USDA, university researchers develop near chromosome-level genome for the Mojave poppy bee

US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE - AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

 

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A MOJAVE POPPY BEE FEMALE PINNED SPECIMEN.

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CREDIT: MICHAEL BRANSTETTER, USDA AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

LOGAN, Utah, July 1, 2024 – Scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and university research partners developed a near chromosome-level genome for the Mojave poppy bee, a specialist pollinator of conservation concern, according to a recent Journal of Heredity paper.

Putting together the Mojave poppy bee genome is part of the Beenome100 project, a first-of-its-kind effort to create a library of high-quality, highly detailed genome maps of 100 or more diverse bee species found in the United States. Beenome100 is a collaborative undertaking led by ARS and the University of Illinois, with collaboration of researchers across ARS and universities in the United States and Canada. The expectation is that these genomes will help researchers answer the big questions about bees, such as what genetic differences make a bee species more vulnerable to climate change or whether a bee species is likely to be more susceptible to a pesticide.

Restricted to the eastern Mojave Desert, the Mojave poppy bee (Perdita meconis) is a solitary, mining bee of the Andrenidae family that specializes in pollinating the Las Vegas bearpoppy (Arctomecon californica) and the dwarf bearpoppy (Arctomecon humilis) -- the latter being protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as of 1979. The poppies are found primarily in gypsum soil deposits, which are rare and scattered throughout the region.

The Mojave poppy bee and Las Vegas bearpoppy are also being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Both species will be evaluated for potential declining populations and vulnerability to extinction due to climate change and to habitat loss from urban development and mining in their native region.

Researchers assembled the genome or genetic map that will help further to understand the Mojave poppy bee’s biological traits.

“The genome, with additional genetic sampling of individuals, will also potentially give us insights into the genetic basis for host-plant specialization, susceptibility to pesticides, and susceptibility to drought and climate tolerance,” said Rena Schweizer, a research entomologist at the ARS Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit in Logan, Utah.

In particular, the Mojave poppy bee is capable of weathering drought years by remaining in the ground in stasis -- a phenomenon called diapause. The trait is not well understood by researchers and, by having its genome sequenced, they may be able to learn about the genes and regulatory pathways that make the adaptation possible.

They will also use the genome to assess the species’ genetic health, find insights into how bees can be specialists or generalists, and look what the tradeoffs are in terms of a bee’s long-term fitness.

“It could also lead to us finding genetic signatures of decline,” said Schweizer. “By studying this one bee’s genome, we might be able to help conserve the bee better and identify other species that are in decline using genetic information.”

To develop the genome of the small and mighty bee, researchers isolated DNA from a single, small male specimen.

This genome assembly, according to Schweizer, is impressive given that the bee is tiny (a male bee averages five to seven millimeters in length). Researchers collected the specimen in the field in a remote wilderness location.  

“What is also remarkable about this research is that the specimen used for the genome was collected in non-ideal preservation methods,” said Schweizer. “We still obtained high-quality DNA from a field-collected specimen due to technological advancements in sequencing technology and learned more about this unique bee. We hope that our research will set the groundwork for developing genomes of other bee species.”

The detailed, high-resolution map of the reference genome is available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s database.

The research was done in collaboration with the University of Montana, Utah State University, and the ARS Tropical Pest Genetics and Molecular Biology Research Unit in Hilo, Hawaii.

The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.

A Mojave poppy bee male next to dime.

CREDIT

Chelsea Ritner, USDA Agricultural Research Service

JOURNAL

Journal of Heredity

DOI

10.1093/jhered/esad076/7471740 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Reference genome for the Mojave poppy bee (Perdita meconis), a specialist pollinator of conservation concern

 

Unlocking the grape's secret: how wounding boosts anthocyanin defenses

NANJING AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

 

