Search

The scientific community has invested effort into standardising methodologies for the regulatory ecotoxicity testing of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), but the practical requirements for bioaccumulation testing of ENMs have been given less attention.

Description\ud \ud To research the quantification of vibration from a micro turbine, and to develop a method of prediction of vibration and structure borne noise in a wide variety of installations in the UK.\ud \ud Objective\ud \ud The objectives of the study are as follows:\ud \ud 1) Develop a methodology to quantify the amount of source vibration from a building mounted micro wind turbine installation, and to predict the level of vibration and structure-borne noise impact within such buildings in the UK.\ud \ud 2) Test and validate the hypothesis on a statically robust sample size\ud \ud 3) Report the developed methodology in a form suitable for widespread adoption by industry and regulators, and report back on the suitability of the method on which to base policy decisions for a future inclusion for building mounted turbines in the GPDO.

Does today’s Civil Service have the skills to translate challenge to opportunity? A report from Sustainable Development Commission working with the National School for Government, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Sector Skills Council for Government. Publisher PDF

The study described in this report has been commissioned by Defra, BERR (formerly DTI) and CLG. It follows on from a report by the Hayes McKenzie Partnership to DTI in 2005 in which reports of low frequency noise emission from windfarms were investigated. Their report concluded that the complaints were not caused by low frequency noise, but by amplitude modulation of aerodynamic noise (AM) from the wind turbines. The term AM indicates aerodynamic noise from wind turbines, but with a greater than normal degree of regular fluctuation at blade passing frequency, typically once per second. The aims of this current study are to ascertain the prevalence of AM on UK wind farm sites, to try to gain a better understanding of the likely causes, and to establish whether further research into AM is required. The study was carried out in four parts, a survey of local authorities with windfarms in their areas, further investigation of sites for which AM was identified as a factor, a literature review and a survey of wind turbine manufacturers.\ud \ud The survey of local authorities was in two parts, a scoping survey aimed at identifying problem sites, and a detailed survey to establish whether AM could have been a factor in causing complaints. The response to both parts of the survey was 100%, although full information was not available for all sites at the detailed stage. The results showed that 27 of the 133 windfarm sites operational across the UK at the time of the survey had attracted noise complaints at some point. An estimated total of 239 formal complaints have been received about UK windfarm sites since 1991, 152 of which were from a single site. The estimated total number of complainants is 81 over the same sixteen year period. This shows that in terms of the number of people affected, wind farm noise is a small-scale problem compared with other types of noise; for example the number of complaints about industrial noise exceeds those about windfarms by around three orders of magnitude. In only one case was the windfarm considered by the local authority to be causing a statutory nuisance. Again, this indicates that, despite press articles to the contrary, the incidence of windfarm noise and AM in the UK is low.\ud \ud AM was considered to be a factor in four of the sites, and a possible factor in another eight. Regarding the four sites, analysis of meteorological data suggests that the conditions for AM would prevail between about 7% and 15% of the time. AM would not therefore be present most days, although it could occur for several days running over some periods. Complaints have subsided for three out of these four sites, in one case as a result of remedial treatment in the form of a wind turbine control system. In the remaining case, which is a recent installation, investigations are ongoing.\ud \ud The literature review indicated that, although there has been much research into the general area of aerodynamic noise it is a highly complex field, and whilst general principles are understood there are still unanswered questions. Regarding the specific phenomenon of AM there has been little research and the causes are still the subject of debate. AM is not fully predictable at current state of the art. The survey of wind turbine manufacturers revealed that, although there was considerable interest, few have any experience of AM.\ud \ud The low incidence of AM and the low numbers of people adversely affected make it difficult to justify further research funding in preference to other more widespread noise issues. On the other hand, since AM cannot be fully predicted at present, and its causes are not fully understood we consider that it might be prudent to carry out further research to improve understanding in this area.

On 1st December, the Sustainable Development Commission and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs held a cross-government workshop and masterclass on communicating clear messages to local government on sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to provide a report of the workshop. Publisher PDF

Report is referenced by 'Comments back from the Sustainable Communities Summit Workshop : creating communities with low environmental impact'. The Sustainable Development Commission and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ challenging and inspiring workshop at the Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit brought together policy makers, developers, practitioners, environmental organisations and local authorities to discuss how to deliver a step change in the delivery of communities with low environmental impacts. Publisher PDF

This report describes field trials carried out to test the workability and usefulness of a procedure for assessing low frequency noise. The procedure includes guidance notes and a pro-forma report with step by step instructions. It does not provide a prescriptive indicator of nuisance but rather gives a set procedure to help Environmental Health practitioners to form their own opinion. The assessment is based on whether the measured levels of LFN exceed a reference curve, and whether there is correlation between the complainant’s comments and measured noise.\ud A series of six trials of genuine ‘live’ LFN complaints was conducted by volunteers from Environmental Health departments. In two out of six cases an environmental noise was identified and its source located. In the remaining four cases no environmental noise was found and the officers concluded that there was no remedial action they could take. Their experience in applying the procedure was generally very positive: the participating officers found the procedure easy to use and that working to a set procedure increased their confidence and the complainant’s acceptance of the results. They also considered that the procedure achieved a good balance, giving a set procedure but allowing them the flexibility to form their own conclusions. The EHOs were generally able to draw firm conclusions and reach ‘closure’ if there was nothing they could do to help.\ud The proportion of cases for which no precise cause can be found is typical of LFN cases around the world. It points to the need for an improved understanding of the phenomenon, as well as for alternative sources of help for complainants.\ud A number of mostly minor modifications have been made to the procedure which

1. The status of pollinating insects is of international concern, but knowledge of the magnitude and extent of declines is limited by a lack of systematic monitoring. Standardized protocols are urgently needed, alongside a better understanding of how different methods and recorders (data collectors) influence estimates of pollinator abundance and diversity. 2. We compared two common methods for sampling wild pollinating insects (solitary bees, bumblebees and hoverflies), pan traps and transects, in surveys of 1 km countryside squares (agricultural and semi‐natural habitats) and flowering crop fields across Great Britain, including the influence of local floral resources (nectar sugar availability or crop flower density) on the insects sampled. Further, we compared the performance of recorders with differing expertise (non‐specialist research staff, taxonomic experts and non‐expert volunteers) in applying methods. 3. Pan traps and transects produced compositionally distinct samples of pollinator communities. In the wider countryside, pan traps sampled more species of solitary bee and hoverfly. In flowering crops, transects recorded a greater number of individual bumblebees, but fewer species. 4. Across all taxonomic groups and countryside and crop samples, transects generally had lower rates of species accumulation per individual collected than pan traps. This demonstrates that differences between methods in estimating richness are not due to sampling effort alone. However, recorders possessing greater taxonomic expertise can produce species accumulation data from transects that are almost commensurate with pan trapping. 5. The abundance and species richness of pollinators (except solitary bees) on transects in the wider countryside was positively related to the availability of estimated nectar sugar. In crops, pollinator abundance responses to flower densities were idiosyncratic according to crop type, but overall the response was positive and negative for transects and pan traps, respectively. 6. Given these taxonomic and context‐specific differences in method performance, we assess their suitability for monitoring pollinating insect communities and pollination services. We discuss the relevance of these findings within the context of achieving standardized, large‐scale monitoring of pollinating insects.

