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1.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39033026

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: To assess trends in antibiotic use across a large cohort of extremely low birth-weight (<1000 g; ELBW) infants admitted to academic and community neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across the USA over a 13-year period. DESIGN: Repeated cross-sectional cohort study. SETTING: Premier Health Database, a comprehensive administrative database of inpatient encounters from academic and community hospitals across the US. PATIENTS: ELBW inborn infants admitted to NICUs from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2021. INTERVENTIONS: N/A MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Absolute and relative changes in (1) proportion of ELBW infants with antibiotic exposure and (2) days of therapy (DOT) per 1000 patient days, over time. Average annual differences were estimated using generalised linear regression with 95% CI. Disposition trends were also measured. RESULTS: Among 36 701 infants admitted to 402 NICUs, the proportion exposed to antibiotics was essentially unchanged (89.9% in 2009 to 89.3% in 2021; absolute reduction of -0.6%); generalised linear regression estimated an annual absolute difference of -0.3% (95% CI (-0.6%) to (-0.07%); p=0.01). DOT per 1000 patient days decreased from 337 in 2009 to 210 in 2021, a 37.8% relative difference and annual relative difference of -4.3% ((-5.2%) to (-3.5%); p<0.001). Mortality was unchanged during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: We found a substantial reduction in antibiotic DOT despite no substantive change in the proportion of infants exposed to antibiotics. This suggests the success of stewardship efforts aimed at antibiotic duration and highlight the need for improved approaches to identifying ELBW infants at highest risk of infection.

2.
J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc ; 13(3): 159-185, 2024 Mar 19.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38339996

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Since November 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has created challenges for preventing and managing COVID-19 in children and adolescents. Most research to develop new therapeutic interventions or to repurpose existing ones has been undertaken in adults, and although most cases of infection in pediatric populations are mild, there have been many cases of critical and fatal infection. Understanding the risk factors for severe illness and the evidence for safety, efficacy, and effectiveness of therapies for COVID-19 in children is necessary to optimize therapy. METHODS: A panel of experts in pediatric infectious diseases, pediatric infectious diseases pharmacology, and pediatric intensive care medicine from 21 geographically diverse North American institutions was re-convened. Through a series of teleconferences and web-based surveys and a systematic review with meta-analysis of data for risk factors, a guidance statement comprising a series of recommendations for risk stratification, treatment, and prevention of COVID-19 was developed and refined based on expert consensus. RESULTS: There are identifiable clinical characteristics that enable risk stratification for patients at risk for severe COVID-19. These risk factors can be used to guide the treatment of hospitalized and non-hospitalized children and adolescents with COVID-19 and to guide preventative therapy where options remain available.


Asunto(s)
Tratamiento Farmacológico de COVID-19 , COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Adolescente , Niño , Humanos , Antivirales/uso terapéutico , COVID-19/prevención & control , COVID-19/terapia , Factores de Riesgo , SARS-CoV-2/fisiología
3.
Transplant Cell Ther ; 30(3): 328.e1-328.e12, 2024 Mar.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38191029

RESUMEN

Previous literature has reported cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection rate disparities among racial/ethnic groups of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients. Because race and ethnicity categorizations are social constructs unlikely to affect biological systems, it is likely there are covariates on the pathway to CMV detection, known as mediators, that can explain the observed disparity. Recent developments in mediation analysis methods enable the analysis of time-to-event outcomes, allowing an investigation of these disparities to also consider the timing of CMV infection detection relative to HCT. This study aimed to explore whether racial and ethnic CMV infection disparities existed within a population of HCT recipients at our center, and whether clinical covariates explained any observed association. The study cohort included all recipients of allogeneic HCT performed at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia between January 2004 and April 2017 who were CMV PCR-negative pretransplantation, had known donor/recipient CMV serology, and were under blood CMV PCR surveillance. Subjects were followed for 100 days post-HCT. Accelerated failure time models using subject's reported race/ethnicity, dichotomized into non-Hispanic White (NHW) and non-NHW, and exposure and time to CMV detection as outcomes examined whether selected clinical factors-donor/recipient CMV serostatus, recipient age, indication for HCT, hematopoietic cell source, match quality-mediated any identified exposure-outcome association. The analysis included 348 HCTs performed in 335 subjects, with 86 episodes (24.7%) in which CMV was detected via PCR analysis. The accelerated failure time model without mediators estimated that non-NHW subjects had fewer CMV-free survival days (time ratio, .21; 95% confidence interval, .10 to .44). Any hypothesized mediator mediated at most 5% of the total association between race/ethnicity and time to CMV detection. Non-NHW HCT recipients had fewer CMV-free survival days than NHW recipients; none of the clinical factors hypothesized to mediate this association accounted for a significant component of total association. Further research should focus on nonclinical factors influenced by systemic racism to better understand their effect on CMV infection among HCT recipients.


