the molecular technique but at broader temporal scales, particularly when prior diet information was incorporated. Overall, Caesionidae and Pomacentridae were the most abundant prey families (\u3e50% prey contribution) for all Plectropomus spp., highlighting the importance of planktivorous prey. Less abundant prey categories differed among species/color phases indicating possible niche segregation. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the extent of taxonomic resolution provided by molecular techniques, and, like other studies, illustrates that temporal investigations of dietary patterns are more accessible in combination with stable isotopes. The consumption of mainly planktivorous prey within this species group has important implications within coral reef food webs and provides cautionary information regarding the effects that changing resources could have in reef ecosystems

Internal health locus of control as a predictor of pain reduction in multidisciplinary inpatient treatment for chronic pain: a retrospective study.

Purpose Chronic pain is a major health concern and its treatment requires physiological as well as psychological interventions. This study investigates the predictive value of health locus of control (HLOC) in pain intensity in chronic pain patients in an inpatient treatment setting. Patients and methods Data of 225 patients with a chronic pain condition were collected in a psychosomatic university clinic in Switzerland. Self-report assessment tools were used to measure pain intensity pre- and posttreatment and with a questionnaire dimensions of the HLOC were captured. Using hierarchic linear regression analysis, the predictive value of HLOC was investigated. Results A higher internal HLOC at pre-treatment was associated with a greater reduction in pain intensity from pre- to posttreatment (β = -0.151, p<0.05). For social-external and fatalistic-external HLOC no significant effects were observed. Conclusion Internal HLOC showed predictive value regarding the reduction in pain intensity in a multidisciplinary inpatient treatment for chronic pain, whereas social-external and fatalistic-external HLOC did not. Early interventions to strengthen internal beliefs of health control may be a promising component in multidisciplinary inpatient treatment for patients with chronic pain

Isolation of a euryhaline microalgal strain, Tetraselmis sp CTP4, as a robust feedstock for biodiesel production

Bioprospecting for novel microalgal strains is key to improving the feasibility of microalgae-derived biodiesel production. Tetraselmis sp. CTP4 (Chlorophyta, Chlorodendrophyceae) was isolated using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) in order to screen novel lipid-rich microalgae. CTP4 is a robust, euryhaline strain able to grow in seawater growth medium as well as in non-sterile urban wastewater. Because of its large cell size (9-22 mu m), CTP4 settles down after a six-hour sedimentation step. This leads to a medium removal efficiency of 80%, allowing a significant decrease of biomass dewatering costs. Using a two-stage system, a 3-fold increase in lipid content (up to 33% of DW) and a 2-fold enhancement in lipid productivity (up to 52.1 mg L-1 d(-1)) were observed upon exposure to nutrient depletion for 7 days. The biodiesel synthesized from the lipids of CTP4 contained high levels of oleic acid (25.67% of total fatty acids content) and minor amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids with >= 4 double bonds (< 1%). As a result, this biofuel complies with most of the European (EN14214) and American (ASTM D6751) specifications, which commonly used microalgal feedstocks are usually unable to meet. In conclusion, Tetraselmis sp. CTP4 displays promising features as feedstock with lower downstream processing costs for biomass dewatering and biodiesel refining