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1. A chromosomal mutation is superior to a plasmid-encoded mutation for plasmid fitness cost compensation.

Author

Rosanna C T Wright, A Jamie Wood, Michael J Bottery, Katie J Muddiman, Steve Paterson, Ellie Harrison, Michael A Brockhurst, and James P J Hall

Subjects
Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract

Plasmids are important vectors of horizontal gene transfer in microbial communities but can impose a burden on the bacteria that carry them. Such plasmid fitness costs are thought to arise principally from conflicts between chromosomal- and plasmid-encoded molecular machineries, and thus can be ameliorated by compensatory mutations (CMs) that reduce or resolve the underlying causes. CMs can arise on plasmids (i.e., plaCM) or on chromosomes (i.e., chrCM), with contrasting predicted effects upon plasmid success and subsequent gene transfer because plaCM can also reduce fitness costs in plasmid recipients, whereas chrCM can potentially ameliorate multiple distinct plasmids. Here, we develop theory and a novel experimental system to directly compare the ecological effects of plaCM and chrCM that arose during evolution experiments between Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 and its sympatric mercury resistance megaplasmid pQBR57. We show that while plaCM was predicted to succeed under a broader range of parameters in mathematical models, chrCM dominated in our experiments, including conditions with numerous recipients, due to a more efficacious mechanism of compensation, and advantages arising from transmission of costly plasmids to competitors (plasmid "weaponisation"). We show analytically the presence of a mixed Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) regime for CMs, driven by trade-offs with horizontal transmission, that offers one possible explanation for the observed failure of plaCM to dominate even in competition against an uncompensated plasmid. Our results reveal broader implications of plasmid-bacterial evolution for plasmid ecology, demonstrating the importance of specific compensatory mutations for resistance gene spread. One consequence of the superiority of chrCM over plaCM is the likely emergence in microbial communities of compensated bacteria that can act as "hubs" for plasmid accumulation and dissemination.

Published
2024
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3. Utilizing river and wastewater as a SARS-CoV-2 surveillance tool in settings with limited formal sewage systems

Author

Kayla G. Barnes, Joshua I. Levy, Jillian Gauld, Jonathan Rigby, Oscar Kanjerwa, Christopher B. Uzzell, Chisomo Chilupsya, Catherine Anscombe, Christopher Tomkins-Tinch, Omar Mbeti, Edward Cairns, Herbert Thole, Shannon McSweeney, Marah G. Chibwana, Philip M. Ashton, Khuzwayo C. Jere, John Scott Meschke, Peter Diggle, Jennifer Cornick, Benjamin Chilima, Kondwani Jambo, Kristian G. Andersen, Gift Kawalazira, Steve Paterson, Tonney S. Nyirenda, and Nicholas Feasey

Subjects
Science
Abstract

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted health systems globally and robust surveillance has been critical for pandemic control, however not all countries can currently sustain community pathogen surveillance programs. Wastewater surveillance has proven valuable in high-income settings, but less is known about the utility of water surveillance of pathogens in low-income countries. Here we show how wastewater surveillance of SAR-CoV-2 can be used to identify temporal changes and help determine circulating variants quickly. In Malawi, a country with limited community-based COVID-19 testing capacity, we explore the utility of rivers and wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. From May 2020–May 2022, we collect water from up to 112 river or defunct wastewater treatment plant sites, detecting SARS-CoV-2 in 8.3% of samples. Peak SARS-CoV-2 detection in water samples predate peaks in clinical cases. Sequencing of water samples identified the Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants, with Delta and Omicron detected well in advance of detection in patients. Our work highlights how wastewater can be used to detect emerging waves, identify variants of concern, and provide an early warning system in settings with no formal sewage systems.

Published
2023
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4. Comparison of metagenomic and targeted methods for sequencing human pathogenic viruses from wastewater

Author

Harry T. Child, George Airey, Daniel M. Maloney, Abby Parker, Jonathan Wild, Suzie McGinley, Nicholas Evens, Jonathan Porter, Kate Templeton, Steve Paterson, Ronny van Aerle, Matthew J. Wade, Aaron R. Jeffries, and Irene Bassano

Subjects
wastewater, sequencing, metagenomics, SARS-CoV-2, virus, epidemiology, Microbiology, QR1-502
Abstract

ABSTRACTWastewater-based epidemiology is a powerful tool for monitoring the emergence and spread of viral pathogens at the population scale. Typical polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods of quantitative and genomic monitoring of viruses in wastewater provide high sensitivity and specificity. However, these methods are limited to the surveillance of target viruses in a single assay and require prior knowledge of the target genome(s). Metagenomic sequencing methods may represent a target-agnostic approach to viral wastewater monitoring, allowing for the detection of a broad range of target viruses, including potentially novel and emerging pathogens. In this study, targeted and untargeted metagenomic sequencing methods were compared with tiled-PCR sequencing for the detection and genotyping of viral pathogens in wastewater samples. Deep shotgun metagenomic sequencing was unable to generate sufficient genome coverage of human pathogenic viruses for robust genomic epidemiology, with samples dominated by bacteria. Hybrid-capture enrichment of shotgun libraries for respiratory viruses led to significant increases in genome coverage for a range of targets. Tiled-PCR sequencing led to further improvements in genome coverage compared to hybrid capture for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, enterovirus D68, norovirus GII, and human adenovirus F41 in wastewater samples. In conclusion, untargeted shotgun sequencing was unsuitable for genomic monitoring of the low virus concentrations in wastewater samples analyzed in this study. Hybrid-capture enrichment represented a viable method for simultaneous genomic epidemiology of a range of viral pathogens, while tiled-PCR sequencing provided the optimal genome coverage for individual viruses with the minimum sequencing depth.IMPORTANCEMost public health initiatives that monitor viruses in wastewater have utilized quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and whole genome PCR sequencing, mirroring techniques used for viral epidemiology in individuals. These techniques require prior knowledge of the target viral genome and are limited to monitoring individual or small groups of viruses. Metagenomic sequencing may offer an alternative strategy for monitoring a broad spectrum of viruses in wastewater, including novel and emerging pathogens. In this study, while amplicon sequencing gave high viral genome coverage, untargeted shotgun sequencing of total nucleic acid samples was unable to detect human pathogenic viruses with enough sensitivity for use in genomic epidemiology. Enrichment of shotgun libraries for respiratory viruses using hybrid-capture technology provided genotypic information on a range of viruses simultaneously, indicating strong potential for wastewater surveillance. This type of targeted metagenomics could be used for monitoring diverse targets, such as pathogens or antimicrobial resistance genes, in environmental samples.

Published
2023
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5. The ecology of viruses in urban rodents with a focus on SARS-CoV-2

Author

Adam M. Fisher, George Airey, Yuchen Liu, Matthew Gemmell, Jordan Thomas, Eleanor G. Bentley, Mark A. Whitehead, William A. Paxton, Georgios Pollakis, Steve Paterson, and Mark Viney

Subjects
Urban, rodents, virus, virome, COVID, zoonosis, Infectious and parasitic diseases, RC109-216, Microbiology, QR1-502
Abstract

ABSTRACTWild animals are naturally infected with a range of viruses, some of which may be zoonotic. During the human COVID pandemic there was also the possibility of rodents acquiring SARS-CoV-2 from people, so-called reverse zoonoses. To investigate this, we sampled rats (Rattus norvegicus) and mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) from urban environments in 2020 during the human COVID-19 pandemic. We metagenomically sequenced lung and gut tissue and faeces for viruses, PCR screened for SARS-CoV-2, and serologically surveyed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike antibodies. We describe the range of viruses that we found in these two rodent species. We found no molecular evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, though in rats we found lung antibody responses and evidence of neutralization ability that are consistent with rats being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and/or exposed to other viruses that result in cross-reactive antibodies.

Published
2023
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6. Discrete patterns of microbiome variability across timescales in a wild rodent population

Author

Jonathan Fenn, Christopher Taylor, Sarah Goertz, Klara M. Wanelik, Steve Paterson, Mike Begon, Joe Jackson, and Jan Bradley

Subjects
Microbiome, Aging, Wild Populations, Captivity, Alpha Diversity, Beta Diversity, Microbiology, QR1-502
Abstract

Abstract Mammalian gastrointestinal microbiomes are highly variable, both within individuals and across populations, with changes linked to time and ageing being widely reported. Discerning patterns of change in wild mammal populations can therefore prove challenging. We used high-throughput community sequencing methods to characterise the microbiome of wild field voles (Microtus agrestis) from faecal samples collected across 12 live-trapping field sessions, and then at cull. Changes in α- and β-diversity were modelled over three timescales. Short-term differences (following 1–2 days captivity) were analysed between capture and cull, to ascertain the degree to which the microbiome can change following a rapid change in environment. Medium-term changes were measured between successive trapping sessions (12–16 days apart), and long-term changes between the first and final capture of an individual (from 24 to 129 days). The short period between capture and cull was characterised by a marked loss of species richness, while over medium and long-term in the field, richness slightly increased. Changes across both short and long timescales indicated shifts from a Firmicutes-dominant to a Bacteroidetes-dominant microbiome. Dramatic changes following captivity indicate that changes in microbiome diversity can be rapid, following a change of environment (food sources, temperature, lighting etc.). Medium- and long-term patterns of change indicate an accrual of gut bacteria associated with ageing, with these new bacteria being predominately represented by Bacteroidetes. While the patterns of change observed are unlikely to be universal to wild mammal populations, the potential for analogous shifts across timescales should be considered whenever studying wild animal microbiomes. This is especially true if studies involve animal captivity, as there are potential ramifications both for animal health, and the validity of the data itself as a reflection of a ‘natural’ state of an animal.

Published
2023
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7. Pollution induces epigenetic effects that are stably transmitted across multiple generations

Author

Ewan Harney, Steve Paterson, Hélène Collin, Brian H.K. Chan, Daimark Bennett, and Stewart J. Plaistow

Subjects
Cytosine methylation, Daphnia pulex, ecotoxicology, gene body methylation, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, Evolution, QH359-425
Abstract

Abstract It has been hypothesized that the effects of pollutants on phenotypes can be passed to subsequent generations through epigenetic inheritance, affecting populations long after the removal of a pollutant. But there is still little evidence that pollutants can induce persistent epigenetic effects in animals. Here, we show that low doses of commonly used pollutants induce genome‐wide differences in cytosine methylation in the freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulex. Uniclonal populations were either continually exposed to pollutants or switched to clean water, and methylation was compared to control populations that did not experience pollutant exposure. Although some direct changes to methylation were only present in the continually exposed populations, others were present in both the continually exposed and switched to clean water treatments, suggesting that these modifications had persisted for 7 months (>15 generations). We also identified modifications that were only present in the populations that had switched to clean water, indicating a long‐term legacy of pollutant exposure distinct from the persistent effects. Pollutant‐induced differential methylation tended to occur at sites that were highly methylated in controls. Modifications that were observed in both continually and switched treatments were highly methylated in controls and showed reduced methylation in the treatments. On the other hand, modifications found just in the switched treatment tended to have lower levels of methylation in the controls and showed increase methylation in the switched treatment. In a second experiment, we confirmed that sublethal doses of the same pollutants generate effects on life histories for at least three generations following the removal of the pollutant. Our results demonstrate that even low doses of pollutants can induce transgenerational epigenetic effects that are stably transmitted over many generations. Persistent effects are likely to influence phenotypic development, which could contribute to the rapid adaptation, or extinction, of populations confronted by anthropogenic stressors.

Published
2022
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8. Optimised protocol for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater using reverse complement PCR-based whole-genome sequencing.

Author

Harry T Child, Paul A O'Neill, Karen Moore, William Rowe, Hubert Denise, David Bass, Matthew J Wade, Matt Loose, Steve Paterson, Ronny van Aerle, and Aaron R Jeffries

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Monitoring the spread of viral pathogens in the population during epidemics is crucial for mounting an effective public health response. Understanding the viral lineages that constitute the infections in a population can uncover the origins and transmission patterns of outbreaks and detect the emergence of novel variants that may impact the course of an epidemic. Population-level surveillance of viruses through genomic sequencing of wastewater captures unbiased lineage data, including cryptic asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections, and has been shown to detect infection outbreaks and novel variant emergence before detection in clinical samples. Here, we present an optimised protocol for quantification and sequencing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in influent wastewater, used for high-throughput genomic surveillance in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. This protocol utilises reverse compliment PCR for library preparation, enabling tiled amplification across the whole viral genome and sequencing adapter addition in a single step to enhance efficiency. Sequencing of synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA provided evidence validating the efficacy of this protocol, while data from high-throughput sequencing of wastewater samples demonstrated the sensitivity of this method. We also provided guidance on the quality control steps required during library preparation and data analysis. Overall, this represents an effective method for high-throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater which can be applied to other viruses and pathogens of humans and animals.

Published
2023
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9. A major locus confers triclabendazole resistance in Fasciola hepatica and shows dominant inheritance.

Author

Nicola J Beesley, Krystyna Cwiklinski, Katherine Allen, Rebecca C Hoyle, Terry W Spithill, E James La Course, Diana J L Williams, Steve Paterson, and Jane E Hodgkinson

Subjects
Immunologic diseases. Allergy, RC581-607, Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract

Fasciola hepatica infection is responsible for substantial economic losses in livestock worldwide and poses a threat to human health in endemic areas. The mainstay of control in livestock and the only drug licenced for use in humans is triclabendazole (TCBZ). TCBZ resistance has been reported on every continent and threatens effective control of fasciolosis in many parts of the world. To date, understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying TCBZ resistance has been limited to studies of candidate genes, based on assumptions of their role in drug action. Taking an alternative approach, we combined a genetic cross with whole-genome sequencing to localise a ~3.2Mbp locus within the 1.2Gbp F. hepatica genome that confers TCBZ resistance. We validated this locus independently using bulk segregant analysis of F. hepatica populations and showed that it is the target of drug selection in the field. We genotyped individual parasites and tracked segregation and reassortment of SNPs to show that TCBZ resistance exhibits Mendelian inheritance and is conferred by a dominant allele. We defined gene content within this locus to pinpoint genes involved in membrane transport, (e.g. ATP-binding cassette family B, ABCB1), transmembrane signalling and signal transduction (e.g. GTP-Ras-adenylyl cyclase and EGF-like protein), DNA/RNA binding and transcriptional regulation (e.g. SANT/Myb-like DNA-binding domain protein) and drug storage and sequestration (e.g. fatty acid binding protein, FABP) as prime candidates for conferring TCBZ resistance. This study constitutes the first experimental cross and genome-wide approach for any heritable trait in F. hepatica and is key to understanding the evolution of drug resistance in Fasciola spp. to inform deployment of efficacious anthelmintic treatments in the field.

Published
2023
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10. Effects of an IgE receptor polymorphism acting on immunity, susceptibility to infection, and reproduction in a wild rodent

Author

Klara M Wanelik, Mike Begon, Janette E Bradley, Ida M Friberg, Joseph A Jackson, Christopher H Taylor, and Steve Paterson

Subjects
Microtus agrestis, Fcer1a, phenotypic expression, inflammatory response, sex, Medicine, Science, Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract

The genotype of an individual is an important predictor of their immune function, and subsequently, their ability to control or avoid infection and ultimately contribute offspring to the next generation. However, the same genotype, subjected to different intrinsic and/or extrinsic environments, can also result in different phenotypic outcomes, which can be missed in controlled laboratory studies. Natural wildlife populations, which capture both genotypic and environmental variability, provide an opportunity to more fully understand the phenotypic expression of genetic variation. We identified a synonymous polymorphism in the high-affinity Immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor (GC and non-GC haplotypes) that has sex-dependent effects on immune gene expression, susceptibility to infection, and reproductive success of individuals in a natural population of field voles (Microtus agrestis). We found that the effect of the GC haplotype on the expression of immune genes differed between sexes. Regardless of sex, both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory genes were more highly relatively expressed in individuals with the GC haplotype than individuals without the haplotype. However, males with the GC haplotype showed a stronger signal for pro-inflammatory genes, while females showed a stronger signal for anti-inflammatory genes. Furthermore, we found an effect of the GC haplotype on the probability of infection with a common microparasite, Babesia microti, in females – with females carrying the GC haplotype being more likely to be infected. Finally, we found an effect of the GC haplotype on reproductive success in males – with males carrying the GC haplotype having a lower reproductive success. This is a rare example of a polymorphism whose consequences we are able to follow across immunity, infection, and reproduction for both males and females in a natural population.

Published
2023
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11. Genome-Wide Changes in Genetic Diversity in a Population of Myotis lucifugus Affected by White-Nose Syndrome

Author

Thomas M. Lilley, Ian W. Wilson, Kenneth A. Field, DeeAnn M. Reeder, Megan E. Vodzak, Gregory G. Turner, Allen Kurta, Anna S. Blomberg, Samantha Hoff, Carl J. Herzog, Brent J. Sewall, and Steve Paterson

Subjects
opportunistic pathogen, white-nose syndrome, selective pressure, genetic resistance, Genetics, QH426-470
Abstract

Novel pathogens can cause massive declines in populations, and even extirpation of hosts. But disease can also act as a selective pressure on survivors, driving the evolution of resistance or tolerance. Bat white-nose syndrome (WNS) is a rapidly spreading wildlife disease in North America. The fungus causing the disease invades skin tissues of hibernating bats, resulting in disruption of hibernation behavior, premature energy depletion, and subsequent death. We used whole-genome sequencing to investigate changes in allele frequencies within a population of Myotis lucifugus in eastern North America to search for genetic resistance to WNS. Our results show low FST values within the population across time, i.e., prior to WNS (Pre-WNS) compared to the population that has survived WNS (Post-WNS). However, when dividing the population with a geographical cut-off between the states of Pennsylvania and New York, a sharp increase in values on scaffold GL429776 is evident in the Post-WNS samples. Genes present in the diverged area are associated with thermoregulation and promotion of brown fat production. Thus, although WNS may not have subjected the entire M. lucifugus population to selective pressure, it may have selected for specific alleles in Pennsylvania through decreased gene flow within the population. However, the persistence of remnant sub-populations in the aftermath of WNS is likely due to multiple factors in bat life history.

