UNLABELLED: We investigated the tripartite interactions between two intracellular bacterial symbionts, Cardinium and Wolbachia in Tyrophagus putrescentiae. Cultures of Tyrophagus putrescentiae are typically single-infected by one intracellular symbiont. However, co-infection can be experimentally induced by mixing single-infected cultures, resulting in 10% of mite individuals being double-infected (Cardinium + Wolbachia) and a corresponding reduction in host fitness. Here, we assembled the genomes of Cardinium and Wolbachia and analyzed their gene expression in parental single-infected and mixed mite cultures using population-level samples (ranging from 7,500 to 10,000 mites). Wolbachia interacts more extensively with its mite host than Cardinium in single-infected cultures. However, in mixed cultures, (i) Wolbachia exhibited reduced regulation of the host compared with Cardinium; (ii) the gene expression profile of Cardinium shifted, increasing its interactions with the host, whereas the gene expression profile of Wolbachia remained unchanged; and (iii) Wolbachia genes exhibited a loss of interactions with mite gene expression, as indicated by reduced correlations (for example with host MAPK, endocytosis, and calcium signaling pathways). The experiments show that at the mite population level, symbiont infection disrupts gene expression interaction between the two symbionts and their host in different ways. Wolbachia was more influenced by Cardinium gene expression than vice versa. Cardinium can inhibit the growth of Wolbachia by disrupting its interaction with the host, leading to a loss of Wolbachia's influence on mite immune and regulatory pathways. The reasons for responses are due to co-infection or the reduced frequency of Wolbachia single-infected individuals due to the analyses of population-level samples. IMPORTANCE: We found that Cardinium disrupts the interaction between Wolbachia and mite host. In Wolbachia single-infected cultures, strong correlations exist between symbiont and host gene expressions. Interestingly, although Cardinium can also interact with the host, this interaction appears weaker compared with Wolbachia in single-infected cultures. These results suggest that both symbionts affect mite host gene expression, particularly in immune and regulatory pathways. In mixed samples, Cardinium appears to outcompete Wolbachia by disrupting its host interaction. It indicates competition between these two intracellular symbionts in mite populations. Wolbachia belongs to a mite-specific supergroup Q, distinct from the more commonly studied Wolbachia supergroups. As these mite-specific bacteria exhibit pathogen-blocking effects, our findings may have relevance for other systems, such as ticks and tick-borne diseases. The study sheds light on intracellular symbiont interaction within a novel mite-symbiont model.