Asunto(s)
Infecciones por Citomegalovirus , Trasplante de Células Madre Hematopoyéticas , Humanos , Niño , Etnicidad , Infecciones por Citomegalovirus/epidemiología , Trasplante de Células Madre Hematopoyéticas/efectos adversos , Receptores de Trasplantes , Philadelphia/epidemiología
4.
Emerg Infect Dis ; 29(8): 1566-1579, 2023 08.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37486179

RESUMEN

More than 60 zoonoses are linked to small mammals, including some of the most devastating pathogens in human history. Millions of museum-archived tissues are available to understand natural history of those pathogens. Our goal was to maximize the value of museum collections for pathogen-based research by using targeted sequence capture. We generated a probe panel that includes 39,916 80-bp RNA probes targeting 32 pathogen groups, including bacteria, helminths, fungi, and protozoans. Laboratory-generated, mock-control samples showed that we are capable of enriching targeted loci from pathogen DNA 2,882‒6,746-fold. We identified bacterial species in museum-archived samples, including Bartonella, a known human zoonosis. These results showed that probe-based enrichment of pathogens is a highly customizable and efficient method for identifying pathogens from museum-archived tissues.


Asunto(s)
ADN , Zoonosis , Animales , Humanos , ADN/genética , Zoonosis/microbiología , Hongos , Bacterias/genética , Mamíferos
5.
Mol Phylogenet Evol ; 167: 107266, 2022 02.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34302947

RESUMEN

Four species of spotted skunks (Carnivora, Mephitidae, Spilogale) are currently recognized: Spilogale angustifrons, S. gracilis, S. putorius, and S. pygmaea. Understanding species boundaries within this group is critical for effective conservation given that regional populations or subspecies (e.g., S. p. interrupta) have experienced significant population declines. Further, there may be currently unrecognized diversity within this genus as some taxa (e.g., S. angustifrons) and geographic regions (e.g., Central America) never have been assessed using DNA sequence data. We analyzed species limits and diversification patterns in spotted skunks using multilocus nuclear (ultraconserved elements) and mitochondrial (whole mitogenomes and single gene analysis) data sets from broad geographic sampling representing all currently recognized species and subspecies. We found a high degree of genetic divergence among Spilogale that reflects seven distinct species and eight unique mitochondrial lineages. Initial divergence between S. pygmaea and all other Spilogale occurred in the Early Pliocene (~ 5.0 million years ago). Subsequent diversification of the remaining Spilogale into an "eastern" and a "western" lineage occurred during the Early Pleistocene (~1.5 million years ago). These two lineages experienced temporally coincident patterns of diversification at ~0.66 and ~0.35 million years ago into two and ultimately three distinct evolutionary units, respectively. Diversification was confined almost entirely within the Pleistocene during a timeframe characterized by alternating glacial-interglacial cycles, with the origin of this diversity occurring in northeastern Mexico and the southwestern United States of America. Mitochondrial-nuclear discordance was recovered across three lineages in geographic regions consistent with secondary contact, including a distinct mitochondrial lineage confined to the Sonoran Desert. Our results have direct consequences for conservation of threatened populations, or species, as well as for our understanding of the evolution of delayed implantation in this enigmatic group of small carnivores.