Published
2020
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12. The impact of viral mutations on recognition by SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells

Author

Thushan I. de Silva, Guihai Liu, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Danning Dong, Shona C. Moore, Nienyun Sharon Hsu, Dhruv Shah, Dannielle Wellington, Alexander J. Mentzer, Adrienn Angyal, Rebecca Brown, Matthew D. Parker, Zixi Ying, Xuan Yao, Lance Turtle, Susanna Dunachie, Mala K. Maini, Graham Ogg, Julian C. Knight, Yanchun Peng, Sarah L. Rowland-Jones, Tao Dong, David M. Aanensen, Khalil Abudahab, Helen Adams, Alexander Adams, Safiah Afifi, Dinesh Aggarwal, Shazaad S.Y. Ahmad, Louise Aigrain, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Elias Allara, Roberto Amato, Tara Annett, Stephen Aplin, Cristina V. Ariani, Hibo Asad, Amy Ash, Paula Ashfield, Fiona Ashford, Laura Atkinson, Stephen W. Attwood, Cressida Auckland, Alp Aydin, David J. Baker, Paul Baker, Carlos E. Balcazar, Jonathan Ball, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Magdalena Barrow, Edward Barton, Matthew Bashton, Andrew R. Bassett, Rahul Batra, Chris Baxter, Nadua Bayzid, Charlotte Beaver, Angela H. Beckett, Shaun M. Beckwith, Luke Bedford, Robert Beer, Andrew Beggs, Katherine L. Bellis, Louise Berry, Beatrice Bertolusso, Angus Best, Emma Betteridge, David Bibby, Kelly Bicknell, Debbie Binns, Alec Birchley, Paul W. Bird, Chloe Bishop, Rachel Blacow, Victoria Blakey, Beth Blane, Frances Bolt, James Bonfield, Stephen Bonner, David Bonsall, Tim Boswell, Andrew Bosworth, Yann Bourgeois, Olivia Boyd, Declan T. Bradley, Cassie Breen, Catherine Bresner, Judith Breuer, Stephen Bridgett, Iraad F. Bronner, Ellena Brooks, Alice Broos, Julianne R. Brown, Giselda Bucca, Sarah L. Buchan, David Buck, Matthew Bull, Phillipa J. Burns, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Timothy Byaruhanga, Matthew Byott, Sharon Campbell, Alessandro M. Carabelli, James S. Cargill, Matthew Carlile, Silvia F. Carvalho, Anna Casey, Anibolina Castigador, Jana Catalan, Vicki Chalker, Nicola J. Chaloner, Meera Chand, Joseph G. Chappell, Themoula Charalampous, Wendy Chatterton, Yasmin Chaudhry, Carol M. Churcher, Gemma Clark, Phillip Clarke, Benjamin J. Cogger, Kevin Cole, Jennifer Collins, Rachel Colquhoun, Thomas R. Connor, Kate F. Cook, Jason Coombes, Sally Corden, Claire Cormie, Nicholas Cortes, Marius Cotic, Seb Cotton, Simon Cottrell, Lindsay Coupland, MacGregor Cox, Alison Cox, Noel Craine, Liam Crawford, Aidan Cross, Matthew R. Crown, Dorian Crudgington, Nicola Cumley, Tanya Curran, Martin D. Curran, Ana da Silva Filipe, Gavin Dabrera, Alistair C. Darby, Rose K. Davidson, Alisha Davies, Robert M. Davies, Thomas Davis, Daniela de Angelis, Elen De Lacy, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Johnny Debebe, Rebecca Denton-Smith, Samir Dervisevic, Rebecca Dewar, Jayasree Dey, Joana Dias, Donald Dobie, Matthew J. Dorman, Fatima Downing, Megan Driscoll, Louis du Plessis, Nichola Duckworth, Jillian Durham, Kirstine Eastick, Lisa J. Easton, Richard Eccles, Jonathan Edgeworth, Sue Edwards, Kate El Bouzidi, Sahar Eldirdiri, Nicholas Ellaby, Scott Elliott, Gary Eltringham, Leah Ensell, Michelle J. Erkiert, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Sarah Essex, Johnathan M. Evans, Cariad Evans, William Everson, Derek J. Fairley, Karlie Fallon, Arezou Fanaie, Ben W. Farr, Christopher Fearn, Theresa Feltwell, Lynne Ferguson, Laia Fina, Flavia Flaviani, Vicki M. Fleming, Sally Forrest, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Benjamin H. Foulkes, Luke Foulser, Mireille Fragakis, Dan Frampton, Sarah Francois, Christophe Fraser, Timothy M. Freeman, Helen Fryer, Marc Fuchs, William Fuller, Kavitha Gajee, Katerina Galai, Abbie Gallagher, Eileen Gallagher, Michael D. Gallagher, Marta Gallis, Amy Gaskin, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Lily Geidelberg, Matthew Gemmell, Iliana Georgana, Ryan P. George, Laura Gifford, Lauren Gilbert, Sophia T. Girgis, Sharon Glaysher, Emily J. Goldstein, Tanya Golubchik, Andrea N. Gomes, Sónia Gonçalves, Ian G. Goodfellow, Scott Goodwin, Salman Goudarzi, Marina Gourtovaia, Clive Graham, Lee Graham, Paul R. Grant, Luke R. Green, Angie Green, Jane Greenaway, Richard Gregory, Martyn Guest, Rory N. Gunson, Ravi K. Gupta, Bernardo Gutierrez, Sam T. Haldenby, William L. Hamilton, Samantha E. Hansford, Tanzina Haque, Kathryn A. Harris, Ian Harrison, Ewan M. Harrison, Jennifer Hart, John A. Hartley, William T. Harvey, Matthew Harvey, Mohammed O. Hassan-Ibrahim, Judith Heaney, Thomas Helmer, John H. Henderson, Andrew R. Hesketh, Jessica Hey, David Heyburn, Ellen E. Higginson, Verity Hill, Jack D. Hill, Rachel A. Hilson, Ember Hilvers, Matthew T.G. Holden, Amy Hollis, Christopher W. Holmes, Nadine Holmes, Alison H. Holmes, Richard Hopes, Hailey R. Hornsby, Myra Hosmillo, Catherine Houlihan, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Jonathan Hubb, Hannah Huckson, Warwick Hughes, Joseph Hughes, Margaret Hughes, Stephanie Hutchings, Giles Idle, Chris J. Illingworth, Robert Impey, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Rhys Izuagbe, Chris Jackson, Ben Jackson, Leigh M. Jackson, Kathryn A. Jackson, David K. Jackson, Aminu S. Jahun, Victoria James, Keith James, Christopher Jeanes, Aaron R. Jeffries, Sarah Jeremiah, Andrew Jermy, Michaela John, Rob Johnson, Kate Johnson, Ian Johnston, Owen Jones, Sophie Jones, Hannah Jones, Christopher R. Jones, Neil Jones, Amelia Joseph, Sarah Judges, Gemma L. Kay, Sally Kay, Jon-Paul Keatley, Alexander J. Keeley, Anita Kenyon, Leanne M. Kermack, Manjinder Khakh, Stephen P. Kidd, Maimuna Kimuli, Stuart Kirk, Christine Kitchen, Katie Kitchman, Bridget A. Knight, Cherian Koshy, Moritz U.G. Kraemer, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Angie Lackenby, Kenneth G. Laing, Temi Lampejo, Cordelia F. Langford, Deborah Lavin, Andrew I. Lawton, Jack Lee, David Lee, Stefanie V. Lensing, Steven Leonard, Lisa J. Levett, Thanh Le-Viet, Jonathan Lewis, Kevin Lewis, Jennifier Liddle, Steven Liggett, Patrick J. Lillie, Michelle M. Lister, Rich Livett, Stephanie Lo, Nicholas J. Loman, Matthew W. Loose, Stavroula F. Louka, Katie F. Loveson, Sarah Lowdon, Hannah Lowe, Helen L. Lowe, Anita O. Lucaci, Catherine Ludden, Jessica Lynch, Ronan A. Lyons, Katrina Lythgoe, Nicholas W. Machin, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Andrew Mack, Ben Macklin, Alasdair Maclean, Emily Macnaughton, Pinglawathee Madona, Mailis Maes, Laurentiu Maftei, Adhyana I.K. Mahanama, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Daniel Mair, Joshua Maksimovic, Cassandra S. Malone, Daniel Maloney, Nikos Manesis, Robin Manley, Anna Mantzouratou, Angela Marchbank, Arun Mariappan, Inigo Martincorena, Rocio T. Martinez Nunez, Alison E. Mather, Patrick Maxwell, Megan Mayhew, Tamyo Mbisa, Clare M. McCann, Shane A. McCarthy, Kathryn McCluggage, Patrick C. McClure, J.T. McCrone, Martin P. McHugh, James P. McKenna, Caoimhe McKerr, Georgina M. McManus, Claire L. McMurray, Claire McMurray, Alan McNally, Lizzie Meadows, Nathan Medd, Oliver Megram, Mirko Menegazzo, Ian Merrick, Stephen L. Michell, Michelle L. Michelsen, Mariyam Mirfenderesky, Jeremy Mirza, Julia Miskelly, Emma Moles-Garcia, Robin J. Moll, Zoltan Molnar, Irene M. Monahan, Matteo Mondani, Siddharth Mookerjee, Christopher Moore, Jonathan Moore, Nathan Moore, Catherine Moore, Helen Morcrette, Sian Morgan, Mari Morgan, Matilde Mori, Arthur Morriss, Samuel Moses, Craig Mower, Peter Muir, Afrida Mukaddas, Florence Munemo, Robert Munn, Abigail Murray, Leanne J. Murray, Darren R. Murray, Manasa Mutingwende, Richard Myers, Eleni Nastouli, Gaia Nebbia, Andrew Nelson, Charlotte Nelson, Sam Nicholls, Jenna Nichols, Roberto Nicodemi, Kyriaki Nomikou, Justin O’Grady, Sarah O'Brien, Mina Odedra, Natasha Ohemeng-Kumi, Karen Oliver, Richard J. Orton, Husam Osman, xeine O'Toole, Nicole Pacchiarini, Debra Padgett, Andrew J. Page, Emily J. Park, Naomi R. Park, Surendra Parmar, David G. Partridge, David Pascall, Amita Patel, Bindi Patel, Steve Paterson, Brendan A.I. Payne, Sharon J. Peacock, Clare Pearson, Emanuela Pelosi, Benita Percival, Jon Perkins, Malorie Perry, Malte L. Pinckert, Steven Platt, Olga Podplomyk, Manoj Pohare, Marcus Pond, Cassie F. Pope, Radoslaw Poplawski, Jessica Powell, Jennifer Poyner, Liam Prestwood, Anna Price, James R. Price, Jacqui A. Prieto, David T. Pritchard, Sophie J. Prosolek, Georgia Pugh, Monika Pusok, Oliver G. Pybus, Hannah M. Pymont, Michael A. Quail, Joshua Quick, Clara Radulescu, Jayna Raghwani, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Lucille Rainbow, Diana Rajan, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Newara A. Ramadan, Andrew Rambaut, John Ramble, Paul A. Randell, Paul Randell, Liz Ratcliffe, Veena Raviprakash, Mohammad Raza, Nicholas M. Redshaw, Sara Rey, Nicola Reynolds, Alex Richter, David L. Robertson, Esther Robinson, Samuel C. Robson, Fiona Rogan, Stefan Rooke, Will Rowe, Sunando Roy, Steven Rudder, Chris Ruis, Steven Rushton, Felicity Ryan, Kordo Saeed, Buddhini Samaraweera, Christine M. Sambles, Roy Sanderson, Theo Sanderson, Fei Sang, Thea Sass, Emily Scher, Garren Scott, Carol Scott, Jasveen Sehmi, Sharif Shaaban, Divya Shah, Jessica Shaw, Ekaterina Shelest, James G. Shepherd, Liz A. Sheridan, Nicola Sheriff, Lesley Shirley, John Sillitoe, Siona Silviera, David A. Simpson, Aditi Singh, Dawn Singleton, Timofey Skvortsov, Tim J. Sloan, Graciela Sluga, Ken Smith, Kim S. Smith, Perminder Smith, Darren L. Smith, Louise Smith, Colin P. Smith, Nikki Smith, Katherine L. Smollett, Luke B. Snell, Thomas Somassa, Joel Southgate, Karla Spellman, Michael H. Spencer Chapman, Lewis G. Spurgin, Moira J. Spyer, Rachael Stanley, William Stanley, Thomas D. Stanton, Igor Starinskij, Joanne Stockton, Susanne Stonehouse, Nathaniel Storey, David J. Studholme, Malur Sudhanva, Emma Swindells, Yusri Taha, Ngee Keong Tan, Julian W. Tang, Miao Tang, Ben E.W. Taylor, Joshua F. Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Ben Temperton, Kate E. Templeton, Claire Thomas, Laura Thomson, Emma C. Thomson, Alicia Thornton, Scott A.J. Thurston, John A. Todd, Rachael Tomb, Lily Tong, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, M. Estee Torok, Jaime M. Tovar-Corona, Amy Trebes, Alexander J. Trotter, Ioulia Tsatsani, Robyn Turnbull, Katherine A. Twohig, Helen Umpleby, Anthony P. Underwood, Edith E. Vamos, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, Sreenu Vattipally, Gabrielle Vernet, Barry B. Vipond, Erik M. Volz, Sarah Walsh, Dennis Wang, Ben Warne, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Elizabeth Wastnedge, Joanne Watkins, Louisa K. Watson, Sheila Waugh, Hermione J. Webster, Danni Weldon, Elaine Westwick, Thomas Whalley, Helen Wheeler, Mark Whitehead, Max Whiteley, Andrew Whitwham, Claudia Wierzbicki, Nicholas J. Willford, Lesley-Anne Williams, Rebecca Williams, Cheryl Williams, Chris Williams, Charlotte A. Williams, Rachel J. Williams, Thomas Williams, Catryn Williams, Kathleen A. Williamson, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Eric Witele, Karen T. Withell, Adam A. Witney, Paige Wolverson, Nick Wong, Trudy Workman, Victoria Wright, Derek W. Wright, Tim Wyatt, Sarah Wyllie, Li Xu-McCrae, Mehmet Yavus, Geraldine Yaze, Corin A. Yeats, Gonzalo Yebra, Wen C. Yew, Gregory R. Young, Jamie Young, Alex E. Zarebski, Peijun Zhang, J. Kenneth Baillie, Malcolm G. Semple, Peter J.M. Openshaw, Gail Carson, Beatrice Alex, Petros Andrikopoulos, Benjamin Bach, Wendy S. Barclay, Debby Bogaert, Kanta Chechi, Graham S. Cooke, Annemarie B. Docherty, Gonçalo dos Santos Correia, Marc-Emmanuel Dumas, Jake Dunning, Tom Fletcher, Christopher A. Green, William Greenhalf, Julian L. Griffin, Rishi K. Gupta, Ewen M. Harrison, Julian A. Hiscox, Antonia Ying Wai Ho, Peter W. Horby, Samreen Ijaz, Saye Khoo, Paul Klenerman, Andrew Law, Matthew R. Lewis, Sonia Liggi, Wei Shen Lim, Lynn Maslen, Laura Merson, Alison M. Meynert, Mahdad Noursadeghi, Michael Olanipekun, Anthonia Osagie, Massimo Palmarini, Carlo Palmieri, William A. Paxton, Georgios Pollakis, Nicholas Price, Clark D. Russell, Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu, Caroline J. Sands, Janet T. Scott, Louise Sigfrid, Tom Solomon, Shiranee Sriskandan, David Stuart, Charlotte Summers, Olivia V. Swann, Zoltan Takats, Panteleimon Takis, Richard S. Tedder, A.A. Roger Thompson, Ryan S. Thwaites, Maria Zambon, Hayley Hardwick, Chloe Donohue, Fiona Griffiths, Wilna Oosthuyzen, Cara Donegan, Rebecca G. Spencer, Jo Dalton, Michelle Girvan, Egle Saviciute, Stephanie Roberts, Janet Harrison, Laura Marsh, Marie Connor, Sophie Halpin, Clare Jackson, Carrol Gamble, Daniel Plotkin, James Lee, Gary Leeming, Murray Wham, Sara Clohisey, Ross Hendry, James Scott-Brown, Victoria Shaw, Sarah E. McDonald, Seán Keating, Katie A. Ahmed, Jane A. Armstrong, Milton Ashworth, Innocent G. Asiimwe, Siddharth Bakshi, Samantha L. Barlow, Laura Booth, Benjamin Brennan, Katie Bullock, Benjamin W.A. Catterall, Jordan J. Clark, Emily A. Clarke, Sarah Cole, Louise Cooper, Helen Cox, Christopher Davis, Oslem Dincarslan, Chris Dunn, Philip Dyer, Angela Elliott, Anthony Evans, Lorna Finch, Lewis W.S. Fisher, Terry Foster, Isabel Garcia-Dorival, Philip Gunning, Catherine Hartley, Rebecca L. Jensen, Christopher B. Jones, Trevor R. Jones, Shadia Khandaker, Katharine King, Robyn T. Kiy, Chrysa Koukorava, Annette Lake, Suzannah Lant, Diane Latawiec, Lara Lavelle-Langham, Daniella Lefteri, Lauren Lett, Lucia A. Livoti, Maria Mancini, Sarah McDonald, Laurence McEvoy, John McLauchlan, Soeren Metelmann, Nahida S. Miah, Joanna Middleton, Joyce Mitchell, Ellen G. Murphy, Rebekah Penrice-Randal, Jack Pilgrim, Tessa Prince, Will Reynolds, P. Matthew Ridley, Debby Sales, Victoria E. Shaw, Rebecca K. Shears, Benjamin Small, Krishanthi S. Subramaniam, Agnieska Szemiel, Aislynn Taggart, Jolanta Tanianis-Hughes, Jordan Thomas, Erwan Trochu, Libby van Tonder, Eve Wilcock, J. Eunice Zhang, Lisa Flaherty, Nicole Maziere, Emily Cass, Alejandra Doce Carracedo, Nicola Carlucci, Anthony Holmes, Hannah Massey, Lee Murphy, Nicola Wrobel, Sarah McCafferty, Kirstie Morrice, Alan MacLean, Kayode Adeniji, Daniel Agranoff, Ken Agwuh, Dhiraj Ail, Erin L. Aldera, Ana Alegria, Sam Allen, Brian Angus, Abdul Ashish, Dougal Atkinson, Shahedal Bari, Gavin Barlow, Stella Barnass, Nicholas Barrett, Christopher Bassford, Sneha Basude, David Baxter, Michael Beadsworth, Jolanta Bernatoniene, John Berridge, Colin Berry, Nicola Best, Pieter Bothma, David Chadwick, Robin Brittain-Long, Naomi Bulteel, Tom Burden, Andrew Burtenshaw, Vikki Caruth, Duncan Chambler, Nigel Chee, Jenny Child, Srikanth Chukkambotla, Tom Clark, Paul Collini, Catherine Cosgrove, Jason Cupitt, Maria-Teresa Cutino-Moguel, Paul Dark, Chris Dawson, Phil Donnison, Sam Douthwaite, Andrew Drummond, Ingrid DuRand, Ahilanadan Dushianthan, Tristan Dyer, Chi Eziefula, Chrisopher Fegan, Adam Finn, Duncan Fullerton, Sanjeev Garg, Atul Garg, Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, Jo Godden, Arthur Goldsmith, Elaine Hardy, Stuart Hartshorn, Daniel Harvey, Peter Havalda, Daniel B. Hawcutt, Maria Hobrok, Luke Hodgson, Anil Hormis, Michael Jacobs, Susan Jain, Paul Jennings, Agilan Kaliappan, Vidya Kasipandian, Stephen Kegg, Michael Kelsey, Jason Kendall, Caroline Kerrison, Ian Kerslake, Oliver Koch, Gouri Koduri, George Koshy, Shondipon Laha, Steven Laird, Susan Larkin, Tamas Leiner, Patrick Lillie, James Limb, Vanessa Linnett, Jeff Little, Mark Lyttle, Michael MacMahon, Emily MacNaughton, Ravish Mankregod, Huw Masson, Elijah Matovu, Katherine McCullough, Ruth McEwen, Manjula Meda, Gary Mills, Jane Minton, Kavya Mohandas, Quen Mok, James Moon, Elinoor Moore, Patrick Morgan, Craig Morris, Katherine Mortimore, Mbiye Mpenge, Rohinton Mulla, Michael Murphy, Megan Nagel, Thapas Nagarajan, Mark Nelson, Lillian Norris, Matthew K. O'Shea, Igor Otahal, Marlies Ostermann, Mark Pais, Selva Panchatsharam, Danai Papakonstantinou, Hassan Paraiso, Brij Patel, Natalie Pattison, Justin Pepperell, Mark Peters, Mandeep Phull, Stefania Pintus, Jagtur Singh Pooni, Tim Planche, Frank Post, David Price, Rachel Prout, Nikolas Rae, Henrik Reschreiter, Tim Reynolds, Neil Richardson, Mark Roberts, Devender Roberts, Alistair Rose, Guy Rousseau, Bobby Ruge, Brendan Ryan, Taranprit Saluja, Matthias L. Schmid, Aarti Shah, Prad Shanmuga, Anil Sharma, Anna Shawcross, Jeremy Sizer, Manu Shankar-Hari, Richard Smith, Catherine Snelson, Nick Spittle, Nikki Staines, Tom Stambach, Richard Stewart, Pradeep Subudhi, Tamas Szakmany, Kate Tatham, Jo Thomas, Chris Thompson, Robert Thompson, Ascanio Tridente, Darell Tupper-Carey, Mary Twagira, Nick Vallotton, Rama Vancheeswaran, Lisa Vincent-Smith, Shico Visuvanathan, Alan Vuylsteke, Sam Waddy, Rachel Wake, Andrew Walden, Ingeborg Welters, Tony Whitehouse, Paul Whittaker, Ashley Whittington, Padmasayee Papineni, Meme Wijesinghe, Martin Williams, Lawrence Wilson, Stephen Winchester, Martin Wiselka, Adam Wolverson, Daniel G. Wootton, Andrew Workman, Bryan Yates, and Peter Young

Subjects
Phylogenetics, Molecular biology, Immunology, Immune response, Virology, Science
Abstract

Summary: We identify amino acid variants within dominant SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes by interrogating global sequence data. Several variants within nucleocapsid and ORF3a epitopes have arisen independently in multiple lineages and result in loss of recognition by epitope-specific T cells assessed by IFN-γ and cytotoxic killing assays. Complete loss of T cell responsiveness was seen due to Q213K in the A∗01:01-restricted CD8+ ORF3a epitope FTSDYYQLY207-215; due to P13L, P13S, and P13T in the B∗27:05-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope QRNAPRITF9-17; and due to T362I and P365S in the A∗03:01/A∗11:01-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope KTFPPTEPK361-369. CD8+ T cell lines unable to recognize variant epitopes have diverse T cell receptor repertoires. These data demonstrate the potential for T cell evasion and highlight the need for ongoing surveillance for variants capable of escaping T cell as well as humoral immunity.

Published
2021
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13. Plasmid fitness costs are caused by specific genetic conflicts enabling resolution by compensatory mutation.

