| 1. |
- Augustsson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges in assessing the health risks of consuming vegetables in metal-contaminated environments
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-4120 .- 1873-6750. ; 113, s. 269-280
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A great deal of research has been devoted to the characterization of metal exposure due to the consumption of vegetables from urban or industrialized areas. It may seem comforting that concentrations in crops, as well as estimated exposure levels, are often found to be below permissible limits. However, we show that even a moderate increase in metal accumulation in crops may result in a significant increase in exposure. We also highlight the importance of assessing exposure levels in relation to a regional baseline. We have analyzed metal (Pb, Cd, As) concentrations in nearly 700 samples from 23 different vegetables, fruits, berries and mushrooms, collected near 21 highly contaminated industrial sites and from reference sites. Metal concentrations generally complied with permissible levels in commercial food and only Pb showed overall higher concentrations around the contaminated sites. Nevertheless, probabilistic exposure assessments revealed that the exposure to all three metals was significantly higher in the population residing around the contaminated sites, for both low-, medianand high consumers. The exposure was about twice as high for Pb and Cd, and four to six times as high for As. Since vegetable consumption alone did not result in exposure above tolerable intakes, it would have been easy to conclude that there is no risk associated with consuming vegetables grown near the contaminated sites. However, when the increase in exposure is quantified, its potential significance is harder to dismiss - especially when considering that exposure via other routes may be elevated in a similar way.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Carlén, Ida, et al.
(författare)
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Basin-scale distribution of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea provides basis for effective conservation actions
- 2018
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Ingår i: Biological Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3207 .- 1873-2917. ; 226, s. 42-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Knowledge on spatial and seasonal distribution of species is crucial when designing protected areas and implementing management actions. The Baltic Proper harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) population is critically endangered, and its distribution is virtually unknown. Here, we used passive acoustic monitoring and species distribution models to describe the spatial and seasonal distribution of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Proper. Porpoise click detectors were deployed over a systematic grid of 297 stations in eight countries from April 2011 through July 2013. Generalized additive models were used to describe the monthly probability of detecting porpoise clicks as a function of spatially-referenced covariates and time. During the reproductive season, two main areas of high probability of porpoise detection were identified. One of those areas, situated on and around the offshore banks in the Baltic Proper, is clearly separated from the known distribution range of the Belt Sea population during breeding season, suggesting this is an important breeding ground for the Baltic Proper population. We commend the designation of this area as a marine protected area and recommend Baltic Sea countries to also protect areas in the southern Baltic Sea and the Hand Bight where additional important harbour porpoise habitats were identified. Further conservation measures should be carried out based on analyses of overlap between harbour porpoise distribution and potentially harmful anthropogenic activities. Our study shows that large-scale systematic monitoring using novel techniques can give important insights on the distribution of low-density populations, and that international cooperation is pivotal when studying transnationally migratory species.
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| 4. |
- Ericson, Per G P, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Dating the diversification of the major lineages of Passeriformes (Aves)
- 2014
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Ingår i: BMC Evolutionary Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2148. ; 14:8, s. 1-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The avian Order Passeriformes is an enormously species-rich group, which comprises almost 60% ofall living bird species. This diverse order is believed to have originated before the break-up of Gondwana in the lateCretaceous. However, previous molecular dating studies have relied heavily on the geological split between NewZealand and Antarctica, assumed to have occurred 85–82 Mya, for calibrating the molecular clock and might thusbe circular in their argument.Results: This study provides a time-scale for the evolution of the major clades of passerines using seven nuclearmarkers, five taxonomically well-determined passerine fossils, and an updated interpretation of the New Zealandsplit from Antarctica 85–52 Mya in a Bayesian relaxed-clock approach. We also assess how different interpretationsof the New Zealand–Antarctica vicariance event influence our age estimates. Our results suggest that thediversification of Passeriformes began in the late Cretaceous or early Cenozoic. Removing the root calibration forthe New Zealand–Antarctica vicariance event (85–52 Mya) dramatically increases the 95% credibility intervals andleads to unrealistically old age estimates. We assess the individual characteristics of the seven nuclear genesanalyzed in our study. Our analyses provide estimates of divergence times for the major groups of passerines,which can be used as secondary calibration points in future molecular studies.Conclusions: Our analysis takes recent paleontological and geological findings into account and provides the bestestimate of the passerine evolutionary time-scale currently available. This time-scale provides a temporalframework for further biogeographical, ecological, and co-evolutionary studies of the largest bird radiation, andadds to the growing support for a Cretaceous origin of Passeriformes.