SummaryThe outbreak of bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 8 (BTV-8) during 2006-2009 in Europe was the most costly epidemic of the virus in recorded history. In 2015, a BTV-8 strain re-emerged in France which has continued to circulate since then. To examine anecdotal reports of reduced pathogenicity and transmission efficiency, we investigated the infection kinetics of a 2007 UK BTV-8 strain alongside the re-emerging BTV-8 strain isolated from France in 2017. Two groups of eight BTV-naïve British mule sheep were inoculated with 5.75 log10TCID50 ml−1 of either BTV-8 strain. BTV RNA was detected by 2 dpi in both groups with peak viremia occurring between 5-9 dpi. A significantly greater amount of BTV RNA was detected in sheep infected with the 2007 strain (6.0-8.8 log10 genome copies mL−1) than the re-emerging BTV-8 strain (2.9-7.9 log10 genome copies mL−1). All infected sheep developed BTV-specific antibodies by 9 dpi. BTV was isolated from 2 dpi to 12 dpi for 2007 BTV-8-inoculated sheep and from 5 to 10 dpi for sheep inoculated with the remerging BTV-8. In Culicoides sonorensis feeding on the sheep over the period 7-12 dpi, vector competence was significantly higher for the 2007 strain than the re-emerging strain. Both the proportion of animals showing moderate (as opposed to mild or no) clinical disease (6/8 vs 1/8) and the overall clinical scores (median 5.25 vs 3) were significantly higher in sheep infected with the 2007 strain, compared to those infected with the re-emerging strain. However, one sheep infected with the re-emerging strain was euthanized at 16 dpi having developed severe lameness. This highlights the potential of the re-emerging BTV-8 to still cause illness in naïve ruminants with concurrent costs to the livestock industry.SummaryThe re-emerging Bluetongue virus serotype 8 still presents a threat to naïve ruminants in Europe despite reduced virulence

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/., Habitat loss and fragmentation often result in small, isolated populations vulnerable to environmental disturbance and loss of genetic diversity. Low genetic diversity can increase extinction risk of small populations by elevating inbreeding and inbreeding depression, and reducing adaptive potential. Due to their linear nature and extensive use by humans, freshwater ecosystems are especially vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation. Although the effects of fragmentation on genetic structure have been extensively studied in migratory fishes, they are less understood in low-mobility species. We estimated impacts of instream barriers on genetic structure and diversity of the low-mobility river blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus) within five streams separated by weirs or dams constructed 45–120 years ago. We found evidence of small-scale (, This work was supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP110200017) to Monash University, Flinders University of South Australia, the University of Canberra, and University of Montana. Funding and other support was also contributed by industry partner organizations namely, Melbourne Water Corporation, ACTEW Corporation, Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (now Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning) and Fisheries Victoria (now Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources). L.B.B. was supported by an ARC FT130101068 grant. This publication has been written with the support of the AgreenSkills+fellowship programme, which has received funding from the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement N° FP7-609398 (AgreenSkills+contract). Part of this work was carried out by using the resources of the INRA MIGALE (http://migale.jouy.inra.fr) and GENOTOUL (Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées) bioinformatics platforms and the Montpellier Bioinformatics Biodiversity platform services. RL was supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (project GENOSPACE ANR-16-CE02-0008).

The waters of the European North Atlantic are subject to an increasing amount of anthropogenic pressure. Much of the environmental legislation designed to protect cetaceans requires detailed knowledge of the abundance and distribution of cetaceans within these waters. This data often comes from large-scale surveys. Data from two such series of surveys, spanning two time periods: the SCANS-II and CODA surveys in 2005/07 and the SCANS-III and ObSERVE surveys in 2016 were analysed using Generalised Additive Models to describe relationships between cetacean density and static and remotely accessed dynamic environmental features. Predictive models using spatial covariates as well as environmental predictors were created for the entire survey area using the most recently available data. This was done to conduct a “baseline” snapshot, representing the best possible picture of cetacean distribution for the summer of 2016. Subsequent chapters focus on specific ecoregions. These regions of relatively homogeneous habitat were selected with the aim of finding the best environmental predictors of genuine ecological relationships. In the North Sea ecoregion, models for harbour porpoise, minke whale, and white-beaked dolphin were also constructed using additional prey data available only for this region. This was found to be no better than modelling only environmental covariates. Depth was one of the most commonly retained covariates for all three species in this ecoregion. White-sided, bottlenose, common and striped dolphins and fin whale were investigated in the Celtic Seas, and Bay of Biscay and Iberian Peninsula ecoregions. Despite these two ecoregions being quite different, in most cases, model fits did not improve by including ecoregion as a factor covariate, suggesting that relationships between species and their environment were similar across both regions.

In vitro fermentation techniques (IVFT) have been widely used to evaluate the nutritive value of feeds for ruminants and in the last decade to assess the effect of different nutritional strategies on methane (CH4) production. However, many technical factors may influence the results obtained. The present review has been prepared by the 'Global Network' FACCE-JPI international research consortium to provide a critical evaluation of the main factors that need to be considered when designing, conducting and interpreting IVFT experiments that investigate nutritional strategies to mitigate CH emission from ruminants. Given the increasing and wide-scale use of IVFT, there is a need to critically review reports in the literature and establish what criteria are essential to the establishment and implementation of in vitro techniques. Key aspects considered include: i) donor animal species and number of animal used, ii) diet fed to donor animals, iii) collection and processing of rumen fluid as inoculum, iv) choice of substrate and incubation buffer, v) incubation procedures and CH measurements, vi) headspace gas composition and vii) comparability of in vitro and in vivo measurements. Based on an evaluation of experimental evidence, a set of technical recommendations are presented to harmonize IVFT for feed evaluation, assessment of rumen function and CH production., This review is part of the FACCE-JPI ‘Global Network’ project and the ‘Feeding and Nutrition Network’ of Livestock Research Group, in the Global Research Alliance for Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (www.globalresearchalliance.org). Authors acknowledge national funding from INIA (Spain, project MIT01-GLOBALNET-EEZ), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (The Netherlands; project Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouses Gases, BO-20-007-006), USDA-NIFA (USA), French National Research Agency through the program FACCE-JPI program, the Irish contribution to this JPI-FACCE project was funded by the Agricultural GHG Research Initiative for Ireland (AGRI-I), Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (UK), BLW (Switzerland) and Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland (Project 281337).