Author

James P J Hall, Rosanna C T Wright, Ellie Harrison, Katie J Muddiman, A Jamie Wood, Steve Paterson, and Michael A Brockhurst

Subjects
Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract

Plasmids play an important role in bacterial genome evolution by transferring genes between lineages. Fitness costs associated with plasmid carriage are expected to be a barrier to gene exchange, but the causes of plasmid fitness costs are poorly understood. Single compensatory mutations are often sufficient to completely ameliorate plasmid fitness costs, suggesting that such costs are caused by specific genetic conflicts rather than generic properties of plasmids, such as their size, metabolic burden, or gene expression level. By combining the results of experimental evolution with genetics and transcriptomics, we show here that fitness costs of 2 divergent large plasmids in Pseudomonas fluorescens are caused by inducing maladaptive expression of a chromosomal tailocin toxin operon. Mutations in single genes unrelated to the toxin operon, and located on either the chromosome or the plasmid, ameliorated the disruption associated with plasmid carriage. We identify one of these compensatory loci, the chromosomal gene PFLU4242, as the key mediator of the fitness costs of both plasmids, with the other compensatory loci either reducing expression of this gene or mitigating its deleterious effects by up-regulating a putative plasmid-borne ParAB operon. The chromosomal mobile genetic element Tn6291, which uses plasmids for transmission, remained up-regulated even in compensated strains, suggesting that mobile genetic elements communicate through pathways independent of general physiological disruption. Plasmid fitness costs caused by specific genetic conflicts are unlikely to act as a long-term barrier to horizontal gene transfer (HGT) due to their propensity for amelioration by single compensatory mutations, helping to explain why plasmids are so common in bacterial genomes.

Published
2021
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14. Refugia and anthelmintic resistance: Concepts and challenges

Author

Jane E. Hodgkinson, Ray M. Kaplan, Fiona Kenyon, Eric R. Morgan, Andrew W. Park, Steve Paterson, Simon A. Babayan, Nicola J. Beesley, Collette Britton, Umer Chaudhry, Stephen R. Doyle, Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Andy Fenton, Sue B. Howell, Roz Laing, Barbara K. Mable, Louise Matthews, Jennifer McIntyre, Catherine E. Milne, Thomas A. Morrison, Jamie C. Prentice, Neil D. Sargison, Diana J.L. Williams, Adrian J. Wolstenholme, and Eileen Devaney

Subjects
Infectious and parasitic diseases, RC109-216
Abstract

Anthelmintic resistance is a threat to global food security. In order to alleviate the selection pressure for resistance and maintain drug efficacy, management strategies increasingly aim to preserve a proportion of the parasite population in ‘refugia’, unexposed to treatment. While persuasive in its logic, and widely advocated as best practice, evidence for the ability of refugia-based approaches to slow the development of drug resistance in parasitic helminths is currently limited. Moreover, the conditions needed for refugia to work, or how transferable those are between parasite-host systems, are not known. This review, born of an international workshop, seeks to deconstruct the concept of refugia and examine its assumptions and applicability in different situations. We conclude that factors potentially important to refugia, such as the fitness cost of drug resistance, the degree of mixing between parasite sub-populations selected through treatment or not, and the impact of parasite life-history, genetics and environment on the population dynamics of resistance, vary widely between systems. The success of attempts to generate refugia to limit anthelmintic drug resistance are therefore likely to be highly dependent on the system in hand. Additional research is needed on the concept of refugia and the underlying principles for its application across systems, as well as empirical studies within systems that prove and optimise its usefulness. Keywords: Refugia, Anthelmintic drug, Resistance, Parasite, Control, Fitness

Published
2019
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15. Recurrent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 spike deletion H69/V70 and its role in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7

Author

Bo Meng, Steven A. Kemp, Guido Papa, Rawlings Datir, Isabella A.T.M. Ferreira, Sara Marelli, William T. Harvey, Spyros Lytras, Ahmed Mohamed, Giulia Gallo, Nazia Thakur, Dami A. Collier, Petra Mlcochova, Lidia M. Duncan, Alessandro M. Carabelli, Julia C. Kenyon, Andrew M. Lever, Anna De Marco, Christian Saliba, Katja Culap, Elisabetta Cameroni, Nicholas J. Matheson, Luca Piccoli, Davide Corti, Leo C. James, David L. Robertson, Dalan Bailey, Ravindra K. Gupta, Samuel C. Robson, Nicholas J. Loman, Thomas R. Connor, Tanya Golubchik, Rocio T. Martinez Nunez, Catherine Ludden, Sally Corden, Ian Johnston, David Bonsall, Colin P. Smith, Ali R. Awan, Giselda Bucca, M. Estee Torok, Kordo Saeed, Jacqui A. Prieto, David K. Jackson, William L. Hamilton, Luke B. Snell, Catherine Moore, Ewan M. Harrison, Sonia Goncalves, Derek J. Fairley, Matthew W. Loose, Joanne Watkins, Rich Livett, Samuel Moses, Roberto Amato, Sam Nicholls, Matthew Bull, Darren L. Smith, Jeff Barrett, David M. Aanensen, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Dinesh Aggarwal, James G. Shepherd, Matthew D. Parker, Sharon Glaysher, Matthew Bashton, Anthony P. Underwood, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katie F. Loveson, Kate E. Templeton, Cordelia F. Langford, John Sillitoe, Thushan I. de Silva, Dennis Wang, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Andrew Rambaut, Justin O’Grady, Simon Cottrell, Matthew T.G. Holden, Emma C. Thomson, Husam Osman, Monique Andersson, Anoop J. Chauhan, Mohammed O. Hassan-Ibrahim, Mara Lawniczak, Alex Alderton, Meera Chand, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Alistair C. Darby, Julian A. Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Inigo Martincorena, Erik M. Volz, Andrew J. Page, Oliver G. Pybus, Andrew R. Bassett, Cristina V. Ariani, Michael H. Spencer Chapman, Kathy K. Li, Rajiv N. Shah, Natasha G. Jesudason, Yusri Taha, Martin P. McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Aminu S. Jahun, Claire McMurray, Sarojini Pandey, James P. McKenna, Andrew Nelson, Gregory R. Young, Clare M. McCann, Scott Elliott, Hannah Lowe, Ben Temperton, Sunando Roy, Anna Price, Sara Rey, Matthew Wyles, Stefan Rooke, Sharif Shaaban, Mariateresa de Cesare, Laura Letchford, Siona Silveira, Emanuela Pelosi, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Myra Hosmillo, Áine O’Toole, Andrew R. Hesketh, Richard Stark, Louis du Plessis, Chris Ruis, Helen Adams, Yann Bourgeois, Stephen L. Michell, Dimitris Gramatopoulos, Jonathan Edgeworth, Judith Breuer, John A. Todd, Christophe Fraser, David Buck, Michaela John, Gemma L. Kay, Steve Palmer, Sharon J. Peacock, David Heyburn, Danni Weldon, Esther Robinson, Alan McNally, Peter Muir, Ian B. Vipond, John Boyes, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Tranprit Salluja, Samir Dervisevic, Emma J. Meader, Naomi R. Park, Karen Oliver, Aaron R. Jeffries, Sascha Ott, Ana da Silva Filipe, David A. Simpson, Chris Williams, Jane A.H. Masoli, Bridget A. Knight, Christopher R. Jones, Cherian Koshy, Amy Ash, Anna Casey, Andrew Bosworth, Liz Ratcliffe, Li Xu-McCrae, Hannah M. Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Fenella Halstead, Thomas Davis, Christopher Holmes, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Anita O. Lucaci, Paul Anthony Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Eric Witele, Melisa Louise Fenton, Steven Liggett, Clive Graham, Emma Swindells, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Sharon Campbell, Patrick C. McClure, Gemma Clark, Tim J. Sloan, Carl Jones, Jessica Lynch, Ben Warne, Steven Leonard, Jillian Durham, Thomas Williams, Sam T. Haldenby, Nathaniel Storey, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Malorie Perry, Noel Craine, Ronan A. Lyons, Angela H. Beckett, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Fearn, Kate Cook, Hannah Dent, Hannah Paul, Robert Davies, Beth Blane, Sophia T. Girgis, Mathew A. Beale, Katherine L. Bellis, Matthew J. Dorman, Eleanor Drury, Leanne Kane, Sally Kay, Samantha McGuigan, Rachel Nelson, Liam Prestwood, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Rahul Batra, Rachel J. Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Angie Green, Anita Justice, Adhyana I.K. Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Joshua Quick, Radoslaw Poplawski, Leanne M. Kermack, Nicola Reynolds, Grant Hall, Yasmin Chaudhry, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Robin J. Moll, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Joanne Stockton, Charlotte A. Williams, Wen C. Yew, Alexander J. Trotter, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Ember Hilvers, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Johnathan M. Evans, Laia Fina, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Michelle Cronin, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Sarah Taylor, Sophie Jones, Danielle C. Groves, Peijun Zhang, Marta Gallis, Stavroula F. Louka, Igor Starinskij, Chris Jackson, Marina Gourtovaia, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Kevin Lewis, Jaime M. Tovar-Corona, Keith James, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Richard J. Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Fabricia F. Nascimento, David Jorgensen, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Alex E. Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz U.G. Kraemer, Joel Southgate, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Timothy M. Freeman, Jon-Paul Keatley, Joshua B. Singer, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Corin A. Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben E.W. Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, John Danesh, Wendy Hogsden, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I. Robinson, Alison Holmes, James Price, John A. Hartley, Tanya Curran, Alison E. Mather, Giri Shankar, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sian Morgan, Elizabeth Wastenge, Michael R. Chapman, Siddharth Mookerjee, Rachael Stanley, Wendy Smith, Timothy Peto, David Eyre, Derrick Crook, Gabrielle Vernet, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Declan T. Bradley, Tim Wyatt, Charlotte Beaver, Luke Foulser, Sophie Palmer, Carol M. Churcher, Ellena Brooks, Kim S. Smith, Katerina Galai, Georgina M. McManus, Frances Bolt, Francesc Coll, Lizzie Meadows, Stephen W. Attwood, Alisha Davies, Elen De Lacy, Fatima Downing, Sue Edwards, Garry P. Scarlett, Sarah Jeremiah, Nikki Smith, Danielle Leek, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K. Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E. Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Michelle Wantoch, Dorota Jamrozy, Stephanie Lo, Minal Patel, Verity Hill, Claire M. Bewshea, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Ian Harrison, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Angus Best, Benita Percival, Jeremy Mirza, Oliver Megram, Megan Mayhew, Liam Crawford, Fiona Ashcroft, Emma Moles-Garcia, Nicola Cumley, Richard Hopes, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O. Niebel, Rory N. Gunson, Amanda Bradley, Alasdair Maclean, Guy Mollett, Rachel Blacow, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Julian Tang, Antony D. Hale, Louissa R. Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L. Harper, Holli Carden, Nicholas W. Machin, Kathryn A. Jackson, Shazaad S.Y. Ahmad, Ryan P. George, Lance Turtle, Elaine O’Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Themoula Charalampous, Amita Patel, Lisa J. Levett, Judith Heaney, Aileen Rowan, Graham P. Taylor, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack C.D. Lee, Adam P. Westhorpe, Riaz Jannoo, Helen L. Lowe, Angeliki Karamani, Leah Ensell, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, Ashok Dadrah, Amanda Symmonds, Graciela Sluga, Zoltan Molnar, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Jane Greenaway, Brendan A.I. Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Veena Raviprakash, Nicola Sheriff, Victoria Blakey, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Louise Smith, Rose K. Davidson, Luke Bedford, Lindsay Coupland, Victoria Wright, Joseph G. Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M. Fleming, Michelle M. Lister, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Emma Wise, Nathan Moore, Matilde Mori, Nick Cortes, Stephen Kidd, Rebecca Williams, Laura Gifford, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Cassandra S. Malone, Benjamin J. Cogger, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Alexander J. Keeley, David G. Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Emma Betteridge, Ben W. Farr, Scott Goodwin, Michael A. Quail, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, Scott A.J. Thurston, Diana Rajan, Iraad F. Bronner, Louise Aigrain, Nicholas M. Redshaw, Stefanie V. Lensing, Shane McCarthy, Alex Makunin, Carlos E. Balcazar, Michael D. Gallagher, Kathleen A. Williamson, Thomas D. Stanton, Michelle L. Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W. Harrison, Christine M. Sambles, David J. Studholme, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Juan Ledesma, Katherine A. Twohig, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Paul E. Brown, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N. Carmichael, Katherine L. Smollett, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Seema Nickbakhsh, Edith E. Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Claudia Wierzbicki, Hermione J. Webster, Chloe L. Fisher, Adrian W. Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D. Wilson, Gaia Nebbia, Flavia Flaviani, Alberto C. Cerda, Tammy V. Merrill, Rebekah E. Wilson, Marius Cotic, Nadua Bayzid, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Steven Rushton, Sarah O’Brien, David J. Baker, Steven Rudder, Alp Aydin, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Sarah Francois, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Bernardo Gutierrez, Angela Marchbank, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Mari Morgan, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Trudy Workman, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Adrienn Angyal, Luke R. Green, Paul J. Parsons, Rachel M. Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Max Whiteley, James Bonfield, Christoph Puethe, Andrew Whitwham, Jennifier Liddle, Will Rowe, Igor Siveroni, Thanh Le-Viet, Amy Gaskin, Rob Johnson, Irina Abnizova, Mozam Ali, Laura Allen, Ralph Anderson, Cristina Ariani, Siobhan Austin-Guest, Sendu Bala, Jeffrey Barrett, Andrew Bassett, Kristina Battleday, James Beal, Mathew Beale, Sam Bellany, Tristram Bellerby, Katie Bellis, Duncan Berger, Matt Berriman, Paul Bevan, Simon Binley, Jason Bishop, Kirsty Blackburn, Nick Boughton, Sam Bowker, Timothy Brendler-Spaeth, Iraad Bronner, Tanya Brooklyn, Sarah Kay Buddenborg, Robert Bush, Catarina Caetano, Alex Cagan, Nicola Carter, Joanna Cartwright, Tiago Carvalho Monteiro, Liz Chapman, Tracey-Jane Chillingworth, Peter Clapham, Richard Clark, Adrian Clarke, Catriona Clarke, Daryl Cole, Elizabeth Cook, Maria Coppola, Linda Cornell, Clare Cornwell, Craig Corton, Abby Crackett, Alison Cranage, Harriet Craven, Sarah Craw, Mark Crawford, Tim Cutts, Monika Dabrowska, Matt Davies, Joseph Dawson, Callum Day, Aiden Densem, Thomas Dibling, Cat Dockree, David Dodd, Sunil Dogga, Matthew Dorman, Gordon Dougan, Martin Dougherty, Alexander Dove, Lucy Drummond, Monika Dudek, Laura Durrant, Elizabeth Easthope, Sabine Eckert, Pete Ellis, Ben Farr, Michael Fenton, Marcella Ferrero, Neil Flack, Howerd Fordham, Grace Forsythe, Matt Francis, Audrey Fraser, Adam Freeman, Anastasia Galvin, Maria Garcia-Casado, Alex Gedny, Sophia Girgis, James Glover, Oliver Gould, Andy Gray, Emma Gray, Coline Griffiths, Yong Gu, Florence Guerin, Will Hamilton, Hannah Hanks, Ewan Harrison, Alexandria Harrott, Edward Harry, Julia Harvison, Paul Heath, Anastasia Hernandez-Koutoucheva, Rhiannon Hobbs, Dave Holland, Sarah Holmes, Gary Hornett, Nicholas Hough, Liz Huckle, Lena Hughes-Hallet, Adam Hunter, Stephen Inglis, Sameena Iqbal, Adam Jackson, David Jackson, Carlos Jimenez Verdejo, Matthew Jones, Kalyan Kallepally, Keely Kay, Jon Keatley, Alan Keith, Alison King, Lucy Kitchin, Matt Kleanthous, Martina Klimekova, Petra Korlevic, Ksenia Krasheninnkova, Greg Lane, Cordelia Langford, Adam Laverack, Katharine Law, Stefanie Lensing, Amanah Lewis-Wade, Jennifer Liddle, Quan Lin, Sarah Lindsay, Sally Linsdell, Rhona Long, Jamie Lovell, Jon Lovell, James Mack, Mark Maddison, Aleksei Makunin, Irfan Mamun, Jenny Mansfield, Neil Marriott, Matt Martin, Matthew Mayho, Jo McClintock, Sandra McHugh, Liz MapcMinn, Carl Meadows, Emily Mobley, Robin Moll, Maria Morra, Leanne Morrow, Kathryn Murie, Sian Nash, Claire Nathwani, Plamena Naydenova, Alexandra Neaverson, Ed Nerou, Jon Nicholson, Tabea Nimz, Guillaume G. Noell, Sarah O’Meara, Valeriu Ohan, Charles Olney, Doug Ormond, Agnes Oszlanczi, Yoke Fei Pang, Barbora Pardubska, Naomi Park, Aaron Parmar, Gaurang Patel, Maggie Payne, Sharon Peacock, Arabella Petersen, Deborah Plowman, Tom Preston, Michael Quail, Richard Rance, Suzannah Rawlings, Nicholas Redshaw, Joe Reynolds, Mark Reynolds, Simon Rice, Matt Richardson, Connor Roberts, Katrina Robinson, Melanie Robinson, David Robinson, Hazel Rogers, Eduardo Martin Rojo, Daljit Roopra, Mark Rose, Luke Rudd, Ramin Sadri, Nicholas Salmon, David Saul, Frank Schwach, Phil Seekings, Alison Simms, Matt Sinnott, Shanthi Sivadasan, Bart Siwek, Dale Sizer, Kenneth Skeldon, Jason Skelton, Joanna Slater-Tunstill, Lisa Sloper, Nathalie Smerdon, Chris Smith, Christen Smith, James Smith, Katie Smith, Michelle Smith, Sean Smith, Tina Smith, Leighton Sneade, Carmen Diaz Soria, Catarina Sousa, Emily Souster, Andrew Sparkes, Michael Spencer-Chapman, Janet Squares, Robert Stanley, Claire Steed, Tim Stickland, Ian Still, Mike Stratton, Michelle Strickland, Allen Swann, Agnieszka Swiatkowska, Neil Sycamore, Emma Swift, Edward Symons, Suzanne Szluha, Emma Taluy, Nunu Tao, Katy Taylor, Sam Taylor, Stacey Thompson, Mark Thompson, Mark Thomson, Nicholas Thomson, Scott Thurston, Dee Toombs, Benjamin Topping, Jaime Tovar-Corona, Daniel Ungureanu, James Uphill, Jana Urbanova, Philip Jansen Van, Valerie Vancollie, Paul Voak, Danielle Walker, Matthew Walker, Matt Waller, Gary Ward, Charlie Weatherhogg, Niki Webb, Alan Wells, Eloise Wells, Luke Westwood, Theo Whipp, Thomas Whiteley, Georgia Whitton, Sara Widaa, Mia Williams, Mark Wilson, and Sean Wright

Subjects
SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, antibody escape, neutralizing antibodies, infectivity, spike mutation, Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract

Summary: We report severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike ΔH69/V70 in multiple independent lineages, often occurring after acquisition of receptor binding motif replacements such as N439K and Y453F, known to increase binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor and confer antibody escape. In vitro, we show that, although ΔH69/V70 itself is not an antibody evasion mechanism, it increases infectivity associated with enhanced incorporation of cleaved spike into virions. ΔH69/V70 is able to partially rescue infectivity of spike proteins that have acquired N439K and Y453F escape mutations by increased spike incorporation. In addition, replacement of the H69 and V70 residues in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike (where ΔH69/V70 occurs naturally) impairs spike incorporation and entry efficiency of the B.1.1.7 spike pseudotyped virus. Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike mediates faster kinetics of cell-cell fusion than wild-type Wuhan-1 D614G, dependent on ΔH69/V70. Therefore, as ΔH69/V70 compensates for immune escape mutations that impair infectivity, continued surveillance for deletions with functional effects is warranted.