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THE IMPACTS OF EXOGENOUS MEJA TREATMENT ON GRAPE ANTHOCYANIN SYNTHESIS. A, B PHENOTYPES (A) AND TOTAL ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT (B) OF ‘RED GLOBE’ GRAPE FRUITS TREATED WITH 100 ΜM MEJA FOR 7 DAYS. CONTROL, GRAPE FRUITS WITHOUT MEJA TREATMENT. SCALE BAR, 1 CM. C, D PHENOTYPES (C) AND TOTAL ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT (D) OF ‘GAMAY’ GRAPE CALLI CULTURED ON A B5 MEDIA CONTAINING 100 ΜM MEJA. CONTROL, GRAPE CALLI WITHOUT MEJA TREATMENT. SCALE BAR, 1 CM. E EXPRESSIONS OF JA SYNTHESIS GENES IN VVWRKY5-OE GRAPE CALLI. DATA ARE MEANS ± SDS OF THREE SEPARATE EXPERIMENTS. STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE AT P < 0.01 (**) WAS DETECTED USING TUKEY’S TEST.

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CREDIT: HORTICULTURE RESEARCH

A recent study sheds light on the biochemical response of grapevines to wounding stress. It reveals that the transcription factor VvWRKY5 is a key regulator that enhances anthocyanin production, which serves as a protective mechanism for the plant. This discovery provides insights into the genetic control of the plant's defense system and could lead to the development of more resilient and nutritious crops.

Anthocyanins are vital for plant defense, coloration, and attracting pollinators. They play a significant role in protecting plants from environmental stresses such as temperature fluctuations, drought, and pathogen attacks. Despite their importance, the molecular mechanisms underlying stress-induced anthocyanin production remain unclear. Based on these challenges, there is a pressing need to conduct in-depth research on the factors that enhance anthocyanin biosynthesis, particularly under stress conditions, to improve crop quality and resilience.

A study conducted by researchers from the College of Horticulture at Shenyang Agricultural University and the National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Northern Horticultural Facilities Design and Application Technology in China, published (DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhae083) on March 25, 2024, in Horticulture Research, reveals the molecular mechanisms of wounding-induced anthocyanin accumulation in grapes. The research focuses on the transcription factor VvWRKY5 and its interaction with VvMYBA1 and jasmonic acid (JA)biosynthesis.

The study identified VvWRKY5 as a crucial regulator in the enhancement of anthocyanin production in grapes under wounding stress. Upon wounding, the expression of VvWRKY5 significantly increased, leading to higher anthocyanin levels around the wound sites. VvWRKY5 interacts with VvMYBA1, a well-known regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis, enhancing VvMYBA1’s ability to activate target genes involved in this pathway. Additionally, VvWRKY5 promotes the biosynthesis of JA, a phytohormone that further stimulates anthocyanin accumulation. The combined action of VvWRKY5 and VvMYBA1 amplifies the grape’s response to wounding, resulting in robust anthocyanin production. These findings demonstrate the dual role of VvWRKY5 in both direct gene regulation and hormone-mediated pathways, providing a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind stress-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis in grapes.

Dr. Yinshan Guo, a corresponding author of the study, states, "Our findings shed light on the intricate regulatory mechanisms of anthocyanin biosynthesis in response to wounding stress. Understanding these processes opens up new avenues for enhancing the stress resilience and quality of grape crops through targeted genetic and agronomic interventions."

The insights gained from this study can be applied to improve grape cultivation practices, enhancing the quality and stress resistance of grape varieties. By leveraging the regulatory roles of VvWRKY5 and VvMYBA1, breeders and farmers can develop strategies to boost anthocyanin content, leading to better fruit coloration and increased market value. Additionally, this research provides a foundation for exploring similar mechanisms in other crops, potentially benefiting a wide range of horticultural practices.

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References

DOI

10.1093/hr/uhae083

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhae083

Funding information

The work was funded by the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-29-yc-6), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31972368), the Major Agricultural Science Projects of Liaoning Province (2023JH1/10200004), and the Science and Technology Program of Shenyang (23-410-2-03).

