Do Avian Blood Parasites Influence Hypoxia Physiology in a High Elevation Environment?

BACKGROUND: Montane birds which engage in elevational movements have evolved to cope with fluctuations in environmental hypoxia, through changes in physiological parameters associated with blood oxygen-carrying capacity such as haemoglobin concentration (Hb) and haematocrit (Hct). In particular, elevational migrants which winter at low elevations, encounter varying intensities of avian haemosporidian parasites as they traverse heterogeneous environments. Whilst high intensity parasite infections lead to anaemia, one can expect that the ability to cope with haemosporidian infections should be a key trait for elevational migrants that must be balanced against reducing the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood in response to high elevation. In this study, we explored the links between environmental hypoxia, migration, and disease ecology by examining natural variation in infections status and intensity of avian haemoporidians across a suite of Himalayan birds with different migratory strategies while controlling for host phylogeny. RESULTS: We found predictably large variation in haemoglobin levels across the elevational gradient and this pattern was strongly influenced by season and whether birds are elevational migrants. The overall malaria infection intensity declined with elevation whereas Hb and Hct decreased with increase in parasite intensity, suggesting an important role of malaria parasites on hypoxia stressed birds in high elevation environments. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide a key insight into how physiological measures and sub-clinical infections might affect dynamics of high-elevation bird populations. We suggest a potential impact of avian elevational migration on disease dynamics and exposure to high intensity infections with disease spread in the face of climate change, which will exacerbate hypoxic stress and negative effects of chronic avian malaria infection on survival and reproductive success in wild birds. Future work on chronic parasite infections must consider parasite intensity, rather than relying on infection status alone

Faculty Satisfaction In Higher Education: A TQM Approach

This paper was aimed to investigate the levels of satisfaction among faculty members in higher education in Pakistan. Five hundred faculty members were surveyed from leading public and private universities through an instrument developed by the authors and 450 were completed and returned. Percentage method was used to analyze and interpret data. The results highlighted the value of the survey as a strategy for management and human resource planning in universities

Prevalence and Diversity of Avian Hematozoan Parasites in Asia: A Regional Study

Tissue samples from 699 birds from three regions of Asia (Myanmar, India, and South Korea) were screened for evidence of infection by avian parasites in the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus. Samples were collected from November 1994 to October 2004. We identified 241 infected birds (34.0%). Base-on-sequence data for the cytochrome b gene from 221 positive samples, 34 distinct lineages of Plasmodium, and 41 of Haemoproteus were detected. Parasite diversity was highest in Myanmar followed by India and South Korea. Parasite prevalence differed among regions but not among host families. There were four lineages of Plasmodium and one of Haemoproteus shared between Myanmar and India and only one lineage of Plasmodium shared between Myanmar and South Korea. No lineages were shared between India and South Korea, although an equal number of distinct lineages were recovered from each region. Migratory birds in South Korea and India originate from two different migratory flyways; therefore cross-transmission of parasite lineages may be less likely. India and Myanmar shared more host species and habitat types compared to South Korea. Comparison between low-elevation habitat in India and Myanmar showed a difference in prevalence of haematozoans

Genomic and Functional Characterization of Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808, Isolated From Artisanal Fermented Milk Product Dahi

Microbial strains with a unique combination of technological and bioactive properties are preferred for industrial applications. The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential use of Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808 (NCBI Accession Number: LSMC00000000) in milk fermentation. This strain was isolated from Dahi, an indigenous fermented milk product of South-East Asia. The in vitro study confirmed the acidification ability as well as the proteolytic, cellulolytic, and amylolytic enzyme activities of this strain. It also produced a substantial amount of the folate in laboratory media and no physiological dysfunctions in laboratory animals was observed in feeding trials. All these properties were confirmed by in silico genome analysis. The Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808 genome consisted of a single, circular chromosome comprising 2,957,300-bp, 2,587 genes with GC content of 38.5%. Moreover, 16t RNAs, 1, 3 (16S, 23S) rRNAs, 4 ncRNAs, and 91 pseudo genes were also predicted. The majority of genome encode genes for protein, amino acids, carbohydrate, cell wall DNA and RNA metabolisms including all genes required for conversion of lactose to lactic acid. It also exhibited antimicrobial activity against E. coli ATCC 10536, S. aureus ATCC 6538, P. aeruginosa ATCC 9027, and L. monocytogenes ATCC 13932 and was found to be sensitive to commonly used antibiotics. The in silico analysis revealed the presence of genes for mundaticin and enterocin production, and CRISPER regions, however, the genes for antibiotic resistance were absent. No genes related to the pathogenicity island and prophages were detected by genome mining. Therefore, it could be inferened that Enterococcus mundtii QAUEM2808 has the potential to be used in milk fermentation as adjunct culture

Effect of current on the community structure of diatoms on different substrate.

