There exist few empirical rules for the effects of introduced species, reflecting the context‐dependent nature of biological invasions. A promising approach toward developing generalizations is to ...explore hypotheses that incorporate characteristics of both the invader and the recipient system. We present the first general test of the hypothesis that an invader's impact is determined by the system's evolutionary experience with similar species. Through a meta‐analysis, we compared the taxonomic distinctiveness of high‐ and low‐impact invaders in several aquatic systems. We find that high‐impact invaders (i.e. those that displace native species) are more likely to belong to genera not already present in the system.
We measured steroidal estrogens in wastewater in Ottawa and Cornwall (Ontario, Canada) to determine removal efficiency of these steroids during the treatment process, and whether removal varies ...during a seasonal cycle. Estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) were found at maximum concentrations in raw sewage (RS), at 104, 66.9 and 5.7ngL−1, respectively. For the Ottawa wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), there was sufficient data to show that E1 concentrations in RS correlated with both ambient air temperature and mean daily flow of the WWTP (R2=0.792, p=0.003 and R2=0.757, p=0.005). E1 removal was correlated with the percent difference in cBOD from RS to FE (final effluent) (R2=0.435, p=0.075). However estrogenic potency, as determined by a sensitive in vitro reporter gene assay, did not decrease during the water treatment process, suggesting that many estrogenic chemicals are conserved in FE. E1 and EE2 were found in river water, both upstream and downstream of the WWTPs, and at much lower concentrations than in FE. Our study demonstrates the persistence of steroidal estrogens and estrogenic potency in Ontario WWTP effluents and surface waters, and has uncovered temporal patterns of release that may be used to help predict risks to aquatic organisms in these environments.
► Estrone concentrations in wastewater are directly correlated with temperature. ► Estrone removal in wastewater is inversely related to removal of biological oxygen demand, showing degradation is microbial. ► No loss in estrogenic potency (as measured by bioreporters) is observed through the wastewater treatment process. ► Wastewater effluent is not the only contributor of estrogens to the aquatic environment. ► Regulation of effluents is needed, and surveillance studies in receiving waters should be undertaken.
► Goldfish accumulated 17α-ethinylestradiol from aqueous and dietary exposures. ► The EE2 bioconcentration factor (BCF) reached a maximum of 377. ► Absorption efficiency for 17α-ethinylestradiol was ...0.106. ► Aqueous uptake supersedes dietary uptake for 17α-ethinylestradiol in fish.
We used male goldfish (Carassius auratus) as a model species to determine the uptake, elimination, and bioaccumulation of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2). Goldfish were exposed to EE2 via two different routes: water (135ng/L±12.8 standard deviation) for 72h, and food (231ng/g±42 SD) for 120h. We observed a rapid uptake of EE2 in goldfish, reaching 8.4ng/g±1.2 dry weight (dw) after the first hour of exposure with an uptake rate coefficient (k1) of 45h−1. The elimination rate coefficient (k2) was determined by a depuration experiment to be 0.0786h−1. In the feeding experiment, EE2 concentrations increased rapidly, reaching an average of 1.4ng/g after 3h following the first dietary exposure with an estimated absorption efficiency (α) of 0.106. An average of 2.66ng/g±0.87 (n=8) was determined in the 24–72h samples, whereas EE2 concentrations in fish fell below our method detection limits (0.67ng/g) for all samples after 72h, suggesting efficient elimination over time. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) for EE2 reached a maximum of 377, similar to BCFs measured for other pharmaceuticals like fluoxetine and sertraline. Our kinetic data were also used to model various scenarios of EE2 uptake in the aquatic environment. To our knowledge, this is the first report to describe aqueous and dietary EE2 uptake and elimination in fish, as well as providing important data to model EE2 kinetics in fish.