Published
2021
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16. Changes in symptomatology, reinfection, and transmissibility associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7: an ecological study

Author

Mark S Graham, PhD, Carole H Sudre, PhD, Anna May, MA, Michela Antonelli, PhD, Benjamin Murray, MSc, Thomas Varsavsky, MSc, Kerstin Kläser, MSc, Liane S Canas, PhD, Erika Molteni, PhD, Marc Modat, PhD, David A Drew, PhD, Long H Nguyen, MD, Lorenzo Polidori, MSc, Somesh Selvachandran, MSc, Christina Hu, MA, Joan Capdevila, PhD, Alexander Hammers, ProfPhD, Andrew T Chan, ProfMD, Jonathan Wolf, MA, Tim D Spector, ProfPhD, Claire J Steves, PhD, Sebastien Ourselin, ProfPhD, Cherian Koshy, Amy Ash, Emma Wise, Nathan Moore, Matilde Mori, Nick Cortes, Jessica Lynch, Stephen Kidd, Derek J Fairley, Tanya Curran, James P McKenna, Helen Adams, Christophe Fraser, Tanya Golubchik, David Bonsall, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Cassandra S Malone, Benjamin J Cogger, Michelle Wantoch, Nicola Reynolds, Ben Warne, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Michaela John, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Sian Morgan, Angela Marchbank, Anna Price, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Joel Southgate, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Trudy Workman, Thomas R Connor, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Luke B Snell, Amita Patel, Themoula Charalampous, Gaia Nebbia, Rahul Batra, Jonathan Edgeworth, Samuel C Robson, Angela H Beckett, David M Aanensen, Anthony P Underwood, Corin A Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben EW Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, Gemma Clark, Wendy Smith, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M Fleming, Michelle M Lister, Hannah C Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Carl Jones, Christopher Holmes, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Julian Tang, Veena Raviprakash, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Victoria Blakey, Lesley-Anne Williams, Matthew W Loose, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Victoria Wright, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Francesc Coll, Adrian W Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D Wilson, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Thomas Davis, Oliver G Pybus, Louis du Plessis, Alex E Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz UG Kraemer, Sarah Francois, Stephen W Attwood, Tetyana I Vasylyeva, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Bernardo Gutierrez, M. Estee Torok, William L Hamilton, Ian G Goodfellow, Grant Hall, Aminu S Jahun, Yasmin Chaudhry, Myra Hosmillo, Malte L Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Samuel Moses, Hannah Lowe, Luke Bedford, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Chloe L Fisher, Ali R Awan, John BoYes, Judith Breuer, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack CD Lee, Nathaniel Storey, Flavia Flaviani, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Rebecca Williams, Gabrielle Vernet, Michael R Chapman, Lisa J Levett, Judith Heaney, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, Li Xu-McCrae, Darren L Smith, Matthew Bashton, Gregory R Young, Alison Holmes, Paul Anthony Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Frances Bolt, James Price, Siddharth Mookerjee, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Fabricia F. Nascimento, David Jorgensen, Igor Siveroni, Rob Johnson, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Erik M Volz, Aileen Rowan, Graham P Taylor, Katherine L Smollett, Nicholas J Loman, Joshua Quick, Claire McMurray, Joanne Stockton, Sam Nicholls, Will Rowe, Radoslaw Poplawski, Alan McNally, Rocio T Martinez Nunez, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I Robinson, Elaine O'Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Graciela Sluga, Nicholas W Machin, Shazaad S Y Ahmad, Ryan P George, Fenella Halstead, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Wendy Hogsden, Chris J Illingworth, Chris Jackson, Emma C Thomson, James G Shepherd, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O Niebel, Kathy K Li, Rajiv N Shah, Natasha G Jesudason, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N Carmichael, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Igor Starinskij, Ana da Silva Filipe, David L Robertson, Richard J Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Joshua B Singer, Seema Nickbakhsh, Antony D Hale, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L Harper, Holli Carden, Yusri Taha, Brendan AI Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Steven Rushton, Sarah O'Brien, Amanda Bradley, Alasdair Maclean, Guy Mollett, Rachel Blacow, Kate E Templeton, Martin P McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Elizabeth Wastenge, Samir Dervisevic, Rachael Stanley, Emma J Meader, Lindsay Coupland, Louise Smith, Clive Graham, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Emma Swindells, Jane Greenaway, Andrew Nelson, Clare M McCann, Wen C Yew, Monique Andersson, Timothy Peto, Anita Justice, David Eyre, Derrick Crook, Tim J Sloan, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Anoop J Chauhan, Sharon Glaysher, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Scott Elliott, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Declan T Bradley, Tim Wyatt, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Husam Osman, Andrew Bosworth, Esther Robinson, Peter Muir, Ian B Vipond, Richard Hopes, Hannah M Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Martin D Curran, Surendra Parmar, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Meera Chand, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Ian Harrison, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Juan Ledesma, Katherine A Twohig, Matthew T.G. Holden, Sharif Shaaban, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Alisha Davies, Amy Gaskin, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Catherine Moore, Chris Williams, David Heyburn, Elen De Lacy, Ember Hilvers, Fatima Downing, Giri Shankar, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Joanne Watkins, Johnathan M Evans, Laia Fina, Laura Gifford, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Malorie Perry, Mari Morgan, Matthew Bull, Michelle Cronin, Nicole Pacchiarini, Noel Craine, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sally Corden, Sara Rey, Sara Kumziene-SummerhaYes, Sarah Taylor, Simon Cottrell, Sophie Jones, Sue Edwards, Justin O'Grady, Andrew J Page, Alison E Mather, David J Baker, Steven Rudder, Alp Aydin, Gemma L Kay, Alexander J Trotter, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Thanh Le-Viet, Lizzie Meadows, Anna Casey, Liz Ratcliffe, David A Simpson, Zoltan Molnar, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Jane AH Masoli, Bridget A Knight, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Christopher R Jones, Tabitha W Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Eric Witele, Melisa Louise Fenton, Ashok Dadrah, Amanda Symmonds, Tranprit Saluja, Yann Bourgeois, Garry P Scarlett, Katie F Loveson, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Fearn, Kate Cook, Hannah Dent, Hannah Paul, David G Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Steven Liggett, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Ronan A Lyons, Kordo Saeed, Adhyana I.K Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Siona Silveira, Emanuela Pelosi, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Rachel J Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Sunando Roy, Charlotte A Williams, Marius Cotic, Nadua Bayzid, Adam P Westhorpe, John A Hartley, Riaz Jannoo, Helen L Lowe, Angeliki Karamani, Leah Ensell, Jacqui A Prieto, Sarah Jeremiah, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Sarojini Pandey, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Angus Best, Benita Percival, Jeremy Mirza, Oliver Megram, Megan Mayhew, Liam Crawford, Fiona Ashcroft, Emma Moles-Garcia, Nicola Cumley, Colin P Smith, Giselda Bucca, Andrew R Hesketh, Beth Blane, Sophia T Girgis, Danielle Leek, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Leanne M Kermack, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Catherine Ludden, Sharon J Peacock, Sophie Palmer, Carol M Churcher, Nazreen F Hadjirin, Alessandro M Carabelli, Ellena Brooks, Kim S Smith, Katerina Galai, Georgina M McManus, Chris Ruis, Rose K Davidson, Andrew Rambaut, Thomas Williams, Carlos E Balcazar, Michael D Gallagher, Áine O'Toole, Stefan Rooke, Verity Hill, Kathleen A Williamson, Thomas D Stanton, Stephen L Michell, Claire M Bewshea, Ben Temperton, Michelle L Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W Harrison, Christine M Sambles, David J Studholme, Aaron R Jeffries, Alistair C Darby, Julian A Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Kathryn A Jackson, Anita O Lucaci, Edith E Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Lance Turtle, Sam T Haldenby, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Claudia Wierzbicki, Hermione J Webster, Thushan I de Silva, Nikki Smith, Adrienn Angyal, Benjamin B Lindsey, Danielle C Groves, Luke R Green, Dennis Wang, Timothy M Freeman, Matthew D Parker, Alexander J Keeley, Paul J Parsons, Rachel M Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Matthew Wyles, Max Whiteley, Peijun Zhang, Marta Gallis, Stavroula F Louka, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Sascha Ott, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Richard Stark, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Paul E Brown, Dinesh Aggarwal, Alberto C Cerda, Tammy V Merrill, Rebekah E Wilson, Patrick C McClure, Joseph G Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, David Buck, John A Todd, Angie Green, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Alex Alderton, Roberto Amato, Cristina V Ariani, Mathew A Beale, Charlotte Beaver, Katherine L Bellis, Emma Betteridge, James Bonfield, John Danesh, Matthew J Dorman, Eleanor Drury, Ben W Farr, Luke Foulser, Sonia Goncalves, Scott Goodwin, Marina Gourtovaia, Ewan M Harrison, David K Jackson, Dorota Jamrozy, Ian Johnston, Leanne Kane, Sally Kay, Jon-Paul Keatley, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Cordelia F Langford, Mara Lawniczak, Laura Letchford, Rich Livett, Stephanie Lo, Inigo Martincorena, Samantha McGuigan, Rachel Nelson, Steve Palmer, Naomi R Park, Minal Patel, Liam Prestwood, Christoph Puethe, Michael A Quail, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, John Sillitoe, Michael H Spencer Chapman, Scott AJ Thurston, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Danni Weldon, Diana Rajan, Iraad F Bronner, Louise Aigrain, Nicholas M Redshaw, Stefanie V Lensing, Robert Davies, Andrew Whitwham, Jennifier Liddle, Kevin Lewis, Jaime M Tovar-Corona, Steven Leonard, Jillian Durham, Andrew R Bassett, Shane McCarthy, Robin J Moll, Keith James, Karen Oliver, Alex Makunin, Jeff Barrett, and Rory N Gunson

Subjects
Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
Abstract

Summary: Background: The SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 was first identified in December, 2020, in England. We aimed to investigate whether increases in the proportion of infections with this variant are associated with differences in symptoms or disease course, reinfection rates, or transmissibility. Methods: We did an ecological study to examine the association between the regional proportion of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant and reported symptoms, disease course, rates of reinfection, and transmissibility. Data on types and duration of symptoms were obtained from longitudinal reports from users of the COVID Symptom Study app who reported a positive test for COVID-19 between Sept 28 and Dec 27, 2020 (during which the prevalence of B.1.1.7 increased most notably in parts of the UK). From this dataset, we also estimated the frequency of possible reinfection, defined as the presence of two reported positive tests separated by more than 90 days with a period of reporting no symptoms for more than 7 days before the second positive test. The proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections with the B.1.1.7 variant across the UK was estimated with use of genomic data from the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium and data from Public Health England on spike-gene target failure (a non-specific indicator of the B.1.1.7 variant) in community cases in England. We used linear regression to examine the association between reported symptoms and proportion of B.1.1.7. We assessed the Spearman correlation between the proportion of B.1.1.7 cases and number of reinfections over time, and between the number of positive tests and reinfections. We estimated incidence for B.1.1.7 and previous variants, and compared the effective reproduction number, Rt, for the two incidence estimates. Findings: From Sept 28 to Dec 27, 2020, positive COVID-19 tests were reported by 36 920 COVID Symptom Study app users whose region was known and who reported as healthy on app sign-up. We found no changes in reported symptoms or disease duration associated with B.1.1.7. For the same period, possible reinfections were identified in 249 (0·7% [95% CI 0·6–0·8]) of 36 509 app users who reported a positive swab test before Oct 1, 2020, but there was no evidence that the frequency of reinfections was higher for the B.1.1.7 variant than for pre-existing variants. Reinfection occurrences were more positively correlated with the overall regional rise in cases (Spearman correlation 0·56–0·69 for South East, London, and East of England) than with the regional increase in the proportion of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant (Spearman correlation 0·38–0·56 in the same regions), suggesting B.1.1.7 does not substantially alter the risk of reinfection. We found a multiplicative increase in the Rt of B.1.1.7 by a factor of 1·35 (95% CI 1·02–1·69) relative to pre-existing variants. However, Rt fell below 1 during regional and national lockdowns, even in regions with high proportions of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant. Interpretation: The lack of change in symptoms identified in this study indicates that existing testing and surveillance infrastructure do not need to change specifically for the B.1.1.7 variant. In addition, given that there was no apparent increase in the reinfection rate, vaccines are likely to remain effective against the B.1.1.7 variant. Funding: Zoe Global, Department of Health (UK), Wellcome Trust, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK), National Institute for Health Research (UK), Medical Research Council (UK), Alzheimer's Society.

Published
2021
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17. Profiling G protein-coupled receptors of Fasciola hepatica identifies orphan rhodopsins unique to phylum Platyhelminthes

Author

Paul McVeigh, Erin McCammick, Paul McCusker, Duncan Wells, Jane Hodgkinson, Steve Paterson, Angela Mousley, Nikki J. Marks, and Aaron G. Maule

Subjects
Infectious and parasitic diseases, RC109-216
Abstract

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are established drug targets. Despite their considerable appeal as targets for next-generation anthelmintics, poor understanding of their diversity and function in parasitic helminths has thwarted progress towards GPCR-targeted anti-parasite drugs. This study facilitates GPCR research in the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, by generating the first profile of GPCRs from the F. hepatica genome. Our dataset describes 147 high confidence GPCRs, representing the largest cohort of GPCRs, and the largest set of in silico ligand-receptor predictions, yet reported in any parasitic helminth. All GPCRs fall within the established GRAFS nomenclature; comprising three glutamate, 135 rhodopsin, two adhesion, five frizzled, one smoothened, and one secretin GPCR. Stringent annotation pipelines identified 18 highly diverged rhodopsins in F. hepatica that maintained core rhodopsin signatures, but lacked significant similarity with non-flatworm sequences, providing a new sub-group of potential flukicide targets. These facilitated identification of a larger cohort of 76 related sequences from available flatworm genomes, representing new members of existing groups (PROF1/Srfb, Rho-L, Rho-R, Srfa, Srfc) of flatworm-specific rhodopsins. These receptors imply flatworm specific GPCR functions, and/or co-evolution with unique flatworm ligands, and could facilitate the development of exquisitely selective anthelmintics. Ligand binding domain sequence conservation relative to deorphanised rhodopsins enabled high confidence ligand-receptor matching of seventeen receptors activated by acetylcholine, neuropeptide F/Y, octopamine or serotonin. RNA-Seq analyses showed expression of 101 GPCRs across various developmental stages, with the majority expressed most highly in the pathogenic intra-mammalian juvenile parasites. These data identify a broad complement of GPCRs in F. hepatica, including rhodopsins likely to have key functions in neuromuscular control and sensory perception, as well as frizzled and adhesion/secretin families implicated, in other species, in growth, development and reproduction. This catalogue of liver fluke GPCRs provides a platform for new avenues into our understanding of flatworm biology and anthelmintic discovery. Keywords: Anthelmintic, Deorphanization, Flukicide, Genome, Invertebrate, Nervous system, Neuropeptide, RNA-Seq

Published
2018
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18. Local adaptation of a bacterium is as important as its presence in structuring a natural microbial community

Author

Pedro Gómez, Steve Paterson, Luc De Meester, Xuan Liu, Luca Lenzi, M. D. Sharma, Kerensa McElroy, and Angus Buckling

Subjects
Science
Abstract

Though both the presence and traits of a species can influence the dynamics of its ecological community, the effects of these factors are difficult to disentangle. Here, Gómez et al. demonstrate in a microbial mesocosm that local adaptation of a focal species can influence the community as much as the presence of the focal species per se.

Published
2016
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19. Endemic Hantavirus in Field Voles, Northern England

Author

Anna G. Thomason, Michael Begon, Janette E. Bradley, Steve Paterson, and Joseph A. Jackson

Subjects
Microtus, Microtus agrestis, field vole, hantavirus, Tatenale virus, United Kingdom, Medicine, Infectious and parasitic diseases, RC109-216
Abstract

We report a PCR survey of hantavirus infection in an extensive field vole (Microtus agrestis) population present in the Kielder Forest, northern England. A Tatenale virus–like lineage was frequently detected (≈17% prevalence) in liver tissue. Lineages genetically similar to Tatenale virus are likely to be endemic in northern England.

Published
2017
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20. From the animal house to the field: Are there consistent individual differences in immunological profile in wild populations of field voles (Microtus agrestis)?

Author

Elena Arriero, Klara M Wanelik, Richard J Birtles, Janette E Bradley, Joseph A Jackson, Steve Paterson, and Mike Begon

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Inbred mouse strains, living in simple laboratory environments far removed from nature, have been shown to vary consistently in their immune response. However, wildlife populations are typically outbreeding and face a multiplicity of challenges, parasitological and otherwise. In this study we seek evidence of consistent difference in immunological profile amongst individuals in the wild. We apply a novel method in this context, using longitudinal (repeated capture) data from natural populations of field voles, Microtus agrestis, on a range of life history and infection metrics, and on gene expression levels. We focus on three immune genes, IFN-γ, Gata3, and IL-10, representing respectively the Th1, Th2 and regulatory elements of the immune response. Our results show that there was clear evidence of consistent differences between individuals in their typical level of expression of at least one immune gene, and at most all three immune genes, after other measured sources of variation had been taken into account. Furthermore, individuals that responded to changing circumstances by increasing expression levels of Gata3 had a correlated increase in expression levels of IFN-γ. Our work stresses the importance of acknowledging immunological variation amongst individuals in studies of parasitological and infectious disease risk in wildlife populations.

Published
2017
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21. Bacteriophages Limit the Existence Conditions for Conjugative Plasmids

Author

Ellie Harrison, A. Jamie Wood, Calvin Dytham, Jonathan W. Pitchford, Julie Truman, Andrew Spiers, Steve Paterson, and Michael A. Brockhurst

Subjects
Microbiology, QR1-502
Abstract

ABSTRACT Bacteriophages are a major cause of bacterial mortality and impose strong selection on natural bacterial populations, yet their effects on the dynamics of conjugative plasmids have rarely been tested. We combined experimental evolution, mathematical modeling, and individual-based simulations to explain how the ecological and population genetics effects of bacteriophages upon bacteria interact to determine the dynamics of conjugative plasmids and their persistence. The ecological effects of bacteriophages on bacteria are predicted to limit the existence conditions for conjugative plasmids, preventing persistence under weak selection for plasmid accessory traits. Experiments showed that phages drove faster extinction of plasmids in environments where the plasmid conferred no benefit, but they also revealed more complex effects of phages on plasmid dynamics under these conditions, specifically, the temporary maintenance of plasmids at fixation followed by rapid loss. We hypothesized that the population genetic effects of bacteriophages, specifically, selection for phage resistance mutations, may have caused this. Further mathematical modeling and individual-based simulations supported our hypothesis, showing that conjugative plasmids may hitchhike with phage resistance mutations in the bacterial chromosome. IMPORTANCE Conjugative plasmids are infectious loops of DNA capable of transmitting DNA between bacterial cells and between species. Because plasmids often carry extra genes that allow bacteria to live in otherwise-inhospitable environments, their dynamics are central to understanding bacterial adaptive evolution. The plasmid-bacterium interaction has typically been studied in isolation, but in natural bacterial communities, bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are ubiquitous. Using experiments, mathematical models, and computer simulations we show that bacteriophages drive plasmid dynamics through their ecological and evolutionary effects on bacteria and ultimately limit the conditions allowing plasmid existence. These results advance our understanding of bacterial adaptation and show that bacteriophages could be used to select against plasmids carrying undesirable traits, such as antibiotic resistance.

Published
2015
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22. An immunological marker of tolerance to infection in wild rodents.

Author

Joseph A Jackson, Amy J Hall, Ida M Friberg, Catriona Ralli, Ann Lowe, Malgorzata Zawadzka, Andrew K Turner, Alexander Stewart, Richard J Birtles, Steve Paterson, Janette E Bradley, and Mike Begon

Subjects
Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract

Hosts are likely to respond to parasitic infections by a combination of resistance (expulsion of pathogens) and tolerance (active mitigation of pathology). Of these strategies, the basis of tolerance in animal hosts is relatively poorly understood, with especially little known about how tolerance is manifested in natural populations. We monitored a natural population of field voles using longitudinal and cross-sectional sampling modes and taking measurements on body condition, infection, immune gene expression, and survival. Using analyses stratified by life history stage, we demonstrate a pattern of tolerance to macroparasites in mature compared to immature males. In comparison to immature males, mature males resisted infection less and instead increased investment in body condition in response to accumulating burdens, but at the expense of reduced reproductive effort. We identified expression of the transcription factor Gata3 (a mediator of Th2 immunity) as an immunological biomarker of this tolerance response. Time series data for individual animals suggested that macroparasite infections gave rise to increased expression of Gata3, which gave rise to improved body condition and enhanced survival as hosts aged. These findings provide a clear and unexpected insight into tolerance responses (and their life history sequelae) in a natural vertebrate population. The demonstration that such responses (potentially promoting parasite transmission) can move from resistance to tolerance through the course of an individual's lifetime emphasises the need to incorporate them into our understanding of the dynamics and risk of infection in the natural environment. Moreover, the identification of Gata3 as a marker of tolerance to macroparasites raises important new questions regarding the role of Th2 immunity and the mechanistic nature of the tolerance response itself. A more manipulative, experimental approach is likely to be valuable in elaborating this further.

Published
2014
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23. Genetic diversity in cytokines associated with immune variation and resistance to multiple pathogens in a natural rodent population.