Migratory barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) provide an opportunity to examine the genetic population structure of a migratory large mammal whose movements and distribution, in some instances, have not been heavily influenced by human activities that result in habitat loss or fragmentation. These caribou have likely reached large effective population sizes since their rapid radiation during the early Holocene despite cyclic changes in abundance. Migratory barren-ground caribou are managed as discrete subpopulations. We investigated genetic variation among those subpopulations to determine the patterns of genetic diversity within and among them, and the implications for long-term persistence of caribou. We identified three distinct genetic clusters across the Canadian arctic tundra: the first cluster consisted of all fully-continental migratory barren-ground subpopulations; the second cluster was the Dolphin and Union caribou; and the third cluster was caribou from Southampton Island. The Southampton Island caribou are especially genetically distinct from the other barren-ground type caribou. Gene flow among subpopulations varied across the range. Occasional gene flow across the sea-ice is likely the reason for high levels of genetic variation in the Dolphin and Union subpopulation, which experienced very low numbers in the past. These results suggest that for most migratory caribou subpopulations, connectivity among subpopulations plays an important role in maintaining natural genetic diversity. Our analyses provide insight into the levels of microsatellite genetic diversity and patterns of gene flow that may be common to large subpopulations that historically had a continuous distribution across a large continental range. These data can also be used as a benchmark to compare the effects of habitat fragmentation and bottlenecks on other large caribou populations.

Stakeholder engagement is important for successful management of natural resources, both to make effective decisions and to obtain support. However, in the context of coastal management, questions remain unanswered on how to effectively link decisions made at the catchment level with objectives for marine biodiversity and fisheries productivity. Moreover, there is much uncertainty on how to best elicit community input in a rigorous manner that supports management decisions. A decision support process is described that uses the adaptive management loop as its basis to elicit management objectives, priorities and management options using two case studies in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The approach described is then generalised for international interest. A hierarchical engagement model of local stakeholders, regional and senior managers is used. The result is a semi-quantitative generic elicitation framework that ultimately provides a prioritised list of management options in the context of clearly articulated management objectives that has widespread application for coastal communities worldwide. The case studies show that demand for local input and regional management is high, but local influences affect the relative success of both engagement processes and uptake by managers. Differences between case study outcomes highlight the importance of discussing objectives prior to suggesting management actions, and avoiding or minimising conflicts at the early stages of the process. Strong contributors to success are a) the provision of local information to the community group, and b) the early inclusion of senior managers and influencers in the group to ensure the intellectual and time investment is not compromised at the final stages of the process. The project has uncovered a conundrum in the significant gap between the way managers perceive their management actions and outcomes, and community's perception of the effectiveness (and wisdom) of these same management actions. Crown Copyright (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ruminant husbandry is a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG). Filling knowledge gaps and providing expert recommendation are important for defining future research priorities, improving methodologies and establishing science-based GHG mitigation solutions to government and non-governmental organisations, advisory/extension networks, and the ruminant livestock sector. The objectives of this review is to summarize published literature to provide a detailed assessment of the methodologies currently in use for measuring enteric methane (CH) emission from individual animals under specific conditions, and give recommendations regarding their application. The methods described include respiration chambers and enclosures, sulphur hexafluoride tracer (SF) technique, and techniques based on short-term measurements of gas concentrations in samples of exhaled air. This includes automated head chambers (e.g. the GreenFeed system), the use of carbon dioxide (CO) as a marker, and (handheld) laser CH detection. Each of the techniques are compared and assessed on their capability and limitations, followed by methodology recommendations. It is concluded that there is no ‘one size fits all’ method for measuring CH emission by individual animals. Ultimately, the decision as to which method to use should be based on the experimental objectives and resources available. However, the need for high throughput methodology e.g. for screening large numbers of animals for genomic studies, does not justify the use of methods that are inaccurate. All CH measurement techniques are subject to experimental variation and random errors. Many sources of variation must be considered when measuring CH concentration in exhaled air samples without a quantitative or at least regular collection rate, or use of a marker to indicate (or adjust) for the proportion of exhaled CH sampled. Consideration of the number and timing of measurements relative to diurnal patterns of CH emission and respiratory exchange are important, as well as consideration of feeding patterns and associated patterns of rumen fermentation rate and other aspects of animal behaviour. Regardless of the method chosen, appropriate calibrations and recovery tests are required for both method establishment and routine operation. Successful and correct use of methods requires careful attention to detail, rigour, and routine self-assessment of the quality of the data they provide., This review is part of the FACCE-JPI ‘Global Network’ project. Authors acknowledge national funding from the Departmentfor Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK), INIA (Spain, project MIT01-GLOBALNET-EEZ), the Ministry of Economic Affairs(The Netherlands; project Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouses Gases, BO-20-007-006), USDA-NIFA (USA),French National Research Agency through the FACCE-JPI program, Agricultural GHG Research Initiative for Ireland (AGRI-I),Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland (Project 281337), and BLW (Switzerland).

International audience; The Ordos Loess Plateau with its iconic fluvial incision pattern represents an uplifted but internally stable plateau crustal block on the eastern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau. The Ordos Loess Plateau deeply incised river landscapes and hence its inaccessibility helped to protect ancient China from invading nomads from the north. The Ordos Block is internally free of seismicity but its boundaries feature severe high-magnitude earthquakes. Due to the ongoing India-Asia convergence, the northeastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau leading to the eastward lateral extrusion of fault-bounded blocks. The Ordos Loess Plateau is part of one of these blocks and is still affected by lateral eastward motion along crustal scale faults and large surface uplift from Late Miocene to present. In this study, we investigated the effect of fault activity on the morphological evolution of the Ordos Loess Plateau. To quantify the effect of uplift gradients on the drainage systems, we investigated topographic patterns and landform metrics through field surveys and topographic analysis based on digital elevation models. Field surveys show that the southern boundary of the Ordos Loess Plateau to the Weihe Graben is still tectonically active (evidence for faulting in quaternary sediments). We found that the drainage is consistently directed towards the Weihe Graben in the southeast. Fluvial channels are in a state of morphological disequilibrium, with steep channel segments towards the Weihe Graben and meandering low gradient rivers in the central Ordos Loess Plateau. Over substantial portions, the shape of the longitudinal channel profile in the Ordos Loess Plateau is straight and deviates from usual graded longitudinal channel profiles. We further found that the degree of erosion and plateau incision is pronounced in the eastern part of the Ordos Loess Plateau, while the southwestern part is less incised. The drainage network indicated that the drainage basins are tilted toward the Liupanshan Mountains overthrust in the southwest. We conclude that the far-field influence of the Cenozoic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau activated the southwestern and southern boundary faults around the Ordos Loess Plateau. The drainage systems reorganized to a principal southern flow direction and thereby progressively incised in the Ordos Loess Plateau, causing severe soil erosion.