I studied the hypothesis that density of diatoms would be higher in high current and plants than low current and rocks. Cell density did not differ with current but substrate while species composition of diatom communities varied among substrate than current.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/54733/1/3174.pdfDescription of 3174.pdf : Access restricted to on-site users at the U-M Biological Station

Cannibalism in woollynecked stork Ciconia episcopus

Volume: 95Start Page: 337End Page: 33

A Call to Introduce Structured Zika Surveillance in India

India has the climatic conditions conducive to year-round transmission of Zika virus, and a structured disease surveillance program should be implemented to prevent an outbreak. Such a program should (i) start screening before an outbreak arises; (ii) collect baseline data to assess future disease risk and monitor potential birth defects; and (iii) provide new insights into the ecology of the disease and inform public health policy following the one health concept

Data from: Noninvasive sampling reveals population genetic structure in the Royle’s pika, Ochotona roylei, in the western Himalaya

Understanding population genetic structure of climate-sensitive herbivore species is important as it provides useful insights on how shifts in environmental conditions can alter their distribution and abundance. Herbivore responses to the environment can have a strong indirect cascading effect on community structure. This is particularly important for Royle’s pika (Lagomorpha: Ochotona roylei), a herbivorous talus-dwelling species in alpine ecosystem, which forms a major prey base for many carnivores in the Himalayan arc. In this study, we used seven polymorphic microsatellite loci to detect evidence for recent changes in genetic diversity and population structure in Royle’s pika across five locations sampled between 8 km to 160 km apart in the western Himalaya. Using four clustering approaches, we found the presence of significant contemporary genetic structure in Royle’s pika populations. The detected genetic structure could be primarily attributed to the landscape features in alpine habitat (e.g. wide lowland valleys, rivers) that may act as semi-permeable barriers to gene flow and distribution of food plants, which are key determinants in spatial distribution of herbivores. Pika showed low inbreeding coefficients (FIS) and a high level of pairwise relatedness for individuals within 1km suggesting low dispersal abilities of talus-dwelling pikas. We have found evidence of a recent population bottleneck, possibly due to effects of environmental disturbances (e.g. snow melting patterns or thermal stress). Our results reveal significant evidence of isolation by distance in genetic differentiation (FST range = 0.04−0.19). This is the first population genetics study on Royle’s pika, which helps to address evolutionary consequences of climate change which are expected to significantly affect the distribution and population dynamics in this talus dwelling species

Raw Data_Bhattacharyya and Ishtiaq 2018

The file contains microsatellite raw data used in the study

Noninvasive sampling reveals population genetic structure in the Royle's pika, Ochotona roylei, in the western Himalaya

Understanding population genetic structure of climate-sensitive herbivore species is important as it provides useful insights on how shifts in environmental conditions can alter their distribution and abundance. Herbivore responses to the environment can have a strong indirect cascading effect on community structure. This is particularly important for Royle's pika (Lagomorpha: Ochotona roylei), a herbivorous talus-dwelling species in alpine ecosystem, which forms a major prey base for many carnivores in the Himalayan arc. In this study, we used seven polymorphic microsatellite loci to detect evidence for recent changes in genetic diversity and population structure in Royle's pika across five locations sampled between 8 and 160 km apart in the western Himalaya. Using four clustering approaches, we found the presence of significant contemporary genetic structure in Royle's pika populations. The detected genetic structure could be primarily attributed to the landscape features in alpine habitat (e.g., wide lowland valleys, rivers) that may act as semipermeable barriers to gene flow and distribution of food plants, which are key determinants in spatial distribution of herbivores. Pika showed low inbreeding coefficients (F-IS) and a high level of pairwise relatedness for individuals within 1 km suggesting low dispersal abilities of talus-dwelling pikas. We have found evidence of a recent population bottleneck, possibly due to effects of environmental disturbances (e.g., snow melting patterns or thermal stress). Our results reveal significant evidence of isolation by distance in genetic differentiation (F-ST range = 0.04-0.19). This is the first population genetics study on Royle's pika, which helps to address evolutionary consequences of climate change which are expected to significantly affect the distribution and population dynamics in this talus-dwelling species