Bacterial growth dynamics and corresponding metabolite levels in the extraction area of an Austrian sugar beet factory using antimicrobial treatment.

BACKGROUND: During the manufacture of sucrose from sugar beet, different microorganisms originating from the plant material as well as from the soil enter the process. Due to the formation of polysaccharide-based slimes, these contaminants may induce several adverse effects such as filtration problems during juice purification. Certain microorganisms also metabolize sucrose, leading to product losses with financial consequences. To better understand and to prevent these negative effects, the aim of the study was to investigate the evolution of relevant bacterial groups, including their metabolites appearing during the extraction process. For this purpose, one production cycle was monitored to identify the major contamination steps and to clarify how they relate to the processing conditions. Traditionally, different antimicrobial agents such as formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, hypochlorous acid, sodium hypochlorite, and chlorine dioxide have been added to inhibit microbial growth. In the present study, a rosin-based product derived from pine trees was applied as an alternative to those substances. RESULTS: Press water, raw juice, and mid-tower juice were identified as being highly contaminated with bacteria, and processing conditions such as time, temperature and pH level significantly influenced bacterial levels and the corresponding metabolites. Among the contaminants identified, lactic acid bacteria, and mesophilic and thermophilic aerobic bacteria played a dominant role, whereas lactic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid, and ethanol were identified as typical metabolites. CONCLUSION: Bacterial growth during production could be reduced by shock dosing of the rosin-based material in the extraction area. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

A Falsification of the Citation Impediment in the Taxonomic Literature.

Current science evaluation still relies on citation performance, despite criticisms of purely bibliometric research assessments. Biological taxonomy suffers from a drain of knowledge and manpower, with poor citation performance commonly held as one reason for this impediment. But is there really such a citation impediment in taxonomy? We compared the citation numbers of 306 taxonomic and 2291 non-taxonomic research articles (2009-2012) on mosses, orchids, ciliates, ants, and snakes, using Web of Science (WoS) and correcting for journal visibility. For three of the five taxa, significant differences were absent in citation numbers between taxonomic and non-taxonomic papers. This was also true for all taxa combined, although taxonomic papers received more citations than non-taxonomic ones. Our results show that, contrary to common belief, taxonomic contributions do not generally reduce a journal's citation performance and might even increase it. The scope of many journals rarely featuring taxonomy would allow editors to encourage a larger number of taxonomic submissions. Moreover, between 1993 and 2012, taxonomic publications accumulated faster than those from all biological fields. However, less than half of the taxonomic studies were published in journals in WoS. Thus, editors of highly visible journals inviting taxonomic contributions could benefit from taxonomy's strong momentum. The taxonomic output could increase even more than at its current growth rate if: (i) taxonomists currently publishing on other topics returned to taxonomy and (ii) non-taxonomists identifying the need for taxonomic acts started publishing these, possibly in collaboration with taxonomists. Finally, considering the high number of taxonomic papers attracted by the journal Zootaxa, we expect that the taxonomic community would indeed use increased chances of publishing in WoS indexed journals. We conclude that taxonomy's standing in the present citation-focused scientific landscape could easily improve-if the community becomes aware that there is no citation impediment in taxonomy.

A new fish-based multi-metric assessment index for cyprinid streams in the Iranian Caspian Sea Basin.