International audience; Perennial landslide dams interrupt the sediment connectivity of rivers. Although most landslide dams do not persist for more than a few days, those that do can exhibit significant sediment trapping capacity. While water can pass through or over the dam, the sediment load is trapped upstream of the dam until the dam breaks or gradually erodes, or is completely filled with deposits. The volume of sediment stored in this way can reach up to three times the volume of impounded water, as we find by back-analyzing the lake Hintersee in southeastern Germany. In this work, we reconstruct the pre-landslide topography using Petrel and then use the Gerris shallow-water flow solver with a Voellmy rheology to back-analyze this landslide-dammed lake in the Bavarian Alps. We test several landslide release scenarios and different landslide rheologies to obtain the best-fitting reconstruction of the dam topography. We then fill the landslide dam with water and sediment using simple slope algorithms and validate the results against the current topography. Finally, we compare the landslide deposit thicknesses, water depths, and trapped sediment thicknesses of our different scenarios in order to provide new insight into the damming and sediment trapping capacity of landslides.

The sea bass stock around the UK (northern stock) has declined rapidly over the past decade, likely due to a combination of both overfishing and low recruitment. Understanding mechanisms that drive the number of young reaching nursery grounds is important for explaining observed recruitment variability and therefore developing effective management strategies. An individual-based model (IBM) has been developed here to investigate factors affecting sea bass settlement on nursery grounds for the northern stock. Simulations considered seven years with varying environmental conditions and year class strength, and outputs were compared to empirical data from monitoring of nursery areas in the UK and Ireland. The IBM includes hydrodynamics to simulate the drift of eggs and larvae, temperature-dependent growth and mortality, and behavior affecting position in the water column. Comparison between the model and ICES assessment abundance of age class zero fish showed similar temporal variability, but with higher recruitment predicted for 2018, and a lower peak recruitment in 1997. The model reproduced general patterns of interannual variability for the Thames estuary, but performed less well for some other regions. Further investigation is needed to understand differences between modelled supply and observations, as these could be due to uncertainties in reproducing the physical environment (e.g., currents, temperature) or biology (e.g., spawning, behavior, mortality), as well as uncertainty in recruitment derived from stock assessments or data collected from nursery grounds. Nevertheless, the model provides a useful demonstration of connectivity between spawning and nursery grounds, showing spawning regions that are likely to have greatest influence on recruitment in different estuaries, and how these may vary interannually. For example, sources from western Channel and Celtic Sea can supply larvae to many areas, leading to connectivity across the Channel and Celtic Sea, and into the Irish Sea. However, other regions may depend on more local areas. For example, with the Solent estuary dependent on sources within the Channel each year. With the temperature-dependence on growth, and therefore duration of the pelagic stage, results show the potential influence of spawning timing, in relation to ocean temperatures, for connectivity between spawning and nursery grounds., This work was funded by UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA, FRD009).

International audience; Microbial colonisation is paramount to the normal development of the immune system, particularly at mucosal sites. However, the relationships between the microbiome and the adaptive immune repertoire have mostly been explored in rodents and humans. Here, we report a high-throughput sequencing analysis of the chicken TCRβ repertoire and the influences of microbial colonisation on tissue-resident TCRβ+ cells. The results reveal that the microbiome is an important driver of TCRβ diversity in both intestinal tissues and the bursa of Fabricius, but not in the spleen. Of note, public TCRβ sequences (shared across individuals) make a substantial contribution to the repertoire. Additionally, different tissues exhibit biases in terms of their V family and J gene usage, and these effects were influenced by the gut-associated microbiome. TCRβ clonal expansions were identified in both colonised and germ-free birds, but differences between the groups were indicative of an influence of the microbiota. Together, these findings provide an insight into the avian adaptive immune system and the influence of the microbiota on the TCRβ repertoire.

International audience; In vitro toxicological tests has have been proposed as an approach to complement the chemical safety assessment of food contact materials, particularly those with a complex or unknown chemical composition such as paper and board. An EU 5th framework program project “BIOSAFEPAPER – Application of bioassays for safety assessment of paper and board for food contact” specially focused on the application of biotests to paper and board. The project included both chemical characterization and toxicological testing of a representative number of paper and board extracts prepared according to the proposed end use (wet, fatty and dry food contact). Among the concerns addressed in the project wereraised regarding the applicability of in vitro tests are the effects of interference of the extractables on the outcome of the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests applied and the role of known compounds present in paper and boardchemically complex materials such as paper and board, either as constituents or contaminants.. In order to answer these questions, a series of experiments were performed to assess the role of, natural substances (wood extracts, resin acids), some additives (diisopropylnaphthalene, phthalates, acrylamide, fluorescent whitening agents) and contaminants (2,4-diaminotoluene, benzoa(a)pyrene) in the toxicological profile of paper and board. These substances were individually tested or used to spike actual paper and board extracts. The toxic concentrations of diisopropylnaphthalenes and phthalates , were compared with those actually detected in paper and board extracts showing conspicuous toxicity. According to the results of the spiking experiments the extracts did not affect the toxicity of tested chemicals, nor was there any significant metabolic intereference in the cases where two compounds were used in tests involving xenobiotic metabolism by the target cells. While the identified substances apparently have a role in the cytotoxicity of some of the project samples, their presence does not explain the total toxicological profile of the extracts. In conclusion, biotesting can have a role in the safety assessment of chemically complex materials in detecting potentially harmful activities not predictable by the chemical analysis alone.

International audience; In vitro toxicological tests has have been proposed as an approach to complement the chemical safety assessment of food contact materials, particularly those with a complex or unknown chemical composition such as paper and board. An EU 5th framework program project “BIOSAFEPAPER – Application of bioassays for safety assessment of paper and board for food contact” specially focused on the application of biotests to paper and board. The project included both chemical characterization and toxicological testing of a representative number of paper and board extracts prepared according to the proposed end use (wet, fatty and dry food contact). Among the concerns addressed in the project wereraised regarding the applicability of in vitro tests are the effects of interference of the extractables on the outcome of the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests applied and the role of known compounds present in paper and boardchemically complex materials such as paper and board, either as constituents or contaminants.. In order to answer these questions, a series of experiments were performed to assess the role of, natural substances (wood extracts, resin acids), some additives (diisopropylnaphthalene, phthalates, acrylamide, fluorescent whitening agents) and contaminants (2,4-diaminotoluene, benzoa(a)pyrene) in the toxicological profile of paper and board. These substances were individually tested or used to spike actual paper and board extracts. The toxic concentrations of diisopropylnaphthalenes and phthalates , were compared with those actually detected in paper and board extracts showing conspicuous toxicity. According to the results of the spiking experiments the extracts did not affect the toxicity of tested chemicals, nor was there any significant metabolic intereference in the cases where two compounds were used in tests involving xenobiotic metabolism by the target cells. While the identified substances apparently have a role in the cytotoxicity of some of the project samples, their presence does not explain the total toxicological profile of the extracts. In conclusion, biotesting can have a role in the safety assessment of chemically complex materials in detecting potentially harmful activities not predictable by the chemical analysis alone.

Concentrations of heavy metals and their chemical forms were analyzed in the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) collected from the Scotia Sea in December, 1987, and the results were discussed in relation to sex and maturity stages. The whole body metal concentrations were in the order of Zn〓Cu>Fe>Mn>Ni>Cd. The values of Fe, Mn and Zn were higher in females than in males. The values of Cu, Fe, Ni and Cd in adult females were highest in stage IIIA. Also, the values for Cu was higher in juveniles than in adults. Concentrations of the metals were generally higher in cephalothorax than in abdomen. In particular, a majority of Cu burden in the cephalothorax existed as Cu-binding proteins, which were likely to be mainly hemocyanin and metallothionein. We speculate that changes in amounts of Cu-binding proteins by physiological conditions might be important causes for the variations of Cu concentration between sexes and between maturity stages of the Antarctic krill.

Copyright © 2007 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Atmospheric aerosol samples, collected continuously during a sampling period longer than 1 year at six rural and background sites representing oceanic, rural and continental environments across Europe, were extracted, fractionated and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The detailed organic speciation of the aerosol samples enabled the choice of some key compounds to assess the contribution of different sources. Lipophilic molecular markers were identified, including vehicle exhaust constituents, meat smoke tracers, phytosterols of higher photosynthetic plants and wood smoke components, especially from coniferous vegetation. The lowest concentrations and a quasi absence of seasonal cycle were observed at the oceanic background site of Azores. The highest values and a greater number of compounds were registered at the two continental lower-level sites. Aveiro (a rural site close to the small coastal Portuguese city of Aveiro) and K-puszta (Hungarian plains) both presented a seasonal variation with winter maxima attributable to a sizable contribution of wood-burning and meat-cooking sources. At the mountain sites (Puy de Dôme, Schauinsland and the high alpine summit of Sonnblick), concentrations maximized during summer as a result of the decoupling of the lower layers from the midtroposphere with wintry weather and the influence of boundary layer air masses during the warm season.

DATA AVAILABILITY: Genotypic data are deposited in DRYAD: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86gk and the raw reads have been deposited in the SRA (Bioproject: PRJNA81085).; International audience; Genetic data are useful for detecting sudden population declines in species that are difficult to study in the field. Yet this indirect approach has its own drawbacks, including population structure, mutation patterns, and generation overlap. The ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea), a long-lived Arctic seabird, is currently suffering from rapid alteration of its primary habitat (i.e., sea ice), and dramatic climatic events affecting reproduction and recruitment. However, ivory gulls live in remote areas, and it is difficult to assess the population trend of the species across its distribution. Here we present complementary microsatellite- and SNP-based genetic analyses to test a recent bottleneck genetic signal in ivory gulls over a large portion of their distribution. With attention to the potential effects of population structure, mutation patterns, and sample size, we found no significant signatures of population decline worldwide. At a finer scale, we found a significant bottleneck signal at one location in Canada. These results were compared with predictions from simulations showing how generation time and generation overlap can delay and reduce the bottleneck microsatellite heterozygosity excess signal. The consistency of the results obtained with independent methods strongly indicates that the species shows no genetic evidence of an overall decline in population size. However, drawing conclusions related to the species' population trends will require a better understanding of the effect of age structure in long-lived species. In addition, estimates of the effective global population size of ivory gulls were surprisingly low (similar to 1000 ind.), suggesting that the evolutionary potential of the species is not assured.

Natural selection on floral scent composition is a key element of the hypothesis that pollinators and other floral visitors drive scent evolution. The measure of such selection is complicated by the high-dimensional nature of floral scent data and uncertainty about the cognitive processes involved in scent-mediated communication. We use dimension reduction through reduced-rank regression to jointly estimate a scent composite trait under selection and the strength of selection acting on this trait. To assess and compare variation in selection on scent across species, time and space, we reanalyse 22 datasets on six species from four previous studies. The results agreed qualitatively with previous analyses in terms of identifying populations and scent compounds subject to stronger selection but also allowed us to evaluate and compare the strength of selection on scent across studies. Doing so revealed that selection on floral scent was highly variable, and overall about as common and as strong as selection on other phenotypic traits involved in pollinator attraction or pollen transfer. These results are consistent with an important role of floral scent in pollinator attraction. Our approach should be useful for further studies of plant-animal communication and for studies of selection on other high-dimensional phenotypes. In particular, our approach will be useful for studies of pollinator-mediated selection on complex scent blends comprising many volatiles, and when no prior information on the physiological responses of pollinators to scent compounds is available.

8 páginas, 4 figuras, 2 tablas. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., In wildlife disease management there are few diseases for which vaccination is a viable option. The human vaccine BCG has been used for the control of bovine tuberculosis in badgers since 2010 and is expected to increase. Understanding the long-term effects of repeated vaccination campaigns on disease prevalence is vital, but modelling thus far has generally assumed that a vaccine provides perfect protection to a proportion of the population, and that animals exposed to a repeated vaccination have a second independent chance of becoming protected. We held a workshop with experts in the field to obtain consensus over the main pathways for partial protection in the badger, and then simulated these using an established model. The available data supported the possibility that some individuals receive no benefit from the BCG vaccine, others may result in a delayed disease progression and in the remaining animals, vaccine protected the individual from any onward transmission. Simulating these pathways using different levels of overall efficacy demonstrated that partial protection leads to a reduced effect of vaccination, but in all of the identified scenarios it was still possible to eradicate disease in an isolated population with no disease introduction. We also identify those potential vaccination failures that require further investigation to determine which of our proposed pathways is the more likely., This work was funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(Defra), UK [project SE3325].