Author

Andrew K Turner, Mike Begon, Joseph A Jackson, Janette E Bradley, and Steve Paterson

Subjects
Genetics, QH426-470
Abstract

Pathogens are believed to drive genetic diversity at host loci involved in immunity to infectious disease. To date, studies exploring the genetic basis of pathogen resistance in the wild have focussed almost exclusively on genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC); the role of genetic variation elsewhere in the genome as a basis for variation in pathogen resistance has rarely been explored in natural populations. Cytokines are signalling molecules with a role in many immunological and physiological processes. Here we use a natural population of field voles (Microtus agrestis) to examine how genetic diversity at a suite of cytokine and other immune loci impacts the immune response phenotype and resistance to several endemic pathogen species. By using linear models to first control for a range of non-genetic factors, we demonstrate strong effects of genetic variation at cytokine loci both on host immunological parameters and on resistance to multiple pathogens. These effects were primarily localized to three cytokine genes (Interleukin 1 beta (Il1b), Il2, and Il12b), rather than to other cytokines tested, or to membrane-bound, non-cytokine immune loci. The observed genetic effects were as great as for other intrinsic factors such as sex and body weight. Our results demonstrate that genetic diversity at cytokine loci is a novel and important source of individual variation in immune function and pathogen resistance in natural populations. The products of these loci are therefore likely to affect interactions between pathogens and help determine survival and reproductive success in natural populations. Our study also highlights the utility of wild rodents as a model of ecological immunology, to better understand the causes and consequences of variation in immune function in natural populations including humans.

Published
2011
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24. Evidence of gene conversion in genes encoding the Gal/GalNac lectin complex of Entamoeba.

Author

Gareth D Weedall, James Sherrington, Steve Paterson, and Neil Hall

Subjects
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine, RC955-962, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
Abstract

The human gut parasite Entamoeba histolytica, uses a lectin complex on its cell surface to bind to mucin and to ligands on the intestinal epithelia. Binding to mucin is necessary for colonisation and binding to intestinal epithelia for invasion, therefore blocking this binding may protect against amoebiasis. Acquired protective immunity raised against the lectin complex should create a selection pressure to change the amino acid sequence of lectin genes in order to avoid future detection. We present evidence that gene conversion has occurred in lineages leading to E. histolytica strain HM1:IMSS and E. dispar strain SAW760. This evolutionary mechanism generates diversity and could contribute to immune evasion by the parasites.

Published
2011
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25. Immunological responses elicited by different infection regimes with Strongyloides ratti.

Author

Steve Paterson, Clare Wilkes, Colin Bleay, and Mark E Viney

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Nematode infections are a ubiquitous feature of vertebrate life. In nature, such nematode infections are acquired by continued exposure to infective stages over a prolonged period of time. By contrast, experimental laboratory infections are typically induced by the administration of a single (and often large) dose of infective stages. Previous work has shown that the size of an infection dose can have significant effects on anti-nematode immune responses. Here we investigated the effect of different infection regimes of Strongyloides ratti, comparing single and repeated dose infections, on the host immune response that was elicited. We considered and compared infections of the same size, but administered in different ways. We considered infection size in two ways: the maximum dose of worms administered and the cumulative worm exposure time. We found that both infection regimes resulted in Th2-type immune response, characterised by IL4 and IL13 produced by S. ratti stimulated mesenteric lymph node cells, anti-S. ratti IgG(1) and intestinal rat mast cell protease II (RMCPII) production. We observed some small quantitative immunological differences between different infection regimes, in which the concentration of IL4, IL13, anti-S. ratti IgG(1) and IgG(2a) and RMCPII were affected. However, these differences were quantitatively relatively modest compared with the temporal dynamics of the anti-S. ratti immune response as a whole.

Published
2008
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26. Predicting the impact of long-term temperature changes on the epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis: a mechanistic model.

Author

Tara D Mangal, Steve Paterson, and Andrew Fenton

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Many parasites of medical and veterinary importance are transmitted by cold-blooded intermediate hosts or vectors, the abundance of which will vary with ambient temperatures, potentially altering disease prevalence. In particular, if global climate change will increase mean ambient temperature in a region endemic with a human pathogen then it is possible that the incidence of disease will similarly increase. Here we examine this possibility by using a mathematical model to explore the effects of increasing long-term mean ambient temperature on the prevalence and abundance of the parasite Schistosoma mansoni, the causative agent of schistosomiasis in humans.The model showed that the impact of temperature on disease prevalence and abundance is not straightforward; the mean infection burden in humans increases up to 30 degrees C, but then crashes at 35 degrees C, primarily due to increased mortalities of the snail intermediate host. In addition, increased temperatures changed the dynamics of disease from stable, endemic infection to unstable, epidemic cycles at 35 degrees C. However, the prevalence of infection was largely unchanged by increasing temperatures. Temperature increases also affected the response of the model to changes in each parameter, indicating certain control strategies may become less effective with local temperature changes. At lower temperatures, the most effective single control strategy is to target the adult parasites through chemotherapy. However, as temperatures increase, targeting the snail intermediate hosts, for example through molluscicide use, becomes more effective.These results show that S. mansoni will not respond to increased temperatures in a linear fashion, and the optimal control strategy is likely to change as temperatures change. It is only through a mechanistic approach, incorporating the combined effects of temperature on all stages of the life-cycle, that we can begin to predict the consequences of climate change on the incidence and severity of such diseases.

Published
2008
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27. Living with chronic infection: Persistent immunomodulation during avirulent haemoparasitic infection in a wild rodent

Author

Christopher H. Taylor, Ida M. Friberg, Joseph A. Jackson, Elena Arriero, Mike Begon, Klara M. Wanelik, Steve Paterson, and Janette E. Bradley

Subjects
Genetics, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Abstract

Apicomplexans are a protozoan phylum of obligate parasites which may be highly virulent during acute infections, but may also persist as chronic infections which appear to have little fitness cost. Babesia microti is an apicomplexan haemoparasite that, in immunocompromised individuals, can cause severe, potentially fatal disease. However, in its natural host, wild field voles (Microtus agrestis), it exhibits chronic infections that have no detectable impact on survival or female fecundity. How is damage minimized, and what is the impact on the host's immune state and health? We examine the differences in immune state (here represented by expression of immune-related genes in multiple tissues) associated with several common chronic infections in a population of wild field voles. While some infections show little impact on immune state, we find strong associations between immune state and B. microti. These include indications of clearance of infected erythrocytes (increased macrophage activity in the spleen) and activity likely associated with minimizing damage from the infection (anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity in the blood). By analysing gene expression from the same individuals at multiple time points, we show that the observed changes are a response to infection, rather than a risk factor. Our results point towards continual investment to minimize the damage caused by the infection. Thus, we shed light on how wild animals can tolerate some chronic infections, but emphasize that this tolerance does not come without a cost.

Published
2022
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28. Wastewater monitoring can anchor global disease surveillance systems

Author

Aparna Keshaviah, Megan B Diamond, Matthew J Wade, Samuel V Scarpino, Warish Ahmed, Fabian Amman, Olusola Aruna, Andrei Badilla-Aguilar, Itay Bar-Or, Andreas Bergthaler, Julie E Bines, Aaron W Bivins, Alexandria B Boehm, Jean-Martin Brault, Jean-Baptiste Burnet, Joanne R Chapman, Angela Chaudhuri, Ana Maria de Roda Husman, Robert Delatolla, John J Dennehy, Megan Beth Diamond, Celeste Donato, Erwin Duizer, Abiodun Egwuenu, Oran Erster, Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Aldo Gaggero, Deirdre F Gilpin, Brent J Gilpin, Tyson E Graber, Christopher A Green, Amanda Handley, Joanne Hewitt, Rochelle H Holm, Heribert Insam, Marc C Johnson, Rabia Johnson, Davey L Jones, Timothy R Julian, Asha Jyothi, Tamar Kohn, Katrin G Kuhn, Giuseppina La Rosa, Marie Lesenfants, Douglas G Manuel, Patrick M D'Aoust, Rudolf Markt, John W McGrath, Gertjan Medema, Christine L Moe, Indah Kartika Murni, Humood Naser, Colleen C Naughton, Leslie Ogorzaly, Vicka Oktaria, Christoph Ort, Popi Karaolia, Ekta H Patel, Steve Paterson, Mahbubur Rahman, Pablo Rivera-Navarro, Alex Robinson, Monica C Santa-Maria, Heike Schmitt, Theodore Smith, Lauren B Stadler, Jorgen Stassijns, Alberta Stenico, Renee A Street, Elisabetta Suffredini, Zachary Susswein, Monica Trujillo, Marlene K Wolfe, Habib Yakubu, and Maria Ines Zanoli Sato

Subjects
General Medicine
Abstract

To inform the development of global wastewater monitoring systems, we surveyed programmes in 43 countries. Most programmes monitored predominantly urban populations. In high-income countries (HICs), composite sampling at centralised treatment plants was most common, whereas grab sampling from surface waters, open drains, and pit latrines was more typical in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Almost all programmes analysed samples in-country, with an average processing time of 2·3 days in HICs and 4·5 days in LMICs. Whereas 59% of HICs regularly monitored wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 variants, only 13% of LMICs did so. Most programmes share their wastewater data internally, with partnering organisations, but not publicly. Our findings show the richness of the existing wastewater monitoring ecosystem. With additional leadership, funding, and implementation frameworks, thousands of individual wastewater initiatives can coalesce into an integrated, sustainable network for disease surveillance?one that minimises the risk of overlooking future global health threats.

Published
2023
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29. Evaluation of variant calling algorithms for wastewater-based epidemiology using mixed populations of SARS-CoV-2 variants in synthetic and wastewater samples

Author

Irene Bassano, Vinoy K. Ramachandran, Mohammad S. Khalifa, Chris J. Lilley, Mathew R. Brown, Ronny van Aerle, Hubert Denise, William Rowe, Airey George, Edward Cairns, Claudia Wierzbicki, Natalie D. Pickwell, Matthew Carlile, Nadine Holmes, Alexander Payne, Matthew Loose, Terry A. Burke, Steve Paterson, Matthew J. Wade, and Jasmine M. S. Grimsley

Subjects
General Medicine
Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology has been used extensively throughout the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 19) pandemic to detect and monitor the spread and prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) and its variants. It has proven an excellent, complementary tool to clinical sequencing, supporting the insights gained and helping to make informed public-health decisions. Consequently, many groups globally have developed bioinformatics pipelines to analyse sequencing data from wastewater. Accurate calling of mutations is critical in this process and in the assignment of circulating variants; yet, to date, the performance of variant-calling algorithms in wastewater samples has not been investigated. To address this, we compared the performance of six variant callers (VarScan, iVar, GATK, FreeBayes, LoFreq and BCFtools), used widely in bioinformatics pipelines, on 19 synthetic samples with known ratios of three different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) (Alpha, Beta and Delta), as well as 13 wastewater samples collected in London between the 15th and 18th December 2021. We used the fundamental parameters of recall (sensitivity) and precision (specificity) to confirm the presence of mutational profiles defining specific variants across the six variant callers. Our results show that BCFtools, FreeBayes and VarScan found the expected variants with higher precision and recall than GATK or iVar, although the latter identified more expected defining mutations than other callers. LoFreq gave the least reliable results due to the high number of false-positive mutations detected, resulting in lower precision. Similar results were obtained for both the synthetic and wastewater samples.

Published
2023
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31. Utilizing river and wastewater as a SARS-CoV-2 surveillance tool to predict trends and identify variants of concern in settings with limited formal sewage systems

Author

Kayla Barnes, Joshua Levy, Kristian Andersen, Jillian Gauld, Jonathan Rigby, Oscar Kanjerwa, Christopher Uzzell, Chisomo Chilupsya, Catherine Anscombe, Christopher Tomkins-Tinch, Omar Mbeti, Edward Cairns, Herbert Thole, Shannon McSweeney, Marah Chibwana, Philip Ashton, Khuzwayo Jere, John Meschke, Peter Diggle, Jennifer Cornick, kondwani Jambo, Gift Kawalazira, Steve Paterson, Tonney Nyirenda, Nicholas Feasey, and Benjamin Chilima

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact health systems globally and robust surveillance is critical for pandemic control, however not all countries can sustain community surveillance programs. Wastewater surveillance has proven valuable in high-income settings, but little is known about how river and informal sewage in low-income countries can be used for environmental surveillance of SARS-CoV-2. In Malawi, a country with limited community-based COVID-19 testing capacity, we explored the utility of rivers and wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. From May 2020 – January 2022, we collected water from up to 112 river or informal sewage sites/month, detecting SARS-CoV-2 in 8.3% of samples. Peak SARS-CoV-2 detection in water samples predated peaks in clinical cases. Sequencing of water samples identified the Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants, with Delta and Omicron detected well in advance of detection in patients. Our work highlights wastewater can be used for detecting emerging waves, identifying variants of concern and function as an early warning system in settings with no formal sewage systems.

Published
2023
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32. Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes

Author

S. Cotton, M.P. McHugh, R. Dewar, J.G. Haas, K. Templeton, Samuel C. Robson, Thomas R. Connor, Nicholas J. Loman, Tanya Golubchik, Rocio T. Martinez Nunez, David Bonsall, Andrew Rambaut, Luke B. Snell, Rich Livett, Catherine Ludden, Sally Corden, Eleni Nastouli, Gaia Nebbia, Ian Johnston, Jacqui A. Prieto, Kordo Saeed, David K. Jackson, Catherine Houlihan, Dan Frampton, William L. Hamilton, Adam A. Witney, Giselda Bucca, Cassie F. Pope, Catherine Moore, Emma C. Thomson, Teresa Cutino-Moguel, Ewan M. Harrison, Colin P. Smith, Fiona Rogan, Shaun M. Beckwith, Abigail Murray, Dawn Singleton, Kirstine Eastick, Liz A. Sheridan, Paul Randell, Leigh M. Jackson, Cristina V. Ariani, Sónia Gonçalves, Derek J. Fairley, Matthew W. Loose, Joanne Watkins, Samuel Moses, Sam Nicholls, Matthew Bull, Roberto Amato, Darren L. Smith, David M. Aanensen, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Beatrix Kele, Dinesh Aggarwal, James G. Shepherd, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Matthew D. Parker, Catryn Williams, Sharon Glaysher, Anthony P. Underwood, Matthew Bashton, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katie F. Loveson, Matthew Byott, Alessandro M. Carabelli, Kate E. Templeton, Sharon J. Peacock, Thushan I. de Silva, Dennis Wang, Cordelia F. Langford, John Sillitoe, Rory N. Gunson, Simon Cottrell, Justin O’Grady, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Patrick J. Lillie, Nicholas Cortes, Nathan Moore, Claire Thomas, Phillipa J. Burns, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Steven Liggett, Angela H. Beckett, Matthew TG. Holden, Lisa J. Levett, Husam Osman, Mohammed O. Hassan-Ibrahim, David A. Simpson, Meera Chand, Ravi K. Gupta, Alistair C. Darby, Steve Paterson, Oliver G. Pybus, Erik M. Volz, Daniela de Angelis, David L. Robertson, Andrew J. Page, Inigo Martincorena, Louise Aigrain, Andrew R. Bassett, Nick Wong, Yusri Taha, Michelle J. Erkiert, Michael H. Spencer Chapman, Rebecca Dewar, Martin P. McHugh, Siddharth Mookerjee, Stephen Aplin, Matthew Harvey, Thea Sass, Helen Umpleby, Helen Wheeler, James P. McKenna, Ben Warne, Joshua F. Taylor, Yasmin Chaudhry, Rhys Izuagbe, Aminu S. Jahun, Gregory R. Young, Claire McMurray, Clare M. McCann, Andrew Nelson, Scott Elliott, Hannah Lowe, Anna Price, Matthew R. Crown, Sara Rey, Sunando Roy, Ben Temperton, Sharif Shaaban, Andrew R. Hesketh, Kenneth G. Laing, Irene M. Monahan, Judith Heaney, Emanuela Pelosi, Siona Silviera, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Helen Fryer, Helen Adams, Louis du Plessis, Rob Johnson, William T. Harvey, Joseph Hughes, Richard J. Orton, Lewis G. Spurgin, Yann Bourgeois, Chris Ruis, Áine O'Toole, Marina Gourtovaia, Theo Sanderson, Christophe Fraser, Jonathan Edgeworth, Judith Breuer, Stephen L. Michell, John A. Todd, Michaela John, David Buck, Kavitha Gajee, Gemma L. Kay, David Heyburn, Themoula Charalampous, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Katie Kitchman, Alan McNal, David T. Pritch, Samir Dervisevic, Peter Muir, Esther Robinson, Barry B. Vipond, Newara A. Ramadan, Christopher Jeanes, Danni Weldon, Jana Catalan, Neil Jones, Ana da Silva Filipe, Chris Williams, Marc Fuchs, Julia Miskelly, Aaron R. Jeffries, Karen Oliver, Naomi R. Park, Amy Ash, Cherian Koshy, Magdalena Barrow, Sarah L. Buchan, Anna Mantzouratou, Gemma Clark, Christopher W. Holmes, Sharon Campbell, Thomas Davis, Ngee Keong Tan, Julianne R. Brown, Kathryn A. Harris, Stephen P. Kidd, Paul R. Grant, Li Xu-McCrae, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Marcus Pond, Paul A. Randell, Karen T. Withell, Cheryl Williams, Clive Graham, Rebecca Denton-Smith, Emma Swindells, Robyn Turnbull, Tim J. Sloan, Andrew Bosworth, Stephanie Hutchings, Hannah M. Pymont, Anna Casey, Liz Ratcliffe, Christopher R. Jones, Bridget A. Knight, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Eric Witele, Craig Mower, Louisa K. Watson DipHE, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Dorian Crudgington, Ben Macklin, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Anita O. Lucaci, Patrick C. McClure, Matthew Carlile, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Nathaniel Storey, Stefan Rooke, Gonzalo Yebra, Noel Craine, Malorie Perry, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Stephen Bridgett, Kate F. Cook, Christopher Fearn, Salman Goudarzi, Ronan A. Lyons, Thomas Williams, Sam T. Haldenby, Jillian Durham, Steven Leonard, Robert M. Davies, Rahul Batra, Beth Blane, Moira J. Spyer, Perminder Smith, Mehmet Yavus, Rachel J. Williams, Adhyana IK. Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Sophia T. Girgis, Samantha E. Hansford, Angie Green, Charlotte Beaver, Katherine L. Bellis, Matthew J. Dorman, Sally Kay, Liam Prestwood, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Joshua Quick, Radoslaw Poplawski, Nicola Reynolds, Andrew Mack, Arthur Morriss, Thomas Whalley, Bindi Patel, Iliana Georgana, Myra Hosmillo, Malte L. Pinckert, Joanne Stockton, John H. Henderson, Amy Hollis, William Stanley, Wen C. Yew, Richard Myers, Alicia Thornton, Alexander Adams, Tara Annett, Hibo Asad, Alec Birchley, Jason Coombes, Johnathan M. Evans, Laia Fina, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Jessica Hey, Ember Hilvers, Sophie Jones, Hannah Jones, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Caoimhe McKerr, Jessica Powell, Georgia Pugh, Sarah Taylor, Alexander J. Trotter, Charlotte A. Williams, Leanne M. Kermack, Benjamin H. Foulkes, Marta Gallis, Hailey R. Hornsby, Stavroula F. Louka, Manoj Pohare, Paige Wolverson, Peijun Zhang, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Amy Trebes, Robin J. Moll, Lynne Ferguson, Emily J. Goldstein, Alasdair Maclean, Rachael Tomb, Igor Starinskij, Laura Thomson, Joel Southgate, Moritz UG. Kraemer, Jayna Raghwani, Alex E. Zarebski, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Chris J. Illingworth, Chris Jackson, David Pascall, Sreenu Vattipally, Timothy M. Freeman, Sharon N. Hsu, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Keith James, Kevin Lewis, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Jaime M. Tovar-Corona, MacGregor Cox, Khalil Abudahab, Mirko Menegazzo, Ben EW. Taylor, Corin A. Yeats, Afrida Mukaddas, Derek W. Wright, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Rachel Colquhoun, Verity Hill, Ben Jackson, J.T. McCrone, Nathan Medd, Emily Scher, Jon-Paul Keatley, Tanya Curran, Sian Morgan, Patrick Maxwell, Ken Smith, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Alison H. Holmes, James R. Price, Tim Wyatt, Alison E. Mather, Timofey Skvortsov, John A. Hartley, Martyn Guest, Christine Kitchen, Ian Merrick, Robert Munn, Beatrice Bertolusso, Jessica Lynch, Gabrielle Vernet, Stuart Kirk, Elizabeth Wastnedge, Rachael Stanley, Giles Idle, Declan T. Bradley, Nicholas F. Killough, Jennifer Poyner, Matilde Mori, Owen Jones, Victoria Wright, Ellena Brooks, Carol M. Churcher, Laia Delgado Callico, Mireille Fragakis, Katerina Galai, Andrew Jermy, Sarah Judges, Anna Markov, Georgina M. McManus, Kim S. Smith, Peter MD. Thomas-McEwen, Elaine Westwick, Stephen W. Attwood, Frances Bolt, Alisha Davies, Elen De Lacy, Fatima Downing, Sue Edwards, Lizzie Meadows, Sarah Jeremiah, Nikki Smith, Luke Foulser, Amita Patel, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Vicki M. Fleming, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Amelia Joseph, Manjinder Khakh, Michelle M. Lister, Paul W. Bird, Karlie Fallon, Thomas Helmer, Claire L. McMurray, Mina Odedra, Jessica Shaw, Julian W. Tang, Nicholas J. Willford, Victoria Blakey, Veena Raviprakash, Nicola Sheriff, Lesley-Anne Williams, Theresa Feltwell, Luke Bedford, James S. Cargill, Warwick Hughes, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Laura Atkinson, Jack CD. Lee, Divya Shah, Natasha Ohemeng-Kumi, John Ramble, Jasveen Sehmi, Rebecca Williams, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, William Everson, Anibolina Castigador, Emily Macnaughton, Kate El Bouzidi, Temi Lampejo, Malur Sudhanva, Cassie Breen, Graciela Sluga, Shazaad SY. Ahmad, Ryan P. George, Nicholas W. Machin, Debbie Binns, Victoria James, Rachel Blacow, Lindsay Coupland, Louise Smith, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Aidan Cross, Mariyam Mirfenderesky, Jane Greenaway, Kevin Cole, Phillip Clarke, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Kelly Bicknell, Robert Impey, Sarah Wyllie, Richard Hopes, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Ian Harrison, Laura Gifford, Zoltan Molnar, Cressida Auckland, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, David G. Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Leanne J. Murray, Andrew I. Lawton, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Brendan AI. Payne, Sheila Waugh, Andrea N. Gomes, Maimuna Kimuli, Darren R. Murray, Paula Ashfield, Donald Dobie, Fiona Ashford, Angus Best, Liam Crawford, Nicola Cumley, Megan Mayhew, Oliver Megram, Jeremy Mirza, Emma Moles-Garcia, Benita Percival, Megan Driscoll, Leah Ensell, Helen L. Lowe, Laurentiu Maftei, Matteo Mondani, Nicola J. Chaloner, Benjamin J. Cogger, Lisa J. Easton, Hannah Huckson, Jonathan Lewis, Sarah Lowdon, Cassandra S. Malone, Florence Munemo, Manasa Mutingwende, Roberto Nicodemi, Olga Podplomyk FD, Thomas Somassa, Andrew Beggs, Alex Richter, Claire Cormie, Joana Dias, Sally Forrest, Ellen E. Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Rose K. Davidson, Kathryn A. Jackson, Alexander J. Keeley, Jonathan Ball, Timothy Byaruhanga, Joseph G. Chappell, Jayasree Dey, Jack D. Hill, Emily J. Park, Arezou Fanaie, Rachel A. Hilson, Geraldine Yaze, Stephanie Lo, Safiah Afifi, Robert Beer, Joshua Maksimovic, Kathryn McCluggage, Karla Spellman, Catherine Bresner, William Fuller, Angela Marchbank, Trudy Workma, Ekaterina Shelest, Johnny Debebe, Fei Sang, Sarah Francois, Bernardo Gutierrez, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, Flavia Flaviani, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Katherine L. Smollett, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Kyriaki Nomikou, Lily Tong, Ioulia Tsatsani, Sarah O'Brien, Steven Rushton, Roy Sanderson, Jon Perkins, Seb Cotton, Abbie Gallagher, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, David Bibby, Gavin Dabrer, Nicholas Ellaby, Eileen Gallagher, Jonathan Hubb, Angie Lackenby, David Lee, Nikos Manesis, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Katherine A. Twohig, Mari Morgan, Alp Aydin, David J. Baker, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Sophie J. Prosolek, Steven Rudder, Chris Baxter, Sílvia F. Carvalho, Deborah Lavin, Arun Mariappan, Clara Radulescu, Aditi Singh, Miao Tang, Helen Morcrette, Nadua Bayzid, Marius Cotic, Carlos E. Balcazar, Michael D. Gallagher, Daniel Maloney, Thomas D. Stanton, Kathleen A. Williamson, Robin Manley, Michelle L. Michelsen, Christine M. Sambles, David J. Studholme, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Richard Eccles, Matthew Gemmell, Richard Gregory, Margaret Hughes, Charlotte Nelson, Lucille Rainbow, Edith E. Vamos, Hermione J. Webster, Mark Whitehead, Claudia Wierzbicki, Adrienn Angyal, Luke R. Green, Max Whiteley, Emma Betteridge, Iraad F. Bronner, Ben W. Farr, Scott Goodwin, Stefanie V. Lensing, Shane A. McCarthy, Michael A. Quail, Diana Rajan, Nicholas M. Redshaw, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, Scott AJ. Thurston, Will Rowe, Amy Gaskin, Thanh Le-Viet, James Bonfield, Jennifier Liddle, Andrew Whitwham, University of St Andrews. School of Medicine, University of St Andrews. Infection and Global Health Division, and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository

Subjects
Microbiology (medical), MCC, Introduction, SARS-CoV-2, NDAS, COVID-19, Care homes, General Medicine, NIS, Patient Discharge, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Infectious Diseases, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being, RA0421, RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine, Humans, Hospital discharge
Abstract

COG-UK is supported by funding from the MRC part of UK Research & Innovation, the National Institute of Health Research (Grant code MC_PC_19027), and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Welcome Sanger Institute. Background The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes. Aim To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave. Methods A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records. Findings In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home. Conclusion The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine. Publisher PDF

Published
2023

34. Bacterial defences interact synergistically by disrupting phage cooperation

Author

Alice Maestri, Elizabeth Pursey, Charlotte Chong, Benoit J. Pons, Sylvain Gandon, Rafael Custodio, Matthew Chisnall, Anita Grasso, Steve Paterson, Kate Baker, Stineke van Houte, Anne Chevallereau, and Edze R. Westra

Abstract

SummaryThe constant arms race between bacteria and their phages has resulted in a large diversity of bacterial defence systems1,2, with many bacteria carrying several systems3,4. In response, phages often carry counter-defence genes5–9. If and how bacterial defence mechanisms interact to protect against phages with counter-defence genes remains unclear. Here, we report the existence of a novel defence system, coined MADS (Methylation Associated Defence System), which is located in a strongly conserved genomic defence hotspot inPseudomonas aeruginosaand distributed across Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. We find that the natural co-existence of MADS and a Type IE CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune system in the genome ofP. aeruginosaSMC4386 provides synergistic levels of protection against phage DMS3, which carries an anti-CRISPR (acr) gene. Previous work has demonstrated that Acr-phages need to cooperate to overcome CRISPR immunity, with a first sacrificial phage causing host immunosuppression to enable successful secondary phage infections10,11. Modelling and experiments show that the co-existence of MADS and CRISPR-Cas provides strong and durable protection against Acr-phages by disrupting their cooperation and limiting the spread of mutants that overcome MADS. These data reveal that combining bacterial defences can robustly neutralise phage with counter-defence genes, even if each defence on its own can be readily by-passed, which is key to understanding how selection acts on defence combinations and their coevolutionary consequences.

Published
2023
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35. Effects of an IgE receptor polymorphism acting on immunity, susceptibility to infection, and reproduction in a wild rodent

Author

Christopher H. Taylor, Klara M. Wanelik, Janette E. Bradley, Ida M. Friberg, Michael Begon, Steve Paterson, and Joseph A. Jackson

Subjects
Genetics, education.field_of_study, biology, Reproductive success, General Immunology and Microbiology, General Neuroscience, Population, Context (language use), Disease, General Medicine, biology.organism_classification, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Sexual dimorphism, Polymorphism (computer science), Genotype, Microtus, education
Abstract

The genotype of an individual is an important predictor of their immune function, and subsequently, their ability to control or avoid infection and ultimately contribute offspring to the next generation. However, the same genotype, subjected to different intrinsic and/or extrinsic environments, can also result in different phenotypic outcomes, which can be missed in controlled laboratory studies. Natural wildlife populations, which capture both genotypic and environmental variability, provide an opportunity to more fully understand the phenotypic expression of genetic variation. We identified a synonymous polymorphism in the high-affinity Immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor (GC and non-GC haplotypes) that has sex-dependent effects on immune gene expression, susceptibility to infection, and reproductive success of individuals in a natural population of field voles (Microtus agrestis). We found that the effect of the GC haplotype on the expression of immune genes differed between sexes. Regardless of sex, both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory genes were more highly relatively expressed in individuals with the GC haplotype than individuals without the haplotype. However, males with the GC haplotype showed a stronger signal for pro-inflammatory genes, while females showed a stronger signal for anti-inflammatory genes. Furthermore, we found an effect of the GC haplotype on the probability of infection with a common microparasite, Babesia microti, in females – with females carrying the GC haplotype being more likely to be infected. Finally, we found an effect of the GC haplotype on reproductive success in males – with males carrying the GC haplotype having a lower reproductive success. This is a rare example of a polymorphism whose consequences we are able to follow across immunity, infection, and reproduction for both males and females in a natural population.

Published
2023
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36. Whole-genome analysis reveals contrasting relationships among nuclear and mitochondrial genomes between three sympatric bat species

Author

Veronika N Laine, Tiina Sävilammi, Niklas Wahlberg, Katarina Meramo, Gonzalo Ossa, Joseph S Johnson, Anna S Blomberg, Aidyn B Yeszhanov, Veronica Yung, Steve Paterson, Thomas M Lilley, Zoology, and Finnish Museum of Natural History

Subjects
fylogenia, perinnöllisyystiede, Speciation, 1184 Genetics, developmental biology, physiology, bats, nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA, DNA, phylogeny, Gene flow, eläintiede, speciation, Bats, 1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology, Genetics, lepakot, lajiutuminen, gene flow, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Phylogeny
Abstract

Understanding mechanisms involved in speciation can be challenging, especially when hybridization or introgression blurs species boundaries. In bats resolving relationships of some closely related groups has proven difficult due subtle interspecific variation both in morphometrics and molecular datasets. The endemic South American Histiotus bats, currently considered a sub-genus of Eptesicus, harbor unresolved phylogenetic relationships and of those is a trio consisting of two closely related species: Eptesicus (Histiotus) macrotus and E. (H.) montanus, and their relationship with a third, E. (H.) magellanicus. The three sympatric species bear marked resemblance to each other, but can be differentiated morphologically. Furthermore, previous studies have been unable to differentiate the species from each other at a molecular level. In order to disentangle the phylogenetic relationships of these species, we examined the differentiation patterns and evolutionary history of the three Eptesicus (H.) species from Chile at the whole genome level. The nuclear DNA statistics between the species suggest strong gene flow and recent hybridization between E. (H.) montanus and E. (H.) macrotus, whereas E. (H.) magellanicus shows a higher degree of isolation. In contrast, mitochondrial DNA shows a closer relationship between E. (H.) magellanicus and E. (H.) montanus. Opposing patterns in mtDNA and nuclear markers are often due to differences in dispersal, and here it could be both as result of isolation in refugia during the last glacial maximum and female philopatry and male-biased dispersal. In conclusion, this study shows the importance of both the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in resolving phylogenetic relationships and species histories. Understanding mechanisms involved in speciation can be challenging, especially when hybridization or introgression blurs species boundaries. In bats, resolving relationships of some closely related groups has proved difficult due subtle interspecific variation both in morphometrics and molecular data sets. The endemic South American Histiotus bats, currently considered a subgenus of Eptesicus, harbor unresolved phylogenetic relationships and of those is a trio consisting of two closely related species: Eptesicus (Histiotus) macrotus and Eptesicus (Histiotus) montanus, and their relationship with a third, Eptesicus (Histiotus) magellanicus. The three sympatric species bear marked resemblance to each other, but can be differentiated morphologically. Furthermore, previous studies have been unable to differentiate the species from each other at a molecular level. In order to disentangle the phylogenetic relationships of these species, we examined the differentiation patterns and evolutionary history of the three Eptesicus (H.) species at the whole-genome level. The nuclear DNA statistics between the species suggest strong gene flow and recent hybridization between E. (H.) montanus and E. (H.) macrotus, whereas E. (H.) magellanicus shows a higher degree of isolation. In contrast, mitochondrial DNA shows a closer relationship between E. (H.) magellanicus and E. (H.) montanus. Opposing patterns in mtDNA and nuclear markers are often due to differences in dispersal, and here it could be both as a result of isolation in refugia during the last glacial maximum and female philopatry and male-biased dispersal. In conclusion, this study shows the importance of both the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in resolving phylogenetic relationships and species histories.

Published
2023

37. Comparison of multiple whole-genome andSpike-only sequencing protocols for estimating variant frequencies via wastewater-based epidemiology

Author

Lucy A. Winder, Paul Parsons, Gavin Horsburgh, Kathryn Maher, Helen Hipperson, Claudia Wierzbicki, Aaron R. Jeffries, Mathew R. Brown, Aine Fairbrother-Browne, Hubert Denise, Mohammad S. Khalifa, Irene Bassano, Ronny van Aerle, Rachel Williams, Kata Farcas, Steve Paterson, Paul G. Blackwell, and Terry Burke

Abstract

Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater provides a key opportunity to monitor the prevalence of variants spatiotemporally, potentially facilitating their detection simultaneously with, or even prior to, observation through clinical testing. However, there are multiple sequencing methodologies available. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of alternative protocols for detecting SARS-CoV-2 variants. We tested the detection of two synthetic RNA SARS-CoV-2 genomes in a wide range of ratios and at two concentrations representative of those found in wastewater using whole-genome andSpike-gene-only protocols utilising Illumina and Oxford Nanopore platforms. We developed a Bayesian hierarchical model to determine the predicted frequencies of variants and the error surrounding our predictions. We found that most of the sequencing protocols detected polymorphic nucleotide frequencies at a level that would allow accurate determination of the variants present at higher concentrations. Most methodologies, including theSpike-only approach, could also predict variant frequencies with a degree of accuracy in low-concentration samples but, as expected, with higher error around the estimates. All methods were additionally confirmed to detect the same prevalent variants in a set of wastewater samples. Our results provide the first quantitative statistical comparison of a range of alternative methods that can be used successfully in the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variant frequencies from wastewater.ImpactGenetic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater provides an ideal system for monitoring variant frequencies in the general population. The advantages over clinical data are that it is more cost efficient and has the potential to identify new variants before clinical testing. However, to date, there has been no direct comparison to determine which sequencing methodologies perform best at identifying the presence and prevalence of variants. Our study compares seven sequencing methods to determine which performs best. We also develop a Bayesian statistical methodology to estimate the confidence around variant frequency estimates. Our results will help monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants in wastewater, and the methodology could be adapted for other disease monitoring, including future pandemics.

Published
2022
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39. Evaluation of variant calling algorithms for wastewater-based epidemiology using mixed populations of SARS-CoV-2 variants in synthetic and wastewater samples

Author

Irene Bassano, Vinoy K. Ramachandran, Mohammad S. Khalifa, Chris J. Lilley, Mathew R. Brown, Ronny van Aerle, Hubert Denise, William Rowe, Airey George, Edward Cairns, Claudia Wierzbicki, Natalie D. Pickwell, Myles Wilson, Matthew Carlile, Nadine Holmes, Alexander Payne, Matthew Loose, Terry A. Burke, Steve Paterson, Matthew J. Wade, and Jasmine M.S. Grimsley

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been used extensively throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to detect and monitor the spread and prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. It has proven an excellent, complementary tool to clinical sequencing, supporting the insights gained and helping to make informed public health decisions. Consequently, many groups globally have developed bioinformatics pipelines to analyse sequencing data from wastewater. Accurate calling of mutations is critical in this process and in the assignment of circulating variants, yet, to date, the performance of variant-calling algorithms in wastewater samples has not been investigated. To address this, we compared the performance of six variant callers (VarScan, iVar, GATK, FreeBayes, LoFreq and BCFtools), used widely in bioinformatics pipelines, on 19 synthetic samples with known ratios of three different SARS-CoV-2 variants (Alpha, Beta and Delta), as well as 13 wastewater samples collected in London between the 15–18 December 2021. We used the fundamental parameters of recall (sensitivity) and precision (specificity) to confirm the presence of mutational profiles defining specific variants across the six variant callers.Our results show that BCFtools, FreeBayes and VarScan found the expected variants with higher precision and recall than GATK or iVar, although the latter identified more expected defining mutations than other callers. LoFreq gave the least reliable results due to the high number of false-positive mutations detected, resulting in lower precision. Similar results were obtained for both the synthetic and wastewater samples.

Published
2022
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40. Evolution of diversity explains the impact of pre-adaptation of a focal species on the structure of a natural microbial community

Author

Robert I. Griffiths, Angus Buckling, Steve Paterson, Alex Vujakovic, Elze Hesse, and Daniel Padfield

Subjects
Acclimatization, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Diversification (marketing strategy), Microbiology, Article, Natural (archaeology), 03 medical and health sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, 030304 developmental biology, 0303 health sciences, Genome, biology, 030306 microbiology, Ecology, Microbiota, Community structure, respiratory system, biology.organism_classification, Adaptation, Physiological, Biological Evolution, Taxon, Microbial population biology, Adaptation, human activities, Diversity (business)
Abstract

Rapid within-species evolution can alter community structure, yet the mechanisms underpinning this effect remain unknown. Populations that rapidly evolve large amounts of phenotypic diversity are likely to interact with more species and have the largest impact on community structure. However, the evolution of phenotypic diversity is, in turn, influenced by the presence of other species. Here, we investigate how microbial community structure changes as a consequence of rapidly evolved within-species diversity using Pseudomonas fluorescens as a focal species. Evolved P. fluorescens populations showed substantial phenotypic diversification in resource-use (and correlated genomic change) irrespective of whether they were pre-adapted in isolation or in a community context. Manipulating diversity revealed that more diverse P. fluorescens populations had the greatest impact on community structure, by suppressing some bacterial taxa, but facilitating others. These findings suggest that conditions that promote the evolution of high within-population diversity should result in a larger impact on community structure.

Published
2020
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41. Transcriptome-wide analysis reveals different categories of response to a standardised immune challenge in a wild rodent

Author

Ida M. Friberg, Janette E. Bradley, Christopher H. Taylor, Michael Begon, Elena Arriero, Steve Paterson, Klara M. Wanelik, and Joseph A. Jackson

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, 0301 basic medicine, Genetic Markers, Male, Rodent, T-Lymphocytes, lcsh:Medicine, Natural variation, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Article, Transcriptome, 03 medical and health sciences, Prognostic markers, Immune system, biology.animal, Immunogenetics, Animals, RNA-Seq, lcsh:Science, Gene, Fisiología animal, Mamíferos, Multidisciplinary, biology, Arvicolinae, Gene Expression Profiling, lcsh:R, Prognosis, 030104 developmental biology, Natural population growth, Gene Expression Regulation, Infectious disease (medical specialty), Evolutionary biology, Immune System, Regression Analysis, Female, lcsh:Q, Gene expression, Molecular ecology, Spleen, Signal Transduction
Abstract

Individuals vary in their immune response and, as a result, some are more susceptible to infectious disease than others. Little is known about the nature of this individual variation in natural populations, or which components of immune pathways are most responsible, but defining this underlying landscape of variation is an essential first step to understanding the drivers of this variation and, ultimately, predicting the outcome of infection. We describe transcriptome-wide variation in response to a standardised immune challenge in wild field voles. We find that genes (hereafter 'markers') can be categorised into a limited number of types. For the majority of markers, the response of an individual is dependent on its baseline expression level, with significant enrichment in this category for conventional immune pathways. Another, moderately sized, category contains markers for which the responses of different individuals are also variable but independent of their baseline expression levels. This category lacks any enrichment for conventional immune pathways. We further identify markers which display particularly high individual variability in response, and could be used as markers of immune response in larger studies. Our work shows how a standardised challenge performed on a natural population can reveal the patterns of natural variation in immune response.