About Horticulture Research

Horticulture Research is an open access journal of Nanjing Agricultural University and ranked number one in the Horticulture category of the Journal Citation Reports ™ from Clarivate, 2022. The journal is committed to publishing original research articles, reviews, perspectives, comments, correspondence articles and letters to the editor related to all major horticultural plants and disciplines, including biotechnology, breeding, cellular and molecular biology, evolution, genetics, inter-species interactions, physiology, and the origination and domestication of crops.

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JOURNAL

Horticulture Research

DOI

10.1093/hr/uhae083 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

VvWRKY5 positively regulates wounding-induced anthocyanin accumulation in grape by interplaying with VvMYBA1 and promoting jasmonic acid biosynthesis

 

Watching others’ biased behavior unconsciously creates prejudice

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM

We unconsciously form prejudice toward groups when we see biased people interact with members of a group. That is according to new research by psychologists of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), who show for the first time that observational learning is an important mechanism of prejudice formation. Their results were published today in Science Advances.

David Amodio (UvA): ‘What we found in our research is that prejudice can form by merely observing other people’s social interactions. When an observer views a prejudiced person’s interaction with a group member, they unconsciously form the same prejudice. Moreover, because observers are unaware that they picked up this bias, they go on to act with prejudice in their own behavior.'

This mechanism helps to explain how societal prejudices spread so easily, for example, through the viewing of TV programmes, YouTube or other social media where biased interactions with a certain groups takes place. By merely observing those interactions, vicariously and with no direct contact, people may take on the same prejudices.

Experiment

During the experiments, a research participant viewed interactions between an actor and members of two different groups. Across participants, the actor varied in prejudice, but the behavior of group members was always identical. When observers later interacted with the same group members, observers showed a preference in line with the actor’s prejudice. Moreover, observers were unaware that they were influenced by the prejudiced actor; instead, they misperceived worse behavior from group members who interacted with a prejudiced actor, when in fact, members of both groups acted the same.

Bad behaviour

Amodio: 'A troubling implication is that, because the observer believes that their preference is based on objective evidence, they have no reason to question it or control it.'

Publication details

David T. Schultner (UvA), Björn R. Lindström (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden), Mina Cikara (Harvard University, USA), David M. Amodio (UvA). Transmission of social bias through observational learning. Science Advances (28 June 2024).  DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk2030

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adk20 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Transmission of social bias through observational learning

 

Evidently efficient: Self-organization of informal bus lines in the Global South

SELF ORGANIZATION IS @

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT DRESDEN

Public transport systems vary widely around the world. Developed countries in the Global North usually have centrally-planned public transport systems with fixed routes and timetables. In contrast, in the developing countries of the Global South, making up more than 80 % of the world's population, public transportation is mostly provided by informal transport services featuring ad hoc routes, e.g. in the form of privately organized minibus services. Due to their seemingly chaotic operation, such informal transport services are often considered as inefficient from an outside perspective. Due to a lack of data a systematic comparison was not possible so far. 

In a new scientific paper recently published in Nature Communications, Kush Mohan Mittal, Marc Timme and Malte Schröder from the Chair of Network Dynamics at TU Dresden analyze and compare the structural efficiency of more than 7,000 formal and informal bus lines across 36 cities and 22 countries. One of the central, surprising findings is that the routes of informal transport self-organize in a way that reaches or even exceeds the efficiency level of centralized services.  

Following on from the group's previous research on on-demand ridepooling, i.e. demand-driven shared taxi services, the research group has greatly expanded the scope for the current study and attempted to evaluate an immensely large sample that includes data from very different places around the world.  

In the countries of the Global South in particular, informal transport systems often cover areas where publicly organized transport does not offer services or is not affordable for a large proportion of users. In some cases, such services are organized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), but often by private, commercially motivated actors. "Our central question in the study was: How are the routes organized in the various systems? How efficient are they? Can we identify specific patterns, which similarities and differences do we see?" explains Malte Schröder. The study was based on freely available GPS route data for over 7,000 bus routes from the OpenStreetMap provider. In the case of informal transport services, this data is usually only available if it is collected by local volunteers. Using this data, the researchers analyzed how the routes are aligned with local population densities and the extent of detours being included into the routes.  