• MeSH
• Bacteroidetes * fyziologie   genetika   MeSH
• roztoči * mikrobiologie   MeSH
• symbióza MeSH
• Wolbachia * genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Microbial diversity plays a crucial role in litter decomposition. However, the relationships between microbial diversity and substrate successional stage are the drivers of this decomposition. In this study, we experimentally manipulated microbial diversity and succession in post-mining soil. We used leaf litter samples from two forests of a post-mining site near Sokolov, Czech Republic: one alder plantation and one mixed forest with birch aspen and willow. Litter from each site was decomposed in the field for 3 and 12 months. The litter was X-ray sterilized and part of the litter was kept unsterilized to produce inoculum. Leaf litter samples of two different ages (3 and 12 months) from each site were each inoculated with litter of two different ages (3 and 12 months), using less and more diluted inoculum, producing two levels of microbial diversity. In each of these eight treatments, the bacterial community was then characterized by amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and microbial respiration was used to assess the rate of decomposition. A significantly higher respiration (p < 0.05) was found for the litter inoculated with the higher level of microbial diversity. Higher respiration was also found for the younger litter compared to the older litter and both litter origins. This shows a reduction in microbial respiration with substrate age and inoculation diversity, suggesting that microbial diversity supports the decomposition of soil organic matter.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The ReAct (Recovery, Activity) project is an ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) supported initiative comprising a large consortium of laboratories. Here, the results from more than 23 laboratories are presented. The primary purpose was to design experiments simulating typical casework circumstances; collect data and to implement Bayesian networks to assess the value (i.e., likelihood ratio) of DNA results given activity level propositions. Two different experimental designs were used to simulate a robbery, where a screwdriver was used to force a door or window. Propositions and case information were chosen following laboratory feedback listing typical casework circumstances (included in the paper). In a direct transfer experiment, the defendant owned and used the screwdriver, but he did not force the door/window in question. An unknown person used the defendant's stolen screwdriver. In an indirect transfer experiment, the defendant neither owned, saw, nor used the screwdriver, nor did they force the door or window. For the second experiment, given the defence view, the defendant never held the screwdriver. We envisaged the situation where an object manipulated by the defendant (or the defendant himself/herself) would be touched by the unknown offender who would then force the window. It was found for the direct transfer experiment that unless a single contributor profile aligning with the known person's of interest profile was retrieved, the results did not allow to discriminate between propositions. On the other hand, for the indirect transfer experiment, both single and major contributor profiles that aligned with the person of interest (POI) supported the proposition that the person used the tool rather than an unknown person who had touched an object, when indeed the former was true. There was considerable variation in median recoveries of DNA between laboratories (between 200pg-5ng) for a given experiment if quantities are taken into account. These differences affect the likelihood ratios given activity level propositions. More than 2700 samples were analysed in the course of this study. Two different Bayesian Networks are made available via an open source application written in Shiny R: Shiny_React(). For comparison, all datasets were analysed using a qualitative method categorised into absent, single, major or other given contributors. The importance of standardising methods is emphasised, alongside the necessity of developing new approaches to assign the probability of laboratory-dependent DNA recovery. Freely accessible open databases play a crucial role in supporting these efforts.

• MeSH
• Bayesova věta * MeSH
• DNA fingerprinting * MeSH
• DNA * genetika   MeSH
• laboratoře * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mikrosatelitní repetice MeSH
• pravděpodobnostní funkce MeSH
• soudní genetika metody   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

It has long been known that environmental conditions, particularly during development, affect morphological and functional properties of the brain including sensory systems; manipulating the environment thus represents a viable way to explore experience-dependent plasticity of the brain as well as of sensory systems. In this review, we summarize our experience with the effects of acoustically enriched environment (AEE) consisting of spectrally and temporally modulated complex sounds applied during first weeks of the postnatal development in rats and compare it with the related knowledge from the literature. Compared to controls, rats exposed to AEE showed in neurons of several parts of the auditory system differences in the dendritic length and in number of spines and spine density. The AEE exposure permanently influenced neuronal representation of the sound frequency and intensity resulting in lower excitatory thresholds, increased frequency selectivity and steeper rate-intensity functions. These changes were present both in the neurons of the inferior colliculus and the auditory cortex (AC). In addition, the AEE changed the responsiveness of AC neurons to frequency modulated, and also to a lesser extent, amplitude-modulated stimuli. Rearing rat pups in AEE leads to an increased reliability of acoustical responses of AC neurons, affecting both the rate and the temporal codes. At the level of individual spikes, the discharge patterns of individual neurons show a higher degree of similarity across stimulus repetitions. Behaviorally, rearing pups in AEE resulted in an improvement in the frequency resolution and gap detection ability under conditions with a worsened stimulus clarity. Altogether, the results of experiments show that the exposure to AEE during the critical developmental period influences the frequency and temporal processing in the auditory system, and these changes persist until adulthood. The results may serve for interpretation of the effects of the application of enriched acoustical environment in human neonatal medicine, especially in the case of care for preterm born children.