Temperate forest soils are often considered as an important sink for atmospheric carbon (C), thereby buffering anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, the effect of tree species composition on the magnitude of this sink is unclear. We resampled a tree species common garden experiment (six sites) a decade after initial sampling to evaluate whether forest floor (FF) and topsoil organic carbon (Corg) and total nitrogen (Nt) stocks changed in dependence of tree species (Norway spruce—Picea abies L., European beech—Fagus sylvatica L., pedunculate oak—Quercus robur L., sycamore maple—Acer pseudoplatanus L., European ash—Fraxinus excelsior L. and small‐leaved lime—Tilia cordata L.). Two groups of species were identified in terms of Corg and Nt distribution: (1) Spruce with high Corg and Nt stocks in the FF developed as a mor humus layer which tended to have smaller Corg and Nt stocks and a wider Corg:Nt ratio in the mineral topsoil, and (2) the broadleaved species, of which ash and maple distinguished most clearly from spruce by very low Corg and Nt stocks in the FF developed as mull humus layer, had greater Corg and Nt stocks, and narrow Corg:Nt ratios in the mineral topsoil. Over 11 years, FF Corg and Nt stocks increased most under spruce, while small decreases in bulk mineral soil (esp. in 0–15 cm and 0–30 cm depth) Corg and Nt stocks dominated irrespective of species. Observed decadal changes were associated with site‐related and tree species‐mediated soil properties in a way that hinted towards short‐term accumulation and mineralisation dynamics of easily available organic substances. We found no indication for Corg stabilisation. However, results indicated increasing Nt stabilisation with increasing biomass of burrowing earthworms, which were highest under ash, lime and maple and lowest under spruce. Highlights We studied if tree species differences in topsoil Corg and Nt stocks substantiate after a decade. The study is unique in its repeated soil sampling in a multisite common garden experiment. Forest floors increased under spruce, but topsoil stocks decreased irrespective of species. Changes were of short‐term nature. Nitrogen was most stable under arbuscular mycorrhizal species., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaff (DFG)

Fire regimes are changing due to both anthropogenic climatic drivers and vegetation management challenges, making it difficult to determine how climate alone might influence wildfire activity. Earth has been subject to natural-background climate variability throughout its past due to variations in Earth’s orbital parameters (Milkankovitch cycles), which provides an opportunity to assess climate-only driven variations in wildfire. Here we present a 350,000 yr long record of fossil charcoal from mid-latitude (~35°N) Jurassic sedimentary rocks. These results are coupled to estimates of variations in the hydrological cycle using clay mineral, palynofacies and elemental analyses, and lithological and biogeochemical signatures. We show that fire activity strongly increased during extreme seasonal contrast (monsoonal climate), which has been linked to maximal precessional forcing (boreal summer in perihelion) (21,000 yr cycles), and we hypothesize that long eccentricity modulation further enhances precession-forced fire activity. Increased fire activity in the Early Jurassic is related to changes in the hydrological cycle driven by enhanced seasonality due to orbital forcing, according to a mid-latitude sedimentary charcoal record spanning 350,000 years.

The conservation of migratory marine species, including pelagic seabirds, is challenging because their movements span vast distances frequently beyond national jurisdictions. Here, we aim to identify important aggregations of seabirds in the North Atlantic to inform ongoing regional conservation efforts. Using tracking, phenology, and population data, we mapped the abundance and diversity of 21 seabird species. This revealed a major hotspot associated with a discrete area of the subpolar frontal zone, used annually by 2.9–5 million seabirds from ≥56 colonies in the Atlantic: the first time this magnitude of seabird concentrations has been documented in the high seas. The hotspot is temporally stable and amenable to site-based conservation and is under consideration as a marine protected area by the OSPAR Commission. Protection could help mitigate current and future threats facing species in the area. Overall, our approach provides an exemplar data-driven pathway for future conservation efforts on the high seas. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

23 Págs. Pictures., The understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and the clinicopathological forms caused by currently circulating African swine fever virus (ASFV) isolates is incomplete. So far, most of the studies have been focused on isolates classified within genotypes I and II, the only genotypes that have circulated outside of Africa. However, less is known about the clinical presentations and lesions induced by isolates belonging to the other twenty-two genotypes. Therefore, the early clinicopathological identification of disease outbreaks caused by isolates belonging to, as yet, not well-characterised ASFV genotypes may be compromised, which might cause a delay in the implementation of control measures to halt the virus spread. To improve the pathological characterisation of disease caused by diverse isolates, we have refined the macroscopic and histopathological evaluation protocols to standardise the scoring of lesions. Domestic pigs were inoculated intranasally with different doses (high, medium and low) of ASFV isolate Ken05/Tk1 (genotype X). To complement previous studies, the distribution and severity of macroscopic and histopathological lesions, along with the amount and distribution of viral antigen in tissues, were characterised by applying the new scoring protocols. The intranasal inoculation of domestic pigs with high doses of the Ken05/Tk1 isolate induced acute forms of ASF in most of the animals. Inoculation with medium doses mainly induced acute forms of disease. A less severe but longer clinical course, typical of subacute forms, characterised by the presence of more widespread and severe haemorrhages and oedema, was observed in one pig inoculated with the medium dose. The severity of vascular lesions (haemorrhages and oedema) induced by high and medium doses was not associated with the amount of virus antigen detected in tissues, therefore these might be attributed to indirect mechanisms not evaluated in the present study. The absence of clinical signs, lesions and detectable levels of virus genome or antigen in blood from the animals inoculated with the lowest dose ruled out the existence of possible asymptomatic carriers or persistently infected pigs, at least for the 21 days period of the study. The results corroborate the moderate virulence of the Ken05/Tk1 isolate, as well as its capacity to induce both the acute and, occasionally, subacute forms of ASF when high and medium doses were administered intranasally., The animal study was funded under an Innovate UK and Genus funded sub-contract from the Roslin Institute and APHA (CSKN0019). This research was also financially supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government. The development and refinement of the scoring systems was supported by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unparalleled global impacts on human mobility. In the ocean, ship-based activities are thought to have decreased due to severe restrictions and changes in goods consumption, but little is known of the patterns of change, which sectors are most affected, in which regions, and for how long. Here, we map global change of marine traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic and assess its temporal variability at a fine-scale in one of the most affected regions, the Mediterranean Sea. Nearly 44.3% of the global ocean and 77.5% of national jurisdictions showed a decrease in traffic density during April 2020, when strictest confinement measures took place, showing a clear disruption in comparison with previous trends and future projections. Decreases mainly occurred in coastal areas and were more marked and longer lasting in sectors other than cargo and tanker shipping. Our results provide guidance for large-scale monitoring of the progress and potential effects of COVID-19, or other global shocks, on the blue economy and ocean health., We thank Marine Traffic and Exact Earth for their support with AIS data. D.M. acknowledges support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie grant agreement no 794938