Asunto(s)
Carnívoros , Mephitidae , Animales , Carnívoros/genética , Cambio Climático , ADN Mitocondrial/genética , Variación Genética , Mephitidae/genética , México , Filogenia , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN
6.
Thomson, Scott A; Pyle, Richard L; Ahyong, Shane T; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel; Ammirati, Joe; Araya, Juan Francisco; Ascher, John S; Audisio, Tracy Lynn; Azevedo-Santos, Valter M; Bailly, Nicolas; Baker, William J; Balke, Michael; Barclay, Maxwell V. L; Barrett, Russell L; Benine, Ricardo C; Bickerstaff, James R. M; Bouchard, Patrice; Bour, Roger; Bourgoin, Thierry; Boyko, Christopher B; Breure, Abraham S. H; Brothers, Denis J; Byng, James W; Campbell, David; Ceriaco, Luis M. P; Cernak, Istvan; Cerretti, Pierfilippo; Chang, Chih-Han; Cho, Soowon; Copus, Joshua M; Costello, Mark J; Cseh, Andras; Csuzdi, Csaba; Culham, Alastair; D'Elia, Guillermo; d'Acoz, Cedric d'Udekem; Daneliya, Mikhail E; Dekker, Rene; Dickinson, Edward C; Dickinson, Timothy A; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B; Dima, Balint; Dmitriev, Dmitry A; Duistermaat, Leni; Dumbacher, John P; Eiserhardt, Wolf L; Ekrem, Torbjorn; Evenhuis, Neal L; Faille, Arnaud; Fernandez-Trianam, Jose L; Fiesler, Emile; Fishbein, Mark; Fordham, Barry G; Freitas, Andre V. L; Friol, Natalia R; Fritz, Uwe; Froslev, Tobias; Funk, Vicki A; Gaimari, Stephen D; Garbino, Guilherme S. T; Garraffoni, Andre R. S; Geml, Jozsef; Gill, Anthony C; Gray, Alan; Grazziotin, Felipe Gobbi; Greenslade, Penelope; Gutierrez, Eliecer E; Harvey, Mark S; Hazevoet, Cornelis J; He, Kai; He, Xiaolan; Helfer, Stephan; Helgen, Kristofer M; van Heteren, Anneke H; Garcia, Francisco Hita; Holstein, Norbert; Horvath, Margit K; Hovenkamp, Peter H; Hwang, Wei Song; Hyvonen, Jaakko; Islam, Melissa B; Iverson, John B; Ivie, Michael A; Jaafar, Zeehan; Jackson, Morgan D; Jayat, J. Pablo; Johnson, Norman F; Kaiser, Hinrich; Klitgard, Bente B; Knapp, Daniel G; Kojima, Jun-ichi; Koljalg, Urmas; Kontschan, Jeno; Krell, Frank-Thorsten; Krisai-Greilhuberm, Irmgard; Kullander, Sven; Latelle, Leonardo; Lattke, John E; Lencioni, Valeria; Lewis, Gwilym P; Lhano, Marcos G; Lujan, Nathan K; Luksenburg, Jolanda A; Mariaux, Jean; Marinho-Filho, Jader; Marshall, Christopher J; Mate, Jason F; McDonough, Molly M; Michel, Ellinor; Miranda, Vitor F. O; Mitroiulm, Mircea-Dan; Molinari, Jesus; Monks, Scott; Moore, Abigail J; Moratelli, Ricardo; Muranyi, David; Nakano, Takafumi; Nikolaeva, Svetlana; Noyes, John; Ohl, Michael; Oleas, Nora H; Orrell, Thomas; Pall-Gergele, Barna; Pape, Thomas; Papp, Viktor; Parenti, Lynne R; Patterson, David; Pavlinov, Igor Ya; Pine, Ronald H; Poczai, Peter; Prado, Jefferson; Prathapan, Divakaran; Rabeler, Richard K; Randall, John E; Rheindt, Frank E; Rhodin, Anders G. J; Rodriguez, Sara M; Rogers, D. Christopher; Roque, Fabio de O; Rowe, Kevin C; Ruedas, Luis A; Salazar-Bravo, Jorge; Salvador, Rodrigo B; Sangster, George; Sarmiento, Carlos E; Schigel, Dmitry S; Schmidt, Stefan; Schueler, Frederick W; Segers, Hendrik; Snow, Neil; Souza-Dias, Pedro G. B; Stals, Riaan; Stenroos, Soili; Stone, R. Douglas; Sturm, Charles F; Stys, Pavel; Teta, Pablo; Thomas, Daniel C; Timm, Robert M; Tindall, Brian J; Todd, Jonathan A; Triebel, Dagmar; Valdecasas, Antonio G; Vizzini, Alfredo; Vorontsova, Maria S; de Vos, Jurriaan M; Wagner, Philipp; Watling, Les; Weakley, Alan; Welter-Schultes, Francisco; Whitmore, Daniel; Wilding, Nicholas; Will, Kipling; Williams, Jason; Wilson, Karen; Winston, Judith E; Wuster, Wolfgang; Yanega, Douglas; Yeates, David K; Zaher, Hussam; Zhang, Guanyang; Zhang, Zhi-Qiang; Zhou, Hong-Zhang.
PLoS. Biol. ; 16(3): e2005075, 2018.
Artículo en Inglés | Sec. Est. Saúde SP, SESSP-IBPROD, Sec. Est. Saúde SP | ID: but-ib15045
7.
Zookeys ; (697): 87-131, 2017.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29134018