A major issue for water resource management is the assessment of environmental degradation of lotic ecosystems. The overall aim of this study is to develop a multi-metric fish index for the cyprinid streams of the Caspian Sea Basin (MMICS) in Iran. As species diversity and composition as well as population structure in the studied streams are different to other regions, there is a substantial need to develop a new fish index. We sampled fish and environmental data of 102 sites in medium sized streams. We analysed human pressures at different spatial scales and determined applicable fish metrics showing a response to human pressures. In total, five structural and functional types of metrics (i.e. biodiversity, habitat, reproduction, trophic level and water quality sensitivity) were considered. In addition, we used 29 criteria describing major anthropogenic human pressures at sampling sites and generated a regional pressure index (RPI) that accounted for potential effects of multiple human pressures. For the MMICS development, we first defined reference sites (least disturbed) and secondly quantified differences of fish metrics between reference and impaired sites. We used a Generalised Linear Model (GLM) to describe metric responses to natural environmental differences in least disturbed conditions. By including impaired sites, the residual distributions of these models described the response range of each metric to human pressures, independently of natural environmental influence. Finally, seven fish metrics showed the best ability to discriminate between impaired and reference sites. The multi-metric fish index performed well in discriminating human pressure classes, giving a significant negative linear response to a gradient of the RPI. These methods can be used for further development of a standardised monitoring tool to assess the ecological status and trends in biological condition for streams of the whole country, considering its complex and diverse geology and climate.

How diverse is Mitopus morio? Integrative taxonomy detects cryptic species in a small-scale sample of a widespread harvestman.

Mitopus morio is a widespread harvestman species occurring in most of Europe and in moderate and cold-moderate zones of Asia and North America. The species is characterized by extreme variability in body size and leg length. As leg length is correlated with habitat temperature, M. morio has been considered as an example of Allen's rule. Recently, observations for a single location in Tyrol, Austria, indicated the absence of mating between short- and long-legged individuals. This study examines for signs of putative cryptic species in M. morio using an integrative approach that combines mating trials, amplified fragment length polymorphism whole-genome scans, mitochondrial sequences and morphometrics. The mating trials did not corroborate the initial hypothesis of a reproductive barrier associated with leg size. Both types of genetic data revealed the existence of three distinct groups, in line with the mating results but largely unrelated to leg morphology and geographical origin of specimens. Morphometric characters supporting the findings of the other disciplines were identified using a supervised approach. We infer from all data together the existence of strongly diverged cryptic lineages among the analysed individuals, cautiously interpret them as three sympatric species and conclude that in these harvestmen Allen's rule applies at different levels. Due to the unexpected amount of differentiation found within a geographical scale very small compared with the distribution of M. morio, we suggest a thorough revision of the genus prior to formal taxonomic changes. Our case study underlines the general applicability of the integrative taxonomic protocol used and highlights the relevance of several rationales implemented in the protocol.

Specificity and transmission mosaic of ant nest-wall fungi.

Mutualism, whereby species interact to their mutual benefit, is extraordinary in a competitive world. To recognize general patterns of origin and maintenance from the plethora of mutualistic associations proves a persisting challenge. The simplest situation is believed to be that of a single mutualist specific to a single host, vertically transmitted from one host generation to the next. We characterized ascomycete fungal associates cultured for nest architecture by the ant subgenera Dendrolasius and Chthonolasius. The ants probably manage their fungal mutualists by protecting them against fungal competitors. The ant subgenera display different ant-to-fungus specificity patterns, one-to-two and many-to-one, and we infer vertical transmission, in the latter case overlaid by horizontal transmission. Possible evolutionary trajectories include a reversal from fungiculture by other Lasius subgenera and inheritance of fungi through life cycle interactions of the ant subgenera. The mosaic indicates how specificity patterns can be shaped by an interplay between host life-cycles and transmission adaptations.

Evaluation of a profile comparison system for the inclusion of people with disabilities in horticulture: A case study in Austria.

BACKGROUND: To promote the successful and sustainable inclusion of people with disabilities in different activities such as work, more precise job matching efforts may be of value, especially because people with disabilities are employed at a lower rate than people without disabilities. Requirement profiles as well as profile comparisons have not yet been recorded for horticultural work processes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to document precisely the work process of the cuttings production of the flower tradescantia and to compare the capabilities of people with disabilities with the requirements for this work process for the purpose of verifying that the tool employed was usable. METHODS: A skilled worker performed the cuttings production of tradescantias according to good horticultural practice. Additionally, five people with disabilities participated in this study. On the one hand, a structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. On the other hand, the work processes were documented with video recordings and described related to REFA (Association for Work Design, Business Organization and Corporate Development) and evaluated according to IMBA (Integration of People with Disabilities into the Working Environment). RESULTS: Apart from the too long working hours, the work in the cuttings production was feasible for the five subjects who had different types of disabilities. There were situations of underchallenges of different degrees, but no overchallenges. It was necessary to assess each subject individually for the risk of accident. CONCLUSIONS: IMBA proved to be an effective tool to evaluate and analyse work activities for the purpose of including people with disabilities into horticultural work processes. Thus, it has the potential to facilitate a socially sustainable and skill-oriented work participation for persons with disabilities.