Published
2020
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42. Rapid decline of adaptation of

Author

Pedro, Gómez, Alex R, Hall, Steve, Paterson, and Angus, Buckling

Subjects
Soil, Acclimatization, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Adaptation, Physiological, Soil Microbiology
Abstract

Interactions between microbes can both constrain and enhance their adaptation to the environment. However, most studies to date have employed simplified microbial communities and environmental conditions. We determined how the presence of a commercial potting compost microbial community affected adaptation of the soil bacterium

Published
2022

43. A comparison of precipitation and filtration-based SARS-CoV-2 recovery methods and the influence of temperature, turbidity, and surfactant load in urban wastewater

Author

Cameron Pellett, Jonathan Porter, Nicholas P. Evens, Jessica L. Kevill, Davey Jones, Irene Bassano, Shelagh K. Malham, Steve Paterson, Mathew R. Brown, Jonathan Warren, Andrew C. Singer, Hubert Denise, Kata Farkas, and James E. McDonald

Subjects
Environmental Engineering, viruses, Ultrafiltration, Wastewater, Article, law.invention, chemistry.chemical_compound, Surface-Active Agents, Pulmonary surfactant, law, PEG ratio, Environmental Chemistry, Humans, Ammonium, Turbidity, Waste Management and Disposal, Filtration, Suspended solids, SARS-CoV-2, Temperature, COVID-19, qRT-PCR, Pulp and paper industry, Pollution, Faecal indicator virus, Biology and Microbiology, chemistry, Wastewater concentration, Health, RNA detection
Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has become a complimentary surveillance tool during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Viral concentration methods from wastewater are still being optimised and compared, whilst viral recovery under different wastewater characteristics and storage temperatures remains poorly understood. Using urban wastewater samples, we tested three viral concentration methods; polyethylene glycol precipitation (PEG), ammonium sulphate precipitation (AS), and CP select™ InnovaPrep® (IP) ultrafiltration. We found no major difference in SARS-CoV-2 and faecal indicator virus (crAssphage) recovery from wastewater samples (n = 46) using these methods, PEG slightly (albeit non-significantly), outperformed AS and IP for SARS-CoV-2 detection, as a higher genome copies per litre (gc/l) was recorded for a larger proportion of samples. Next generation sequencing of 8 paired samples revealed non-significant differences in the quality of data between AS and IP, though IP data quality was slightly better and less variable. A controlled experiment assessed the impact of wastewater suspended solids (turbidity; 0–400 NTU), surfactant load (0–200 mg/l), and storage temperature (5–20 °C) on viral recovery using the AS and IP methods. SARS-CoV-2 recoveries were >20% with AS and 0.05), whilst surfactant and storage temperature combined were significant negative correlates (p, Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image

Published
2022
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44. Hospital admission and emergency care attendance risk for SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) compared with alpha (B.1.1.7) variants of concern: a cohort study

Author

Harry D Wilson, Elaine O'Toole, Andrew Bassett, Moritz U. G. Kraemer, Beth Blane, Scott Goodwin, Giri Shankar, Joseph Hughes, Lucy R. Frost, Alicia Thornton, Scott Elliott, Tammy V Merrill, Sheila Waugh, Alexander Adams, Peter Muir, Graciela Sluga, Rebecca Williams, Hannah Dent, Christophe Fraser, Shavanthi Rajatileka, John C. Hartley, Luke B Snell, Benjamin J Cogger, Lance Turtle, Alex Makunin, John A. Todd, Victoria Wright, Daniela De Angelis, James McKenna, Dinesh Aggarwal, Jonathan K. Ball, Jillian Durham, Garren Scott, Thushan I de Silva, Veena Raviprakash, Hannah M Pymont, Jason Coombes, Anita Lucaci, Luke R. Green, Leigh M Jackson, Hermione J. Webster, Louis du Plessis, David A. Jackson, Minal Patel, Áine O'Toole, Ravi Gupta, Marc Niebel, Garry Scarlett, Rajiv Shah, Guy Mollett, Kathy Li, Rory Gunson, Matthew Bashton, Carl Jones, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Zoltan Molnar, Siona Silveira, Malte L Pinckert, Catherine Ludden, Angeliki Karamani, Leanne Kane, Brendan A I Payne, Alan McNally, Clare M. McCann, Holli Carden, Mohammad Raza, Alison E. Mather, Kate B. Cook, Amy Gaskin, David J. Williams, Shaun R. Seaman, Christopher I. Jones, Gilberto Betancor, Matthew T. G. Holden, Jennifier Liddle, Meera Unnikrishnan, Angie Green, Ben Taylor, Kelly Bicknell, Alexander J. Trotter, Emma Meader, Leanne M Kermack, Nathaniel Storey, Michelle Cronin, Sally Forrest, Sarah Jeremiah, Asad Zaidi, M Morgan, Alasdair MacLean, Thomas R. Connor, Johnathan M Evans, Rachael Stanley, Ryan P George, Nadine Holmes, Richard H. Myers, Christine Sambles, Bernardo Gutierrez, Jeffrey K. J. Cheng, Tim Wyatt, Natasha Jesudason, Lindsay Coupland, Monika Pusok, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Jenifer Mason, Joshua Maksimovic, Russell Hope, Alison Holmes, David Simpson, Radoslaw Poplawski, Amelia Joseph, Erwan Acheson, James Bonfield, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Sascha Ott, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jessica Lynch, Graham P. Taylor, Anita Kenyon, Elizabeth Wastenge, Megan Mayhew, Adhyana I K Mahanama, Stavroula F Louka, Chloe Bishop, Esther Robinson, Darren Smith, Anne M. Presanis, Matthew Carlile, Thomas D Stanton, Dennis Wang, Katerina Galai, Adam P Westhorpe, Flavia Flaviani, Michelle Wantoch, Max Whiteley, Yann Bourgeois, Matthew Gemmell, Mary Ramsay, A Lloyd, Simon Thelwall, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Joseph G. Chappell, Steve Paterson, Gary Eltringham, Robert Impey, Siddharth Mookerjee, Steven Platt, Emma Swindells, Laura Letchford, Alex Alderton, Lee Graham, Safiah Afifi, David C. Lee, Cassie Breen, Melisa Louise Fenton, Benita Percival, Adrian W Signell, Tanya Golubchik, Ian B Vipond, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Angie Lackenby, Laura Atkinson, Sarojini Pandey, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Michael A Chapman, Huw Gulliver, Joana Dias, Grant Hall, Antony D Hale, Hassan Hartman, Alp Aydin, Louise Smith, Ashok Dadrah, Johnny Debebe, Sarah Walsh, Stephanie W. Lo, Andrew Bosworth, Bridget Knight, Hannah E Bridgewater, Nadua Bayzid, Gemma L. Kay, Richard Gregory, Sally Kay, Ellena Brooks, Andre Charlett, Georgina M McManus, Riaz Jannoo, Victoria Blakey, Carol Scott, Rachel Nelson, Liz Ratcliffe, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Verity Hill, Joanne D. Stockton, Danielle Leek, Steven Leonard, Stephanie Hutchings, Jonathan D. Moore, Kathryn Ann Harris, Sophie Jones, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Amy Plimmer, Tanzina Haque, Katherine L. Bellis, Khalil Abudahab, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Gaia Nebbia, Kathryn A Jackson, Stephen W Attwood, Daniel Mair, Sreenu Vattipally, Susanne Stonehouse, Ian Merrick, Lucille Rainbow, Mathew A. Beale, Angela Helen Beckett, Ember Hilvers, Thomas Helmer, Jenna Nichols, Giselda Bucca, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Ruis, Surendra Parmar, Angela Cowell, Alberto C Cerda, Divya K. Shah, Judith Heaney, E. Thomson, Kyriaki Nomikou, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katherine L Harper, Fatima Downing, M. Estée Török, Michelle L Michelsen, Aaron R. Jeffries, Jennifer Collins, Christopher Williams, Katie F. Loveson, Steven Rudder, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Robert Davies, David Robertson, Katherine Smollett, Kathryn McCluggage, Liam Crawford, Inigo Martincorena, Charlotte Beaver, Oliver Megram, Karla Spellman, Sam Haldenby, Emma Betteridge, William D. Fuller, Will P. M. Rowe, Cherian Koshy, Tim E. A. Peto, Alison Cox, Natasha Johnson, Tanya Curran, Sharif Shaaban, Tamyo Mbisa, Cordelia Langford, Eric Witele, Andrew J. Page, Christoph Puethe, Nicola Reynolds, Paul W Bird, Louise Aigrain, Ronan Lyons, Amy Trebes, Sally Corden, Steven Rushton, Jack Cd Lee, Jane Greenaway, Hibo Asad, Amanda Bradley, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Shane McCarthy, Fei Sang, Matthew Loose, Hannah Jones, Keith D. James, Chloe L Fisher, Chrystala Constantinidou, Alex G. Richter, Jane A. H. Masoli, Michael Gallagher, Vicki M. Fleming, Anna Price, Amy Ash, Michaela John, Alex Zarebski, Fenella D. Halstead, John Danesh, Christine Kitchen, Aminu S Jahun, Mark Whitehead, Julianne R Brown, Catherine Bresner, Marius Cotic, Stefanie V Lensing, Nick Levene, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Wendy Hogsden, Cressida Auckland, Eleanor Drury, Richard Eccles, Jennifer Hart, Seema Nickbakhsh, Alisha Davies, David M. Aanensen, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Ben Farr, Buddhini Samaraweera, Sarah Wyllie, Hannah Lowe, Richard J. Orton, Martin D. Curran, Carol Churcher, Karen Oliver, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Wen Yew, Thanh Le-Viet, Matthew Parker, Katherine A Twohig, Shahjahan Miah, Samuel M. Nicholls, G MacIntyre-Cockett, Tranprit Saluja, Charlotte Nelson, Vicki Chalker, Roberto Amato, Ellen Higginson, Timothy M. Freeman, Christopher W Holmes, Yasmin Chaudhry, Elias Allara, Alec Birchley, Iraad Bronner, Emma Moles-Garcia, Angus I. Best, Anna L. Casey, Audrey Farbos, Nicholas W Machin, David W Eyre, Tim Boswell, Charlotte A Williams, Elen De Lacy, Matthew J. Bull, Matilde Mori, Carmen F. Manso, Peijun Zhang, Sahar Eldirdiri, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Corin Yeats, Claudia Wierzbicki, David G Partridge, Kordo Saeed, Nichola Duckworth, David J. Studholme, Harmeet K Gill, Juan Ledesma, Thomas R. A. Davis, Sushmita Sridhar, Clive Graham, Husam Osman, Julian A. Hiscox, Helen Adams, Christopher Fearn, Fabrícia F. Nascimento, Ulf Schaefer, James W. Harrison, Andrew J. Nelson, Joshua Quick, Mohammad Tauqeer Alam, Liam Prestwood, Nikos Manesis, Julian Tang, Justin O'Grady, Sophia T Girgis, Louise Berry, Gemma Clark, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Karlie Fallon, Tim J Sloan, Joanne Watkins, Clare Pearson, Andrew D Beggs, Rachel Williams, Luke Bedford, Trevor Robinson, Nicholas M Redshaw, Richard Hopes, Mirko Menegazzo, Katherine Twohig, Gabrielle Vernet, Steven Liggett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Derrick W. Crook, Dominic P. Kwiatkowski, Mark Kristiansen, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Christopher I. Moore, Claire Cormie, Olivia Boyd, Nikki Smith, Noel Craine, Kathleen A. Williamson, John Boyes, Sian Ellard, Cristina V. Ariani, Wendy Chatterton, David Bonsall, Kevin Lewis, David Jorgensen, Ian Harrison, Christopher Jackson, Martin P McHugh, Danni Weldon, Michael A. Quail, Amita Patel, Lily Geidelberg, Myra Hosmillo, Judith Breuer, Cariad Evans, Edward Barton, Trudy Workman, Derek Fairley, Vineet Patel, Daniel Bradshaw, Robin Manley, Scott Aj Thurston, John Sillitoe, Monique Andersson, Sharon J. Peacock, Jamie Lopez-Bernal, Thomas Thompson, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Ben Temperton, Paul Baker, Robin J Moll, Laura Gifford, Nicholas J. Loman, Jayna Raghwani, Jacqui Prieto, Andrew Hesketh, Oliver G. Pybus, Adela Alcolea-Medina, David Buck, Gregory R Young, Alistair C. Darby, Sónia Gonçalves, Aileen G. Rowan, Tabitha Mahungu, Nicholas Ellaby, Jon-Paul Keatley, Lily Tong, Robert Beer, Martyn Guest, Lisa J Levett, Ali R Awan, Iliana Georgana, Paul E Brown, Li Xu-McCrae, Stephen P. Kidd, Sara Rey, Shazaad Ahmad, Danielle C. Groves, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, David F. Bibby, Nathan Moore, Fiona Ashcroft, Igor Starinskij, Hannah Paul, Claire McMurray, Michael Spencer Chapman, Carlos Balcazar, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Pinglawathee Madona, Edith Vamos, Lesley Shirley, Kate Templeton, Luke Foulser, Igor Siveroni, Ewan M. Harrison, Sian Morgan, Diana Rajan, S Taylor, Laia Fina, Naomi Park, Sarah J. O'Brien, Alessandro M Carabelli, Angela Marchbank, Sunando Roy, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Steve Palmer, Jonathan Hubb, Alexander J Keeley, Francesc Coll, Malorie Perry, Paul J. Parsons, Anthony Underwood, Patawee Asamaphan, William L Hamilton, Tommy Nyberg, Sophie Palmer, Amanda Symmonds, Anoop Chauhan, Robert Johnson, Christopher J. R. Illingworth, James Shepherd, Wendy Smith, Rich Livett, Rachel Blacow, Margaret Hughes, Jeremy Mirza, Joanne Watts, Jonathan D. Edgeworth, Sarah François, Sue Edwards, Adrienn Angyal, Thomas N. Williams, Marta Gallis, Lauren Gilbert, Paul Randell, Kate Johnson, Eileen Gallagher, Nick Cortes, Yusri Taha, Leah Ensell, Emanuela Pelosi, Stefan Rooke, Michelle Lister, Ana da Silva Filipe, Cassandra S Malone, Themoula Charalampous, Benjamin B Lindsey, Natalie Groves, Colin Smith, Ross J Harris, Rebekah E Wilson, Stephen Bonner, Richard Stark, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Helen L Lowe, Rachel Jones, Ben Warne, Rose K Davidson, Declan Bradley, Ian Johnston, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Joshua B Singer, Shirin Aliabadi, Andrew Whitwham, Patrick McClure, Samuel Robson, Sharon Glaysher, Robert J. Munn, Emma L. Wise, Laura Baxter, Kim S Smith, Catherine Moore, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Alice Broos, Sarah Essex, David Baker, Manjinder Khakh, Dorota Jamrozy, Rachel Tucker, Ian Goodfellow, S.E. Moses, Nicola Cumley, Robin Howe, Meera Chand, James I. Price, Marina Gourtovaia, Debra Padgett, Jaime Tovar-Corona, Stephen L. Michell, Matthew J. Dorman, Lizzie Meadows, David Heyburn, Iona Willingham, Rocio Martinez Nunez, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Claire M Bewshea, Anita Justice, Simon Cottrell, Rebecca C H Brown, Jamie Young, Gavin Dabrera, Matthew Wyles, Stephen Carmichael, Lisa Berry, Frances Bolt, Andrew Rambaut, Samir Dervisevic, Erik M. Volz, Rahul Batra, Caoimhe McKerr, Samantha McGuigan, Katie Jones, Mailis Maes, Rebecca Dewar, Mary Sinnathamby, Joel Southgate, and Lynn Monaghan

Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, Proportional hazards model, Public health, Hazard ratio, Attendance, C500, Vaccination, Infectious Diseases, Relative risk, Internal medicine, Cohort, medicine, business, Cohort study
Abstract

Background: \ud The SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) variant was first detected in England in March, 2021. It has since rapidly become the predominant lineage, owing to high transmissibility. It is suspected that the delta variant is associated with more severe disease than the previously dominant alpha (B.1.1.7) variant. We aimed to characterise the severity of the delta variant compared with the alpha variant by determining the relative risk of hospital attendance outcomes.\ud \ud Methods: \ud This cohort study was done among all patients with COVID-19 in England between March 29 and May 23, 2021, who were identified as being infected with either the alpha or delta SARS-CoV-2 variant through whole-genome sequencing. Individual-level data on these patients were linked to routine health-care datasets on vaccination, emergency care attendance, hospital admission, and mortality (data from Public Health England's Second Generation Surveillance System and COVID-19-associated deaths dataset; the National Immunisation Management System; and NHS Digital Secondary Uses Services and Emergency Care Data Set). The risk for hospital admission and emergency care attendance were compared between patients with sequencing-confirmed delta and alpha variants for the whole cohort and by vaccination status subgroups. Stratified Cox regression was used to adjust for age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, recent international travel, area of residence, calendar week, and vaccination status.\ud \ud Findings: \ud Individual-level data on 43 338 COVID-19-positive patients (8682 with the delta variant, 34 656 with the alpha variant; median age 31 years [IQR 17–43]) were included in our analysis. 196 (2·3%) patients with the delta variant versus 764 (2·2%) patients with the alpha variant were admitted to hospital within 14 days after the specimen was taken (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2·26 [95% CI 1·32–3·89]). 498 (5·7%) patients with the delta variant versus 1448 (4·2%) patients with the alpha variant were admitted to hospital or attended emergency care within 14 days (adjusted HR 1·45 [1·08–1·95]). Most patients were unvaccinated (32 078 [74·0%] across both groups). The HRs for vaccinated patients with the delta variant versus the alpha variant (adjusted HR for hospital admission 1·94 [95% CI 0·47–8·05] and for hospital admission or emergency care attendance 1·58 [0·69–3·61]) were similar to the HRs for unvaccinated patients (2·32 [1·29–4·16] and 1·43 [1·04–1·97]; p=0·82 for both) but the precision for the vaccinated subgroup was low.\ud \ud Interpretation: \ud This large national study found a higher hospital admission or emergency care attendance risk for patients with COVID-19 infected with the delta variant compared with the alpha variant. Results suggest that outbreaks of the delta variant in unvaccinated populations might lead to a greater burden on health-care services than the alpha variant.\ud \ud Funding: \ud Medical Research Council; UK Research and Innovation; Department of Health and Social Care; and National Institute for Health Research.

Published
2022

45. A collective statement in support of saving pangolins

Author

Siew Woh Choo, Ju Lian Chong, Philippe Gaubert, Alice Catherine Hughes, Stephen O’Brien, Anne-Lise Chaber, Agostinho Antunes, Sara Platto, Nick Ching-Min Sun, Li Yu, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Tulshi Laxmi Suwal, Mukesh Thakur, Stephan Ntie, Elisa Panjang, Jayaraj Vijaya Kumaran, Tariq Mahmood, Sean P. Heighton, Dago Dorji, Bi Sery Gonedelé, Bryan Raveen Nelson, Chabi A.M.S. Djagoun, Ing Hoe Loh, Prativa Kaspal, Siim Pauklin, Toby Michelena, Hongxiang Zhu, Leonard Lipovich, Xuechen Tian, Siwei Deng, Christopher E. Mason, Jingyang Hu, Robert White, Nicholas S. Jakubovics, Wei Yee Wee, Tze King Tan, Kum Thong Wong, Steve Paterson, Ming Chen, Yixin Zhang, Rofina Yasmin Othman, Larry C. Brown, Bairong Shen, Guanghou Shui, Mia Yang Ang, Yunqi Zhao, Yongming Li, Bo Zhang, Cheng Tung Chong, Yu Meng, Aloysius Wong, Jianzhong Su, Hasmahzaiti Omar, Hua Shen, Choo Hock Tan, Hongyu Xu, Ian C. Paterson, Minyan Wang, Chee-Kai Chan, Siyuan Zhang, Avirup Dutta, Tay Sun Tee, Noël P.D. Juvigny-Khenafou, Naresh V.R. Mutha, and Muhamad Afiq Aziz

Subjects
Environmental Engineering, Environmental Chemistry, Animals, Pangolins, Pollution, Waste Management and Disposal
Published
2021

46. Exponential growth, high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, and vaccine effectiveness associated with the Delta variant

