University of Maine at Fort Kent

Microbial source tracking (MST) describes a suite of methods and an investigative strategy for determination of fecal pollution sources in environmental waters that rely on the association of certain fecal microorganisms with a particular host. MST is used to assess recreational water quality and associated human health risk, and total maximum daily load allocations. Many methods rely on signature molecules (markers) such as DNA sequences of host-associated microorganisms. Human sewage pollution is among the greatest concerns for human health due to (1) the known risk of exposure to human waste and (2) the public and regulatory will to reduce sewage pollution; however, methods to identify animal sources are receiving increasing attention as our understanding of zoonotic disease potential improves. Here, we review the performance of MST methods in initial reports and field studies, with particular emphasis on quantitative PCR (qPCR). Relationships among human-associated MST markers, fecal indicator bacteria, pathogens, and human health outcomes are presented along with recommendations for future research. An integrated understanding of the advantages and drawbacks of the many MST methods targeting human sources advanced over the past several decades will benefit managers, regulators, researchers, and other users of this rapidly growing area of environmental microbiology.

Industrial wind turbines (IWTs) are a new source of noise in previously quiet rural environments. Environmental noise is a public health concern, of which sleep disruption is a major factor. To compare sleep and general health outcomes between participants living close to IWTs and those living further away from them, participants living between 375 and 1400 m (n = 38) and 3.3 and 6.6 km (n = 41) from IWTs were enrolled in a stratified cross-sectional study involving two rural sites. Validated questionnaires were used to collect information on sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Score - ESS), and general health (SF36v2), together with psychiatric disorders, attitude, and demographics. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the effect of the main exposure variable of interest (distance to the nearest IWT) on various health outcome measures. Participants living within 1.4 km of an IWT had worse sleep, were sleepier during the day, and had worse SF36 Mental Component Scores compared to those living further than 1.4 km away. Significant dose-response relationships between PSQI, ESS, SF36 Mental Component Score, and log-distance to the nearest IWT were identified after controlling for gender, age, and household clustering. The adverse event reports of sleep disturbance and ill health by those living close to IWTs are supported.

The ecological continuity of 28 northern hardwoods, spruce–fir (Picea–Abies), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis L. Carrière), and eastern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.), stands in the Canadian Maritimes has been assessed and the sites ranked among 77 stands in the Acadian Forest Ecoregion using an index of ecological continuity based on the total number of calicioid lichens and fungi collected at each site. Distinguished by their tiny (1–2 mm tall) stipitate apothecia, the calicioid lichens and fungi are a natural unit of investigation, with most species dependent on the occurrence of mature forests containing trees of different ages and varied light and temperature regimes. Given that the diversity of microhabitats can be expected to increase over time in an ageing forest and that the calicioid lichens and fungi can be found growing in more of these microhabitats than any other group of species, it is the presence or absence of these species that provides the evidence whether a forest that looks old really is old and has been little disturbed over a long period of time. Among the stands under investigation in the Maritimes, the wilderness areas at French River, Panuke Lake, Margaree River, North River, and Sugarloaf Mountain in Nova Scotia, the Little Tobique cedar stand at Mount Carleton Provincial Park in New Brunswick, and the Townshend Woodlot Natural Area on Prince Edward Island have been assessed as ancient forest sites based on of the presence of more than 15 calicioid species. Described here as the oldest of the old growth, an ancient forest is defined as a fourth category of forest succession following pioneer, seral, and young old-growth forests. Nine young old-growth forests have also been identified in the Acadian Forest Ecoregion of the Canadian Maritimes, as have several seral and pioneer-stage stands. For those stands assigned calicioid index scores of 10 or less, these values are considered accurate reflections of the much modified or secondary nature of these communities as recorded in site descriptions. For those stands that have been modified by the effects of pollution or the spruce budworm, an assessment using an index of ecological continuity is considered as much a measure of ecological integrity as it is of continuity. Key words: calicoid lichens, old-growth forests, biomonitors, lichens, biodiversity, Canadian Maritimes