• MeSH
• akustická stimulace * MeSH
• akustika MeSH
• colliculus inferior růst a vývoj   fyziologie   MeSH
• krysa rodu rattus MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• neurony fyziologie   MeSH
• neuroplasticita * fyziologie   MeSH
• novorozená zvířata MeSH
• sluchová dráha * růst a vývoj   fyziologie   MeSH
• sluchová percepce MeSH
• sluchové korové centrum * růst a vývoj   fyziologie   MeSH
• věkové faktory MeSH
• životní prostředí MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• krysa rodu rattus MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

The development of craniofacial skeletal structures is fascinatingly complex and elucidation of the underlying mechanisms will not only provide novel scientific insights, but also help develop more effective clinical approaches to the treatment and/or prevention of the numerous congenital craniofacial malformations. To this end, we performed a genome-wide analysis of RNA transcription from non-coding regulatory elements by CAGE-sequencing of the facial mesenchyme of human embryos and cross-checked the active enhancers thus identified against genes, identified by GWAS for the normal range human facial appearance. Among the identified active cis-enhancers, several belonged to the components of the PI3/AKT/mTORC1/autophagy pathway. To assess the functional role of this pathway, we manipulated it both genetically and pharmacologically in mice and zebrafish. These experiments revealed that mTORC1 signaling modulates craniofacial shaping at the stage of skeletal mesenchymal condensations, with subsequent fine-tuning during clonal intercalation. This ability of mTORC1 pathway to modulate facial shaping, along with its evolutionary conservation and ability to sense external stimuli, in particular dietary amino acids, indicate that the mTORC1 pathway may play a role in facial phenotypic plasticity. Indeed, the level of protein in the diet of pregnant female mice influenced the activity of mTORC1 in fetal craniofacial structures and altered the size of skeletogenic clones, thus exerting an impact on the local geometry and craniofacial shaping. Overall, our findings indicate that the mTORC1 signaling pathway is involved in the effect of environmental conditions on the shaping of craniofacial structures.

• MeSH
• dánio pruhované * MeSH
• dieta MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mTORC1 MeSH
• myši MeSH
• proteiny MeSH
• signální transdukce * MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Throughout human evolutionary history, snakes have been associated with danger and threat. Research has shown that snakes are prioritized by our attentional system, despite many of us rarely encountering them in our daily lives. We conducted two high-powered, pre-registered experiments (total N = 224) manipulating target prevalence to understand this heightened prioritization of threatening targets. Target prevalence refers to the proportion of trials wherein a target is presented; reductions in prevalence consistently reduce the likelihood that targets will be found. We reasoned that snake targets in visual search should experience weaker effects of low target prevalence compared to non-threatening targets (rabbits) because they should be prioritized by searchers despite appearing rarely. In both experiments, we found evidence of classic prevalence effects but (contrasting prior work) we also found that search for threatening targets was slower and less accurate than for nonthreatening targets. This surprising result is possibly due to methodological issues common in prior studies, including comparatively smaller sample sizes, fewer trials, and a tendency to exclusively examine conditions of relatively high prevalence. Our findings call into question accounts of threat prioritization and suggest that prior attention findings may be constrained to a narrow range of circumstances.

• MeSH
• biologická evoluce MeSH
• hadi MeSH
• králíci MeSH
• Lagomorpha * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• pozornost MeSH
• reakční čas MeSH
• strach * MeSH
• zraková percepce MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• králíci MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor transmits and triggers viral infections that have deleterious effects on honey bee colonies worldwide. We performed a manipulative experiment in which worker bees collected at emergence were exposed to Varroa for 72 h, and their proteomes were compared with those of untreated control bees. Label-free quantitative proteomics identified 77 differentially expressed A. mellifera proteins (DEPs). In addition, viral proteins were identified by orthogonal analysis, and most importantly, Deformed wing virus (DWV) was found at high levels/intensity in Varroa-exposed bees. Pathway enrichment analysis suggested that the main pathways affected included peroxisomal metabolism, cyto-/exoskeleton reorganization, and cuticular proteins. Detailed examination of individual DEPs revealed that additional changes in DEPs were associated with peroxisomal function. In addition, the proteome data support the importance of TGF-β signaling in Varroa-DWV interaction and the involvement of the mTORC1 and Hippo pathways. These results suggest that the effect of DWV on bees associated with Varroa feeding results in aberrant autophagy. In particular, autophagy is selectively modulated by peroxisomes, to which the observed proteome changes strongly corresponded. This study complements previous research with different study designs and suggests the importance of the peroxisome, which plays a key role in viral infections.

