Category: Ecology

In a recent “best-of-2022” release by the journal ‘ Trends in Parasitology’, Dr Jamie Bojko and colleagues’ contribution was highlighted as one of the most influential papers on parasitology. Their manuscript explores the history of microsporidian taxonomy, and provides an up-to-date perspective on well-studied species, highlighting the future of the field and how a stable taxonomy is needed to provide consensus information for all research teams involved, from human pathologists through to marine scientists.

Open access link: https://www.cell.com/trends/parasitology/collections/best-of-2022

Dr Jamie Bojko recently presented at the Sanger Institute (Cambridge) in their ‘Tree of Life’ series. His presentation included our current perspective on microsporidian taxonomy and how high-quality genomes and a greater understanding of microsporidian biology will help us to create a more accurate phylogeny for this strange group of obligate parasites.

Human travel and transport has resulted in the introduction of several ‘invasive’ species to new global locations. In one instance, trade routes across Europe have moved freshwater crustaceans from the Ponto-Caspian region (Ukraine/western Russia/etc.) to lakes and rivers across Poland, Germany, France and more. The “tank shrimp” Pontogammarus robustoides, is one such invasive species – it has significant impacts on the ecosystems that it invades. In this case, we conducted a parasitological screening study to look for diseases that this amphipod might carry. We found a huge range of new parasites, from viruses and bacteria to large worms and other parasites. Now that we know of these parasites, we can consider their potential risk to new ecosystems if this species makes it way to other sites, potentially including the invasion of the UK, following in the footsteps of the killer and demon shrimp.

Click here for link to read more:

Histopathological screening of Pontogammarus robustoides (Amphipoda), an invader on route to the United Kingdom – ScienceDirect

One of nature’s most intriguing species is the pangolin. It is the size of a small dog, covered in scales with a tail like a dinosaur, powerful claws, a long snout, no teeth and a very long serpentine tongue. Pangolins eat ants, termites, and larvae that they pick up using their sticky tongues. To protect themselves from predators, they will curl into a tight ball and will use their sharp-scaled tails to defend themselves. Worldwide, there are eight species, four in Africa and four in Asia with some species living on the ground and others occurring in trees. Sadly, they are regarded as the most trafficked wild mammals in the world, as they are considered culturally significant in Africa and Asia due to their unique appearance and habits. In 2017, a ban on international commercial trade of all eight species took effect. However, despite this, nearly 70 countries and territories have been involved in the illegal pangolin trade in the last decade. A recent news article details how an undercover sting outwitted pangolin traffickers (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66375281).

To learn more about these fascinating creatures check out some books that Dr Desiré Dalton (Lecturer, Teesside University) has contributed to (https://shop.elsevier.com/books/pangolins/challender/978-0-12-815507-3 and http://opus.sanbi.org/jspui/handle/20.500.12143/8591) or have a look at her research (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27510566/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28177847/).

We are excited to announce a recent promotion in our team, Dr Jamie Bojko is now an Associate Professor.  jamie specialises in invertebrate pathology, including histopathology, molecular diagnostics and metagenomics.

Jamie is currently at presenting his research work at the society of invertebrate pathology

Congratulations

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Very exciting to announce that Dr Jamie Bojko received the 2023 Early Career Award from the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, well done outstanding achievement.

Migration strategies within the tropics are poorly understood as are the drivers of movement and the degree of connectivity between sites in migrant birds that have their global range and life cycle exclusively on a single continent (intra-continental migrants). Dr Desiré Lee Dalton (Lecturer, Teesside University), Dr Jamie Bojko (Senior Lecturer, Teesside University) and collaborators have conducted a study on Diederik Cuckoo, an African bird species that is widely distributed south of the Sahara which migrates seasonally between breeding and nonbreeding sites. The aim of the study was to determine if the species is a single panmictic population or if it is genetically structured. Assessment of five morphometric measures did not identify differences between locality or sex. We additionally identified a lack of phylogeographic structure between populations from the northern and southern ends of the distribution which may be attributed to high levels of contemporary gene flow. However, we detected two genetic lineages that occurred in sympatry at a single location in South Africa (Limpopo). The sympatric lineages in the Diederik Cuckoo could be linked to maternal divergence in host selection of these brood parasites — a hypothesis requiring additional data to be tested.

Access the publication through the publisher’s website with this link (https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2023.2222230)

How do you determine how old an animal is? One way is to look at the teeth (tooth layer annulation and otolith layering). However, these methods are invasive and can generally only be used post-mortem, especially in wild animals as an age-at-death estimation. Two DNA based methods have been suggested as appropriate to determine age. Telomeres occur at the ends of chromosomal DNA and shorten as an animal ages. Aging is also correlated with changes in DNA methylation where a small molecule called a methyl group are added to the DNA. Louis-Stéphane IV Le Clercq a PhD student of Dr Desiré Lee Dalton (Lecturer in Forensic Science, Teesside University) has conducted a meta-analysis study that included 40 species and 60 age-estimation models. The study indicated that both methods can be used in studying age in animals and do not suffer significantly from variation due to differences in the lifespan of the species, genome size, karyotype, or tissue type but rather that quantitative method, patterns of inheritance, and environmental factors should be the main considerations. However, methylation may be superior to telomere length in terms of accuracy and cross-taxa portability; however, costs may be higher depending on the technique use to study methylation.

An animal cell indicating the mechanisms of cellular ageing at the molecular level that are currently used as molecular biomarkers for age.

Access the publication through the publisher’s website with this link (DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12992)