Following a large-scale phylogenetic study of the lichenized genus Cora (Basidiomycota: Agaricales: Hygrophoraceae), we formally describe 70 new species, honouring the seventieth birthday of David Leslie Hawksworth, one of the preeminent figures in mycology and lichenology in the past 50 years. Based on an updated phylogeny using the ITS fungal barcoding locus, we now recognize 189 taxa in a genus that until recently was considered to represent a single species; including this contribution, 92 of these are formally recognized, including five taxa based on historical names or collections that have not been sequenced. Species of Cora can be recognized by a combination of morphological (size, colour, lobe configuration, surface hairs, hymenophore size and shape), anatomical (thallus thickness, cortex structure, photobiont type, hyphal papillae), and ecogeographical features (substrate, habitat, distribution), and a keytable allowing the identification of all accepted taxa is provided. The new species are: Cora accipiter Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. applanata Moncada, Soto-Medina & Lücking spec. nov., C. arachnodavidea Moncada, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. arborescens Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. arcabucana Moncada, C. Rodríguez & Lücking spec. nov., C. aturucoa Lücking, Moncada & C. Vargas spec. nov., C. auriculeslia Moncada, Yánez-Ayabaca & Lücking spec. nov., C. barbifera Moncada, Patiño & Lücking spec. nov., C. boleslia Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. caliginosa Holgado, Rivas Plata & Perlmutter spec. nov., C. campestris Dal Forno, Eliasaro & Spielmann spec. nov., C. canari Nugra, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. caraana Lücking, Martins & Lucheta spec. nov., C. casasolana Moncada, R.-E. Pérez & Lücking spec. nov., C. caucensis Moncada, M. Gut. & Lücking spec. nov., C. celestinoa Moncada, Cabrera-Amaya & Lücking spec. nov., C. comaltepeca Moncada, R.-E. Pérez & Herrera-Camp. spec. nov., C. corani Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. corelleslia Moncada, A. Suárez-Corredor & Lücking spec. nov., C. crispoleslia Moncada, J. Molina & Lücking spec. nov., C. cuzcoensis Holgado, Rivas Plata & Perlmutter spec. nov., C. dalehana Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. davibogotana Lücking, Moncada & Coca spec. nov., C. davicrinita Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. davidia Moncada, L. Vargas & Lücking spec. nov., C. dewisanti Moncada, A. Suárez-Corredor & Lücking spec. nov., C. dulcis Moncada, R.-E. Pérez & Lücking spec. nov., C. elephas Lücking, Moncada & L. Vargas spec. nov., C. fuscodavidiana Lücking, Moncada & L. Vargas spec. nov., C. garagoa Simijaca, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. gigantea Lücking, Moncada & Coca spec. nov., C. gomeziana Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. guajalitensis Lücking, Robayo & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. hafecesweorthensis Moncada, Lücking & R. Peláez spec. nov., C. haledana Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. hawksworthiana Dal Forno, P. Nelson & Lücking spec. nov., C. hochesuordensis Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. hymenocarpa Lücking, Chaves & Lawrey spec. nov., C. imi Lücking, Chaves & Lawrey spec. nov., C. itabaiana Dal Forno, Aptroot & M. Cáceres spec. nov., C. leslactuca Lücking, Moncada & R. Peláez spec. nov., C. maxima Wilk, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. minutula Lücking, Moncada & Yánez-Ayabaca spec. nov., C. palaeotropica Weerakoon, Aptroot & Lücking spec. nov., C. palustris Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. parabovei Dal Forno, Kukwa & Lücking spec. nov., C. paraciferrii Lücking, Moncada & J.E. Hern. spec. nov., C. paraminor Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. pastorum Moncada, Patiño & Lücking spec. nov., C. pichinchensis Paredes, Jonitz & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. pikynasa J.-M. Torres, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. pseudobovei Wilk, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. pseudocorani Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. putumayensis L.J. Arias, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. quillacinga Moncada, F. Ortega & Lücking spec. nov., C. rothesiorum Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. rubrosanguinea Nugra, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. santacruzensis Dal Forno, Bungartz & Yánez-Ayabaca, spec. nov., C. schizophylloides Moncada, C. Rodríguez & Lücking spec. nov., C. smaragdina Lücking, Rivas Plata & Chaves spec. nov., C. soredavidia Dal Forno, Marcelli & Lücking spec. nov., C. subdavicrinita Moncada, J. Molina & Lücking spec. nov., C. suturifera Nugra, Besal & Lücking spec. nov., C. terrestris Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. terricoleslia Wilk, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. udebeceana Moncada, R. Peláez & Lücking spec. nov., C. urceolata Moncada, Coca & Lücking spec. nov., C. verjonensis Lücking, Moncada & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. viliewoa Lücking, Chaves & Soto-Medina spec. nov., and C. yukiboa Mercado-Díaz, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov. Furthermore, the taxonomic status of the recently described or recognized species C. arachnoidea, C. aspera, C. ciferrii, and C. reticulifera, is revised.