The environmental fate and persistence of steroidal estrogens is influenced by their photodegradation. This can potentially occur both in the presence of the ultraviolet (UV) portion of solar ...radiation and in tertiary wastewater treatment plants that use UV radiation for disinfection purposes. To determine patterns of UV photodegradation for estrone (E1) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), water samples containing these compounds were exposed to levels of UVB radiation that would simulate exposure to ambient sunlight. E1 degraded with a pseudo-first-order rate law constant that was directly proportional to UVB radiation intensity (R ² = 0.999, P < 0.001) and inversely proportional to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (R ² = 0.812, P = 0.037). DOC acted as a competitive inhibitor to direct photolysis of E1 by UV. In contrast to E1, EE2 was more persistent under similar UVB treatment. A reporter gene assay showed that the estrogenicity of UVB-exposed estrogens did not decrease relative to non-UVB-exposed estrogens, suggesting that some of the photoproducts may also have estrogenic potency. These results show that environmental degradation rates of steroidal estrogens are predictable from the UV intensity reaching surface waters, and the DOC concentrations in these surface waters.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals are adversely affecting the reproductive health and metabolic status of aquatic vertebrates. Estrone is often the dominant natural estrogen in urban sewage, yet little ...is known about its environmental fate and biological effects. Increased use of UV-B radiation for effluent treatments, and exposure of effluents to sunlight in holding ponds led us to examine the effects of environmentally relevant levels of UV-B radiation on the photodegradation potential of estrone. Surprisingly, UV-B-mediated degradation leads to the photoproduction of lumiestrone, a little known 13α-epimer form of estrone. We show for the first time that lumiestrone possesses novel biological activity. In vivo treatment with estrone stimulated estrogen receptor (ER) α mRNA production in the male goldfish liver, whereas lumiestrone was without effect, suggesting a total loss of estrogenicity. In contrast, results from in vitro ER-dependent reporter gene assays indicate that lumiestrone showed relatively higher estrogenic potency with the zebrafish ERβ2 than zfERα, suggesting that it may act through an ERβ-selectivity. Lumiestrone also activated human ERs. Microarray analysis of male goldfish liver following in vivo treatments showed that lumiestrone respectively up- and down-regulated 20 and 69 mRNAs, which was indicative of metabolic upsets and endocrine activities. As a photodegradation product from a common estrogen of both human and farm animal origin, lumiestrone is present in sewage effluent, is produced from estrone upon exposure to natural sunlight and should be considered as a new environmental contaminant.
Here we present meta-analyses bringing together 60 studies from 25 countries (Fig. 1 and Supplementary Table 1) for three COVID-19-related phenotypes: (1) individuals critically ill with COVID-19 on ...the basis of requiring respiratory support in hospital or who died as a consequence of the disease (9,376 cases, of which 3,197 are new in this data release, and 1,776,645 control individuals); (2) individuals with moderate or severe COVID-19 defined as those hospitalized due to symptoms associated with the infection (25,027 cases, 11,386 new and 2,836,272 control individuals); and (3) all cases with reported SARS-CoV-2 infection regardless of symptoms (125,584 cases, 76,022 new and 2,575,347 control individuals). A missense variant rs721917:A>G (p.Met31Thr) in SFTPD (10q22.3) confers risk for hospitalization (odds ratio (OR) = 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04-1.08, P= 1.7 x 10-8) and has been previously associated with increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease3 (OR = 1.08, P=2.0 x 10-8) and decreased lung function4 (FEV1/FVC;/=-0.019; P=2.0 x 10-15). ...we found that rs190509934:T>C, which is located 69 bp upstream of ACE2 (Xp22.2), is associated with decreased susceptibility risk (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.63-0.75, P= 3.6 x 10-18). Online content Any methods, additional references, Nature Research reporting summaries, source data, extended data, supplementary information, acknowledgements, peer review information; details of author contributions and competing interests; and statements of data and code availability are available at
We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from ...field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.
The identification and exploration of a novel, potent and selective series of
N-(3-cyano-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-benzothien-2-yl)amide inhibitors of JNK2 and JNK3 kinases is described. Compounds
5a and
...11a were identified as potent inhibitors of JNK3 (pIC
50 6.7 and 6.6, respectively), with essentially equal potency against JNK2 (pIC
50 6.5). Selectivity within the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, against JNK1, p38α and ERK2, was observed for the series. X-ray crystallography of
5e and
8a in JNK3 revealed a unique binding mode, with the 3-cyano substituent forming an H-bond acceptor interaction with the hinge region of the ATP-binding site.
The identification and exploration of a novel, potent and selective series of
N-(3-cyano-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-benzothien-2-yl)amide inhibitors of JNK2 and JNK3 kinases is described. Compounds
5a and
11a were identified as potent inhibitors of JNK3 (pIC
50 6.7 and 6.6, respectively), with essentially equal potency against JNK2 (pIC
50 6.5). Selectivity within the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, against JNK1, p38α and ERK2, was observed for the series. X-ray crystallography of
5e and
8a in JNK3 revealed a unique binding mode, with the 3-cyano substituent forming an H-bond acceptor interaction with the hinge region of the ATP-binding site.
PDF