RESUMEN

The taxonomy of American deer has been established almost entirely on the basis of morphological data and without the use of explicit phylogenetic methods; hence, phylogenetic analyses including data for all of the currently recognized species, even if based on a single gene, might improve current understanding of their taxonomy. We tested the monophyly of the morphology-defined genera and species of New World deer (Odocoileini) with phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences. This is the first such test conducted using extensive geographic and taxonomic sampling. Our results do not support the monophyly of Mazama, Odocoileus, Pudu, M. americana, M. nemorivaga, Od. hemionus, and Od. virginianus. Mazama contains species that belong to other genera. We found a novel sister-taxon relationship between "Mazama" pandora and a clade formed by Od. hemionus columbianus and Od. h. sitkensis, and transfer pandora to Odocoileus. The clade formed by Od. h. columbianus and Od. h. sitkensis may represent a valid species, whereas the remaining subspecies of Od. hemionus appear closer to Od. virginianus. Pudu (Pudu) puda was not found sister to Pudu (Pudella) mephistophiles. If confirmed, this result will prompt the recognition of the monotypic Pudella as a distinct genus. We provide evidence for the existence of an undescribed species now confused with Mazama americana, and identify other instances of cryptic, taxonomically unrecognized species-level diversity among populations here regarded as Mazama temama, "Mazama" nemorivaga, and Hippocamelus antisensis. Noteworthy records that substantially extend the known distributions of M. temama and "M." gouazoubira are provided, and we unveil a surprising ambiguity regarding the distribution of "M." nemorivaga, as it is described in the literature. The study of deer of the tribe Odocoileini has been hampered by the paucity of information regarding voucher specimens and the provenance of sequences deposited in GenBank. We pinpoint priorities for future systematic research on the tribe Odocoileini.

8.
Ecol Evol ; 7(12): 4229-4240, 2017 06.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28649336

RESUMEN

We analyzed phylogeographic patterns in the western spotted skunk, Spilogale gracilis Merriam, 1890 (Carnivora: Mephitidae) in relation to historical events associated with Pre-Pleistocene Divergence (PPD) and Quaternary climate change (QCC) using mitochondrial DNA from 97 individuals distributed across Western North America. Divergence times were generated using BEAST to estimate when isolation in putative refugia occurred. Patterns and timing of demographic expansion was performed using Bayesian skyline plot. Putative climatic refugia resulting from Quaternary climate change were identified using paleoecological niche modeling and divergence dates compared to major vicariant events associated with Pre-Pleistocene conditions. We recovered three major mitochondrial clades corresponding to western North America (California, Baja, and across the Great Basin), east-central North America (Texas, central Mexico, New Mexico), and southwestern Arizona/northwestern Mexico. Time to most recent common ancestor for S. gracilis occurred ~1.36 Ma. Divergence times for each major clade occurred between 0.25 and 0.12 Ma, with signature of population expansion occurring 0.15 and 0.10 Ma. Ecological niche models identified three potential climatic refugia during the Last Interglacial, (1) west coast of California and Oregon, (2) northwestern Mexico, and (3) southern Texas/northeastern Mexico as well as two refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum, (1) western USA and (2) southern Texas/northeastern Mexico. This study supports PPD in shaping species-level diversity compared to QCC-driven changes at the intraspecific level for Spilogale, similar to the patterns reported for other small mammals (e.g., rodents and bats). Phylogeographic patterns also appear to have been shaped by both habitat and river vicariance, especially across the desert southwest. Further, continuing climate change during the Holocene coupled with anthropogenic modifications during the Anthropocene appears to be removing both of these barriers to current dispersal of western spotted skunks.