The effects of innovation on leadership abilities have not been widely investigated. Although diffusion of innovation theory has existed for some time, there is a need for more research detailing the relationship between innovation and transformational leadership. In a survey of organizational members (N = 294), innovation was significantly related to all subscales of transformational leadership. The relationship between innovation and transactional leadership was generally not significant, and the relationship with laissez-faire leadership was inverse and significant. Implications emerging from the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation are discussed, including the distinction between the champion and “techie” styles of innovation and their basis in leadership activity.

Abstract Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) is one of the warmest parts of the Arctic tundra biome and tundra fires are common in its upland areas. Here, we combine field measurements, Landsat observations, and quantitative cover maps for tundra plant functional types (PFTs) to characterize multi-decadal succession and landscape change after fire in lichen-dominated upland tundra of the YKD, where extensive wildfires occurred in 1971–1972, 1985, 2006–2007, and 2015. Unburned tundra was characterized by abundant lichens, and low lichen cover was consistently associated with historical fire. While we observed some successional patterns that were consistent with earlier work in Alaskan tussock tundra, other patterns were not. In the landscape we studied, a large proportion of pre-fire moss cover and surface peat tended to survive fire, which favors survival of existing vascular plants and limits opportunities for seed recruitment. Although shrub cover was much higher in 1985 and 1971–1972 burns than in unburned tundra, tall shrubs (>0.5 m height) were rare and the PFT maps indicate high landscape-scale variability in the degree and persistence of shrub increase after fire. Fire has induced persistent changes in species composition and structure of upland tundra on the YKD, but the lichen-dominated fuels and thick surface peat appear to have limited the potential for severe fire and accompanying edaphic changes. Soil thaw depths were about 10 cm deeper in 2006–2007 burns than in unburned tundra, but were similar to unburned tundra in 1985 and 1971–1972 burns. Historically, repeat fire has been rare on the YKD, and the functional diversity of vegetation has recovered within several decades post-fire. Our findings provide a basis for predicting and monitoring post-fire tundra succession on the YKD and elsewhere.

Ecosystem maps are foundational tools that support multi-disciplinary study design and applications including wildlife habitat assessment, monitoring and Earth-system modeling. Here, we present continuous-field cover maps for tundra plant functional types (PFTs) across ~125,000 km2 of Alaska’s North Slope at 30-m resolution. To develop maps, we collected a field-based training dataset using a point-intercept sampling method at 225 plots spanning bioclimatic and geomorphic gradients. We stratified vegetation by nine PFTs (e.g., low deciduous shrub, dwarf evergreen shrub, sedge, lichen) and summarized measurements of the PFTs, open water, bare ground and litter using the cover metrics total cover (areal cover including the understory) and top cover (uppermost canopy or ground cover). We then developed 73 spectral predictors derived from Landsat satellite observations (surface reflectance composites for ~15-day periods from May–August) and five gridded environmental predictors (e.g., summer temperature, climatological snow-free date) to model cover of PFTs using the random forest data-mining algorithm. Model performance tended to be best for canopy-forming PFTs, particularly deciduous shrubs. Our assessment of predictor importance indicated that models for low-statured PFTs were improved through the use of seasonal composites from early and late in the growing season, particularly when similar PFTs were aggregated together (e.g., total deciduous shrub, herbaceous). Continuous-field maps have many advantages over traditional thematic maps, and the methods described here are well-suited to support periodic map updates in tandem with future field and Landsat observations.

Temperate mixedwoods (hardwood–softwood mixtures) in central and eastern United States and Canada can be classified into two overarching categories: those with shade-tolerant softwoods maintained by light to moderate disturbances and those with shade-intolerant to mid-tolerant softwoods maintained by moderate to severe disturbances. The former includes red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.), balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), or eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) in mixture with northern hardwood species; the latter includes pine (Pinus) – oak (Quercus) mixtures. Such forests have desirable socio-economic values, wildlife habitat potential, and (or) adaptive capacity, but management is challenging because one or more softwood species in each can be limited by depleted seed sources, narrow regeneration requirements, or poor competitive ability. Appropriate silvicultural systems vary among mixedwood compositions depending on shade tolerance and severity of disturbance associated with the limiting softwoods, site quality, and level of herbivory. Sustainability of mixedwood composition requires that stand structure and composition be managed at each entry to maintain vigorous trees of species with different growth rates and longevities and to encourage development of advance reproduction or seed-producing trees of desired species. Regardless of silvicultural system, maintaining seed sources of limiting softwoods, providing suitable germination substrates, and controlling competition are critical. Here, we describe commonalities among temperate mixedwoods in central and eastern North America and present a framework for managing them.