The findings call into question the general perception of informal transport as an 'inferior alternative' to centrally-organized services. Here too, more or less fixed routes, lines or travel corridors emerge. The typical routes are fairly straight in the central area of the routes, with more detours at the ends in order to cover larger areas. This pattern can be found in both centrally-organized and informal transport, and arises regardless of the different geography of the cities. "Informal transport, however, has fewer detours and more uniform routes than centrally-planned services, so the routes are efficient - and profitable even without the extensive subsidies that are common in the Global North," emphasizes Kush Mohan Mittal. Other factors that go beyond the examined structure of the routes could not be included in the analysis due to the still limited availability of data for informal transport. However, aspects such as wage levels, vehicle safety, driver training, predictability and reliability of services, etc., of course, play just as an important role in an efficient and sustainable public transport system as routing. 

Nevertheless, the findings of the study already show that existing informal systems should not simply be replaced by formal, centrally-planned routes. Instead, operators can build on the efficient self-organization and improve the services by increasing the frequency and reliability of informal transport. Public, centrally-organized services may also be able to learn from the routing of informal systems. This comprehensive analysis of informal transport systems underlines the potential benefits and calls for a paradigm shift in the way they are perceived and integrated into urban transport planning.

Paper title: Efficient self-organization of informal public transport networks
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49193-1
Authors: Kush Mohan Mittal, Marc Timme, Malte Schröder
Published: Nature Communications, 8 June 2024
Download: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49193-1  

Blogpost on ‘Springer Nature Research Communities’:
https://communities.springernature.com/posts/informal-transport-a-symphony-in-chaos

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-024-49193-1 

ARTICLE TITLE

Efficient self-organization of informal public transport networks

 

Prosocial influencers can promote societal cooperation

@ IN @CTION

PNAS NEXUS

A modeling study suggests that influential neighbors can be as effective as despotic leaders at promoting social cooperation. Prosocial behaviors can be difficult to sustain in large societies over the long term, as people give into the temptation to defect to strategies that prioritize the wellbeing of themselves and their immediate family. Stefani Crabtree and colleagues constructed a general theoretical framework to explore how cooperation could arise and be maintained in a large society. The authors explore three possible mechanisms for encouraging prosocial actions: neighbors that monitor one another for defection, despotic leaders who monitors and punishes at the whole-society level, and influencers that convince neighbors to cooperate. The authors built mathematical models and simulated individuals playing a common-pool resource game. The simulated society was made up of many types of agents; some agents always cooperated; some always defected; some cooperated and monitored their neighbors for cooperation; and some cooperated only after being caught defecting and punished. In some cases, the authors included influencers, who recruited neighbors to behave prosocially if the influencer found that cooperation resulted in higher individual gains for themselves than defection did. This strategy produced similar results in terms of average agent wealth as the strategies of having a strong leader that prevents detected defectors from ever defecting again. Both influencing and despotic leadership performed much better than monitoring by neighbors. The size of the fine for defecting influenced which strategy was most lucrative, with steep fines promoting cooperation. According to the authors, prosociality can be achieved via a multitude of methods, although punishment of defection is always required. 

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JOURNAL

PNAS Nexus

ARTICLE TITLE

Influential individuals can promote prosocial practices in heterogeneous societies: a mathematical and agent-based model

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Jul-2024

 

Public fails to appreciate risk of consuming raw milk, survey finds

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM:

Under half of Americans know raw milk is less safe to drink than pasteurized milk

ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

 

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LESS THAN HALF OF THOSE SURVEYED (47%) SAY RAW MILK IS LESS SAFE TO DRINK THAN PASTEURIZED MILK. FROM AN ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER SURVEY OF 1,031 U.S. ADULTS IN JUNE 2024.

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CREDIT: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER

PHILADELPHIA – Consuming raw milk or products made with it is riskier than drinking pasteurized milk. Yet fewer than half of U.S. adults know that drinking raw milk is less safe than drinking pasteurized milk and many Americans do not understand the risks of consuming raw milk, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s latest health survey. 