9.
BMC Evol Biol ; 16: 80, 2016 Apr 14.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27075887

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: The Indonesian island of Sulawesi has a complex geological history. It is composed of several landmasses that have arrived at a near modern configuration only in the past few million years. It is the largest island in the biodiversity hotspot of Wallacea-an area demarcated by the biogeographic breaks between Wallace's and Lydekker's lines. The mammal fauna of Sulawesi is transitional between Asian and Australian faunas. Sulawesi's three genera of squirrels, all endemic (subfamily Nannosciurinae: Hyosciurus, Rubrisciurus and Prosciurillus), are of Asian origin and have evolved a variety of phenotypes that allow a range of ecological niche specializations. Here we present a molecular phylogeny of this radiation using data from museum specimens. High throughput sequencing technology was used to generate whole mitochondrial genomes and a panel of nuclear ultraconserved elements providing a large genome-wide dataset for inferring phylogenetic relationships. RESULTS: Our analysis confirmed monophyly of the Sulawesi taxa with deep divergences between the three endemic genera, which predate the amalgamation of the current island of Sulawesi. This suggests lineages may have evolved in allopatry after crossing Wallace's line. Nuclear and mitochondrial analyses were largely congruent and well supported, except for the placement of Prosciurillus murinus. Mitochondrial analysis revealed paraphyly for Prosciurillus, with P. murinus between or outside of Hyosciurus and Rubrisciurus, separate from other species of Prosciurillus. A deep but monophyletic history for the four included species of Prosciurillus was recovered with the nuclear data. CONCLUSIONS: The divergence of the Sulawesi squirrels from their closest relatives dated to ~9.7-12.5 million years ago (MYA), pushing back the age estimate of this ancient adaptive radiation prior to the formation of the current conformation of Sulawesi. Generic level diversification took place around 9.7 MYA, opening the possibility that the genera represent allopatric lineages that evolved in isolation in an ancient proto-Sulawesian archipelago. We propose that incongruence between phylogenies based on nuclear and mitochondrial sequences may have resulted from biogeographic discordance, when two allopatric lineages come into secondary contact, with complete replacement of the mitochondria in one species.


Asunto(s)
Sciuridae/clasificación , Sciuridae/genética , Animales , Biodiversidad , Evolución Biológica , Secuencia Conservada , Genoma Mitocondrial , Indonesia , Mitocondrias/genética , Museos , Filogenia , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN
10.
Mol Ecol Resour ; 16(5): 1173-88, 2016 Sep.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26220248

RESUMEN

Here, we present a set of RNA-based probes for whole mitochondrial genome in-solution enrichment, targeting a diversity of mammalian mitogenomes. This probes set was designed from seven mammalian orders and tested to determine the utility for enriching degraded DNA. We generated 63 mitogenomes representing five orders and 22 genera of mammals that yielded varying coverage ranging from 0 to >5400X. Based on a threshold of 70% mitogenome recovery and at least 10× average coverage, 32 individuals or 51% of samples were considered successful. The estimated sequence divergence of samples from the probe sequences used to construct the array ranged up to nearly 20%. Sample type was more predictive of mitogenome recovery than sample age. The proportion of reads from each individual in multiplexed enrichments was highly skewed, with each pool having one sample that yielded a majority of the reads. Recovery across each mitochondrial gene varied with most samples exhibiting regions with gaps or ambiguous sites. We estimated the ability of the probes to capture mitogenomes from a diversity of mammalian taxa not included here by performing a clustering analysis of published sequences for 100 taxa representing most mammalian orders. Our study demonstrates that a general array can be cost and time effective when there is a need to screen a modest number of individuals from a variety of taxa. We also address the practical concerns for using such a tool, with regard to pooling samples, generating high quality mitogenomes and detail a pipeline to remove chimeric molecules.


Asunto(s)
ADN Mitocondrial/genética , ADN Mitocondrial/aislamiento & purificación , Mamíferos/genética , Hibridación de Ácido Nucleico/métodos , Sondas de Oligonucleótidos/genética , Animales , Análisis por Conglomerados , ADN Mitocondrial/química , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN
11.
Sci Rep ; 5: 14444, 2015 Sep 28.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26411391

RESUMEN

Time calibration derived from the fossil record is essential for molecular phylogenetic and evolutionary studies. Fossil mice and rats, discovered in the Siwalik Group of Pakistan, have served as one of the best-known fossil calibration points in molecular phylogenic studies. Although these fossils have been widely used as the 12 Ma date for the Mus/Rattus split or a more basal split, conclusive paleontological evidence for the nodal assignments has been absent. This study analyzes newly recognized characters that demonstrate lineage separation in the fossil record of Siwalik murines and examines the most reasonable nodal placement of the diverging lineages in a molecular phylogenetic tree by ancestral state reconstruction. Our specimen-based approach strongly indicates that Siwalik murines of the Karnimata clade are fossil members of the Arvicanthini-Otomyini-Millardini clade, which excludes Rattus and its relatives. Combining the new interpretation with the widely accepted hypothesis that the Progonomys clade includes Mus, the lineage separation event in the Siwalik fossil record represents the Mus/Arvicanthis split. Our test analysis on Bayesian age estimates shows that this new calibration point provides more accurate estimates of murine divergence than previous applications. Thus, we define this fossil calibration point and refine two other fossil-based points for molecular dating.


