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Griffiths NP, Wright RM, Hänfling B, Bolland JD, Drakou K, Sellers GS, Zogaris S, Tziortzis I, Dörflinger G, Vasquez MI. Integrating environmental DNA monitoring to inform eel ( Anguilla anguilla) status in freshwaters at their easternmost range-A case study in Cyprus. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9800. [PMID: 36861027 PMCID: PMC9969183 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite significant population declines and targeted European Union regulations aimed at Anguilla anguilla conservation, little attention has been given to their status at their easternmost range. This study applies wide-scale integrated monitoring to uncover the present-day eel distribution in Cyprus' inland freshwaters. These are subject to increasing pressures from water supply requirements and dam construction, as seen throughout the Mediterranean. We applied environmental DNA metabarcoding of water samples to determine A. anguilla distribution in key freshwater catchments. In addition, we present this alongside 10 years of electrofishing/netting data. Refuge traps were also deployed to establish the timing of glass eel recruitment. These outputs are used together, alongside knowledge of the overall fish community and barriers to connectivity, to provide eel conservation and policy insights. This study confirm the presence of A. anguilla in Cyprus' inland freshwaters, with recruitment occurring in March. Eel distribution is restricted to lower elevation areas, and is negatively associated with distance from coast and barriers to connectivity. Many barriers to connectivity are identified, though eels were detected in two reservoirs upstream of dams. The overall fish community varies between freshwater habitat types. Eels are much more widespread in Cyprus than previously thought, yet mostly restricted to lowland intermittent systems. These findings make a case to reconsider the requirement for eel management plans. Environmental DNA-based data collected in 2020 indicate that "present-day" eel distribution is representative of 10-year survey trends. Suggesting that inland freshwaters may act as an unrealized refuge at A. anguilla's easternmost range. Conservation efforts in Mediterranean freshwaters should focus on improving connectivity, therefore enabling eels to access inland perennial refugia. Thus, mitigating the impact of climate change and the growing number of fragmented artificially intermittent river systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan P. Griffiths
- Biological and Marine Sciences, Hardy BuildingUniversity of HullHullUK,Institute for Biodiversity and Freshwater ConservationUniversity of the Highlands and IslandsInvernessUK
| | | | - Bernd Hänfling
- Institute for Biodiversity and Freshwater ConservationUniversity of the Highlands and IslandsInvernessUK
| | | | - Katerina Drakou
- Department of Chemical EngineeringCyprus University of TechnologyLimassolCyprus
| | - Graham S. Sellers
- Biological and Marine Sciences, Hardy BuildingUniversity of HullHullUK
| | - Stamatis Zogaris
- Hellenic Centre for Marine ResearchInstitute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland WatersAnavissosGreece
| | - Iakovos Tziortzis
- Water Development Department, Ministry of AgricultureRural Development and EnvironmentNicosiaCyprus
| | - Gerald Dörflinger
- Water Development Department, Ministry of AgricultureRural Development and EnvironmentNicosiaCyprus
| | - Marlen I. Vasquez
- Department of Chemical EngineeringCyprus University of TechnologyLimassolCyprus
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Martínez-Campos S, Pissaridou P, Drakou K, Shammas C, Andreou K, González-Pleiter M, Fernández-Piñas F, Leganes F, Rosal R, Koutinas M, Kapnisis K, Vasquez MI. Evolution of prokaryotic colonisation of greenhouse plastics discarded into the environment. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2022; 232:113213. [PMID: 35085885 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Current knowledge on the capacity of plastics as vectors of microorganisms and their ability to transfer microorganisms between different habitats (i.e. air, soil and river) is limited. The objective of this study was to characterise the evolution of the bacterial community adhered to environmental plastics [low-density polyethylene (LDPE)] across different environments from their point of use to their receiving environment destination in the sea. The study took place in a typical Mediterranean intermittent river basin in Larnaka, Cyprus, characterised by a large greenhouse area whose plastic debris may end up in the sea due to mismanagement. Five locations were selected to represent the environmental fate of greenhouse plastics from their use, through their abandonment in soil and subsequent transport to the river and the sea, taking samples of plastics and the surrounding environments (soil and water). The bacterial community associated with each sample was studied by 16S rRNA metabarcoding; also, the main physicochemical parameters in each environmental compartment were analysed to understand these changes. The identification and chemical changes in greenhouse plastics were tracked using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infra-red spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis demonstrated an evolution of the biofilm at each sampling location. β-diversity studies showed that the bacterial community adhered to plastics was significantly different from that of the surrounding environment only in samples taken from aqueous environments (freshwater and sea) (p-value p-value > 0.05). The environmental parameters (pH, salinity, total nitrogen and total phosphorus) explained the differences observed at each location to a limited extent. Furthermore, bacterial community differences among samples were lower in plastics collected from the soil than in plastics taken from rivers and seawater. Six genera (Flavobacterium, Altererythrobacter, Acinetobacter, Pleurocapsa, Georgfuchsia and Rhodococcus) were detected in the plastic, irrespective of the sampling location, confirming that greenhouse plastics can act as possible vectors of microorganisms between different environments: from their point of use, through a river system to the final coastal receiving environment. In conclusion, this study confirms the ability of greenhouse plastics to transport bacteria, including pathogens, between different environments. Future studies should evaluate these risks by performing complete sequencing metagenomics to decipher the functions of the plastisphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Martínez-Campos
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, E-28871 Madrid, Spain
| | - Panayiota Pissaridou
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianos str., 3036 Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Katerina Drakou
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianos str., 3036 Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Christos Shammas
- Avva Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Spyrou Kyprianou Ave 23, 4001 Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Kostas Andreou
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianos str., 3036 Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Miguel González-Pleiter
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisca Fernández-Piñas
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco Leganes
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto Rosal
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, E-28871 Madrid, Spain
| | - Michalis Koutinas
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianos str., 3036 Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Konstantinos Kapnisis
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianos str., 3036 Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Marlen I Vasquez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianos str., 3036 Limassol, Cyprus.
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Pissaridou P, Vasselon V, Christou A, Chonova T, Papatheodoulou A, Drakou K, Tziortzis I, Dörflinger G, Rimet F, Bouchez A, Vasquez MI. Cyprus' diatom diversity and the association of environmental and anthropogenic influences for ecological assessment of rivers using DNA metabarcoding. Chemosphere 2021; 272:129814. [PMID: 33582508 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Human activities are the leading cause of environmental impairments. Appropriate biomonitoring of ecosystems is needed to assess these activities effectively. In freshwater ecosystems, periphytic and epilithic biofilms have diatom assemblages. These assemblages respond rapidly to environmental changes, making diatoms valuable bioindicators. For this reason, freshwater biomonitoring programs are currently using diatoms (e.g., Water Framework Directive). In the past ten years, DNA metabarcoding coupled with next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics represents a complementary approach for diatom biomonitoring. In this study, this approach is used for the first time in Cyprus by considering the association of environmental and anthropogenic pressures to diatom assemblages. Statistical analysis was then applied to identify the environmental (i.e., river types, geo-morphological) and anthropogenic (i.e., physicochemical, human land-use pressures) variables' role in the observed diatom diversity. Results indicate differences in diatom assemblages between intermittent and perennial rivers. Achnanthidium minutissimum was more abundant in intermittent rivers; whereas Amphora pediculus and Planothidium caputium in perennial ones. Additionally, we could demonstrate the correlation between nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus), stations' local characteristics (e.g., elevation), and land use activities on the observed differences in diatom diversity. Finally, we conclude that multi-stressors and anthropogenic pressures together as multiple stressors have a significant statistical relationship to the observed diatom diversity and play a pivotal role in determining Cyprus' rivers' ecological status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panayiota Pissaridou
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 30, Limassol, 3036, Cyprus
| | | | - Andreas Christou
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 30, Limassol, 3036, Cyprus
| | | | - Athina Papatheodoulou
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 30, Limassol, 3036, Cyprus; I.A.CO. Environmental & Water Consultants Ltd, 3 Stavrou Ave. Office 202, Strovolos, 2035, Cyprus
| | - Katerina Drakou
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 30, Limassol, 3036, Cyprus
| | - Iakovos Tziortzis
- Water Development Department, Kennedy Avenue 100-110, 1047, Pallouriotissa, Cyprus
| | - Gerald Dörflinger
- Water Development Department, Kennedy Avenue 100-110, 1047, Pallouriotissa, Cyprus
| | | | - Agnes Bouchez
- INRAE, UMR CARRTEL, Thonon-les-bains, F-74200, France
| | - Marlen I Vasquez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, Archiepiskopou Kyprianou 30, Limassol, 3036, Cyprus.
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Macher JN, Drakou K, Papatheodoulou A, Hoorn BVD, Vasquez M. The mitochondrial genomes of 11 aquatic macroinvertebrate species from Cyprus. MBMG 2020. [DOI: 10.3897/mbmg.4.58259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are often identified, based on morphology, but molecular approaches like DNA barcoding, metabarcoding and metagenomics are increasingly used for species identification. These approaches require the availability of DNA references deposited in public databases. Here we report the mitochondrial genomes of 11 aquatic macroinvertebrate species from Cyprus, a European Union island country in the Mediterranean. Only three species could be provisionally assigned to a binomial species name, highlighting the current lack of molecular references for aquatic macroinvertebrates from Cyprus.
Graphical Abstract
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Birol O, Ohyama T, Edlund RK, Drakou K, Georgiades P, Groves AK. The mouse Foxi3 transcription factor is necessary for the development of posterior placodes. Dev Biol 2015; 409:139-151. [PMID: 26550799 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2015.09.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2015] [Accepted: 09/22/2015] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
The inner ear develops from the otic placode, one of the cranial placodes that arise from a region of ectoderm adjacent to the anterior neural plate called the pre-placodal domain. We have identified a Forkhead family transcription factor, Foxi3, that is expressed in the pre-placodal domain and down-regulated when the otic placode is induced. We now show that Foxi3 mutant mice do not form otic placodes as evidenced by expression changes in early molecular markers and the lack of thickened placodal ectoderm, an otic cup or otocyst. Some preplacodal genes downstream of Foxi3-Gata3, Six1 and Eya1-are not expressed in the ectoderm of Foxi3 mutant mice, and the ectoderm exhibits signs of increased apoptosis. We also show that Fgf signals from the hindbrain and cranial mesoderm, which are necessary for otic placode induction, are received by pre-placodal ectoderm in Foxi3 mutants, but do not initiate otic induction. Finally, we show that the epibranchial placodes that develop in close proximity to the otic placode and the mandibular division of the trigeminal ganglion are missing in Foxi3 mutants. Our data suggest that Foxi3 is necessary to prime pre-placodal ectoderm for the correct interpretation of inductive signals for the otic and epibranchial placodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onur Birol
- Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, BCM295, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Takahiro Ohyama
- USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Keck Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, 1501 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033-4503, USA; Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, 1501 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033-4503, USA
| | - Renée K Edlund
- Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, BCM295, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Katerina Drakou
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, 1 University Avenue, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Pantelis Georgiades
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, 1 University Avenue, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Andrew K Groves
- Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, BCM295, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, BCM295, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Neurosc ience, Baylor College of Medicine, BCM295, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
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Charalambous C, Drakou K, Nicolaou S, Georgiades P. Novel spatiotemporal glycome changes in the murine placenta during placentation based on BS-I lectin binding patterns. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2013; 296:921-32. [PMID: 23580480 DOI: 10.1002/ar.22698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2012] [Accepted: 03/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Although spatiotemporal changes of the glycome (full set of glycans, otherwise known as saccharides or carbohydrates) during placenta formation (placentation) are functionally and clinically important, they are poorly defined. Here, we elucidated novel aspects of the glycome during mouse placentation, from embryonic day 6.5 (E6.5) to E12.5, by investigating the largely unexplored binding distribution of lectin I from Bandeiraea simplicifolia (BS-I lectin), a glycan-binding protein that recognizes the DGalNAc and DGal glycans found at the terminal ends of specific oligosaccharides attached to lipids or proteins. We show that BS-I lectin binding marks all trophoblast cells during early placentation (E7.5 and E8.5 stages), continues in labyrinthine and junctional zone trophoblast but is lost from parietal trophoblast giant cells by E10.5/E11.5 (definitive placenta stage) and is lost from all trophoblast types, but marks the fetal capillary endothelium of the labyrinth, by E12.5. In the decidua basalis (the maternal part of the placenta), BS-I lectin positivity mainly marks the decidual stroma cells of the venous sinusoid area (E7.5 and E8.5 stages) and the entire decidua basalis by E10.5, as well as the osteopontin-positive subset of uterine natural killer (uNK) cells from E7.5 onwards. This work provides the first comprehensive description of the hitherto ill-defined spatiotemporal binding distribution of BS-I lectin in the fetal and maternal placenta between E6.5 and E12.5, thereby contributing to glycome elucidation during placentation. It also establishes BS-I lectin positivity as a novel pan-trophoblast marker during early placentation and as a new marker for mature uNK cells from E7.5 onwards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Charalambous
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, University Campus, Nicosia, Cyprus
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Karathanos C, Antoniou G, Stamoulis K, Drakou K, Vretzakis G, Giannoukas A. PS86. Hybrid Procedures for the One-stage Treatment of Multi-focal Ipsilateral Internal Carotid and Proximal Common Carotid/Innominate Artery Lesions. J Vasc Surg 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jvs.2010.02.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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