Author

Mohammad Raza, Alison E. Mather, Gilberto Betancor, Ian Merrick, Ben Taylor, Mathew A. Beale, Helen Ward, Samir Dervisevic, Michelle Cronin, Aaron R. Jeffries, Louise Smith, Steven Rudder, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Sascha Ott, Ashok Dadrah, Luke Bedford, Gabrielle Vernet, Erik M. Volz, Rahul Batra, Johnny Debebe, Caoimhe McKerr, Samantha McGuigan, Oliver Megram, Katie Jones, Mailis Maes, Rebecca Dewar, Emma Swindells, Robert E. Johnson, Myra Hosmillo, Wen C Yew, Vineet Patel, Scott Aj Thurston, Matthew Bashton, Luke B Snell, Lynn Monaghan, David Buck, Gregory R Young, Garren Scott, Louis du Plessis, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, David M. Aanensen, Carl Jones, Nadine Holmes, Bernardo Gutierrez, Elizabeth Wastenge, Stavroula F Louka, Dennis Wang, Richard I. Gregory, M. Estée Török, Alistair C. Darby, Ulf Schaefer, Marc Niebel, David Robertson, E. Thomson, Carol Churcher, Patrick C McClure, Scott Elliott, Sarah Jeremiah, Katerina Galai, Matthew W. Loose, Megan Mayhew, Adhyana I K Mahanama, Angeliki Karamani, Naomi R Park, David J. Williams, Lance Turtle, Lucy R. Frost, Alicia Thornton, Jennifier Liddle, M Morgan, Tim Wyatt, Paul W Bird, Chloe Bishop, Esther Robinson, Alasdair MacLean, Inigo Martincorena, Bridget A. Knight, Emma Meader, Thomas R. Connor, Hermione J. Webster, Peter Muir, Sarah Walsh, Stephanie W. Lo, Andrew Bosworth, Hannah E Bridgewater, David Simpson, Radoslaw Poplawski, Angus I. Best, David Baker, Laura Letchford, Cassie Breen, Yann Bourgeois, Matthew Gemmell, Nikki Smith, Alison Holmes, Iliana Georgana, Christophe Fraser, Natasha Jesudason, Johnathan M Evans, Rachael Stanley, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jessica Lynch, Hannah Lowe, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Paul A. Baker, Alex Makunin, James Bonfield, Helen Adams, Christopher Fearn, Peter J. Diggle, Harry D Wilson, Carmen F. Manso, Nichola Duckworth, D Haw, Anna L. Casey, Audrey Farbos, Sam Haldenby, Vicki Chalker, Roberto Amato, Elen De Lacy, Ben Farr, Eric Witele, Buddhini Samaraweera, G MacIntyre-Cockett, Husam Osman, Jane Greenaway, Justin O'Grady, Sally Forrest, Andrew Nelson, Monika Pusok, A Lloyd, Edward Barton, James W. Harrison, Sophie Palmer, Amanda Symmonds, James Shepherd, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Stephen L. Michell, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Fiona Ashcroft, Daniel Mair, Richard H. Myers, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Jacqui Prieto, Christine Sambles, Andrew Hesketh, Alp Aydin, Sónia Gonçalves, Tabitha Mahungu, Tanzina Haque, Nicholas Ellaby, Karen Oliver, Hannah Paul, Joanne Watts, Claire McMurray, Lisa J Levett, Darren Smith, Simon Cottrell, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Pinglawathee Madona, Matthew J. Dorman, Lizzie Meadows, Ali R Awan, Leanne M Kermack, Jennifer Hart, Angie Lackenby, Carol Scott, Michael Spencer Chapman, Lucille Rainbow, Kyriaki Nomikou, Julianne R Brown, Juan Ledesma, Adam P Westhorpe, Giri Shankar, Karlie Fallon, Tim J Sloan, Joanne Watkins, Robert Impey, Sue Edwards, Rebecca C H Brown, Robin J Moll, Karla Spellman, Laura Gifford, Jamie Young, Adrienn Angyal, Graham Phillip Taylor, Robin Manley, Gavin Dabrera, Michelle Wantoch, Rachel Williams, David Heyburn, Mirko Menegazzo, Derrick W. Crook, Gaia Nebbia, Rachel Nelson, Elaine O'Toole, Luke Foulser, Katherine L Harper, Fatima Downing, Hassan Hartman, Nathan Moore, Gemma L. Kay, Matthew Wyles, Thanh Le-Viet, Edith Vamos, John Sillitoe, Lesley Shirley, Nicholas J. Loman, Iona Willingham, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Ian B Vipond, Jeremy Mirza, Alberto C Cerda, Michelle L Michelsen, Steven Riley, Alison Cox, Igor Siveroni, Nadua Bayzid, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Giselda Bucca, Benjamin J Cogger, Tim Boswell, Matthew J. Bull, Stephen Carmichael, Lisa Berry, Frances Bolt, Kylie E. C. Ainslie, Martyn Guest, Sarojini Pandey, Katherine L. Bellis, Shane A. McCarthy, Christopher Ruis, Fei Sang, David Bonsall, Danni Weldon, Alex Alderton, Lee Graham, Amy Trebes, Sally Corden, Adrian W Signell, Tanya Golubchik, Huw Gulliver, Rocio Martinez Nunez, Dinesh Aggarwal, Tanya Curran, Jonathan K. Ball, Sharif Shaaban, Paul Randell, Jillian Durham, Alec Birchley, Matilde Mori, Joana Dias, Katherine A Twohig, Grant Hall, Antony D Hale, Alan McNally, Jonathan D. Edgeworth, Safiah Afifi, Andrew Rambaut, Katherine Smollett, David N. Lee, Tamyo Mbisa, Shahjahan Miah, Steven Rushton, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Hannah M Pymont, Chloe L Fisher, Cordelia Langford, Alex G. Richter, Jane A. H. Masoli, Michael Gallagher, Vicki M. Fleming, Kathleen A. Williamson, Anna Price, Holli Carden, Khalil Abudahab, Joanne D. Stockton, Meera Unnikrishnan, Jennifer Collins, Emma Moles-Garcia, Michaela John, Christine Kitchen, Tranprit Saluja, Ian Harrison, Lily Tong, Thomas G. Thompson, Thomas Helmer, Amita Patel, Siona Silveira, Deborah Ashby, Claire M Bewshea, Anita Justice, Brendan A I Payne, Alexander J. Trotter, Nikos Manesis, Katie F. Loveson, Cristina V. Ariani, Wendy Chatterton, Robert J. Munn, Julian A. Hiscox, Robert Beer, Judith Breuer, Caroline E. Walters, Liam Crawford, Ara Darzi, Will P. M. Rowe, Cariad Evans, Matthew Parker, Tammy V Merrill, Louise Aigrain, Joshua Quick, Leigh M Jackson, Samuel M. Nicholls, Jonathan W. Moore, John A Hartley, Graham P. Taylor, Cherian Koshy, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Catherine Moore, Danielle C. Groves, Peijun Zhang, Sahar Eldirdiri, Derek Fairley, Tim E. A. Peto, Jack Cd Lee, Sharon Glaysher, Liam Prestwood, Hannah Dent, Anita Kenyon, Stephen P. Kidd, Nick Levene, Igor Starinskij, Joseph G. Chappell, Steve Paterson, Gary Eltringham, Laia Fina, Angela Marchbank, Daniel Bradshaw, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Scott Goodwin, Andrew D Beggs, Seema Nickbakhsh, Trevor Robinson, Christina Atchison, David K. Jackson, Kathy Li, Rory Gunson, Sunando Roy, Graham S Cooke, Steven Liggett, Yasmin Chaudhry, Anoop Chauhan, Ben Temperton, Mariateresa de Cesare, Paul E Brown, Li Xu-McCrae, Martin P McHugh, Catherine Ludden, Wendy Smith, Danielle Leek, Divya K. Shah, Judith Heaney, Dominic P. Kwiatkowski, Kate M. Johnson, Robin Howe, Malorie Perry, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, David F. Bibby, Haowei Wang, Steve Palmer, Nicholas W Machin, Charlotte A Williams, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Angie Green, John A. Todd, Paul Elliott, Noel Craine, Jeffrey K. J. Cheng, Kate Templeton, Jonathan Hubb, Joshua Maksimovic, Christl A. Donnelly, Monique Andersson, Christopher Holmes, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Christopher B. Williams, David G Partridge, Aminu S Jahun, Alexander Adams, Marius Cotic, Sarah Essex, Christopher J. Moore, Trudy Workman, Nicola Sheriff, Helen L Lowe, Ewan M. Harrison, Dorota Jamrozy, Rachel Jones, Ellen Higginson, Erwan Acheson, Christopher R. Jones, Oliver G. Pybus, Francesc Coll, Sian Morgan, Paul J. Parsons, Patawee Asamaphan, Veena Raviprakash, Andrew R. Bassett, Declan Bradley, Laura Atkinson, Anthony Underwood, Graciela Sluga, Sally Kay, Ellena Brooks, Oliver Eales, Andrew Whitwham, Surendra Parmar, Angela Cowell, Nicole Pacchiarini, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jason Coombes, Robert Davies, Flavia Flaviani, Benita Percival, Jenna Nichols, Natasha M. Johnson, Salman Goudarzi, Hibo Asad, Amanda Bradley, Hannah Jones, Chrystala Constantinidou, Georgina M McManus, Minal Patel, Steven Leonard, Rebecca Williams Bmbs, Andrew J. Page, Christoph Puethe, Nicola Reynolds, Amy Ash, John Danesh, Corin Yeats, Claudia Wierzbicki, Kordo Saeed, John Boyes, Michael A. Quail, Sharon J. Peacock, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Jon-Paul Keatley, Claudio Fronterre, Garry Scarlett, James McKenna, Thushan I de Silva, Malte L Pinckert, Kate B. Cook, Amy Gaskin, Rajiv Shah, Matthew T. G. Holden, Sophie J Prosolek, Nathaniel Storey, Ryan P George, Lindsay Coupland, Jenifer Mason, Matthew Carlile, Thomas D Stanton, Guy Mollett, Siddharth Mookerjee, Mary Ramsay, Steven Platt, Stephen W Attwood, Susanne Stonehouse, Sophie Jones, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Amy Plimmer, Mark Whitehead, Catherine Bresner, Stefanie V Lensing, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Colin P. Smith, Wendy Hogsden, Charlotte Nelson, Ian Johnston, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Joshua B Singer, Samuel Robson, Zoltán Molnár, Emma L. Wise, Sian Ellard, Kim S Smith, Alice Broos, Manjinder Khakh, Kathryn A Jackson, Claire Cormie, Rachel Tucker, Ian Goodfellow, S.E. Moses, Nicola Cumley, Meera Chand, Debra Padgett, Cassandra S Malone, James V. Price, Themoula Charalampous, Ronan A Lyons, Natalie Groves, Stefan Rooke, Rebekah E Wilson, Stephen Bonner, Richard Stark, Sharon Campbell, Michelle Lister, Carlos Balcazar, Ana da Silva Filipe, Ben Warne, Thomas N. Williams, Marta Gallis, Lauren Gilbert, Rose K Davidson, Angela Helen Beckett, Ember Hilvers, Kathryn McCluggage, Eileen Gallagher, Charlotte Beaver, Nick Cortes, Alisha Davies, Yusri Taha, Leah Ensell, Emanuela Pelosi, Elias Allara, Cressida Auckland, Eleanor Drury, Richard Eccles, Adela Alcolea-Medina, William L Hamilton, Rich Livett, Rachel Blacow, Margaret Hughes, Sarah François, Melisa Louise Fenton, Liz Ratcliffe, Verity Hill, Stephanie Hutchings, Kathryn Ann Harris, Emma Betteridge, William D. Fuller, Sophia T Girgis, Louise Berry, Gemma Clark, Nicholas M Redshaw, Richard Hopes, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Alexander J Keeley, Beth Blane, Wendy S. Barclay, Victoria Wright, Anita Lucaci, Luke R. Green, Fenella D. Halstead, Sarah Wyllie, Iraad F. Bronner, Áine O'Toole, Ravi Gupta, Leanne Kane, Clare M. McCann, Michael R Chapman, David W Eyre, Kelly Bicknell, Aileen G. Rowan, Sara Rey, Shazaad Ahmad, Diana Rajan, S Taylor, Sarah J. O'Brien, Alessandro M Carabelli, Amelia Joseph, Max Whiteley, Riaz Jannoo, Victoria Blakey, Martin D. Curran, David J. Studholme, Harmeet K Gill, Thomas R. A. Davis, Sushmita Sridhar, Clive Graham, Julian Tang, Clare Pearson, Mark Kristiansen, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, National Institute for Health Research, and UK Research and Innovation

Subjects
Delta, Adult, Male, 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19 Vaccines, Vaccination Coverage, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Adolescent, General Science & Technology, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Vaccine Efficacy, Biology, Young Adult, Exponential growth, Ethnicity, Prevalence, Humans, Child, Aged, Family Characteristics, Multidisciplinary, High prevalence, COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium11‡, SARS-CoV-2, Age Factors, COVID-19, Middle Aged, Virology, Hospitalization, England, Socioeconomic Factors, COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing, Child, Preschool, Female, Self Report
Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections were rising during early summer 2021 in many countries as a result of the Delta variant. We assessed reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction swab positivity in the Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission–1 (REACT-1) study in England. During June and July 2021, we observed sustained exponential growth with an average doubling time of 25 days, driven by complete replacement of the Alpha variant by Delta and by high prevalence at younger, less-vaccinated ages. Prevalence among unvaccinated people [1.21% (95% credible interval 1.03%, 1.41%)] was three times that among double-vaccinated people [0.40% (95% credible interval 0.34%, 0.48%)]. However, after adjusting for age and other variables, vaccine effectiveness for double-vaccinated people was estimated at between ~50% and ~60% during this period in England. Increased social mixing in the presence of Delta had the potential to generate sustained growth in infections, even at high levels of vaccination.

Published
2021

47. Early-life immune expression profiles predict later life health and fitness in a wild rodent

Author

Klara M. Wanelik, Christopher H. Taylor, Ida M. Friberg, Joseph A. Jackson, Michael Begon, Steve Paterson, and Janette E. Bradley

Subjects
Bartonella, Immune system, Rodent, biology, Reproductive success, Natural population growth, biology.animal, Genotype, Physiology, Microtus, biology.organism_classification, Affect (psychology)
Abstract

Individuals differ in the nature of the immune responses they produce, affecting disease susceptibility and ultimately health and fitness. These differences have been hypothesised to have an origin in events experienced early in life that then affect trajectories of immune development and responsiveness. Here we investigate early life influences on immune expression profiles using a natural population of field voles,Microtus agrestis, in which we are able to monitor variation between and within individuals though time by repeat (longitudinal) sampling of individually marked animals. We analysed the co-expression of 20 immune genes in early life to create a correlational network consisting of three main clusters, one of which (containingGata3, Il10andIl17) was associated with later life reproductive success and susceptibility to chronic bacterial (Bartonella) infection. More detailed analyses supported associations between early life expression ofIl17and reproductive success later in life, and of increasedIl10expression early in life and later infection withBartonella. We also found significant association between anIl17genotype and the early life expression ofIl10. Our results demonstrate that immune expression profiles can be manifested during early life with effects that persist through adulthood and that shape the variability among individuals in susceptibility to infection and fitness widely seen in natural populations.

Published
2021
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48. Resistance is futile: RNA-sequencing reveals differing responses to bat fungal pathogen in Nearctic Myotis lucifugus and Palearctic Myotis myotis

Author

Gregory G. Turner, Tomáš Bartonička, Kenneth A. Field, Jenni M. Prokkola, Joseph S. Johnson, Anna S. Blomberg, Steve Paterson, DeeAnn M. Reeder, Erik Bachorec, Thomas M. Lilley, Zoology, and Finnish Museum of Natural History

Subjects
DYNAMICS, 0106 biological sciences, Hibernation, PARASITES, Physiological Ecology–Original Research, Host–pathogen interaction, Resistance, Population, Zoology, Myotis myotis, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, MECHANISMS, Opportunistic pathogen, 03 medical and health sciences, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, Chiroptera, Animals, INFECTIOUS-DISEASES, PROTECTION, TOLERANCE, education, Pathogen, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, 030304 developmental biology, Host-pathogen interaction, 0303 health sciences, education.field_of_study, 15. Life on land, Myotis lucifugus, Commensalism, biology.organism_classification, EVOLUTION, Europe, DESTRUCTANS, Mycoses, WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME, 1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology, RNA, Infection, WILDLIFE
Abstract

Abstract Resistance and tolerance allow organisms to cope with potentially life-threatening pathogens. Recently introduced pathogens initially induce resistance responses, but natural selection favors the development of tolerance, allowing for a commensal relationship to evolve. Mycosis by Pseudogymnoascus destructans, causing white-nose syndrome (WNS) in Nearctic hibernating bats, has resulted in population declines since 2006. The pathogen, which spread from Europe, has infected species of Palearctic Myotis for a longer period. We compared ecologically relevant responses to the fungal infection in the susceptible Nearctic M. lucifugus and less susceptible Palearctic M. myotis, to uncover factors contributing to survival differences in the two species. Samples were collected from euthermic bats during arousal from hibernation, a naturally occurring phenomenon, during which transcriptional responses are activated. We compared the whole-transcriptome responses in wild bats infected with P. destructans hibernating in their natural habitat. Our results show dramatically different local transcriptional responses to the pathogen between uninfected and infected samples from the two species. Whereas we found 1526 significantly upregulated or downregulated transcripts in infected M. lucifugus, only one transcript was downregulated in M. myotis. The upregulated response pathways in M. lucifugus include immune cell activation and migration, and inflammatory pathways, indicative of an unsuccessful attempt to resist the infection. In contrast, M. myotis appears to tolerate P. destructans infection by not activating a transcriptional response. These host-microbe interactions determine pathology, contributing to WNS susceptibility, or commensalism, promoting tolerance to fungal colonization during hibernation that favors survival. Graphic abstract

Published
2019
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49. Pollution induces epigenetic effects that are stably transmitted across multiple generations

Author

Ewan Harney, Steve Paterson, Hélène Collin, Brian H.K. Chan, Daimark Bennett, Stewart J. Plaistow, Natural Environment Research Council (UK), and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)

Subjects
Gene body methylation, Cytosine methylation, Genetics, Daphnia pulex, Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, Ecotoxicology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Abstract

18 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, supporting Information https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.273.-- Data archiving: Genomic data has been deposited at the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena) with the project accession PRJEB47706. Phenotypic data and processed genomic data, together with R scripts for their analysis, have been deposited at Dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h9w0vt4k9), It has been hypothesized that the effects of pollutants on phenotypes can be passed to subsequent generations through epigenetic inheritance, affecting populations long after the removal of a pollutant. But there is still little evidence that pollutants can induce persistent epigenetic effects in animals. Here, we show that low doses of commonly used pollutants induce genome-wide differences in cytosine methylation in the freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulex. Uniclonal populations were either continually exposed to pollutants or switched to clean water, and methylation was compared to control populations that did not experience pollutant exposure. Although some direct changes to methylation were only present in the continually exposed populations, others were present in both the continually exposed and switched to clean water treatments, suggesting that these modifications had persisted for 7 months (>15 generations). We also identified modifications that were only present in the populations that had switched to clean water, indicating a long-term legacy of pollutant exposure distinct from the persistent effects. Pollutant-induced differential methylation tended to occur at sites that were highly methylated in controls. Modifications that were observed in both continually and switched treatments were highly methylated in controls and showed reduced methylation in the treatments. On the other hand, modifications found just in the switched treatment tended to have lower levels of methylation in the controls and showed increase methylation in the switched treatment. In a second experiment, we confirmed that sublethal doses of the same pollutants generate effects on life histories for at least three generations following the removal of the pollutant. Our results demonstrate that even low doses of pollutants can induce transgenerational epigenetic effects that are stably transmitted over many generations. Persistent effects are likely to influence phenotypic development, which could contribute to the rapid adaptation, or extinction, of populations confronted by anthropogenic stressors, This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK as a standard grant (NE/I024437/1) awarded to SJP, DB, and SP, and a highlight grant (NE/N016017/1) awarded to SJP and SP, With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

Published
2021

50. Plasmid fitness costs are caused by specific genetic conflicts

Author

Rosanna C. T. Wright, Katie J. Muddiman, Jamie Wood, Steve Paterson, James P. J. Hall, Ellie Harrison, and Michael A. Brockhurst

Subjects
Genetics, Experimental evolution, Plasmid, Operon, Horizontal gene transfer, Bacterial genome size, Mobile genetic elements, Biology, Gene, Reverse genetics
Abstract

Plasmids play an important role in bacterial genome evolution by transferring genes between lineages. Fitness costs associated with plasmid acquisition are expected to be a barrier to gene exchange, but the causes of plasmid fitness costs are poorly understood. Single compensatory mutations are often sufficient to completely ameliorate plasmid fitness costs, suggesting that such costs are caused by specific genetic conflicts rather than generic properties of plasmids, such as their size, metabolic burden, or expression level. Here we show — using a combination of experimental evolution, reverse genetics, and transcriptomics — that fitness costs of two divergent large plasmids inPseudomonas fluorescensare caused by inducing maladaptive expression of a chromosomal tailocin toxin operon. Mutations in single genes unrelated to the toxin operon, and located on either the chromosome or the plasmid, ameliorated the disruption associated with plasmid acquisition. We identify one of these compensatory loci, the chromosomal genePFLU4242, as the key mediator of the fitness costs of both plasmids, with the other compensatory loci either reducing expression of this gene or mitigating its deleterious effects by upregulating a putative plasmid-borne ParAB operon. The chromosomal mobile genetic element Tn6291, which uses plasmids for transmission, remained upregulated even in compensated strains, suggesting that mobile genetic elements communicate through pathways independent of general physiological disruption. Plasmid fitness costs caused by specific genetic conflicts are unlikely to act as a long-term barrier to horizontal gene transfer due to their propensity for amelioration by single compensatory mutations, explaining why plasmids are so common in bacterial genomes.

Published
2021

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