Similarities and differences in the submicron atmospheric aerosol chemical composition are analyzed from a unique set of measurements performed at 21 sites across Europe for at least one year. These sites are located between 35 and 62°N and 10° W – 26°E, and represent various types of settings (remote, coastal, rural, industrial, urban). Measurements were all carried out on-line with a 30-min time resolution using mass spectroscopy based instruments known as Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitors (ACSM) and Aerosol Mass Spectrometers (AMS) and following common measurement guidelines. Data regarding organics, sulfate, nitrate and ammonium concentrations, as well as the sum of them called non-refractory submicron aerosol mass concentration ([NR-PM1]) are discussed. NR-PM1 concentrations generally increase from remote to urban sites. They are mostly larger in the mid-latitude band than in southern and northern Europe. On average, organics account for the major part (36–64%) of NR-PM1 followed by sulfate (12–44%) and nitrate (6–35%). The annual mean chemical composition of NR-PM1 at rural (or regional background) sites and urban background sites are very similar. Considering rural and regional background sites only, nitrate contribution is higher and sulfate contribution is lower in mid-latitude Europe compared to northern and southern Europe. Large seasonal variations in concentrations (μg/m³) of one or more components of NR-PM1 can be observed at all sites, as well as in the chemical composition of NR-PM1 (%) at most sites. Significant diel cycles in the contribution to [NR-PM1] of organics, sulfate, and nitrate can be observed at a majority of sites both in winter and summer. Early morning minima in organics in concomitance with maxima in nitrate are common features at regional and urban background sites. Daily variations are much smaller at a number of coastal and rural sites. Looking at NR-PM1 chemical composition as a function of NR-PM1 mass concentration reveals that although organics account for the major fraction of NR-PM1 at all concentration levels at most sites, nitrate contribution generally increases with NR-PM1 mass concentration and predominates when NR-PM1 mass concentrations exceed 40 μg/m³ at half of the sites., This study was partially supported by the European Union's projects ACTRIS (EU FP7-262254) and ACTRIS-2 (EU Horizon 2020–654109). COST Action CA16109 COLOSSAL, Chemical On-Line cOmpoSition and Source Apportionment of fine aerosoL, is acknowledged. The ACSM observations at Birkenes was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment Strategic Institute Program. IDAEA-CSIC (3 datasets: BCN, MSA, MSY) was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER funds under the PRISMA project (CGL 2012-39623-C02-1). The London measurements were supported by the UK National Research Council through the ClearfLo project and a PhD studentship (grant refs. NE/H008136/1 and NE/I528142/1) and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). ECPL personel, namely Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Aikaterini Bougiatioti and Iasonas Stavroulas acknowledge support by the project “Panhellenic infrastructure for atmospheric composition and climate change, PANACEA” (MIS 5021516) which is implemented under the Action “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure”, funded by the Operational Programme” Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (NSRF 2014–2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund). IMT Lille Douai acknowledges financial support from the CaPPA (Chemical and Physical Properties of the Atmosphere) project funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) through the PIA (Programme d'Investissement d'Avenir) under contract ANR-11-LABX-0005-01, and two CPER projects funded by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the CNRS, the Regional Council “Hauts-de-France” and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF): Climibio, and IRENI (additionally financed by the Communauté Urbaine de Dunkerque). S. Zhang thanks IMT Lille Douai and the Regional Council “Hauts-de-France” for her PhD grant. Prague co-authors would like to acknowledge a Czech MEYS's project under INTER-EXCELENCE INTERCOST program under grant agreement LTC18068 and from European Regional Development Fund-Project under the grant ACTRIS-CZ RI (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_013/0001315). EPA Ireland, Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) project BACCHUS under grant agreement n_603445 are acknowledged for research support at Mace Head. The physical measurements were also funded by the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network GUAN, which was jointly established with help of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) grants F&E 370343200 (German title: “Erfassung der Zahl feiner und ultrafeiner Partikel in der Auβenluft”), 2008–2010, and F&E 371143232 (German title: “Trendanalysen gesundheitsgefährdender Fein-und Ultrafeinstaubfraktionen unter Nutzung der im German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN) ermittelten Immissionsdaten durch Fortführung und Interpretation der Messreihen”) 2012–2014. We also acknowledge the WCCAP (World Calibration Center for Aerosol Physics) as part of the WMO-GAW program. The WCCAP is base-funded by the German Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt), Germany. Support by the European Regional Development Funds (EFRE – Europe funds Saxony) is gratefully acknowledged. Atmospheric measurements performed in Corsica is part of the ChArMEx project supported by CNRS-INSU, ADEME, Météo-France and CEA in the framework of the multidisciplinary programme MISTRALS (Mediterranean Integrated Studies aT Regional And Local Scales; http://mistrals-home.org/, last access: June 10, 2020). Final data processing of these measurements has been supported by the EMME-CARE (Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate and Atmosphere Research Center) which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 856612 and the Cyprus Government. The measurements in Switzerland were supported by the Federal Office for the Environment. We thank the International Foundation High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat (HFSJG) for the opportunity to perform experiments on the Jungfraujoch.

Short-duration (1–3 h) rainfall extremes can cause serious damage to societies through rapidly developing (flash) flooding and are determined by complex, multifaceted processes that are altering as Earth’s climate warms. In this Review, we examine evidence from observational, theoretical and modelling studies for the intensification of these rainfall extremes, the drivers and the impact on flash flooding. Both short-duration and long-duration (>1 day) rainfall extremes are intensifying with warming at a rate consistent with the increase in atmospheric moisture (~7% K−1), while in some regions, increases in short-duration extreme rainfall intensities are stronger than expected from moisture increases alone. These stronger local increases are related to feedbacks in convective clouds, but their exact role is uncertain because of the very small scales involved. Future extreme rainfall intensification is also modulated by changes to temperature stratification and large-scale atmospheric circulation. The latter remains a major source of uncertainty. Intensification of short-duration extremes has likely increased the incidence of flash flooding at local scales, and this can further compound with an increase in storm spatial footprint to considerably increase total event rainfall. These findings call for urgent climate change adaptation measures to manage increasing flood risks. Short-duration rainfall extremes are determined by complex processes that are affected by the warming climate. This Review assesses the evidence for the intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes, the associated drivers and the implications for flood risks.

Geophysical prospecting (2021). doi:10.1111/1365-2478.13068, Published by Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford [u.a.]

