The ability to generate, store, and mobilize energy is fundamental to life, and disruptions in these processes underlie metabolic disease. This review examines how these mechanisms evolved to rely profoundly on lipids, a large family of molecules that serve an unusually wide range of biological functions. From early evolutionary times, lipids have enabled chemiosmotic energy transduction, organized the endomembrane systems that synthesize and package neutral lipids, served as concentrated reservoirs of metabolic energy, and functioned as signaling molecules that coordinate cellular and systemic physiology. Adipocytes are specialized cells that can accumulate large amounts of lipid within specialized lipid droplet organelles. Over evolutionary time, mammals developed distinct adipocyte subtypes with tailored physiological roles. White adipocytes, characterized by a single large unilocular lipid droplet, coordinate energy storage and release in response to systemic cues. In contrast, the role of brown and beige adipocytes is to protect the organism from cold exposure by generating heat as a primary output of UCP1-mediated mitochondrial uncoupling. Crucially, this thermogenic process requires extensive systemic coordination: sympathetic neural input triggers lipolysis, vascular networks deliver fuel from multiple adipose depots, and hormonal signals integrate metabolic demand across organs. These requirements position thermogenic adipocytes as metabolic integration "nodes" that orchestrate whole-body fuel allocation and energy homeostasis. The presence of functional thermogenic adipocytes is strongly associated with improved cardiometabolic health, protecting against obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Understanding how these specialized cells sense and respond to systemic signals offers a powerful entry point for developing strategies to counteract metabolic disease.
Introduction: Climate change, river impoundment, and riparian degradation act synergistically to threaten Neotropical freshwater biodiversity, yet conservation approaches rarely integrate these stressors simultaneously. We developed a triple mismatch framework combining species distribution models, dam fragmentation analysis, and vegetation condition assessment to identify priority conservation areas for two fruit-eating fish species in the Parana–Paraguay Basin.Materials and methods: We modelled present and future (2041–2080; Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5) habitat suitability for Piaractus mesopotamicus and Myloplus tiete using True Skill Statistic (TSS)-weighted ensemble species distribution models across 16,538 river-associated grid cells (10 km resolution, restricted to cells intersecting river segments of Strahler order ≥ 3). Occurrence records were compiled from databases and the scientific literature. We integrated an ensemble of six dam databases, filtering only structures constituting actual river barrages within the basin, resulting in 3582 dams. Cells were classified into four fragmentation categories, and vegetation was classified into three ecologically grounded classes. We then applied a nine-class mismatch diagnostic combining climate refugia status, vegetation condition, and dam fragmentation to derive nine priority conservation actions.Results: Projected habitat loss ranged from 24.0% to 39.6% for P. mesopotamicus and from 32.7% to 50.8% for M. tiete. Of the 2265 climate refugia identified for P. mesopotamicus, only 14.3% were classified as functional refugia (free-flowing with intact vegetation ≥ 80%), whereas compound severe mismatch and impounded degraded refugia accounted for 41.1% and 13.9%, respectively. For M. tiete (1242 refugia), no functional refugia were identified, with compound severe (57.4%) and impounded degraded (23.3%) dominating. All restoration categories combined accounted for 63.0% of P. mesopotamicus and 72.0% of M. tiete refugia. Restoration-demanding refugia represented most conservation priorities for both species, while impounded refugia accounted for 16.3% of P. mesopotamicus and 26.5% of M. tiete refugia.Conclusions: Our triple mismatch framework reveals that identifying climate refugia alone is insufficient for conservation planning when dams and riparian degradation create structural barriers to species persistence. Dam impoundment constitutes an effectively irreversible constraint for migratory fishes, while riparian degradation remains reversible through restoration.