Consumer reaction to food scares has been given considerable research attention but insights into specific shopper segments’ reactions to food scares, especially those that do not pose direct health risk to the public is limited. This paper examines how different life-stage shopper segments reacted to the horsemeat scandal in the UK. This paper draws on the analysis of supermarket loyalty card dataset of 1.7 million beef burger shoppers to establish the effect of the horsemeat scandal on retail sales value and volume as well as the rate of withdrawal of life-stage shopper segments from the affected products. The results show consistent weekly decline in retail sales value and volume across all life-stage segments over six consecutive weeks after the first horsemeat scandal announcement. Young families, pensioners and young adults segments withdrew from affected products in accordance with their typical perception and attitudes to risk. Contrary to expectation older adults withdrew faster than young families from the affected products. The findings of the study offer useful insights and strategic direction for managers working to ensure that food scares are managed to the benefit of the public and the food industry.

Abstract Previous research indicates that the effects of climate warming, including shrub expansion and increased fire frequency may lead to declining lichen abundance in arctic tundra and northern alpine areas. Lichens are important forage for caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ), whose populations are declining throughout most of North America. To clarify how lichen cover might affect caribou resource selection, ecologists require better data on the spatial distribution and abundance of lichen. Here, we use a combination of field data and satellite imagery to model lichen cover for a 583 200 km 2 area that fully encompasses nine caribou ranges in interior Alaska and Yukon. We aggregated data from in situ vegetation plots, aerial survey polygons and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery to align with 30 m resolution Landsat pixels. We used these data to train a random forest model with a suite of environmental and spectral predictors to estimate lichen cover. We validated our lichen cover model using reserved training data and existing external datasets, and found that reserved data from aerial survey polygons ( R 2 = 0.77) and UAV imagery ( R 2 = 0.71) provided the best fit. We used our lichen cover map to evaluate the influence of estimated lichen cover on caribou resource selection in the Fortymile Herd from 2012 to 2018 during summer and winter. In both seasons, caribou avoided lichen-poor areas (0%–5% lichen cover) and showed stronger selection as lichen cover increased to ∼30%, above which selection leveled off. Our results suggest that terrestrial lichen cover is an important factor influencing caribou resource selection in northern boreal forests across seasons. Our lichen cover map goes beyond existing maps of lichen abundance and distribution because it incorporates extensive field data for model training and validation and estimates lichen cover over a much larger spatial extent. We expect our landscape-scale map will be useful for understanding trends in lichen abundance and distribution, as well as for caribou research, management and conservation.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Intraspecific variation in foundation species of forest ecosystems can shape community and ecosystem properties, particularly when that variation has a genetic basis. Traits mediating interactions with other species are predicted by simple allocation models to follow ontogenetic patterns that are rarely studied in trees. The aim of this research was to identify the roles of genotype, ontogeny and genotypic trade-offs shaping growth, defence and reproduction in aspen. METHODS: We established a common garden replicating >500 aspen genets in Wisconsin, USA. Trees were measured through the juvenile period into the onset of reproduction, for growth, defence chemistry (phenolic glycosides and condensed tannins), nitrogen, extrafloral nectaries, leaf morphology (specific leaf area), flower production and foliar herbivory and disease. We also assayed the TOZ19 sex marker and heterozygosity at ten microsatellite loci. KEY RESULTS: We found high levels of genotypic variation for all traits, and high heritabilities for both the traits and their ontogenetic trajectories. Ontogeny strongly shaped intraspecific variation, and trade-offs among growth, defence and reproduction supported some predictions while contradicting others. Both direct resistance (chemical defence) and indirect defence (extrafloral nectaries) declined during the juvenile stage, prior to the onset of reproduction. Reproduction was higher in trees that were larger, male and had higher individual heterozygosity. Growth was diminished by genotypic allocation to both direct and indirect defence as well as to reproduction, but we found no evidence of trade-offs between defence and reproduction. CONCLUSIONS: Key traits affecting the ecological communities of aspen have high levels of genotypic variation and heritability, strong patterns of ontogeny and clear trade-offs among growth, defence and reproduction. The architecture of aspen's community genetics - its ontogeny, trade-offs and especially its great variability - is shaped by both its broad range and the diverse community of associates, and in turn further fosters that diversity.

We provide a phylogenetic revision of the Pseudocyphellaria crocata complex in the Americas. Specimens traditionally identified as P. crocata, based on their cyanobacterial photobiont, yellow pseudocyphellae, at least partially white medulla, and yellow soralia or soralia-like structures, are shown to represent 13 distinct species, forming a monophyletic group divided into four large clades, three comprising one species each and one containing eight species, plus two taxa for which no molecular data are available. Seven species correspond to what was previously recognized as P. crocata and one to P. dozyana, whereas a further one is identified as the sorediate counterpart of the usually apotheciate taxon P. lechleri and another as a pseudosorediate morph of the usually phyllidiate species P. neglecta. Surprisingly, none of the species represents P. crocata s.str., which must therefore be excluded from the American lichen biota. The 13 recognized species include three species new to science and three new combinations: P. citrina (Gyeln.) Lücking, Moncada & S.Stenroos, comb. nov. [bas.: Cyanisticta citrina Gyeln., nom. nov. pro Sticta citrina Pers. nom. illeg.], P. desfontainii (Delise) Vain., P. deyi Lücking, sp. nov., P. dozyana (Mont. & Bosch) D.J.Galloway, P. epiflavoides (Gyeln.) Lücking, Farkas & Lőkös, comb. nov. [bas.: Cyanisticta epiflavoides Gyeln.], P. hawaiiensis H.Magn., P. hillii (C.W.Dodge) D.J.Galloway, P. holarctica McCune, Lücking & Moncada, sp. nov., P. lechleri (Müll. Arg.) Du Rietz, P. neglecta (Müll. Arg.) H.Magn., P. punctata Lendemer, Lücking & Moncada sp. nov., P. sandwicensis (Zahlbr.) Moncada & Lücking, comb. nov. [bas.: Sticta crocata f. sandwicensis Zahlbr.], and P. xanthosticta (Pers.) Moncada & Lücking. Based on sequenced specimens, a neotype is selected for P. citrina and epitypes for P. hawaiiensis, P. lechleri, P. sandwicensis and P. xanthosticta. A key to all sorediate or pseudosorediate species of this complex in the Americas is presented, and all species are described, discussed and illustrated.

Morbidity and mortality associated with smoking are major health problems. Nurses play an instrumental role in tobacco reduction, but their own smoking often interferes with this clinical opportunity. We conducted a grounded theory study with 23 nurses who smoked to describe how they managed the contradictions encountered when caring for tobacco-dependent patients. Nurses counteracted ambivalence in one of four ways in relation to smoking policies: indifferent, evasive, engaged, and forced compliance. Influencing these approaches were nurses' perceptions of patients' need for tobacco-dependence interventions and perceptions of their own vulnerability in addressing tobacco use. The challenge remains how best to support smoking nurses to enable them to become unambivalent participants in preventing and reducing tobacco dependence in their patients and themselves.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Changing climates are expected to affect the abundance and distribution of global vegetation, especially plants and lichens with an epiphytic lifestyle and direct exposure to atmospheric variation. The study of epiphytes could improve understanding of biological responses to climatic changes, but only if the conditions that elicit physiological performance changes are clearly defined. METHODS: We evaluated individual growth performance of the epiphytic lichen Evernia mesomorpha, an iconic boreal forest indicator species, in the first year of a decade-long experiment featuring whole-ecosystem warming and drying. Field experimental enclosures were located near the southern edge of the species' range. KEY RESULTS: Mean annual biomass growth of Evernia significantly declined 6 percentage points for every +1°C of experimental warming after accounting for interactions with atmospheric drying. Mean annual biomass growth was 14% in ambient treatments, 2% in unheated control treatments, and -9% to -19% (decreases) in energy-added treatments ranging from +2.25 to +9.00°C above ambient temperatures. Warming-induced biomass losses among persistent individuals were suggestive evidence of an extinction debt that could precede further local mortality events. CONCLUSIONS: Changing patterns of warming and drying would decrease or reverse Evernia growth at its southern range margins, with potential consequences for the maintenance of local and regional populations. Negative carbon balances among persisting individuals could physiologically commit these epiphytes to local extinction. Our findings illuminate the processes underlying local extinctions of epiphytes and suggest broader consequences for range shrinkage if dispersal and recruitment rates cannot keep pace.