Abandoning aggression but maintaining self-nonself discrimination as a first stage in ant supercolony formation.

An ant supercolony is a very large entity with very many queens. Although normal colonies of small extent and few queens remain distinct, a supercolony is integrated harmoniously over a large area [1, 2]. The lack of aggression is advantageous: Aggression is costly, involving direct and indirect losses and recognition errors [3, 4]. Indeed, supercolonial ants are among the ecologically most successful organisms [5-7]. But how supercolonies arise remains mysterious [1, 2, 8]. Suggestions include that reduced within-colony relatedness or reduced self-nonself discrimination would foster supercolony formation [1, 2, 5, 7, 9-12]. However, one risks confusing correlation and causality in deducing the evolution from distinct colonies to supercolonies when observing established supercolonies. It might help to follow up observations of another lack of aggression, that between single-queened colonies in some ant species. We show that the single-queened Lasius austriacus lacks aggression between colonies and occasionally integrates workers across colonies but maintains high within-colony relatedness and self-nonself discrimination. Provided that the ecological framework permits, reduced aggression might prove adaptive for any ant colony irrespective of within-colony relatedness. Abandoning aggression while maintaining discrimination might be a first stage in supercolony formation. This adds to the emphasis of ecology as central to the evolution of cooperation in general [13].

Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in broilers challenged with a multi-resistant E. coli strain and received ampicillin, an organic acid-based feed additive or a synbiotic preparation.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ampicillin, an organic acid-based feed additive and a synbiotic preparation on the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in the ceca of broilers. A total of 2000 broiler chickens (Ross 708) were randomly assigned to 5 groups with 8 replicates. The negative control group was the only group that was not subjected to avian pathogenic E. coli challenge, while all the other 4 groups received a multi-resistant E. coli strain that was resistant to ampicillin, cephalexin, and nalidixic acid as an oral challenge. The second group served as a challenge control, and the third group received the antibiotic ampicillin via water for 5 d. The fourth group received a feed additive based on organic acids and cinnamaldehyde, and the fifth group received a synbiotic preparation via feed and water. On day 17 and 38 of the trial, cecal samples from 3 birds from each of the 40 pens were obtained, and the E. coli counts and abundances of antibiotic-resistant E. coli were determined. Oral challenge with an avian pathogenic E. coli strain did not influence the performance, and there was no significant difference in growth performance between groups. The total E. coli count was lower (P < 0.05) in the group supplemented with the synbiotic than in the challenge control group on day 38 of the trial. Administration of an antibiotic for 5 d led to a significant increase in the abundance of E. coli strains resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cefoxitin, and ceftriaxone. There was no increase in the abundance of antibiotic-resistant E. coli observed in the groups that received feed supplemented with an organic acid/cinnamaldehyde-based feed additive or a synbiotic. Moreover, the effects of the tested feed additives on the prevalence of resistant E. coli are demonstrated by the lower ceftriaxone minimal inhibitory concentration values for this group than for the antibiotic group. Additionally, the synbiotic group exhibited lower ceftriaxone minimal inhibitory concentration values than the antibiotic group.

