Long-term organic farming fosters below and aboveground biota: Implications for soil quality, biological control and productivity

Organic farming may contribute substantially to future agricultural production worldwide by improving soil quality and pest control, thereby reducing environmental impacts of conventional farming. We investigated in a comprehensive way soil chemical, as well as below and aboveground biological parameters of two organic and two conventional wheat farming systems that primarily differed in fertilization and weed management strategies. Contrast analyses identified management related differences between “herbicide-free” bioorganic (BIOORG) and biodynamic (BIODYN) systems and conventional systems with (CONFYM) or without manure (CONMIN) and herbicide application within a long-term agricultural experiment (DOK trial, Switzerland). Soil carbon content was significantly higher in systems receiving farmyard manure and concomitantly microbial biomass (fungi and bacteria) was increased. Microbial activity parameters, such as microbial basal respiration and nitrogen mineralization, showed an opposite pattern, suggesting that soil carbon in the conventional system (CONFYM) was more easily accessible to microorganisms than in organic systems. Bacterivorous nematodes and earthworms were most abundant in systems that received farmyard manure, which is in line with the responses of their potential food sources (microbes and organic matter). Mineral fertilizer application detrimentally affected enchytraeids and Diptera larvae, whereas aphids benefited. Spider abundance was favoured by organic management, most likely a response to increased prey availability from the belowground subsystem or increased weed coverage. In contrast to most soil-based, bottom-up controlled interactions, the twofold higher abundance of this generalist predator group in organic systems likely contributed to the significantly lower abundance of aboveground herbivore pests (aphids) in these systems. Long-term organic farming and the application of farmyard manure promoted soil quality, microbial biomass and fostered natural enemies and ecosystem engineers, suggesting enhanced nutrient cycling and pest control. Mineral fertilizers and herbicide application, in contrast, affected the potential for top-down control of aboveground pests negatively and reduced the organic carbon levels. Our study indicates that the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicide application changes interactions within and between below and aboveground components, ultimately promoting negative environmental impacts of agriculture by reducing internal biological cycles and pest control. On the contrary, organic farming fosters microbial and faunal decomposers and this propagates into the aboveground system via generalist predators thereby increasing conservation biological control. However, grain and straw yields were 23% higher in systems receiving mineral fertilizers and herbicides reflecting the trade-off between productivity and environmental responsibility.     

Successful engraftment of cultured autologous mesenchymal stem cells in a surgically repaired soft palate defect in an adult horse

The objective of this study was to graft autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at the site of surgical repair of a soft palate defect in an adult horse in an attempt to improve wound healing and to investigate whether the transplanted MSCs would integrate into the soft palate structure and participate in regeneration. Bone marrow was collected from an adult horse with a full-thickness soft palate defect. The MSCs were isolated, cultured in monolayers, and labeled with 5-bromo-2-desoxymidine (BrdU) and chloromethylbenzamido-DiI-derived (cm-DiI) before transplantation. The soft palate defect was repaired by mandibular symphysiotomy, and the labeled MSCs were injected into the repaired soft palate. Postmortem examination revealed that 90% of the soft palate defect had been sutured. Staining by BrdU and cm-DiI was intense in the soft palate tissue. Labeled MSCs were detected in tissue slices from the injection sites. The cells were organized in a manner similar to that in native soft palate tissue, indicating successful engraftment.     

Polyserositis in pigs due to generalized Escherichia coli infection.

A fibrinous polyserositis syndrome due to generalized Escherichia coli infection in pigs was observed in 13 out of 17 systematically monitored herds. The mortality rate was approximately 0.1% among liveborn pigs. The occurrence was usually sporadic but a minor enzootic was observed in one herd. Most of the affected pigs succumbed during first or second week of life but cases were observed throughout the suckling period. The clinical signs included marked depression, anorexia, rough haircoat, laboured respiration and death in two to five days. Predominant gross pathological lesions were signs of septicaemia and a voluminous, gelatinous and fibrinous exudate in the pleural, the pericardial and the peritoneal cavities. Frequently also a firbinous polyarthritis and a fibrinous pneumonia were present. The majority of the isolated invasive E. coli strains were nonhaemolytic. Serologically 11 different E. coli O groups were encountered. O group most frequently represented was 020. None of the examined E. coli strains belonged to the serogroups which frequently are associated with enteropathogenicity in pigs.     