Abstract The present study investigates the photobiont diversity of the boreal felt lichen, Erioderma pedicellatum . Previously sampled genetic data from Newfoundland were reanalyzed and new sequence data (16S rDNA, rbcLX ) of the boreal felt lichen from Alaska (USA), Kamchatka (Russia), and North Trøndelag (Norway) were generated. The highest genetic diversity of the photobiont is found in Alaska and Kamchatka, indicating that these may be the primary sources of the species in the Northern Hemisphere. In Newfoundland, the photobiont of E. pedicellatum was screened on leaves of the symbiotic liverwort Frullania asagrayana and it was found to occur on trees where no other lichens were present, demonstrating that the geographical distribution, and possibly also the ecological requirement of the photobiont of E. pedicellatum , is wider than that of the lichen phenotype. Finally, a postulated association between the occurrence of the vegetatively reproducing Coccocarpia palmicola and the occurrence of the compatible photobiont of E. pedicellatum on the same tree could not be established.

PURPOSE: To review the classification, epidemiology, pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, and medical management of osteoarthritis. DATA SOURCES: Selected studies, review articles, rheumatology primers, and clinical practice guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and the second most common cause of long-term disability among adults in the United States. It is a heterogeneous condition causing pathogenic changes that are presumably irreversible; it should not be considered part of "normal aging." IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Medical management of OA includes various treatment modalities and should be based on the distribution and severity of joint involvement, as well as the presence of comorbid conditions. Treatment goals include decreasing stress on involved joints, limiting physical disability, maintaining or improving function, reducing pain, and avoiding drug toxicity.

We have previously shown that beta-galactosidase activity expressed in Thermotoga neapolitana cells grown on lactose is subject to repression by glucose when they are grown on both substrates whereas beta-galactosidase and beta-glucosidase activities observed in cells grown on cellobiose are not repressed by growth on both glucose and cellobiose. To examine the differential expression of bgalA, bgalB, bglA and bglB in T. neapolitana, total RNA was isolated from cells growing on either glucose, lactose or cellobiose as the sole source of carbon and transcripts encoding these genes were quantitated by Northern blot analyses. BglA expression was induced by cellobiose while bglB was expressed under all three conditions at a lower level. Expression of the beta-galactosidase genes, bgalA and bgalB, was detected only in lactose-grown cells. beta-Glucosidase enzyme activity was only found in cell extracts of cellobiose-grown cells while beta-galactosidase activity was found in both lactose- and cellobiose-grown cell extracts. Our results show that in cellobiose-grown cells, the high beta-glucosidase activity is likely due to expression of bglA and that neither bgalA nor bgalB is responsible for the beta-galactosidase activity.

Condensed tannins (CTs), synthesized via the phenylpropanoid and malonic acid pathways, occur in Populus tissues at widely varying concentrations. Both concentration and molecular structure are determined by the independent and interactive effects of genetic, ontogenetic, and environmental factors that influence molecular control of CT synthesis, other secondary metabolite production, and plant growth. CTs have a limited role in defending Populus against herbivores, but are associated with pathogen resistance, structuring of herbivore and soil microbial communities, and regulation of soil ecosystem processes (e.g. respiration, decomposition, nutrient cycling) with feedbacks to plant fitness. Shifts in CT expression and distribution resulting from human-mediated environmental changes are likely to alter organismal interactions, community and ecosystem functions, and evolutionary processes. Future research should aim to strengthen understanding of causal connections between CTs and their biological effects across scales of organization, space and time, and to elucidate how environmental change influences CT production, biochemical tradeoffs, and interrelationships with plant fitness that drive evolutionary processes.

Moose sera were collected from harvested animals during the 2010 hunting season in Maine. Of the 145 serum samples screened by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), 16 (11%) had antibodies to eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV). Positive samples were collected from Aroostook County (n=13), Somerset County (n=2), and Piscataquis County (n=1) in northern and central Maine. Preliminary mosquito surveillance revealed the presence of enzootic and bridge vectors mosquitoes, including Culiseta (Climacura) melanura (Coquillett), Aedes (Aedimorphus) vexans (Meigen), and Coquillettidia (Coquillettidia) perturbans (Walker). Select mosquito species were tested by RT-PCR for the presence of EEEV. None were positive. This is the first report of EEEV in moose from Maine.

Chaenothecopsis claydenii is described as new from New Brunswick, Canada, and C. eugenia, also from New Brunswick, is reported for the first time in North America. Both species grow on the resin of Picea spp. in the Acadian Forest and bring to 91 the number of calicioid lichens and fungi known for the ecoregion. Diagnoses and information on the taxonomy and ecology of each species is provided, as is a worldwide key to the mycocalicioid taxa growing on conifer resin.