Beyond Sea Turtles: Fusarium keratoplasticum in Eggshells of Podocnemis unifilis, a Threatened Amazonian Freshwater Turtle

Joaquina M. García-Martín; Jullie M. Sarmiento-Ramírez; Javier Diéguez-Uribeondo

doi:10.3390/jof7090742

Beyond Sea Turtles: Fusarium keratoplasticum in Eggshells of Podocnemis unifilis, a Threatened Amazonian Freshwater Turtle

Journal of Fungi ◽

10.3390/jof7090742 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (9) ◽

pp. 742

Author(s):

Joaquina M. García-Martín ◽

Jullie M. Sarmiento-Ramírez ◽

Javier Diéguez-Uribeondo

Keyword(s):

Wildlife Conservation ◽

Wide Spectrum ◽

Sea Turtles ◽

Population Decline ◽

Pathogenic Fungi ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Protective Role ◽

Freshwater Turtle ◽

Podocnemis Unifilis

The endangered yellow-spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) has experienced a dramatic population decline in the Ecuadorian Amazonia, mainly due to overexploitation of its eggs. To reverse this trend, the Wildlife Conservation Society has developed a head-start program in Yasuní National Park since 2008, but the potential risk that microbes associated with its eggs might represent for hatching success has not been evaluated yet. Members of the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) are involved in egg failure in sea turtles under natural and hatchery conditions, but their role in infecting the eggs of P. unifilis is unknown. In this study, we collected eggshells of P. unifilis and obtained 50 fungal and bacterial isolates. Some potentially pathogenic fungi of the genera Fusarium, Penicillium and Rhizopus were identified based on molecular data. Most importantly, the sea turtle pathogenic species F. keratoplasticum not only was present, but it was the most frequently found. Conversely, we have also isolated other microorganisms, such as Pseudomonas or Phoma-like species, producing a wide spectrum of antifungal compounds that may have a protective role against fungal diseases. Our survey provides useful information on potential pathogens found in P. unifilis eggshells, upon which the success of conservation programs may depend.

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Disease Risk Analysis in sea turtles: A baseline study to inform conservation efforts

10.1101/2020.03.10.985432 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Narges Mashkour ◽

Karina Jones ◽

Teresa Valerio Hipolito ◽

Sara Kophamel ◽

Shamim Ahasan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Analysis ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Sea Turtles ◽

Population Decline ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Social Aspect ◽

Management Options ◽

Turtle Species ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe impact of a range of different threats has resulted in the listing of six out of seven sea turtle species on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. Disease risk analysis (DRA) tools are designed to provide objective, repeatable and documented assessment of the disease risks for a population and measures to reduce these risks through management options. To the best of our knowledge, DRAs have not previously been published for sea turtles, although disease is reported to contribute to sea turtle population decline. Here, a comprehensive list of health hazards is provided for all seven species of sea turtles. The possible risk these hazards pose to the health of sea turtles were assessed and “One Health” aspects of interacting with sea turtles were also investigated. The risk assessment was undertaken in collaboration with more than 30 experts in the field including veterinarians, microbiologists, social scientists, epidemiologists and stakeholders, in the form of two international workshops and one local workshop. The general finding of the DRA was the distinct lack of knowledge regarding a link between the presence of pathogens and diseases manifestation in sea turtles. A higher rate of disease in immunocompromised individuals was repeatedly reported and a possible link between immunosuppression and environmental contaminants as a result of anthropogenic influences was suggested. Society based conservation initiatives and as a result the cultural and social aspect of interacting with sea turtles appeared to need more attention and research. A risk management workshop was carried out to acquire the insights of local policy makers about management options for the risks relevant to Queensland and the options were evaluated considering their feasibility and effectiveness. The sea turtle DRA presented here, is a structured guide for future risk assessments to be used in specific scenarios such as translocation and head-starting programs.

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Redescription of the skull of the Australian flatback sea turtle, Natator depressus, provides new morphological evidence for phylogenetic relationships among sea turtles (Chelonioidea)

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society ◽

10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa071 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ray M Chatterji ◽

Mark N Hutchinson ◽

Marc E H Jones

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Relationships ◽

Sea Turtles ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Morphological Data ◽

Morphological Evidence ◽

Molecular Evidence ◽

Crown Group ◽

Extant Species ◽

Natator Depressus

Abstract Chelonioidea (sea turtles) are a group where available morphological evidence for crown-group relationships are incongruent with those established using molecular data. However, morphological surveys of crown-group taxa tend to focus on a recurring subset of the extant species. The Australian flatback sea turtle, Natator depressus, is often excluded from comparisons and it is the most poorly known of the seven extant species of Chelonioidea. Previous descriptions of its skull morphology are limited and conflict. Here we describe three skulls of adult N. depressus and re-examine the phylogenetic relationships according to morphological character data. Using X-ray micro Computed Tomography we describe internal structures of the braincase and identify new phylogenetically informative characters not previously reported. Phylogenetic analysis using a Bayesian approach strongly supports a sister-group relationship between Chelonia mydas and N. depressus, a topology that was not supported by previous analyses of morphological data but one that matches the topology supported by analysis of molecular data. Our results highlight the general need to sample the morphological anatomy of crown-group taxa more thoroughly before concluding that morphological and molecular evidence are incongruous.