Introduction: Motile Aeromonas septicaemia (MAS), caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Aeromonas hydrophila and A. veronii, poses a significant threat to global aquaculture, necessitating sustainable alternatives to antibiotics.Materials and methods: This study characterized MDR Aeromonas isolates from diseased Labeo rohita in West Bengal, India, and evaluated the in vitro antibacterial potential of Ayapana triplinervis ethanol extract. Thirty bacterial isolates were phenotypically characterized, with three MDR isolates selected for molecular identification as A. hydrophila (BAH; 99.86% identity) and A. veronii (RK, RS1; 99.60% and 99.37% identity). Pathogenicity was confirmed through challenge trials, with LD50 values of 1.28 × 106 colony forming unit (CFU)/fish for BAH, 8.9 × 106 CFU/fish for RK, and 1 × 107 CFU/fish for RS1. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the extract identified 17 phytoconstituents, predominantly β-selinene (17.16%), thymohydroquinone dimethyl ether (12.44%), n-hexadecanoic acid (13.79%), and α-linolenic acid (14.04%).Results: The extract exhibited potent bactericidal activity against all MDR isolates, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 1.0 µl/ml (910 µg/ml) for A. veronii strains and 4.0 µl/ml (3640 µg/ml) for A. hydrophila, as well as minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values ranging from 4.0 to 16.0 µl/ml (3640–14,560 µg/ml). The MBC/MIC ratio of three for all strains confirmed bactericidal activity according to established criteria. A comparative analysis with oxytetracycline revealed expected potency differences between the crude extract and purified antibiotic, with species-specific susceptibility patterns observed.Conclusions: This first report on A. triplinervis against piscine MDR pathogens highlights its potential as a source of bioactive compounds for eco-friendly phytotherapeutic development, aligning with sustainable aquaculture and One Health principles. Further bioassay-guided fractionation, mechanistic studies, and in vivo trials are warranted to fully validate its therapeutic application.
Introduction: The routine serial passage of bacterial pathogens on artificial media is common in diagnostic and research laboratories, but such “laboratory domestication” may alter virulence traits and decouple reference strains from the field populations they are meant to represent.Materials and methods: To examine this in Y. ruckeri, isolates were revived from frozen primary stocks, confirmed by species-specific PCR and MALDI-TOF MS, and baseline biochemical and virulence-associated traits (hemolysis, gelatinase, Tween 20/80 hydrolysis, motility, temperature and NaCl tolerance) were recorded. Isolates then underwent 28 days of daily passage on TSA at 28 °C, with virulence phenotypes re-assessed at predefined time points. In parallel, one representative isolate was sequenced on days 0 and 28 using Oxford Nanopore technology, and assemblies were compared by average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH), followed by virulence factor database (VFDB)-based virulence profiling, OrthoVenn orthologous clustering and antibiotics and secondary metabolite analysis shell (antiSMASH) analysis of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters.Results: Core biochemical traits (gelatin hydrolysis, γ-hemolysis, growth at 4 °C and 37 °C, and tolerance to high NaCl) remained stable, whereas motility and Tween 20/80 hydrolysis shifted in four of ten isolates, with fewer motile or Tween-positive strains on day-28. Genomically, day-0 and day-28 assemblies were nearly indistinguishable from each other and from Y. ruckeri ATCC 29473, yet showed modest changes in relation to their virulence gene content; secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) types were conserved, and OrthoVenn identified 3629 shared orthologous clusters plus only seven small mobile element-associated clusters unique to day-0.Conclusions: These findings indicate that even short-term, routine passage can remodel phenotypic virulence markers and fine-scale virulence repertoires in Y. ruckeri, while core metabolism, stress tolerance and secondary metabolite capacity remain stable. Phenotypic drift toward non-motile, Tween-negative profiles—already known from field biotypes—shows that domestication does not equal simple attenuation and can complicate the interpretation of in vitro markers as surrogates for in vivo virulence, underscoring the importance of passage history and culture conditions as critical metadata for virulence studies, challenge trials and vaccine development.
Introduction: The northeast Pacific marine heatwave (PMH) of 2014–2016 had strong impacts on many species across a vast region. Impacts on upper trophic species, such as reduced survival and reproduction, were a clear consequence of reduced food availability.Materials and methods: We conducted a long-term individual-based study of behavior and vital rates in endangered Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in the Gulf of Alaska. Vital rates were estimated using robust design multi-state mark–recapture statistical methods.Results: After parturition, the duration of maternal attendance declined significantly during 2015–2018 and again in 2021 compared to earlier years of this study. Prior to the PMH, adult female survival rates for sea lions were approximately 93%, irrespective of parturition status. Beginning in 2016, and the years following the PMH, survival dropped to 77% for females giving birth and 85% for females that were barren, demonstrating an important cost of reproduction in terms of future survival. Females born in 2016 delayed their age at first reproduction by 1 year compared to females born in earlier years, while adult female reproductive rates declined from >70% prior to 2016, to around 60% during the years 2016–2018, as a greater proportion of mature females skipped a year of giving birth. Following the PMH years, there was also an increased lactation interval as a greater proportion of juveniles suckled beyond one year of age. Extended lactation buffered against a reduction in juvenile survival, but had a negative impact on adult female survival.Conclusions: Changes in animal behavior and vital rates can be expected during periods of reduced resource availability, but adult survival should be favored over juvenile survival and reproduction in slow-living K-selected species such as the Steller sea lion. We found that adult females will bear a cost of reproduction in terms of future survival and reproductive potential during these periods. Furthermore, a preference to nurse offspring for additional years represented a type of selfless behavior that also reduced maternal survival probabilities and may ultimately compromise population stability.