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| 5. |
- Hoffman, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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A divergent Anaplasma phagocytophilum variant in an Ixodes tick from a migratory bird; Mediterranean basin
- 2020
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Ingår i: Infection Ecology & Epidemiology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2000-8686 .- 2000-8686. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Anaplasma phagocytophilum (AP) has vast geographical and host ranges and causes disease in humans and domesticated animals. We investigated the role of northward migratory birds in the dispersal of tick-borne AP in the African-Western Palearctic.Ticks were collected from northward migratory birds trapped during spring migration of 2010 at two localities in the central Mediterranean Sea. AP DNA was detected by PCR (gltA and 16S rRNA) and variant determination was performed using ankA sequences.In total, 358 ticks were collected. One of 19 ticks determined as Ixodes was confirmed positive for AP DNA. The tick was collected from a woodchat shrike (Lanius senator senator) trapped in Greece, and molecularly determined to belong to the I. ricinus complex and sharing highest (95%) 16S RNA sequence identity to I. gibbosus. The ankA AP sequence exhibited highest similarity to sequences from rodents and shrews (82%) and ruminants (80%). Phylogenetic analyses placed it convincingly outside other clades, suggesting that it represents a novel AP variant.The divergent Ixodes species harboring a novel AP variant could either indicate an enzootic cycle involving co-evolution with birds, or dissemination from other regions by avian migration. None of the 331 Hyalomma marginatum sensu lato ticks, all immature stages, were positive for AP DNA, lending no evidence for the involvement of Hyalomma ticks transported by birds in the ecology of AP.
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| 6. |
- Hoffman, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Alkhurma Hemorrhagic Fever Virus RNA in Hyalomma rufipes Ticks Infesting Migratory Birds, Europe and Asia Minor
- 2018
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Ingår i: Emerging Infectious Diseases. - Atlanta, United States : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services * Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. - 1080-6040 .- 1080-6059. ; 24:5, s. 879-882
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus RNA was detected in immature Hyalomma rufipes ticks infesting northward migratory birds caught in the North Mediterranean Basin. This finding suggests a role for birds in the ecology of the Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus and a potential mechanism for dissemination to novel regions. Increased surveillance is warranted.
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| 7. |
- Ivarsson, Magnus, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Biogenic Mn-oxides in subseafloor basalts
- 2015
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The deep biosphere of the subseafloor basalts is recognized as a major scientific frontier in disciplines like biology, geology, and oceanography. Recently, the presence of fungi in these environments has involved a change of view regarding diversity and ecology. Here, we describe fossilized fungal communities in vugs in subseafloor basalts from a depth of 936.65 metres below seafloor at the Detroit Seamount, Pacific Ocean. These fungal communities are closely associated with botryoidal Mn oxides composed of todorokite. Analyses of the Mn oxides by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy (EPR) indicate a biogenic signature. We suggest, based on mineralogical, morphological and EPR data, a biological origin of the botryoidal Mn oxides. Our results show that fungi are involved in Mn cycling at great depths in the seafloor and we introduce EPR as a means to easily identify biogenic Mn oxides in these environments.
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| 8. |
- Kilias, Stephanos P., et al.