Evolution of morphological crypsis in the Tetramorium caespitum ant species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

Cryptic species are morphologically very similar to each other. To what extent stasis or convergence causes crypsis and whether ecology influences the evolution of crypsis has remained unclear. The Tetramorium caespitum complex is one of the most intricate examples of cryptic species in ants. Here, we test three hypotheses concerning the evolution of its crypsis: H1: The complex is monophyletic. H2: Morphology resulted from evolutionary stasis. H3: Ecology and morphology evolved concertedly. We confirmed (H1) monophyly of the complex; (H2) a positive relation between morphological and phylogenetic distances, which indicates a very slow loss of similarity over time and thus stasis; and (H3) a positive relation between only one morphological character and a proxy of the ecological niche, which indicates concerted evolution of these two characters, as well as a negative relation between p-values of correct species identification and altitude, which suggests that species occurring in higher altitudes are more cryptic. Our data suggest that species-specific morphological adaptations to the ecological niche are exceptions in the complex, and we consider the worker morphology in this complex as an adaptive solution for various environments.

Recent insertion/deletion (reINDEL) mutations: increasing awareness to boost molecular-based research in ecology and evolution.

Today, the comparative analysis of DNA molecules mainly uses information inferred from nucleotide substitutions. Insertion/deletion (INDEL) mutations, in contrast, are largely considered uninformative and discarded, due to our lacking knowledge on their evolution. However, including rather than discarding INDELs would be relevant to any research area in ecology and evolution that uses molecular data. As a practical approach to better understanding INDEL evolution in general, we propose the study of recent INDEL (reINDEL) mutations - mutations where both ancestral and derived state are seen in the sample. The precondition for reINDEL identification is knowledge about the pedigree of the individuals sampled. Sound reINDEL knowledge will allow the improved modeling needed for including INDELs in the downstream analysis of molecular data. Both microsatellites, currently still the predominant marker system in the analysis of populations, and sequences generated by next-generation sequencing, a promising and rapidly developing range of technologies, offer the opportunity for reINDEL identification. However, a 2013 sample of animal microsatellite studies contained unexpectedly few reINDELs identified. As most likely explanation, we hypothesize that reINDELs are underreported rather than absent and that this underreporting stems from common reINDEL unawareness. If our hypothesis applies, increased reINDEL awareness should allow gathering data rapidly. We recommend the routine reporting of either the absence or presence of reINDELs together with standardized key information on the nature of mutations when they are detected and the use of the keyword "reINDEL" to increase visibility in both instances of successful and unsuccessful search.

A near-infrared spectroscopy routine for unambiguous identification of cryptic ant species.

Species identification-of importance for most biological disciplines-is not always straightforward as cryptic species hamper traditional identification. Fibre-optic near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a rapid and inexpensive method of use in various applications, including the identification of species. Despite its efficiency, NIRS has never been tested on a group of more than two cryptic species, and a working routine is still missing. Hence, we tested if the four morphologically highly similar, but genetically distinct ant species Tetramorium alpestre, T. caespitum, T. impurum, and T. sp. B, all four co-occurring above 1,300 m above sea level in the Alps, can be identified unambiguously using NIRS. Furthermore, we evaluated which of our implementations of the three analysis approaches, partial least squares regression (PLS), artificial neural networks (ANN), and random forests (RF), is most efficient in species identification with our data set. We opted for a 100% classification certainty, i.e., a residual risk of misidentification of zero within the available data, at the cost of excluding specimens from identification. Additionally, we examined which strategy among our implementations, one-vs-all, i.e., one species compared with the pooled set of the remaining species, or binary-decision strategies, worked best with our data to reduce a multi-class system to a two-class system, as is necessary for PLS. Our NIRS identification routine, based on a 100% identification certainty, was successful with up to 66.7% of unambiguously identified specimens of a species. In detail, PLS scored best over all species (36.7% of specimens), while RF was much less effective (10.0%) and ANN failed completely (0.0%) with our data and our implementations of the analyses. Moreover, we showed that the one-vs-all strategy is the only acceptable option to reduce multi-class systems because of a minimum expenditure of time. We emphasise our classification routine using fibre-optic NIRS in combination with PLS and the one-vs-all strategy as a highly efficient pre-screening identification method for cryptic ant species and possibly beyond.

