| 1. |
- Raffan, Eleanor, et al.
(författare)
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A Deletion in the Canine POMC Gene Is Associated with Weight and Appetite in Obesity-Prone Labrador Retriever Dogs
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cell Metabolism. - : Elsevier BV. - 1550-4131 .- 1932-7420. ; 23:5, s. 893-900
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sequencing of candidate genes for obesity in Labrador retriever dogs identified a 14 bp deletion in pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) with an allele frequency of 12%. The deletion disrupts the b-MSH and beta-endorphin coding sequences and is associated with body weight (per allele effect of 0.33 SD), adiposity, and greater food motivation. Among other dog breeds, the deletion was only found in the closely related flat-coat retriever (FCR), where it is similarly associated with body weight and food motivation. The mutation is significantly more common in Labrador retrievers selected to become assistance dogs than pets. In conclusion, the deletion in POMC is a significant modifier of weight and appetite in Labrador retrievers and FCRs and may influence other behavioral traits.
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| 2. |
- Bansal, Sheel, et al.
(författare)
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Practical Guide to Measuring Wetland Carbon Pools and Fluxes
- 2023
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Ingår i: Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.). - : SPRINGER. - 0277-5212 .- 1943-6246. ; 43:8
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wetlands cover a small portion of the world, but have disproportionate influence on global carbon (C) sequestration, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and aquatic C fluxes. However, the underlying biogeochemical processes that affect wetland C pools and fluxes are complex and dynamic, making measurements of wetland C challenging. Over decades of research, many observational, experimental, and analytical approaches have been developed to understand and quantify pools and fluxes of wetland C. Sampling approaches range in their representation of wetland C from short to long timeframes and local to landscape spatial scales. This review summarizes common and cutting-edge methodological approaches for quantifying wetland C pools and fluxes. We first define each of the major C pools and fluxes and provide rationale for their importance to wetland C dynamics. For each approach, we clarify what component of wetland C is measured and its spatial and temporal representativeness and constraints. We describe practical considerations for each approach, such as where and when an approach is typically used, who can conduct the measurements (expertise, training requirements), and how approaches are conducted, including considerations on equipment complexity and costs. Finally, we review key covariates and ancillary measurements that enhance the interpretation of findings and facilitate model development. The protocols that we describe to measure soil, water, vegetation, and gases are also relevant for related disciplines such as ecology. Improved quality and consistency of data collection and reporting across studies will help reduce global uncertainties and develop management strategies to use wetlands as nature-based climate solutions.
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, Dennis, et al.
(författare)
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Options to Reform the European Union Legislation on GMOs : Post-authorization and Beyond
- 2020
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Ingår i: Trends in Biotechnology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-7799 .- 1879-3096. ; 38:5, s. 465-467
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We discuss options to reform the EU genetically modified organism (GMO) regulatory framework, make risk assessment and decision-making more consistent with scientific principles, and lay the groundwork for international coherence. In this third of three articles, we focus on labeling and coexistence as well as discuss the political reality and potential ways forward.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Lichtenberg, Elinor M., et al.
(författare)
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A global synthesis of the effects of diversified farming systems on arthropod diversity within fields and across agricultural landscapes
- 2017
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 23:11, s. 4946-4957
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroecosystems. What remains unclear is the extent to which farm management schemes affect biodiversity components other than species richness, and whether impacts differ across spatial scales and landscape contexts. Using a global metadataset, we quantified the effects of organic farming and plant diversification on abundance, local diversity (communities within fields), and regional diversity (communities across fields) of arthropod pollinators, predators, herbivores, and detritivores. Both organic farming and higher in-field plant diversity enhanced arthropod abundance, particularly for rare taxa. This resulted in increased richness but decreased evenness. While these responses were stronger at local relative to regional scales, richness and abundance increased at both scales, and richness on farms embedded in complex relative to simple landscapes. Overall, both organic farming and in-field plant diversification exerted the strongest effects on pollinators and predators, suggesting these management schemes can facilitate ecosystem service providers without augmenting herbivore (pest) populations. Our results suggest that organic farming and plant diversification promote diverse arthropod metacommunities that may provide temporal and spatial stability of ecosystem service provisioning. Conserving diverse plant and arthropod communities in farming systems therefore requires sustainable practices that operate both within fields and across landscapes.
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| 6. |
- Dahlgren, E., et al.
(författare)
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A screening study of relationships among concentrations of algal toxins, PFAS, thiamine deficiency and biomarkers in the European flounder from the southern Baltic Sea
- 2022
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Ingår i: Regional Studies in Marine Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-4855. ; 53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the disturbed Baltic Sea ecosystem, several animal species display failing health related to exposure to toxic compounds, reduced energy metabolism and immune system disorders. In order to investigate possible associations between fish health and exposure to chemicals affecting the energy metabolism and immune defence, the levels of algal toxins (bromophenols, hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers and nodularin), perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and thiamine (vitamin B1) were determined in European flounder (Platichthys flesus). Several biomarkers indicating health status were examined in the fish, including ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), and activities of glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase and catalase, in addition to a large set of blood variables. The fish were collected from Hanobukten in the south-western parts of the Baltic Sea in late August 2018. Regression analyses of algal toxins, PFAS and thiamine concentration displayed several significant associations with biomarkers associated with detoxification and liver function, immune system function and blood status of the fish. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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| 7. |
- Hambäck, Peter A., et al.
(författare)
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Tradeoffs and synergies in wetland multifunctionality : A scaling issue
- 2023
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 862
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wetland area in agricultural landscapes has been heavily reduced to gain land for crop production, but in recent years there is increased societal recognition of the negative consequences from wetland loss on nutrient retention, biodiver-sity and a range of other benefits to humans. The current trend is therefore to re-establish wetlands, often with an aim to achieve the simultaneous delivery of multiple ecosystem services, i.e., multifunctionality. Here we review the liter-ature on key objectives used to motivate wetland re-establishment in temperate agricultural landscapes (provision of flow regulation, nutrient retention, climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation and cultural ecosystem services), and their relationships to environmental properties, in order to identify potential for tradeoffs and synergies concerning the development of multifunctional wetlands. Through this process, we find that there is a need for a change in scale from a focus on single wetlands to wetlandscapes (multiple neighboring wetlands including their catchments and surround-ing landscape features) if multiple societal and environmental goals are to be achieved. Finally, we discuss the key fac-tors to be considered when planning for re-establishment of wetlands that can support achievement of a wide range of objectives at the landscape scale.
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| 8. |
- Revsbech, Inge G., et al.
(författare)
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Hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide metabolites in the blood of free-ranging brown bears and their potential roles in hibernation
- 2014
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Ingår i: Free Radical Biology & Medicine. - : Elsevier. - 0891-5849 .- 1873-4596. ; 73, s. 349-357
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During winter hibernation, brown bears (Ursus arctos) lie in dens for half a year without eating while their basal metabolism is largely suppressed. To understand the underlying mechanisms of metabolic depression in hibernation, we measured type and content of blood metabolites of two ubiquitous inhibitors of mitochondrial respiration, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and nitric oxide (NO), in winter-hibernating and summer-active free-ranging Scandinavian brown bears. We found that levels of sulfide metabolites were overall similar in summer-active and hibernating bears but their composition in the plasma differed significantly, with a decrease in bound sulfane sulfur in hibernation. High levels of unbound free sulfide correlated with high levels of cysteine (Cys) and with low levels of bound sulfane sulfur, indicating that during hibernation H2S, in addition to being formed enzymatically from the substrate Cys, may also be regenerated from its oxidation products, including thiosulfate and polysulfides. In the absence of any dietary intake, this shift in the mode of H2S synthesis would help preserve free Cys for synthesis of glutathione (GSH), a major antioxidant found at high levels in the red blood cells of hibernating bears. In contrast, circulating nitrite and erythrocytic S-nitrosation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, taken as markers of NO metabolism, did not change appreciably. Our findings reveal that remodeling of H2S metabolism and enhanced intracellular GSH levels are hallmarks of the aerobic metabolic suppression of hibernating bears.
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