Persistance of intramuscular deposits of vitamin D3 in slaughter pigs.

In pigs given injections of 1.5 mill IU vitamin D3 in oil intramuscularly 9, 5 or 3 weeks before slaughter residues in the depots were very high (table 1). Certain cuts of pork from pigs treated in this way should therefore be regarded as unacceptably polluted. Furthermore the practise of using oily vitamin D preparations for injection in veterinary medicine appears to be unjustified in modern husbandry.     

Site fidelity and movements of an amphidromous goby revealed by otolith multi‐elemental signatures along a tropical watershed

Otolith microchemistry can provide crucial information to address gaps of knowledge in spatio‐temporal ecology of fish species. However, understanding the seasonal variability of water chemistry and its effect on otolith signatures is needed to interpret fish movements. Otolith multi‐elemental signatures were used to examine the diadromous migration and small‐scale movements of a tropical goby (Sicyopterus lagocephalus) within a watershed in La Réunion Island, Indian Ocean. The elemental ratios Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca and Sr:Ba recorded monthly in the water of nine sampling sites varied between localities and were correlated with otolith signatures, whereas the Mg:Ca signature was not. The incorporation of some trace elements in otoliths was influenced by the size of fish and site where they were caught, reflecting an effect of endogenous and exogenous factors. Despite these sources of variation, the elemental signatures did not overlap for three river sections distributed along the 26‐km‐long watershed. The diadromous migration and fish lifetime movements between these river sections were reconstructed using an original process based on random forest analysis. This approach revealed distinct migratory behaviours after fish entered in the river, with some individuals progressing slowly in the watershed whereas other rapidly reached the upper localities. As adults, S. lagocephalus showed a restricted exploratory behaviour and a strong site fidelity to a particular part of the watershed. The detection of adult movement was typically only between adjacent locations and is possibly explained by shifts in local intraspecific hierarchies and/or displacement during extreme discharge caused by cyclones.     

Rapid pneumococcal evolution in response to clinical interventions

Epidemiological studies of the naturally transformable bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae have previously been confounded by high rates of recombination. Sequencing 240 isolates of the PMEN1 (Spain(23F)-1) multidrug-resistant lineage enabled base substitutions to be distinguished from polymorphisms arising through horizontal sequence transfer. More than 700 recombinations were detected, with genes encoding major antigens frequently affected. Among these were 10 capsule-switching events, one of which accompanied a population shift as vaccine-escape serotype 19A isolates emerged in the USA after the introduction of the conjugate polysaccharide vaccine. The evolution of resistance to fluoroquinolones, rifampicin, and macrolides was observed to occur on multiple occasions. This study details how genomic plasticity within lineages of recombinogenic bacteria can permit adaptation to clinical interventions over remarkably short time scales.     

Early Archaean microorganisms preferred elemental sulfur, not sulfate

Microscopic sulfides with low 34S/32S ratios in marine sulfate deposits from the 3490-million-year old Dresser Formation, Australia, have been interpreted as evidence for the presence of early sulfate-reducing organisms on Earth. We show that these microscopic sulfides have a mass-independently fractionated sulfur isotopic anomaly (Delta33S) that differs from that of their host sulfate (barite). These microscopic sulfides could not have been produced by sulfate-reducing microbes, nor by abiologic processes that involve reduction of sulfate. Instead, we interpret the combined negative delta34S and positive Delta33S signature of these microscopic sulfides as evidence for the early existence of organisms that disproportionate elemental sulfur.     

CRISPR provides acquired resistance against viruses in prokaryotes

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are a distinctive feature of the genomes of most Bacteria and Archaea and are thought to be involved in resistance to bacteriophages. We found that, after viral challenge, bacteria integrated new spacers derived from phage genomic sequences. Removal or addition of particular spacers modified the phage-resistance phenotype of the cell. Thus, CRISPR, together with associated cas genes, provided resistance against phages, and resistance specificity is determined by spacer-phage sequence similarity.