Introduction: Costa Rica has suitable environmental features to produce farmed shrimp, but infectious diseases are a major hurdle. Scarce information exists on the presence of viruses or bacterial pathogens in farmed shrimp in Costa Rica.Materials and methods: This study surveyed three pathogens of farmed shrimp Penaeus vannamei at 14 facilities located along the Gulf of Nicoya and the Pacific coast, Guanacaste and Puntarenas provinces. Samplings were done during the wet period of 2017 and the dry period of 2018. A total of 970 shrimps were collected, euthanized and dissected to obtain the foregut, hepatopancreas, gills and pleopods. Each organ was separately pooled (n = 10 shrimp) and fixed in 70% ethanol for DNA extraction and endpoint PCR was done to detect Acute Hepatopancreas Necrosis Disease (AHPND), Whispovirus (WSSV), and Penstylhamaparvovirus (IHHNV).Results: AHPND was detected in three farms in the Gulf of Nicoya and in one farm each in the central and south Pacific, Puntarenas province. IHHNV was detected in both samplings in the Gulf of Nicoya in three farms, and one farm each in central and south Pacific regions, Puntarenas province. Conversely, WSSV was not found on any sampled shrimp farm. Sequence analyses confirmed the presence of both AHPND and IHHNV. Both pathogens had a scarce presence in shrimp farms in Costa Rica and probably were introduced through imported pathogen-infected nauplii or postlarvae from neighboring countries. Hence, stringent sanitary measures are required to reduce the risk of pathogen dispersion to other shrimp farms in Costa Rica.Conclusions: This study confirmed the presence of AHPND and IHHNV in Costa Rica using endpoint PCR and sequencing in farms located in the Gulf of Nicoya in the Guanacaste and Puntarenas provinces. The presence of pathogens in Costa Rica is probably due to the importation of infected nauplii and shrimp larvae.
Introduction: East Africa has been in the spotlight of paleoanthropological investigations for its role as a potential cradle of humanity and as a gateway out of Africa. Y chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mitochondrial DNA genotyping of East African populations complement this notion and further demonstrate the high effective population size and genetic diversity of East African populations to attest to the antiquity of the populations of the region. This study aims to investigate the genetic diversity of representative Eritrean and Sudanese samples via Y chromosome short tandem repeats (STRs) and SNP analysis.Materials and methods: In this study, Y chromosome-specific STR (Y-STR) and Y chromosome SNP (Y-SNP) genotyping and haplogroup prediction were performed on 95 unrelated male samples from Eritrea and Sudan in an effort to understand the genetic history of East Africa.Results: Population differentiation analysis of 95 samples revealed 90 unique haplotypes. Further population differentiation analysis of 562 samples generated 451 haplotypes (395 unique and 56 shared haplotypes), and most of the shared haplotypes were found in individuals of the same population group. Pooled samples at the 17 and 12 Y-STR levels were used to give our analysis a regional and global context.Conclusions: The overall analysis revealed the high genetic diversity of East African populations. The clustering of Y-STRs along their respective haplogroups implies the necessity of future joint Y-SNP and Y-STR data analysis on populations of the region to further clarify the association between the two Y chromosome markers and their implications for forensics and population differentiation studies in the region.
Introduction: Antarctic soils are characterized by extreme environmental conditions, including low temperatures, limited liquid water, and a scarcity of organic nutrients, fostering unique bacterial communities vital for biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functioning. This study investigates the influence of penguin guano on microbial diversity in ornithogenic environments compared to non-ornithogenic environments on King George Island, Antarctica.Material and methods: We sampled lake sediments receiving continuous penguin guano input, soil from an Adélie penguin rookery, and soil without penguin influence. The microbial communities within these samples were then analyzed using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.Results: Sequencing revealed that ornithogenic soils exhibited higher microbial diversity and distinct community compositions. Notably, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidota were simultaneously prevalent in guano-influenced environments, while the detection of predatory Myxococcota suggests complex trophic interactions in rookery soils. In contrast, Actinobacteria was dominant in non-ornithogenic soils. Uniquely, two bacterial phyla, Planctomycetota and Sumerlaeota, were identified for the first time in Antarctica microhabitats, highlighting its unexplored microbial diversity.Conclusions: Our findings provide comparative baseline insights into the critical role of penguin activity in shaping microbial communities in extreme ecosystems and underscore the need for further research into the functional roles of these communities in the context of ongoing environmental changes in Antarctica.
The excitotoxicity hypothesis has been significantly influential in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research for over thirty years but has seen limited clinical success. Here, the evidence supporting excitotoxicity in ALS is re-examined from first principles, motivated by a critical question: What if excitotoxicity does not underlie ALS pathogenesis? Rather than presenting a definitive answer, this article aims to foster critical discourse by systematically investigating core assumptions and proposing a competing hypothesis grounded in fundamental cellular neurophysiology. The goal of this article is to stimulate open academic dialog, encourage consideration of alternative mechanisms, and inspire investigations that may yield greater insight into ALS pathobiology.
Introduction: Studies on beaked whales in the South Atlantic are scarce, and there are still significant gaps in knowledge about these species in this region. In Brazil, ten species have been reported over the years. Most of these records, however, are limited to isolated stranding reports, and comprehensive research has yet to be conducted. Therefore, we performed molecular identification of seven stranded specimens to provide preliminary insights into regional genetic patterns.Materials and methods: Four samples from Ziphius cavirostris, two from Mesoplodon europaeus, and one from M. mirus (presumably M. eueu) were used. Total DNA was extracted using a standard phenol–chloroform method, and fragments of the cytochrome b and the mitochondrial DNA control region were amplified and sequenced. The sequences were then compared against a validated taxonomy using Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic reconstruction. Additionally, a median-joining haplotype network was obtained to verify new haplotypes.Results: Identifications were confirmed for Z. cavirostris and M. europaeus, while the specimen reported as M. mirus was reassigned to M. eueu. Mitochondrial DNA control region haplotypes found for M. eueu and for one of the M. europaeus specimens have not been reported in previous studies. In contrast, all Z. cavirostris specimens’ sequences matched the most common Southern Hemisphere haplotype.Conclusions: Although we acknowledge the limitations of our study, we provide the first assessment of genetic diversity of the mitochondrial DNA control region and cytochrome b for Z. cavirostris, M. europaeus and M. eueu specimens stranded along the Brazilian coast. Furthermore, our haplotype analyses suggest a genetic connectivity between the South Atlantic region and other ocean basins.
There is broad consensus among paleoanthropologists that extant African hominids (Pan and Gorilla) as well as hominins (our direct ancestors following the split from Pan, i.e., chimpanzee and bonobo) originated in Africa. The prevailing view, that hominins became upright bipeds after moving from tropical forests (the current habitat of Pan and Gorilla) to open savannas in East Africa—where they chased large mammals—is contradicted, however, by fossil, paleo-ecological, and comparative biological and physiological evidence. Here, we propose that hominoids (apes), hominids (great apes), and hominins (humans and fossil species more closely related to Homo than to Pan) instead evolved near water and mostly out of Africa. We propose that Miocene (23.03–5.33 Ma) apes had already evolved an upright, tailless body as an adaptation to living in flooded forests, where they engaged in frequent bipedal wading and below-branch vertical climbing—a type of movement we term vertical aquarborealism. This largely Miocene aquarboreal style of locomotion can be seen as evolutionarily intermediate between the above-branch arboreality of Old World monkeys (Cercopithecoidea) and the various below-branch locomotive styles of extant apes (Hominoidea). Starting from vertical aquarborealism, Homo—at least by the Early Pleistocene (2.58 Ma)—had developed a lifestyle centred around shallow diving, primarily foraging for non-fleeing foods such as shellfish and aquatic plants. We also suggest that the timing of some major tectonic shifts in the African, Arabian, and Eurasian plates during the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene may help explain key aspects of this evolutionary scenario, including the splitting times of hominoids (apes), hominids, and hominins.
Introduction: The application of machine learning in healthcare requires models that demonstrate not only acceptable classification performance but also trustworthy learning behavior suitable for clinical deployment. Class imbalance represents a pervasive challenge in medical datasets, where patients with favorable outcomes substantially outnumber those with adverse events.Materials and methods: This study compared two ensemble learning approaches for five-year survival prediction in eye cancer: CatBoost, a gradient boosting algorithm employing balanced class weights, and RUSBoost, an algorithm integrating random undersampling directly within the boosting framework. Model evaluation extended beyond aggregate performance metrics to include systematic assessment of learning dynamics throughout training.Results: Both classifiers achieved comparable discriminative ability on held-out test data, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values of approximately 0.78. Confusion matrix analysis revealed that both models demonstrated acceptable classification rates with expected gradual decreases from training through validation to test partitions. However, examination of learning curves revealed a critical distinction: the RUSBoost classifier exhibited healthy learning dynamics characterized by parallel training and validation curves with a stable and narrow gap, whereas the CatBoost classifier displayed progressively widening divergence between training and validation performance indicative of overfitting that necessitated early stopping intervention. A practitioner examining only confusion matrices and aggregate metrics might reasonably but incorrectly favor CatBoost based on its marginal advantage in classification consistency.Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that model selection in medical artificial intelligence must prioritize transparency in learning dynamics over aggregate performance metrics alone, as models achieving favorable summary statistics through problematic learning pathways cannot be considered trustworthy for clinical application where patient outcomes depend on prediction reliability. This study establishes evaluation criteria to ensure that, when machine learning-based decision support is considered appropriate for a given clinical context, the selected model exhibits learning behavior consistent with genuine predictive capability.
Introduction: Soil solarization (Sol) and biosolarization (BioS) are hydrothermal, organically acceptable alternatives to agricultural soil fumigation with synthetic chemical toxicants. Returning on- or off-site crop residues to decompose in soil as amendments in BioS can aid in promoting a circular agroeconomy.Materials and methods: Onion crop residue amendment and soil temperature/covering regimens were evaluated in a feasibility study for their effects on survival and activity of phytoparasitic root-knot (Meloidogyne incognita = RK) and root-lesion (Pratylenchus neglectus = LN) nematodes, and their impact on winter squash (Cucurbita moschata cv. Waltham Butternut).Results: In laboratory microcosms, residue-amended (2% w/w) and irrigated soil reduced RK survival at diurnally maximum soil temperatures of 25 and 39 °C. In an on-farm trial, 35 days of Sol, but not exposure to onion amendment, reduced RK and LN numbers to near-undetectable levels, which persisted at least 23 days after setting squash transplants. However, following crop harvest, no differences in RK and LN numbers remained. Post-harvest plant ratings showed that both Sol and onion BioS provided reductions in RK root galling up to 76% (p < 0.05). Regardless of treatments or nematode presence, squash harvest was relatively robust, with extrapolated fresh yields of ~20 t/ha. Number of marketable fruits ranged from 27 (control) to 39 per plot (Sol).Conclusions: These tests indicated that both Sol and BioS using onion are feasible soil pest control and circular agroeconomy measures, and further studies are encouraged. Yield data agreed with previous reports that C. moschata squash may have some natural tolerance to phytoparasitic nematodes.
Early and accurate diagnosis of prostate cancer remains challenging due to its biological heterogeneity and the limitations of current clinical tools. Widely used diagnostic approaches, including serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and biopsy, are associated with low specificity, invasiveness, and limited assessment of tumour aggressiveness. These limitations have driven increasing interest in non-invasive molecular diagnostics that can provide biologically meaningful insights while reducing unnecessary clinical interventions This review aims to evaluate the biological basis, analytical methodologies, and clinical utility of urine-based gene expression profiling for prostate cancer detection and risk stratification. Tumour-associated transcriptional alterations, persistent androgen receptor signalling, epigenetic dysregulation, metabolic reprogramming, and extracellular vesicle-mediated RNA release enable the detection of clinically relevant gene expression signatures in urine. Key urinary biomarkers include mRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, fusion transcripts, and microRNAs, which are analyzed using platforms ranging from quantitative PCR-based assays to next-generation sequencing and multigene classifier approaches. Evidence from prospective and multicentre clinical studies suggests that urine-based transcriptomic assays may improve the detection of clinically significant disease, reduce unnecessary biopsies, and support risk stratification when compared with PSA and conventional clinical models. However, biological variability, technical complexity, and standardization challenges remain important considerations. This review highlights current limitations and future perspectives, including the integration of urinary transcriptomic profiling with multimodal diagnostic strategies and artificial intelligence-based decision-support systems to advance precision prostate cancer care.
Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a major and increasing public health burden in Palestine. Medicinal plants are widely employed in traditional practice, yet their antidiabetic efficacy and mechanisms remain insufficiently validated. This study aimed to evaluate the antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of Palestinian medicinal plants by assessing α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities, antioxidant capacity, and flavonoid content.Materials and methods: A total of 108 ethanolic extracts from 98 plant taxa were evaluated for inhibitory activity against α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Extracts showing > 50% enzymatic inhibition underwent IC50 determination. Antioxidant activity was assessed using ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) and Trolox-equivalent assays. Enzymatic inhibition patterns were classified using median-based thresholds, and statistical analyses explored relationships among variables.Results: Sixty-four percent of extracts inhibited α-glucosidase and 55% inhibited α-amylase. Several extracts demonstrated potent α-glucosidase inhibition (IC50 < 1 mg/mL), in some cases surpassing the reference drug. Promising species included Rhus coriaria, Ceratonia siliqua, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Psidium guajava, Camellia sinensis, Quercus coccifera, and Cistus creticus. Dual inhibitory activity was observed in multiple extracts, particularly among plants traditionally used for diabetes management. Antioxidant activity was notable, with 65% of extracts showing significant antioxidant activity. Statistical analyses revealed moderate association between antioxidant activity and enzyme inhibition, while flavonoid content showed no direct correlation.Conclusions: Palestinian medicinal plants constitute a valuable source of bioactive compounds with significant α-glucosidase and moderate α-amylase inhibitory activities. These findings provide scientific validation for their ethnopharmacological relevance and highlight several species as promising candidates for phytotherapeutic development or functional food for diabetes management.
Introduction: Listeriosis, a zoonosis caused by the consumption of food contaminated with L. monocytogenes, shows the highest fatality rate in Europe. Official methods are laborious and time-consuming; moreover, an underestimation of the microorganism number is possible due to a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. Vibrio cholerae, E. coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Yersinia enterocolitica have been identified in the VBNC state, highlighting the importance of specific detection of L. monocytogenes.Materials and methods: A biosensor based on a screen-printed gold electrode coupled to voltammetry analysis of the redox couple ferrocyanide/ferricyanide was used. The bio-recognition element was a DNA probe (ListE) designed to detect L. monocytogenes and previously tested with the dot blot technique. The differential pulse voltammetry technique was adopted for the analysis of genomic DNA, raw meat and industrial environmental samples. The AFNOR (French Association for Standardization) validated Listeria Precis™ method (Thermo Scientific, Basingstoke, UK) was also used to verify the presence of the target microorganism.Results: The electrochemical biosensor showed a good linear response between signal decrement and the amount of target hybridized on the electrode both in ListE complementary sequence, used as a control, and in DNA extracted from pure cultures. The system showed a good performance when utilized for analyses on raw meat and industrial environmental samples comparing the outcomes with the results produced with the AFNOR validated Listeria Precis™ method.Conclusions: Considering these preliminary results, the biosensor represents a promising tool for the detection of L. monocytogenes that is rapid, easy to use and cheap, although some aspects need to be further investigated.
Introduction: The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) has provided a powerful empirical demonstration of the importance of a phenotypic perspective in evolutionary dynamics.Materials and methods: This study utilizes high-resolution genomic surveillance data from the USA, UK, Germany, and Denmark (extracted from the CoVariants database) to model the competition between SARS-CoV-2 variants. The analytical approach bridges classical population genetics—specifically the Price equation and Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem—with epidemiological growth frameworks. A recursive fitting procedure was applied to the initial empirical frequency data of emerging Variants of Concern (VOCs) to assess the reliability of early-stage fitness estimates compared to full-series benchmarks.Results: The analysis demonstrates that fitness estimates derived from as few as the first 3 to 5 weeks of genomic data show a rapid convergence toward final values. These early estimates remain highly stable across diverse geographic regions, suggesting that the intrinsic transmission advantage of a VOC is a dominant driver. The results indicate that the selective coefficient of a variant remains largely decoupled from local environmental noise and stochastic fluctuations once a critical frequency threshold is surpassed.Conclusions: This study shows that the spread advantage of new COVID-19 variants is stable and can be accurately predicted using only early infection data, bypassing the need for long-term tracking. By analyzing genomic data from four countries, this method provides a crucial early warning window to help public health officials prepare for new variants before they become dominant.
Military installations in Texas span multiple ecoregions and represent an underrecognized opportunity for arthropod conservation. Native bee communities were surveyed across six military bases and three natural preserves to evaluate species richness, diversity, and community composition. Abundance- and incidence-based data were analyzed using diversity metrics, non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), and indicator species analysis to identify ecological patterns and environmental drivers. A total of 350 bee species were recorded from 20,359 specimens. Of these, 138 species (39%) were shared between military bases and preserves, while 116 (33%) occurred only on bases and 96 (27%) only in preserves. Diversity and evenness were generally higher in natural preserves, particularly Big Thicket and Piney Woods, although some bases such as Camp Swift exhibited comparable richness. Rainfall and canopy cover were the strongest correlates of community structure. These results demonstrate that military lands serve as complementary reservoirs of bee diversity and emphasize the importance of habitat characteristics in shaping pollinator assemblages. The findings support the integration of pollinator monitoring and habitat management within Department of Defense land stewardship programs.
Demography links ecology and evolution by connecting population dynamics with variation in fitness and selection. Yet, most demographic models represent phenotypes as fixed traits and environments as static backdrops, overlooking the developmental processes through which phenotypes are constructed. This creates a phenotypic gap in demographic theory: a disconnect between how phenotypes arise through development and how they are represented in demographic models. A development-centric perspective can address this gap by incorporating agency—the capacity of organisms to regulate development, reallocate energy, and modify their environments through feedback—into demographic thinking. State-of-the-art demographic models, including Integral Projection Models (IPMs) and Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) IPMs, capture phenotypic outcomes and aspects of physiological development, but they do not explicitly represent how agential, feedback-driven developmental processes shape phenotypes and selection. I argue that progress can be made by integrating DEB-based, individual-based models with agent-based and decision-theoretic approaches, such as Markov decision processes, which represent organisms as active developmental systems embedded in feedback-rich environments. Coupling these approaches with evolutionary tools from quantitative and population genetics would yield a unified, development-centric demography. Using examples of context-sensitive developmental trajectories and intraspecific phenotypic diversification, I show how development-centric approaches reveal how energy allocation, developmental plasticity, and feedback shape phenotypic variation and demographic dynamics. A development-centric demography reframes population dynamics as a science of self-directed change and provides a stronger foundation for understanding eco-evolutionary feedback and forecasting population resilience under environmental change.
Photosynthesis is an essential nutritional function for plants, and a fundamental support for the stability of whole trophic networks in the biosphere. Light photons provide energy to excite chlorophyll and start the conversion of intake atmospheric CO2 and H2O into sugars, starches and phyto-glycogens. It also maintains suitable oxygen levels for supporting aerobic life. However, aerobic metabolism produces reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) as byproducts. Usually, the ROS levels can be controlled by the cellular antioxidant system, but internal and external stressing factors can overstimulate ROS generation, overwhelming the antioxidant system, and lead to Oxidative Stress (OS) and directly attack the integrity of biomolecules and impact many biological functions, such as Photosynthesis. We studied the dynamics of Oxidative Status (OSt) and its impact on Photosynthesis during the production of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) plantlets. Blueberry plantlets are produced via micropropagation followed by greenhouse acclimatation and growth and finally shipment to producers. In this work we have studied the Oxidative Status (OSt) of plantlets along the productive process. The dynamics between hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity were monitored and used to implement an indicator of Oxidative Status (OSt) called Oxidative Status Rate (ROS) and correlated with Photosynthesis Rate (A) and Plantlet Viability during production. The same parameters were evaluated in plantlets developed in pots with different capacities (10, 50 and 500 cm3) during the shipment and delivery to final destination.