A statistical approach to root system classification.

Plant root systems have a key role in ecology and agronomy. In spite of fast increase in root studies, still there is no classification that allows distinguishing among distinctive characteristics within the diversity of rooting strategies. Our hypothesis is that a multivariate approach for "plant functional type" identification in ecology can be applied to the classification of root systems. The classification method presented is based on a data-defined statistical procedure without a priori decision on the classifiers. The study demonstrates that principal component based rooting types provide efficient and meaningful multi-trait classifiers. The classification method is exemplified with simulated root architectures and morphological field data. Simulated root architectures showed that morphological attributes with spatial distribution parameters capture most distinctive features within root system diversity. While developmental type (tap vs. shoot-borne systems) is a strong, but coarse classifier, topological traits provide the most detailed differentiation among distinctive groups. Adequacy of commonly available morphologic traits for classification is supported by field data. Rooting types emerging from measured data, mainly distinguished by diameter/weight and density dominated types. Similarity of root systems within distinctive groups was the joint result of phylogenetic relation and environmental as well as human selection pressure. We concluded that the data-define classification is appropriate for integration of knowledge obtained with different root measurement methods and at various scales. Currently root morphology is the most promising basis for classification due to widely used common measurement protocols. To capture details of root diversity efforts in architectural measurement techniques are essential.

Allele intersection analysis: a novel tool for multi locus sequence assignment in multiply infected hosts.

Wolbachia are wide-spread, endogenous α-Proteobacteria of arthropods and filarial nematodes. 15-75% of all insect species are infected with these endosymbionts that alter their host's reproduction to facilitate their spread. In recent years, many insect species infected with multiple Wolbachia strains have been identified. As the endosymbionts are not cultivable outside living cells, strain typing relies on molecular methods. A Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) system was established for standardizing Wolbachia strain identification. However, MLST requires hosts to harbour individual and not multiple strains of supergroups without recombination. This study revisits the applicability of the current MLST protocols and introduces Allele Intersection Analysis (AIA) as a novel approach. AIA utilizes natural variations in infection patterns and allows correct strain assignment of MLST alleles in multiply infected host species without the need of artificial strain segregation. AIA identifies pairs of multiply infected individuals that share Wolbachia and differ in only one strain. In such pairs, the shared MLST sequences can be used to assign alleles to distinct strains. Furthermore, AIA is a powerful tool to detect recombination events. The underlying principle of AIA may easily be adopted for MLST approaches in other uncultivable bacterial genera that occur as multiple strain infections and the concept may find application in metagenomic high-throughput parallel sequencing projects.

A multidisciplinary approach reveals cryptic diversity in Western Palearctic Tetramorium ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

Diversity of ants of the Tetramorium caespitum/impurum complex was investigated in a multidisciplinary study. Focusing on morphologically hardly distinguishable Western Palearctic samples, we demonstrate the genetic and phenotypic diversity, demarcate phylogenetic entities, and discuss the clades in terms of biogeography. Sequences of 1113bp of the mitochondrial COI gene revealed 13 lineages. COII data, worker morphometry and male genitalia morphology corroborated the COI results for seven lineages; the remaining six were disregarded because of small sample size. A comparison with published data on cuticular hydrocarbons showed correspondence. The seven entities show different distribution patterns, though some ranges overlap in Central Europe. Since no major discrepancy between the results of the different disciplines became apparent, we conclude that the seven entities within the T. caespitum/impurum complex represent seven species. Geographical evidence allows the identification of T. caespitum and T. impurum, and we therefore designate neotypes and redescribe the two species in terms of morphology and mtDNA. As the revision of about 50 taxon names would go beyond the scope of this study, we refer to the remaining five species under code names. We discuss our findings in terms of plesiomorphy and convergent evolution by visualizing the mtDNA phylogeny in morphological space.