Asunto(s)
Fósiles , Filogenia , Roedores/clasificación , Roedores/genética , Animales , Evolución Molecular , Ratones , Paleontología , Ratas
12.
Mol Ecol ; 24(20): 5248-66, 2015 Oct.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26340076

RESUMEN

Understanding historical influences of climate and physiographic barriers in shaping patterns of biodiversity remains limited for many regions of the world. For mammals of continental Africa, phylogeographic studies, particularly for West African lineages, implicate both geographic barriers and climate oscillations in shaping small mammal diversity. In contrast, studies for southern African species have revealed conflicting phylogenetic patterns for how mammalian lineages respond to both climate change and geologic events such as river formation, especially during the Pleistocene. However, these studies were often biased by limited geographic sampling or exclusively focused on large-bodied taxa. We exploited the broad southern African distribution of a savanna-woodland-adapted African rodent, Gerbilliscus leucogaster (bushveld gerbil) and generated mitochondrial, autosomal and sex chromosome data to quantify regional signatures of climatic and vicariant biogeographic phenomena. Results indicate the most recent common ancestor for all G. leucogaster lineages occurred during the early Pleistocene. We documented six divergent mitochondrial lineages that diverged ~0.270-0.100 mya, each of which was geographically isolated during periods characterized by alterations to the course of the Zambezi River and its tributaries as well as regional 'megadroughts'. Results demonstrate the presence of a widespread lineage exhibiting demographic expansion ~0.065-0.035 mya, a time that coincides with savanna-woodland expansion across southern Africa. A multilocus autosomal perspective revealed the influence of the Kafue River as a current barrier to gene flow and regions of secondary contact among divergent mitochondrial lineages. Our results demonstrate the importance of both climatic fluctuations and physiographic vicariance in shaping the distribution of southern African biodiversity.


Asunto(s)
Evolución Molecular , Genética de Población , Gerbillinae/genética , África Austral , Análisis del Polimorfismo de Longitud de Fragmentos Amplificados , Distribución Animal , Animales , Cambio Climático , ADN Mitocondrial/genética , Femenino , Geografía , Gerbillinae/clasificación , Haplotipos , Masculino , Modelos Teóricos , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Filogenia , Filogeografía , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN , Análisis Espacial
13.
Ecol Appl ; 25(2): 348-60, 2015 Mar.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26263659

RESUMEN

Many species of large wildlife have declined drastically worldwide. These reductions often lead to profound shifts in the ecology of entire communities and ecosystems. However, the effects of these large-wildlife declines on other taxa likely hinge upon both underlying abiotic properties of these systems and on the types of secondary anthropogenic changes associated with wildlife loss, making impacts difficult to predict. To better understand how these important contextual factors determine the consequences of large-wildlife declines on other animals in a community, we examined the effects of three common forms of large-wildlife loss (removal without replacement [using fences], removal followed by replacement with domestic stock, and removal accompanied by crop agricultural use) on small-mammal abundance, diversity, and community composition, in landscapes that varied in several abiotic attributes (rainfall, soil fertility, land-use intensity) in central Kenya. We found that small-mammal communities were indeed heavily impacted by all forms of large-wildlife decline, showing, on average: (1) higher densities, (2) lower species richness per site, and (3) different species assemblages in sites from which large wildlife were removed. However, the nature and magnitude of these effects were strongly context dependent. Rainfall, type of land-use change, and the interaction of these two factors were key predictors of both the magnitude and type of responses of small mammals. The strongest effects, particularly abundance responses, tended to be observed in low-rainfall areas. Whereas isolated wildlife removal primarily led to increased small-mammal abundance, wildlife removal associated with secondary uses (agriculture, domestic stock) had much more variable effects on abundance and stronger impacts on diversity and composition. Collectively, these results (1) highlight the importance of context in determining the impacts of large-wildlife decline on small-mammal communities, (2) emphasize the challenges in extrapolating results from controlled experimental studies to predict the effects of wildlife declines that are accompanied by secondary land-uses, and (3) suggest that, because of the context-dependent nature of the responses to large-wildlife decline, large-wildlife status alone cannot be reliably used to predict small-mammal community changes.


Asunto(s)
Animales Salvajes , Biodiversidad , Tamaño Corporal , Animales , Conservación de los Recursos Naturales , Kenia , Dinámica Poblacional
14.
PLoS One ; 10(3): e0118198, 2015.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25738861

RESUMEN

Global gene expression analysis using microarrays and, more recently, RNA-seq, has allowed investigators to understand biological processes at a system level. However, the identification of differentially expressed genes in experiments with small sample size, high dimensionality, and high variance remains challenging, limiting the usability of these tens of thousands of publicly available, and possibly many more unpublished, gene expression datasets. We propose a novel variable selection algorithm for ultra-low-n microarray studies using generalized linear model-based variable selection with a penalized binomial regression algorithm called penalized Euclidean distance (PED). Our method uses PED to build a classifier on the experimental data to rank genes by importance. In place of cross-validation, which is required by most similar methods but not reliable for experiments with small sample size, we use a simulation-based approach to additively build a list of differentially expressed genes from the rank-ordered list. Our simulation-based approach maintains a low false discovery rate while maximizing the number of differentially expressed genes identified, a feature critical for downstream pathway analysis. We apply our method to microarray data from an experiment perturbing the Notch signaling pathway in Xenopus laevis embryos. This dataset was chosen because it showed very little differential expression according to limma, a powerful and widely-used method for microarray analysis. Our method was able to detect a significant number of differentially expressed genes in this dataset and suggest future directions for investigation. Our method is easily adaptable for analysis of data from RNA-seq and other global expression experiments with low sample size and high dimensionality.


Asunto(s)
Algoritmos , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica/métodos , Análisis de Secuencia por Matrices de Oligonucleótidos/métodos , Estadística como Asunto/métodos , Animales , Análisis de Regresión , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Tamaño de la Muestra , Xenopus laevis/genética
15.
Zookeys ; (359): 35-51, 2013.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24363588

RESUMEN

We use a combination of cytochrome b sequence data and karyological evidence to confirm the presence of Mus indutus and Mus minutoides in Botswana. Our data include sampling from five localities from across the country, including one site in northwestern Botswana where both species were captured in syntopy. Additionally, we find evidence for two mitochondrial lineages of M. minutoides in northwestern Botswana that differ by 5% in sequence variation. Also, we report that M. minutoides in Botswana have the 2n=34 karyotype with the presence of a (X.1) sex-autosome translocation.

16.
Mol Ecol ; 21(11): 2617-27, 2012 Jun.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22519571

RESUMEN

Metagenomic methods provide an experimental approach to inform the relationships between hosts and their microbial inhabitants. Previous studies have provided the conceptual realization that microbiomes are dynamic among hosts and the intimacy of relation between micro- and macroorganisms. Here, we present an intestinal microflora community analysis for members of the order Chiroptera and investigate the relative influence of variables in shaping observed microbiome relationships. The variables ranged from those considered to have ancient and long-term influences (host phylogeny and life history) to the relatively transient variable of host reproductive condition. In addition, collection locality data, representing the geographic variable, were included in analyses. Results indicate a complex influence of variables in shaping sample relationships in which signal for host phylogeny is recovered at broad taxonomic levels (family), whereas intrafamilial analyses disclosed various degrees of resolution for the remaining variables. Although cumulative probabilities of assignment indicated both reproductive condition and geography influenced relationships, comparison of ecological measures among groups revealed statistical differences between most variable classifications. For example, ranked ecological diversity was associated with host phylogeny (deeper coalescences among families were associated with more microfloral diversity), dietary strategy (herbivory generally retained higher diversity than carnivory) and reproductive condition (reproductively active females displayed more diverse microflora than nonreproductive conditions). Overall, the results of this study describe a complex process shaping microflora communities of wildlife species as well as provide avenues for future research that will further inform the nature of symbiosis between microflora communities and hosts.