Migratory marine species cross political borders and enter the high seas, where the lack of an effective global management framework for biodiversity leaves them vulnerable to threats. Here, we combine 10,108 tracks from 5775 individual birds at 87 sites with data on breeding population sizes to estimate the relative year-round importance of national jurisdictions and high seas areas for 39 species of albatrosses and large petrels. Populations from every country made extensive use of the high seas, indicating the stake each country has in the management of biodiversity in international waters. We quantified the links among national populations of these threatened seabirds and the regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) which regulate fishing in the high seas. This work makes explicit the relative responsibilities that each country and RFMO has for the management of shared biodiversity, providing invaluable information for the conservation and management of migratory species in the marine realm., This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 766417. Research made possible with the support, permissions, and funding granted by the following organizations, institutions, and grant agreements: Marine Conservation Program of DPIPWE Tasmania; American Bird Conservancy; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management; communities of Isla Mocha and Islas Juan Fernández; Corporación Nacional Forestal and Servicio Agrícola y Ganadería (Chile); Environment Canada; the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; the National Geographic Society; ProDelphinus; and the Wallis Foundation; NSF grants DEB 9304579, DEB 9629539, DEB9806606, DEB0235818, and DEB 0842199 to D.J.A.; the National Geographic Society; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, Wake Forest University; Max-Planck Society and State of Baden-Wuerttemberg Innovation funding; Colorado State University International Programs; Swiss Friends of Galapagos; the International Center for Tropical Ecology at University of Missouri-St. Louis; the Instituto Antartico Chileno (INACH) and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD); LIFE “Marine IBAs IN Spain” (LIFE04NAT/ES/000049, 2004-2009) and LIFE+ INDEMARES (2009-2014); Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation Inc.; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment; and Winifred Violet Scott Trust; FCT-Portugal through projects (UIDB/04292/2020 and UIDP/04292/2020 and UIDP/50017/2020 and UIDB/50017/2020, granted to MARE and CESAM, respectively); the Falklands Islands Government; Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) core funding to British Antarctic Survey Ecosystems Programme and Official Development Assistance Atlantic Islands project (NE/ R000 107/1); the New Zealand Department of Conservation; Ministry for Primary Industries; Ngāti Rehua Ngāti Wai ki Aotea; Falklands Island Conservation; University of Barcelona (APIF/2015, to M.C.-F.); the French Polar Institute (program IPEV n°109 to H.W.); Réserve Naturelle Nationale des Terres Australes Françaises; and the Zones Atelier Antarctique (LTSER France, CNRS-INEE); European funds through the European Commission Training and Mobility of Researchers Programme (ERBFMBICT983030); Spanish funds through the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (REN2002-01164/GLO), Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (CGL2006-01315/BOS), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CGL2009-11278/BOS), and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2013-42585-P); Catalan funds through the Generalitat de Catalunya (2001SGR00091); and additional funding from SEO/BirdLife (programa Migra & proyecto LIFE+ Indemares), Fundación Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BIOCON04/099) and Fundación Biodiversidad (18PCA4328, 2012-2013); NSERC Discovery Grant and Government of Canada’s Program for International Polar Year to W.A.M.; and an ACAP AC Grant in 2013-14, predoctoral contract BES-2017-079874 of the Spanish Ministerio de Industria, Economía y Competitividad (to L.N.-H.); Spanish Foundation for Biodiversity and Spanish Ministry of Science grant ref. CGL2013-42203-R; the Pew Environment Group via the Pew Fellowship Award in Marine Conservation (to M.L.C.); National Research Foundation; South Africa and Oceans and Coasts; Department of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries; Malta Seabird Project (LIFE10NAT/MT/090) co-funded by the LIFE program of the European Commission and the Maltese Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Bird and the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds; predoctoral contract BES-2014-068025 of the Spanish Ministerio de Industria, Economía y Competitividad (to V.M.-P.); Scientific Expert PIM initiative (Petites Iles de Méditerranée); the PIM initiative (Petites Iles de Méditerranée); the Tunisian Coastal Protection and Planning Agency (APAL); Ministry of the Environment, Japan; Funding by Fundación Ecocentro, Argentina; Wildlife Conservation Society, USA; and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, Argentina; Centro Nacional Patagónico (CONICET), postdoctoral contracts by Beatriu de Pinós (2010-BP_A-00173), Juan de la Cierva (JCI-2009-05426), PLEAMAR (2017/2349), and Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2017-22055) programme (to R.R.); Seventh Framework Programme (Research Executive Agency of the European Commission, 618841, FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG); Fondation Total pour la Biodiversité (project: Trophic ecology and impacts of bycatch on the avifauna communities of Zembra archipelago); Agence de Protection et d’Aménagement du Littoral (APAL-Tunisia); Killam Postdoctoral fellowship from Dalhousie University; South African National Antarctic Programme; ACAP; Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument; NOAA; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Kakenhi grant 19651100 and 15H02857; National Parks and Conservation Service (Mauritius) (to M.L.C.); IPEV Prog 109; and NASA. The use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government. The scientific results and conclusions, as well as any views or opinions expressed herein, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NOAA or the Department of Commerce. This communication reflects only the authors’ view, and the Research Executive Agency of the European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. Z.Z. acknowledges funding from a predoctoral grant (APIF/2012) from the University of Barcelona. J.Ad. acknowledges funding from the U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Pacific OCS Region.

Curtobacterium sp. GD1 was isolated from leaves of conventionally grown soybean in Brazil. It was noteworthy that among all bacteria previously isolated from the same origin, only Curtobacterium sp. GD1 showed a strong chitinase activity. The enzyme was secreted and its production was induced by the presence of colloidal chitin in the medium. The chitinase was partially purified and characterized: molecular weight was approximately 37 kDa and specific activity 90.8 U/mg. Furthermore, Curtobacterium sp. GD1 genome was sequenced and analyzed. Our isolate formed a phylogenetic cluster with four other Curtobacterium spp. strains, with ANIb/ANIm � 98%, representing a new, still non described Curtobacterium species. The circular genome visualization and comparison of genome sequences of strains forming new cluster indicated that most regions within their genomes were highly conserved. The gene associated with chitinase production was identified and the distribution pattern of glycosyl hydrolases genes was assessed. Also, genes associated with catabolism of structural carbohydrates such as oligosaccharides, mixed polysaccharides, plant and animal polysaccharides, as well as genes or gene clusters associated with resistance to antibiotics, toxic compounds and auxin biosynthesis subsystem products were identified. The abundance of putative glycosyl hydrolases in the genome of Curtobacterium sp. GD1 suggests that it has the tools for the hydrolysis of different polysaccharides. Therefore, Curtobacterium sp. GD1 isolated from soybean might be a bioremediator, biocontrol agent, an elicitor of the plant defense responses or simply degrader. Made available in DSpace on 2021-12-06T14:00:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 journal.pone.0259465-PLOSONE-2021.pdf: 2753754 bytes, checksum: c3da2c9b24e14885487e914ee21e59d5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021