• MeSH
• hmyzí proteiny metabolismus   MeSH
• interakce hostitele a parazita MeSH
• peroxizomy * metabolismus   virologie   MeSH
• proteom metabolismus   analýza   MeSH
• proteomika metody   MeSH
• RNA-viry * fyziologie   MeSH
• signální transdukce MeSH
• Varroidae * virologie   MeSH
• včely virologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Gender dysphoria (GD) is marked by an incongruence between a person's biological sex at birth, and their felt gender (or gender identity). There is continuing debate regarding the benefits and drawbacks of physiological treatment of GD in children, a pathway, beginning with endocrine treatment to suppress puberty. Currently, the main alternative to physiological treatment consists of the so-called "wait-and-see" approach, which often includes counseling or other psychotherapeutic treatment. In this paper, we argue in favor of a "third pathway" for the diagnosis and treatment of GD in youths. To make our case, we draw on a recent development in bioethics: the phenomenological approach. Scholars such as Slatman and Svenaeus have argued that the extent to which the body can (or should be) manipulated or reconstructed through medical intervention is not only determined by consideration of ethical frameworks and social and legal norms. Rather, we must also take account of patients' personal experience of their body, the personal and social values associated with it, and their understanding of its situation in their life: their narrative identities. We apply this phenomenological approach to medicine and nursing to the diagnosis and treatment of GD in youth. In particular, we discuss Zahavi and Martiny's conception of the phenomenological interview, in order to show that narrative techniques can assist in the process of gender identification and in the treatment of youth presenting with GD. We focus on two case studies that highlight the relevance of a narrative-based interview in relations between patients, HCPs, and family, to expose the influence of social ideologies on how young people presenting with GD experience their bodies and gender.

• MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• fertilizace MeSH
• gender dysphoria * diagnóza   terapie   psychologie   MeSH
• genderová identita MeSH
• lékařství * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• puberta MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

In everyday life, we often view objects through a limited aperture (e.g., soccer players on TV or cars slipping into our blind spot on a busy road), where objects often move out of view and reappear in a different place later. We modelled this situation in a series of multiple object tracking (MOT) experiments, in which we introduced a cover on the edges of the observed area and manipulated its width. This method introduced systematic occlusions, which were longer than those used in previous MOT studies. Experiment 1 (N = 50) showed that tracking under such conditions is possible, although difficult. An item-level analysis confirmed that people made more errors in targets that were covered longer and more often. In Experiment 2 (N = 50), we manipulated the tracking workload and found that the participants were less affected by the cover when the tracking load was low. In Experiment 3 (N = 50), we asked the participants to keep track of the objects' identities (multiple identity tracking [MIT]). Although MIT is subjectively more demanding, memorising identities improved performance in the most difficult cover conditions. Contrary to previous reports, we also found that even partial occlusions negatively affected tracking.

• MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• pozornost * MeSH
• vnímání pohybu * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Status epilepticus (SE) is the most common neurologic emergency in children. Both clinical and laboratory studies have demonstrated that SE in early life can cause brain damage and permanent behavioral abnormalities, trigger epileptogenesis, and interfere with normal brain development. In experimental rodent models, the consequences of seizures are dependent upon age, the model used, and seizure duration. In studies involving neonatal and infantile animals, the model used, experimental design, conditions during the experiment, and manipulation of animals can significantly affect the course of the experiments as well as the results obtained. Standardization of laboratory approaches, harmonization of scientific methodology, and improvement in data collection can improve the comparability of data among laboratories.

• MeSH
• laboratorní zvířata MeSH
• modely nemocí na zvířatech MeSH
• mozek MeSH
• status epilepticus * MeSH
• záchvaty MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH