Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| changes in individual quality during a 3-year population cycle of voles. | in small mammal populations with multiannual oscillations in density, the occurrence of large individuals in the peak phase (the "chitty effect") is a typical feature, but mechanisms behind this phenomenon have remained unclear. we analysed long-term data sets collected in western finland between 1984 and 1992 to: (1) find out how the body size and body condition of voles (microtus agrestis, m. rossiaemeridionalis, clethrionomys glareolus) and shrews (sorex araneus) was associated with the 3-yea ... | 2002 | 28547147 |
| dynamics and trophic interactions of small rodents: landscape or regional effects on spatial variation? | geographically varying rodent dynamics may be due to specific landscape effects or to regional variation. two common vole species (clethrionomys glareolus and microtus agrestis), their main predators and their impact on some important food items were monitored in sweden on forest clearcuts in two different landscape types, situated in two different regions with different climatic conditions. censuses, with 10-16 clearcuts in each landscape and both landscapes in the two regions, were designed to ... | 2002 | 28547149 |
| mitochondrial dna variation in the field vole (microtus agrestis): regional population structure and colonization history. | restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of mitochondrial dna (mtdna) was used to examine the genetic structure among field voles (microtus agrestis) from southern and central sweden. a total of 57 haplotypes was identified in 158 voles from 60 localities. overall mtdna diversity was high, but both haplotype and nucleotide diversity exhibited pronounced geographic heterogeneity. phylogenetic analyses revealed a shallow tree with seven primary mtdna lineages separated by sequence diverge ... | 1996 | 28565579 |
| a contact zone with noncoincident clines for sex-specific markers in the field vole (microtus agrestis). | a field vole (microtus agrestis) population characterized by unique mitochondrial dna (mtdna) and y chromosome markers occurs in southwest sweden. a contact zone between this lund (lu) population and a standard (st) population was examined with two sex-specific genetic markers. the field vole mtdna and y chromosome clines display a remarkable lack of coincidence, rarely observed in contact zones. the cline width for both markers is about 50 km, but the two clines are displaced from each other: t ... | 1997 | 28568796 |
| dampening of population cycles in voles affects small mammal community structure, decreases diversity, and increases prevalence of a zoonotic disease. | long-term decline and depression of density in cyclic small rodents is a recent widespread phenomenon. these observed changes at the population level might have cascading effects at the ecosystem level. here, we assessed relationships between changing boreal landscapes and biodiversity changes of small mammal communities. we also inferred potential effects of observed community changes for increased transmission risk of puumala virus (puuv) spread, causing the zoonotic disease nephropatica epide ... | 2017 | 28770071 |
| from the animal house to the field: are there consistent individual differences in immunological profile in wild populations of field voles (microtus agrestis)? | inbred mouse strains, living in simple laboratory environments far removed from nature, have been shown to vary consistently in their immune response. however, wildlife populations are typically outbreeding and face a multiplicity of challenges, parasitological and otherwise. in this study we seek evidence of consistent difference in immunological profile amongst individuals in the wild. we apply a novel method in this context, using longitudinal (repeated capture) data from natural populations ... | 2017 | 28817724 |
| intrachromosomal rearrangements in rodents from the perspective of comparative region-specific painting. | it has long been hypothesized that chromosomal rearrangements play a central role in different evolutionary processes, particularly in speciation and adaptation. interchromosomal rearrangements have been extensively mapped using chromosome painting. however, intrachromosomal rearrangements have only been described using molecular cytogenetics in a limited number of mammals, including a few rodent species. this situation is unfortunate because intrachromosomal rearrangements are more abundant tha ... | 2017 | 28867774 |
| seasonal shift of diet in bank voles explains trophic fate of anthropogenic osmium? | diet shifts are common in mammals and birds, but little is known about how such shifts along the food web affect contaminant exposure. voles are staple food for many mammalian and avian predators. there is therefore a risk of transfer of contaminants accumulated in voles within the food chain. osmium is one of the rarest earth elements with osmium tetroxide (oso4) as the most toxic vapor-phase airborne contaminant. anthropogenic oso4 accumulates in fruticose lichens that are important winter foo ... | 2017 | 29079088 |
| a candidate tolerance gene identified in a natural population of field voles (microtus agrestis). | the animal immune response has hitherto been viewed primarily in the context of resistance only. however, individuals, can also employ a tolerance strategy to maintain good health in the face of on-going infection. to shed light on the genetic and physiological basis of tolerance, we use a natural population of field voles, microtus agrestis, to search for an association between the expression of the transcription factor gata3, previously identified as a marker of tolerance in this system, and p ... | 2017 | 29290094 |
| microtus arvalis and arvicola scherman: key players in the echinococcus multilocularis life cycle. | a broad range of rodent species are described as potential intermediate hosts for echinococcus multilocularis, a wide-spread zoonotic cestode causing alveolar echinococcosis. however, little is known about the relative contribution of these species for parasite reproduction and the maintenance of its life cycle. in a comparative study in a high endemic region in zurich, switzerland, we investigated prevalence rates and fertility of e. multilocularis in the most abundant vole species as well as t ... | 2017 | 29326950 |
| leptospira genomospecies and sequence type prevalence in small mammal populations in germany. | leptospirosis is a worldwide emerging infectious disease caused by zoonotic bacteria of the genus leptospira. numerous mammals, including domestic and companion animals, can be infected by leptospira spp., but rodents and other small mammals are considered the main reservoir. the annual number of recorded human leptospirosis cases in germany (2001-2016) was 25-166. field fever outbreaks in strawberry pickers, due to infection with leptospira kirschneri serovar grippotyphosa, were reported in 200 ... | 2018 | 29470107 |
| physiological, but not fitness, effects of two interacting haemoparasitic infections in a wild rodent. | in contrast to the conditions in most laboratory studies, wild animals are routinely challenged by multiple infections simultaneously, and these infections can interact in complex ways. this means that the impact of a parasite on its host's physiology and fitness cannot be fully assessed in isolation, and requires consideration of the interactions with other co-infections. here we examine the impact of two common blood parasites in the field vole (microtus agrestis): babesia microti and bartonel ... | 2018 | 29476867 |
| new records for anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in small mammal species. | tick-borne diseases pose a major threat in public health. the epidemiological dynamics of these diseases depends on the tick vector species and their hosts, as well as the geographical distribution and ecology of both. among many possible hosts for ticks, small mammals have a major role in the development of immature stages of several tick species. small mammals are also important reservoir hosts for several pathogenic agents and possible reservoirs for anaplasma phagocytophilum. in this context ... | 2018 | 29558990 |
| bartonella infections in three species of microtus: prevalence and genetic diversity, vertical transmission and the effect of concurrent babesia microti infection on its success. | bartonella spp. cause persistent bacterial infections in mammals. although these bacteria are transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods, there is also evidence for vertical transmission in their mammalian hosts. we aimed to determine: (i) the prevalence and diversity of bartonella spp. in a microtus spp. community; (ii) whether vertical transmission occurs from infected female voles to their offspring; (iii) the effect of concurrent babesia microti infection on the success of vertical transmission ... | 2018 | 30165879 |
| the intrinsic vulnerability of networks to epidemics. | contact networks are convenient models to investigate epidemics, with nodes and links representing potential hosts and infection pathways, respectively. the outcomes of outbreak simulations on networks are driven both by the underlying epidemic model, and by the networks' structural properties, so that the same pathogen can generate different epidemic dynamics on different networks. here we ask whether there are general properties that make a contact network intrinsically vulnerable to epidemics ... | 2018 | 30210182 |
| population-level manipulations of field vole densities induce subsequent changes in plant quality but no impacts on vole demography. | grazing-induced changes in plant quality have been suggested to drive the negative delayed density dependence exhibited by many herbivore species, but little field evidence exists to support this hypothesis. we tested a key premise of the hypothesis that reciprocal feedback between vole grazing pressure and the induction of anti-herbivore silicon defenses in grasses drives observed population cycles in a large-scale field experiment in northern england. we repeatedly reduced population densities ... | 2018 | 30250660 |
| detection of francisella tularensis in three vole species in central europe. | francisella tularensis is a zoonotic, gram-negative bacterium that causes tularemia in humans. depending on its subspecies and the route of transmission, mild to lethal courses have been reported. f. tularensis subsp. holarctica is the only subspecies found in europe and affects a plenitude of vertebrates including lagomorphs and rodents. population outbreaks of certain rodent species are likely to be involved in the transmission of this pathogen. this molecular survey aims to evaluate the prese ... | 2019 | 30447176 |
| evaluating metabarcoding to analyse diet composition of species foraging in anthropogenic landscapes using ion torrent and illumina sequencing. | dna metabarcoding of faecal samples is being successfully used to study the foraging niche of species. we assessed the ability of two benchtop high-throughput sequencing (hts) platforms, to identify a large taxonomic array of food items from domestic cats felis silvestris catus, including prey and human-related food taxa (pet food and leftovers leaving undetectable solid remains in faeces). scats from a captive feeding trial (n = 41) and from free-ranging individuals (n = 326) were collected and ... | 2018 | 30459313 |