The survey finds that 47% percent of U.S. adults know that drinking raw milk is less safe than drinking pasteurized milk, while nearly a quarter (24%) of Americans either think incorrectly that pasteurization is not effective at killing bacteria and viruses in milk products (4%) or are not sure whether this is true (20%).

“It is important that anyone planning to consume raw milk be aware that doing so can make you sick and that pasteurization reduces the risk of milk-borne illnesses,” said Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.

APPC’s survey was conducted by SSRS, a market research company, on June 7-10, 2024, as a cross-sectional survey of 1,031 U.S. adults who are part of the SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus. The margin of error for total respondents is ±3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. (See the end of this release or the topline for further details.)

Why consuming raw milk is risky

Milk from animals including cows, sheep, and goats that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful germs is called unpasteurized or raw milk. Unpasteurized dairy products are estimated to “cause 840 times more illnesses and 45 times more hospitalizations than pasteurized products.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that consuming unpasteurized milk and products made from it “can expose people to germs such as Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella, and Salmonella.”

Heightening these concerns, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported in an open letter on June 6, 2024, that bird flu has been detected in cow’s milk. Cattle infected with avian influenza “shed the virus in their milk.” Technically known as highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) of the H5N1 subtype, the CDC has noted that H5N1 bird flu is “widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows.” The presence of H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in cattle in the United States in mid-March 2024. As of June 21, 2024, there had been four human cases of H5N1 in the United States since 2022, three in April and May of 2024 following exposure to cows and one in April 2022 following exposure to poultry. As of mid-June, 95 cattle herds in 12 states were identified as infected.

The FDA says it does not currently know whether the HPAI H5N1 virus can be transmitted to humans through consumption of raw milk and products made from raw milk from infected cows. However, a study conducted in mice concluded that the virus in “untreated milk can infect susceptible animals that consume it” and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says this suggests that drinking raw milk “may pose a risk of transmission to people.” As of mid-June 2024, the FDA concluded “that the totality of evidence continues to indicate that the commercial milk supply [which is pasteurized] is safe.”

Although the FDA has prohibited the interstate sale of raw milk since 1987, 30 states in the United States allow the sale of raw dairy milk in some form, according to the NIH. While an FDA food safety report in 2016 said just 4.4% of U.S. adults reported consuming raw milk at least once in the past year, raw milk sales have been increasing, according to the Associated Press, which reports that weekly sales of raw milk from late March to mid-May grew from 21% to as much as 65% over the same period last year.

What people know about the risks of raw milk and benefits of pasteurization

The CDC notes that “pasteurization is crucial for milk safety, killing harmful germs that can cause illness” and the NIH says “dairy milk purchased in the grocery store has been pasteurized – heated to a level high enough and long enough to kill most viruses or bacteria in the milk.”

Yet in the APPC survey, over half of the respondents (54%) either think drinking raw milk is safer (9%), just as safe (15%), or are unsure (30%) whether it is more or less safe than drinking pasteurized milk. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed question the effectiveness of pasteurization at killing bacteria and viruses in untreated milk – 20% are unsure whether it is effective and 4% incorrectly assert that it is not effective.

Who holds correct and mistaken beliefs about raw milk?

An analysis of survey data shows that adults who are 65 and older, college educated, or who identify with the Democratic Party are more likely to understand the benefits of pasteurization and to believe that pasteurization does not destroy the nutrients in milk. The survey finds that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that drinking raw milk is less safe than pasteurized milk (57% vs. 37%). People living in an urban environment also are more likely to believe that raw milk is less safe than pasteurized milk than people in a rural environment (49% vs. 32%).

“The difference in views of raw milk that we see between Democrats and Republicans is difficult to disentangle from the difference between rural and urban dwellers,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. “Those in rural areas are both more likely to identify as Republicans and to consume raw milk.”

