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Low plant species richness and abundance, as well as contamination, can lead to a lack of nutrients in the diets of pollinators. This can cause increased oxidative stress, low resistance to disease and reduced detoxification ability. We proposed three forage mixtures with different botanical compositions, all of which should provide continuous forage for a wide range of pollinators. The monitored mixtures were treated by foliar application with selenium and zinc. Both elements should increase the quality of pollen and nectar. The effect of meadow mixtures and microelements on pollinator abundance, richness, and preference was evaluated using data obtained via the line transect method. Furthermore, the amount of selenium and zinc in the flowers was determined. It was found that the microelement treatment did not have any effect on the abundance and richness of the main pollinator taxa, which were affected only by a botanical composition of meadow mixtures. However, a preference for zinc-treated forage was observed in Apis mellifera, and a preference for selenium-treated forage was observed in Bombus spp. These two eusocial taxa appear to respond to an increased amount of microelements in the treated meadow mixtures. On the contrary, Lepidoptera was tied to untreated forage, where they were probably pushed by social bee species due to the competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The great plasticity and diversity of the Escherichia coli genome, together with the ubiquitous occurrence, make E. coli a bacterium of world-wide concern. Of particular interest are pathogenic strains and strains harboring antimicrobial resistance genes. Overlapping virulence-associated traits between avian-source E. coli and human extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) suggest zoonotic potential and safety threat of poultry food products. We analyzed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data of 46 mcr-1-positive E. coli strains isolated from retail raw meat purchased in the Czech Republic. The investigated strains were characterized by their phylogroup—B1 (43%), A (30%), D (11%), E (7%), F (4%), B2 (2%), C (2%), MLST type, and serotype. A total of 30 multilocus sequence types (STs), of which ST744 was the most common (11%), were identified, with O8 and O89 as the most prevalent serogroups. Using the VirulenceFinder tool, 3 to 26 virulence genes were detected in the examined strains and a total of 7 (15%) strains met the pathogenic criteria for ExPEC. Four strains were defined as UPEC (9%) and 18 (39%) E. coli strains could be classified as APEC. The WGS methods and available on-line tools for their evaluation enable a comprehensive approach to the diagnosis of virulent properties of E. coli strains and represent a suitable and comfortable platform for their detection. Our results show that poultry meat may serve as an important reservoir of strains carrying both virulence and antibiotic resistance genes for animal and human populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]