| exposure of non-target small mammals to anticoagulant rodenticide during chemical rodent control operations. | the extensive use of anticoagulant rodenticides (ars) results in widespread unintentional exposure of non-target rodents and secondary poisoning of predators despite regulatory measures to manage and reduce exposure risk. to elucidate on the potential vectoring of ars into surrounding habitats by non-target small mammals, we determined bromadiolone prevalence and concentrations in rodents and shrews near bait boxes during an experimental application of the poison for 2 weeks. overall, bromadiolo ... | 2019 | 30617892 |
| shared common ancestry of rodent alphacoronaviruses sampled globally. | the recent discovery of novel alphacoronaviruses (alpha-covs) in european and asian rodents revealed that rodent coronaviruses (covs) sampled worldwide formed a discrete phylogenetic group within this genus. to determine the evolutionary history of rodent covs in more detail, particularly the relative frequencies of virus-host co-divergence and cross-species transmission, we recovered longer fragments of cov genomes from previously discovered european rodent alpha-covs using a combination of pcr ... | 2019 | 30704076 |
| assisted reproductive technologies in microtus genus. | microtus genus is one of the experimental animals showing unique characteristics, and some species have been used as various research models. in order to advance the utilization of microtus genus, the development of assisted reproductive technologies (arts) is a key point. this review introduces recent progress in the development of arts for microtus genus, especially microtus montebelli (japanese field vole). | 2019 | 30996675 |
| a new focus of the tick haemaphysalis concinna in western poland. | the relict tick haemaphysalis concinna has a fragmented and focal distribution in central europe and asia. although in the majority of neighboring countries the occurrence of this tick species is well-documented (i.e., in germany, czech republic, slovakia, ukraine), to-date its occurrence in poland has been registered only once, in 1953 in troszyn in north-western pomerania, close to the german-polish border. in the present study we report the first documented finding of h. concinna in western p ... | 2019 | 31115732 |
| field vole-associated traemmersee hantavirus from germany represents a novel hantavirus species. | vole-associated hantaviruses occur in the old and new world. tula orthohantavirus (tulv) is widely distributed throughout the european continent in its reservoir, the common vole (microtus arvalis), but the virus was also frequently detected in field voles (microtus agrestis) and other vole species. tulv and common voles are absent from great britain. however, field voles there harbor tatenale and kielder hantaviruses. here we screened 126 field voles and 13 common voles from brandenburg, german ... | 2019 | 31573059 |
| small mammal responses to long-term large-scale woodland creation: the influence of local and landscape-level attributes. | habitat loss and fragmentation greatly affect biological diversity. actions to counteract their negative effects include increasing the quality, amount and connectivity of seminatural habitats at the landscape scale. however, much of the scientific evidence underpinning landscape restoration comes from studies of habitat loss and fragmentation, and it is unclear whether the ecological principles derived from habitat removal investigations are applicable to habitat creation. in addition, the rela ... | 2020 | 31670888 |
| blood parasites (babesia, hepatozoon and trypanosoma) of rodents, lithuania: part i. molecular and traditional microscopy approach. | wild rodents, as natural reservoir hosts carrying various species of pathogens, play an important role in the evolution and emergence of zoonotic diseases. in this study, protist parasites, namely babesia sp., trypanosoma sp. and hepatozoon sp. were studied in rodent populations in lithuania. two hundred forty rodent specimens of seven species were analysed by a combined approach using polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-based techniques and traditional microscopic examination. the total prevalence ... | 2020 | 31897793 |
| discovery and prevalence of divergent rna viruses in european field voles and rabbits. | the advent of unbiased metagenomic virus discovery has revolutionized studies of virus biodiversity and evolution. despite this, our knowledge of the virosphere, including in mammalian species, remains limited. we used unbiased metagenomic sequencing to identify rna viruses in european field voles and rabbits. accordingly, we identified a number of novel rna viruses including astrovirus, rotavirus a, picorna-like virus and a morbilli-like paramyxovirus. in addition, we identified a sobemovirus a ... | 2019 | 31906044 |
| glacial cycles drive rapid divergence of cryptic field vole species. | understanding the factors that contribute to the generation of reproductively isolated forms is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology. cryptic species are an especially interesting challenge to study in this context since they lack obvious morphological differentiation that provides clues to adaptive divergence that may drive reproductive isolation. geographical isolation in refugial areas during glacial cycling is known to be important for generating genetically divergent populations, but ... | 2019 | 31938506 |
| associations between different laelapidae (mesostigmata: dermanyssoidea) mites and small rodents from lithuania. | associations between species of laelapidae (mesostigmata: dermanyssoidea) mites and small rodents have been studied insufficiently. the aim of this study was to investigate infestation patterns of small rodent species by laelapid mites at six locations in lithuania. a total of 728 rodents were snap- and live-trapped in various locations during 2013-2016. eight rodent species were identified, namely apodemus flavicollis, apodemus agrarius, myodes glareolus, micromys minutus, mus musculus, microtu ... | 2020 | 32307619 |
| retrieval of the complete coding sequence of the uk-endemic tatenale orthohantavirus reveals extensive strain variation and supports its classification as a novel species. | orthohantaviruses are globally distributed viruses, associated with rodents and other small mammals. however, data on the circulation of orthohantaviruses within the uk, particularly the uk-endemic tatenale virus, is sparse. in this study, 531 animals from five rodent species were collected from two locations in northern and central england and screened using a degenerate, pan- orthohantavirus rt-pcr assay. tatenale virus was detected in a single field vole (microtus agrestis) from central engla ... | 2020 | 32316655 |
| transcriptome-wide analysis reveals different categories of response to a standardised immune challenge in a wild rodent. | individuals vary in their immune response and, as a result, some are more susceptible to infectious disease than others. little is known about the nature of this individual variation in natural populations, or which components of immune pathways are most responsible, but defining this underlying landscape of variation is an essential first step to understanding the drivers of this variation and, ultimately, predicting the outcome of infection. we describe transcriptome-wide variation in response ... | 2020 | 32366957 |
| spatial and temporal evolutionary patterns in puumala orthohantavirus (puuv) s segment. | the s segment of bank vole (clethrionomys glareolus)-associated puumala orthohantavirus (puuv) contains two overlapping open reading frames coding for the nucleocapsid (n) and a non-structural (nss) protein. to identify the influence of bank vole population dynamics on puuv s segment sequence evolution and test for spillover infections in sympatric rodent species, during 2010-2014, 883 bank voles, 357 yellow-necked mice (apodemus flavicollis), 62 wood mice (a. sylvaticus), 149 common voles (micr ... | 2020 | 32650456 |
| identification of a novel hantavirus strain in the root vole (microtus oeconomus) in lithuania, eastern europe. | hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that can cause subclinical to lethal infections in humans. in europe, five orthohantaviruses are present in rodents: myodes-associated puumala orthohantavirus (puuv), microtus-associated tula orthohantavirus, traemmersee hantavirus (trav)/ tatenale hantavirus (tatv)/ kielder hantavirus, rat-borne seoul orthohantavirus, and apodemus-associated dobrava-belgrade orthohantavirus (dobv). human puuv and dobv infections were detected previously in lithuania, but the ... | 2020 | 32890767 |
| zoonotic viruses in three species of voles from poland. | rodents are known to be reservoir hosts for a plethora of zoonotic viruses and therefore play a significant role in the dissemination of these pathogens. we trapped three vole species (microtus arvalis, alexandromys oeconomus and microtus agrestis) in northeastern poland, all of which are widely distributed species in europe. using immunofluorescence assays, we assessed serum samples for the presence of antibodies to hantaviruses, arenaviruses and cowpox viruses (cpxv). we detected antibodies ag ... | 2020 | 33036253 |
| hantavirus-leptospira coinfections in small mammals from central germany. | european orthohantaviruses (puumala orthohantavirus (puuv); dobrava-belgrade orthohantavirus (dobv), genotype kurkino; tula orthohantavirus (tulv)), and leptospira spp. are small mammal-associated zoonotic pathogens that cause diseases with potentially similar symptoms in humans. we investigated the frequency of leptospira spp. and hantavirus single and double infections in small mammals from 22 sites in thuringia, central germany, during 2017. tulv infections were detected at 18 of 22 sites (me ... | 2021 | 33612134 |
| spatial and temporal dynamics and molecular evolution of tula orthohantavirus in german vole populations. | tula orthohantavirus (tulv) is a rodent-borne hantavirus with broad geographical distribution in europe. its major reservoir is the common vole (microtus arvalis), but tulv has also been detected in closely related vole species. given the large distributional range and high amplitude population dynamics of common voles, this host-pathogen complex presents an ideal system to study the complex mechanisms of pathogen transmission in a wild rodent reservoir. we investigated the dynamics of tulv prev ... | 2021 | 34208398 |
| evolutionary relationships of ljungan virus variants circulating in multi-host systems across europe. | the picornavirus named 'ljungan virus' (lv, species parechovirus b) has been detected in a dozen small mammal species from across europe, but detailed information on its genetic diversity and host specificity is lacking. here, we analyze the evolutionary relationships of lv variants circulating in free-living mammal populations by comparing the phylogenetics of the vp1 region (encoding the capsid protein and associated with lv serotype) and the 3dpol region (encoding the rna polymerase) from 24 ... | 2021 | 34372523 |