However, a regression analysis conducted by APPC research analyst Shawn Patterson Jr. shows that both which political party one identifies with and where one lives independently predict an individual’s beliefs about the safety of raw milk. But the analysis also shows that where one lives does not independently predict beliefs about the effectiveness of pasteurization nor the effect pasteurization has on the nutrients of milk. (See the appendix for regression analysis.)

The nutritional value of pasteurized vs. raw milk

Viral online videos championing the purported benefits of raw milk attracted millions of views between late March, when the presence of bird flu virus was first confirmed in U.S. cattle, and mid-May, according to reports in the Associated Press and Washington Post. Drinking raw milk has been encouraged as well by some political leaders, including presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who told the audience at an October 2022 meeting of his Children’s Health Defense that he drinks raw milk exclusively.

Among the arguments advanced in favor of consuming raw milk is that pasteurization destroys valuable nutrients – but the CDC states that pasteurized milk “offers the same nutritional benefits without the risks of raw milk consumption.”

Our survey finds that less than half of Americans (43%) know that pasteurization “does not destroy nutrients in milk,” while 16% believe that it does destroy nutrients and 41% are not sure. Notably, the survey finds that younger people (18- to 29-year-olds) are more likely to believe than older adults (65 and older) that pasteurization destroys the nutrients in milk (25% vs. 5%) and Republicans are much more likely to believe it than Democrats (23% vs. 8%). Whether one lives in an urban vs. rural setting is not significantly different in this belief.

APPC’s survey

This study was conducted for APPC by SSRS, on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform. The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data collection was conducted from June 7–10, 2024 among a sample of 1,031 respondents. The survey was conducted via web (n=1,001) and telephone (n=30) and administered in English (n=1,005) and Spanish (n=26). The margin of error for total respondents is +/-3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older.

In addition to Patrick Jamieson, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and Shawn Patterson Jr., APPC’s survey team includes Ken Winneg, managing director of survey research.

Download the topline, appendix, and methodology statements.

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The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about communication’s role in advancing public understanding of political, science, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

Pasteurization inactivates highly infectious avian flu in milk

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

Highlights:

•    In late March 2024, H5N1 bird flu was detected in dairy cattle and then in raw milk.
•    Researchers tested hundreds of milk products from dozens of states for the virus.
•    No infectious virus was found in pasteurized milk products. 
•    Non-infectious traces of viral genetic material were found in 20% of samples. 
 
Washington, D.C.—In March 2024, dairy cows in Texas were found to be infected with highly pathogenic avian flu, or H5N1 bird flu, in the first known case of the virus spreading to cattle. Since then, H5N1 has been found in about 200 animals—and 3 people—across 12 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus was soon detected in raw milk, leading researchers to investigate whether dairy products pose a risk to consumers. 
 
“How far is the virus getting through?” asked Erica Spackman, Ph.D., a virologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Athens, Ga. To find out, she and her collaborators tested nearly 300 milk products from 132 processors. 
 
The researchers found no infectious virus in the samples, Spackman and her collaborators report this week in the Journal of Virology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. “Milk is safe,” she said. “Just like bacterial pathogens that occur in milk, or other viruses that could occur in milk, the sanitation processes that are in place are getting rid of the pathogens.”
 
The milk processing pipeline includes multiple layers of protection, Spackman said. Microbiological surveillance of milk products can identify pathogens, and milk from cows with mastitis or other disease conditions does not enter the food supply. Finally, heating during the pasteurization process can destroy H5N1 and other, more common bacterial pathogens. 
 
Bird flu primarily infects and spreads among migratory birds and can be transmitted to domestic poultry, but the virus has been detected in other animals as well. Recently, those have included cats, dogs and juvenile goats, as well as a polar bear in Alaska and elephant and fur seals in the Antarctic. However, the discovery of H5N1 on dairy farms in March was a surprise—the virus had never been found in dairy cattle before.
 