Asunto(s)
Quirópteros/microbiología , Quirópteros/fisiología , Metagenoma/genética , Filogenia , Animales , Carnivoría , Femenino , Guatemala , Herbivoria , Masculino
17.
J Vis Exp ; (70)2012 Dec 23.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23287809

RESUMEN

The process by which the anterior region of the neural plate gives rise to the vertebrate retina continues to be a major focus of both clinical and basic research. In addition to the obvious medical relevance for understanding and treating retinal disease, the development of the vertebrate retina continues to serve as an important and elegant model system for understanding neuronal cell type determination and differentiation(1-16). The neural retina consists of six discrete cell types (ganglion, amacrine, horizontal, photoreceptors, bipolar cells, and Müller glial cells) arranged in stereotypical layers, a pattern that is largely conserved among all vertebrates (12,14-18). While studying the retina in the intact developing embryo is clearly required for understanding how this complex organ develops from a protrusion of the forebrain into a layered structure, there are many questions that benefit from employing approaches using primary cell culture of presumptive retinal cells (7,19-23). For example, analyzing cells from tissues removed and dissociated at different stages allows one to discern the state of specification of individual cells at different developmental stages, that is, the fate of the cells in the absence of interactions with neighboring tissues (8,19-22,24-33). Primary cell culture also allows the investigator to treat the culture with specific reagents and analyze the results on a single cell level (5,8,21,24,27-30,33-39). Xenopus laevis, a classic model system for the study of early neural development (19,27,29,31-32,40-42), serves as a particularly suitable system for retinal primary cell culture (10,38,43-45). Presumptive retinal tissue is accessible from the earliest stages of development, immediately following neural induction (25,38,43). In addition, given that each cell in the embryo contains a supply of yolk, retinal cells can be cultured in a very simple defined media consisting of a buffered salt solution, thus removing the confounding effects of incubation or other sera-based products (10,24,44-45). However, the isolation of the retinal tissue from surrounding tissues and the subsequent processing is challenging. Here, we present a method for the dissection and dissociation of retinal cells in Xenopus laevis that will be used to prepare primary cell cultures that will, in turn, be analyzed for calcium activity and gene expression at the resolution of single cells. While the topic presented in this paper is the analysis of spontaneous calcium transients, the technique is broadly applicable to a wide array of research questions and approaches (Figure 1).


Asunto(s)
Técnicas Citológicas/métodos , Disección/métodos , Retina/embriología , Retina/cirugía , Xenopus laevis/embriología , Xenopus laevis/cirugía , Animales , Retina/citología
18.
PLoS One ; 6(10): e26750, 2011.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22053209

RESUMEN

Five newly isolated mycobacteriophages--Angelica, CrimD, Adephagia, Anaya, and Pixie--have similar genomic architectures to mycobacteriophage TM4, a previously characterized phage that is widely used in mycobacterial genetics. The nucleotide sequence similarities warrant grouping these into Cluster K, with subdivision into three subclusters: K1, K2, and K3. Although the overall genome architectures of these phages are similar, TM4 appears to have lost at least two segments of its genome, a central region containing the integration apparatus, and a segment at the right end. This suggests that TM4 is a recent derivative of a temperate parent, resolving a long-standing conundrum about its biology, in that it was reportedly recovered from a lysogenic strain of Mycobacterium avium, but it is not capable of forming lysogens in any mycobacterial host. Like TM4, all of the Cluster K phages infect both fast- and slow-growing mycobacteria, and all of them--with the exception of TM4--form stable lysogens in both Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis; immunity assays show that all five of these phages share the same immune specificity. TM4 infects these lysogens suggesting that it was either derived from a heteroimmune temperate parent or that it has acquired a virulent phenotype. We have also characterized a widely-used conditionally replicating derivative of TM4 and identified mutations conferring the temperature-sensitive phenotype. All of the Cluster K phages contain a series of well conserved 13 bp repeats associated with the translation initiation sites of a subset of the genes; approximately one half of these contain an additional sequence feature composed of imperfectly conserved 17 bp inverted repeats separated by a variable spacer. The K1 phages integrate into the host tmRNA and the Cluster K phages represent potential new tools for the genetics of M. tuberculosis and related species.


Asunto(s)
Evolución Molecular , Micobacteriófagos/genética , Sitios de Ligazón Microbiológica , Secuencia de Bases , Mapeo Cromosómico , Análisis por Conglomerados , Secuencia Conservada/genética , Eliminación de Gen , Genoma Viral/genética , Anotación de Secuencia Molecular , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Familia de Multigenes/genética , Mutación/genética , Micobacteriófagos/crecimiento & desarrollo , Micobacteriófagos/aislamiento & purificación , Micobacteriófagos/ultraestructura , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN , Temperatura , Proteínas Virales/genética , Virión/genética , Virión/ultraestructura , Integración Viral/genética , Replicación Viral/fisiología
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