(författare)
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Precipitation of Mn Oxides in Quaternary Microbially Induced Sedimentary Structures (MISS), Cape Vani Paleo-Hydrothermal Vent Field, Milos, Greece
- 2020
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Ingår i: Minerals. - : MDPI AG. - 2075-163X. ; 10:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding microbial mediation in sediment-hosted Mn deposition has gained importance in low-temperature ore genesis research. Here we report Mn oxide ores dominated by todorokite, vernadite, hollandite, and manjiroite, which cement Quaternary microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) developed along bedding planes of shallow-marine to tidal-flat volcaniclastic sandstones/sandy tuffs, Cape Vani paleo-hydrothermal vent field, Milos, Greece. This work aims to decipher the link between biological Mn oxide formation, low-T hydrothermalism, and, growth and preservation of Mn-bearing MISS (MnMISS). Geobiological processes, identified by microtexture petrography, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, lipid biomarkers, bulk- and lipid-specific δ13Corganic composition, and field data, and, low-temperature hydrothermal venting of aqueous Mn2+ in sunlit shallow waters, cooperatively enabled microbially-mediated Mn (II) oxidation and biomineralization. The MnMISS biomarker content and δ13Corg signatures strongly resemble those of modern Mn-rich hydrothermal sediments, Milos coast. Biogenic and syngenetic Mn oxide precipitation established by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and petrography, combined with hydrothermal fluid flow-induced pre-burial curing/diagenesis, may account for today’s crystalline Mn oxide resource. Our data suggests that MISS are not unique to cyanobacteria mats. Furthermore, microbial mats inhabited by aerobic methanotrophs may have contributed significantly to the formation of the MnMISS, thus widening the spectrum of environments responsible for marine Mn biometallogenesis.
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| 9. |
- Malmström, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Extensive human DNA contamination in extracts from ancient dog bones and teeth.
- 2005
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Ingår i: Mol Biol Evol. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 22:10, s. 2040-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ancient DNA (aDNA) sequences, especially those of human origin, are notoriously difficult to analyze due to molecular damage and exogenous DNA contamination. Relatively few systematic studies have focused on this problem. Here we investigate the extent and origin of human DNA contamination in the most frequently used sources for aDNA studies, that is, bones and teeth from museum collections. To distinguish contaminant DNA from authentic DNA we extracted DNA from dog (Canis familiaris) specimens. We monitored the presence of a 148-bp human-specific and a 152-bp dog-specific mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragment in DNA extracts as well as in negative controls. The total number of human and dog template molecules were quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the sequences were characterized by amplicon cloning and sequencing. Although standard precautions to avoid contamination were taken, we found that all samples from the 29 dog specimens contained human DNA, often at levels exceeding the amount of authentic ancient dog DNA. The level of contaminating human DNA was also significantly higher in the dog extracts than in the negative controls, and an experimental setup indicated that this was not caused by the carrier effect. This suggests that the contaminating human DNA mainly originated from the dog bones rather than from laboratory procedures. When cloned, fragments within a contaminated PCR product generally displayed several different sequences, although one haplotype was often found in majority. This leads us to believe that recognized criteria for authenticating aDNA cannot separate contamination from ancient human DNA the way they are presently used.
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| 10. |
- Pochon, Zoé, et al.
(författare)
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aMeta : an accurate and memory-efficient ancient metagenomic profiling workflow
- 2023
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Ingår i: Genome Biology. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1465-6906 .- 1474-760X. ; 24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Analysis of microbial data from archaeological samples is a growing field with great potential for understanding ancient environments, lifestyles, and diseases. However, high error rates have been a challenge in ancient metagenomics, and the availability of computational frameworks that meet the demands of the field is limited. Here, we propose aMeta, an accurate metagenomic profiling workflow for ancient DNA designed to minimize the amount of false discoveries and computer memory requirements. Using simulated data, we benchmark aMeta against a current state-of-the-art workflow and demonstrate its superiority in microbial detection and authentication, as well as substantially lower usage of computer memory.
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