Soon after the discovery, diagnostic testing revealed that an infectious form of the virus was present in raw milk, suggesting the virus passes from cow to milk. That finding led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the USDA to investigate whether pasteurization effectively eliminated risks posed to consumers. Between April 18 and April 22, 2024, researchers used real-time PCR to analyze 297 samples of pasteurized retail milk products, including 23 types of products, collected from 17 states. 
 
“We did a viability assay to detect live virus and went as sensitive as we could to get even the least little bit of virus, but couldn’t detect anything,” Spackman said. Using PCR, the researchers did identify viral genetic material in 20% of samples. “It looks like the virus is just totally inactivated,” she said.
 
Spackman said the new findings “give us reassurance that what we have been doing— pasteurization—is keeping us safe from what we don’t know about.” 
 

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The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 32,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.

ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Virology

 

Moving beyond the 80-year-old solar cell equation

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY

Physicists from Swansea University and Åbo Akademi University have made a significant breakthrough in solar cell technology by developing a new analytical model that improves the understanding and efficiency of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices.

For nearly eight decades, the so-called Shockley diode equation has explained how current flows through solar cells; the electrical current that powers up your home or charges the battery bank. However, the new study challenges this traditional understanding for a specific class of next-generation solar cells, namely: thin-film solar cells.

These thin-film solar cells, made of flexible, low-cost materials have had limited efficiency due to factors that the existing analytical models couldn't fully explain.

The new study sheds light on how these solar cells achieve optimal efficiency. It reveals a critical balance between collecting the electricity generated by light and minimising losses due to recombination, where electrical charges cancel each other out.

"Our findings provide key insights into the mechanisms driving and limiting charge collection, and ultimately the power-conversion efficiency, in low-mobility PV devices," said the lead author, Dr Oskar Sandberg of Åbo Akademi University, Finland.

New Model Captures the Missing Piece

Previous analytical models for these solar cells had a blind spot: "injected carriers" - charges entering the device from the contacts. These carriers significantly impact recombination and limited efficiency.

"The traditional models just weren't capturing the whole picture, especially for these thin-film cells with low-mobility semiconductors," explained the principal investigator, Associate Professor Ardalan Armin of Swansea University. "Our new study addresses this gap by introducing a new diode equation specifically tailored to account for these crucial injected carriers and their recombination with those photogenerated."

“The recombination between injected charges and photogenerated ones is not a huge problem in traditional solar cells such as silicon PV which is hundreds of times thicker than next generation thin film PV such as organic solar cells,” Dr Sandberg added.

Associate Professor Armin said: “One of the brightest theoretical physicists of all times, Wolfgang Pauli once said ‘God made the bulk; the surface was the work of the devil’. As thin film solar cells have much bigger interfacial regions per bulk than traditional silicon; no wonder why they get affected more drastically by “the work of the devil” – that is recombination of precious photogenerated charges with injected ones near the interface!”

Impact on Future Solar Cell Development

This new model offers a new framework for designing more efficient thin solar cells and photodetectors, optimising existing devices, and analysing material properties. It can also aid in training machines used for device optimisation marking a significant step forward in the development of next-generation thin-film solar cells.

The article has been published in PRX Energy.

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JOURNAL

PRX Energy

DOI

10.1103/PRXEnergy.3.023008 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

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ARTICLE TITLE

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Using data and clinical research to improve patient care across national borders

Charité intensifies cooperation with CLALIT Health Services

CHARITÉ - UNIVERSITÄTSMEDIZIN BERLIN

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel impressively demonstrated how efficient patient data collection can be used to advance research into the prevention of infections and development of therapies. One of Israel's largest healthcare organizations, Clalit Health Services, has since been cooperating with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin with the aim of combining Israeli expertise in the use of "big data" with innovative biomedical research approaches by Charité scientists. As part of the cooperation, one of the first joint projects has now received EU funding. 

Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Clalit Health Services began working together in a strategic scientific partnership two years ago. "At first glance, both Charité, one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, and Clalit, a health management organization, may appear very different. However, this is precisely what makes this partnership so appealing and holds so much potential," explains Prof. Dr. Heyo Kroemer, CEO of Charité. "Clalit's particular strength lies in its outstanding digital infrastructure and its ability to put innovations such as AI-driven care platforms into practice on a large scale." Clalit Health Services, the largest public healthcare organization in Israel, operates a network of 14 hospitals, over 1,300 primary care clinics, pharmacies, and dental clinics, and serves approximately 5 million members. Through its innovation hub, Clalit Innovation, it promotes advanced research and development.

In June 2022, two Charité scientists – Prof. Friedemann Paul, director of the Experimental and Clinical Research Center and Prof. Leif Erik Sander, director of the Department for Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine – officially initiated the collaboration at a first scientific workshop. At this meeting, ten German-Israeli interdisciplinary research group tandems were established in the fields of AI and health data, immunology and infectious diseases, imaging, oncology, and cardiology. In June of this year, a second follow-up meeting took place at the Charité, where scientists from Tel Aviv and Berlin presented results and plans for ongoing joint projects in more than 40 lectures, and formed new project groups in the fields of women's health and mental health in workshops.  Prof. Dr. Joachim Spranger, Dean of Charité, expressed his enthusiasm at the opening of the event: "The collaboration with Clalit offers unique opportunities to improve data analysis and AI solutions. The processing and use of such high-quality health data makes it possible to better predict disease progression and treatment outcomes,  identify previously unknown disease patterns, and ultimately offer patients suitable diagnostic and therapeutic measures at an early stage.”

EU funds German-Israeli research project
One example of this future-oriented collaboration is the joint Charité and Clalit project EXPLORE – NB, led by PD Dr. Hedwig Deubzer, senior physician at the Charité Department of Pediatrics. It has recently been accepted in the HORIZON 2020 program ERA-NET and received funding of about 939.000 Euro. 

Together with her Israeli colleagues Dr. Esther Berko, Dr. Assaf Grunwald, Dr. Nurit Gal Mark, and other European partners, they will be working intensively over the next three years on the question of whether molecular markers of solid tumors in children, such as neuroblastoma, can also be identified in the so-called biofluids and thus less invasively. Biofluids include blood, bone marrow, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid. The liquid biopsies can be obtained minimally to non-invasively, with low risk, and can therefore be performed serially. Dr. Deubzer emphasizes: " Our hypothesis is that we can monitor therapy response with liquid biopsies and detect and understand the emergence of therapy resistance at an early stage. In EXPLORE-NB, we will focus on epigenetic changes. Our cooperation is based on the research goal of increasing the chances of recovery and improving health monitoring after childhood cancer. Together, we would therefore like to examine the significance of the EXPLORE-NB research data in a clinical study in the future."

Close cooperation despite challenges
Just how close the cooperation is after only two years and despite the pandemic and Middle East conflict is also demonstrated by the visiting professorship for Prof. Ran Balicer, funded by Stiftung Charité. The Israeli physician and public health expert Prof. Balicer will set up a working group at Charité over the next three years as part of Stiftung Charité's Visiting Fellowship Program and continue to promote cooperation between the two institutions. "We find this ongoing collaboration between Charité and Clalit to be of the highest scientific merit and potential clinical impact. The ability of top-notch clinicians and researchers on both sides to use the unparalleled data resources of Clalit has a strong synergistic effect that allows for groundbreaking research on multiple scientific domains," says Prof. Ran Balicer, Chief Innovation Officer of Clalit. He adds: "We are pleased to see the launch of a new cohort of collaborative efforts this week, and are sure these will further increase the beneficial impact this research has on patients' lives and wellbeing – in Germany, in Israel, and worldwide."

About Clalit Health Services 
Clalit is part of Israel's integrated healthcare system, of which around 52 percent of the approximately 10 million residents are members. It is a non-profit organization that integrates primary, specialist, and hospital care. With 14 hospitals, Clalit provides around 30 percent of inpatient beds in Israel. Of the 48,000 employees, 11,000 are doctors and 15,000 are nurses. The annual budget is 13.5 billion dollars.

Clalit Innovation 
Charité International Affairs 
EXPLORE – NB Project