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Transcending marine turtles: first report of hatching failure in eggs of Amazonian freshwater turtles with symptoms of the fungal emerging disease fusariosis

10.22541/au.163590446.60539987/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ana Sofía Carranco ◽

Mark A.F. Gillingham ◽

Kerstin Wilhelm ◽

María de Lourdes Torres ◽

Simone Sommer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fungal Pathogens ◽

Illumina Miseq ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Marine Turtle ◽

Freshwater Turtle ◽

Freshwater Turtles ◽

Population Declines ◽

Turtle Species ◽

Podocnemis Unifilis ◽

Conservation Concern

In the last decades fungal pathogens are causing devastating population declines across a broad range of taxa. A newly emerging fungal disease, sea turtle egg fusariosis, caused by members of the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC), has been reported to be responsible for hatching failure in sea turtles around the world. However, this has not been reported in other non-marine turtle species. Herein we report high hatching failure from eggs symptomatic of fusariosis in the yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle ( Podocnemis unifilis), inhabiting a pristine environment in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We assessed hatching success from eggs symptomatic and asymptomatic of fusariosis ( n = 680 eggs), tested for Fusarium infection by PCR amplifying the TEF-1α gene (n= 68 turtle internal egg swab samples) and sequenced eight amplicons for screening of FSSC membership on an Illumina Miseq. Hatchability was 72% for asymptomatic eggs, whilst only 8% of symptomatic eggs hatched. Eight percent of asymptomatic and 58% of symptomatic eggs tested positive for Fusarium spp. and sequencing revealed that nine sequence variants from three asymptomatic and four symptomatic eggs corresponded to F. keratoplasticum, F. solani and F. falciforme, the three major FSSC pathogens already reported in sea turtle egg fusariosis. Our study therefore suggests that observed hatching failure of eggs showing symptoms of fusariosis is at least partially caused by Fusarium pathogens within FSSC in a freshwater turtle. This report highlights that fusariosis is more widespread among the Testudines order than previously reported and is not limited to sea environments, which is of particular conservation concern.

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Wavelength-dependent temporal properties of retinal horizontal cells in turtles

Visual Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/s0952523800005186 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 4 (05) ◽

pp. 427-435 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

C.A. Dvorak ◽

A.M. Granda

Keyword(s):

Temporal Integration ◽

Monochromatic Light ◽

Maximum Amplitude ◽

Light Response ◽

Chelonia Mydas ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Horizontal Cells ◽

Freshwater Turtle ◽

L Cells ◽

Pseudemys Scripta

AbstractElectrical reponses of luminosity horizontal cells (L cells) to monochromatic stimuli were analyzed by intracellular recordings in the retinas of the freshwater turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans) and of the sea turtle (Chelonia mydas mydas). Light intensity, duration, and wavelength were varied to assess temporal effects. For a given intensity of monochromatic light, response amplitude increased with stimulus duration until maximum amplitude occurred at a specific duration. This suprathreshold metric of temporal integration is calledhere summation time, and it is wavelength-dependent.L cells always had some level of red-sensitive cone input, although in some cells inputs from green- and blue-sensitive cones were also observed. For these latter cells, summation times were shorter for 640-nm than for 540-nm or 450-nm lights. These results were most evident in cells that received dominant inputs from blue- or green-sensitive cones.Responses of some other L cells were almost completely dominated by inputs from red-sensitive cones. Summation times of these cells were not wavelength-dependent. But when these inputs also included green-sensitive cones, shorter summation times were obtained to 640-nm light than to 540-nm light, even though dominant inputs were still from red-sensitive cones. These results, obtained from both retinal and 3,4-dehydroretinal photopigment systems, are consistent with reported observations inPseudemys scripta elegansthat show linear responses of red-sensitive cones to have shorterintegration times and times-to-peakthan green-sensitive cones.Responses from horizontal cells dominated by blue-sensitive cone inputs were the most sensitive of all; they also had the longest summation times. These results support the hypothesis that a gain in sensitivity occurs from the integration of absorbed photons over longer periods of time.These intracellular responses are of particular importance because behavioral critical durations in turtle, as defined by Bloch&'s law, are similarly wavelength-dependent.

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Galapagos Tortoises and Sea Turtles in Gold Rush-Era California

California History ◽

10.1525/ch.2014.91.2.20 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 91 (2) ◽

pp. 20-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Cyler Conrad ◽

Allen Pastron

Keyword(s):

San Francisco ◽

Native Species ◽

Sea Turtles ◽

Rare Event ◽

Legal Protection ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Gold Rush ◽

Late Nineteenth Century ◽

Scientific Curiosity ◽

Native Populations

Spotting a sea turtle or Galapagos tortoise on the early wharfs and streets of San Francisco or Sacramento, California during the Gold Rush (1848-1855) would not have been a rare event. Massive population influx into the San Francisco Bay region during this time resulted in substantial impacts to native species and habitats of all taxa, but the demand for food resulted in many resources, turtles and tortoises included, being imported into the cities. Providing a fresh and delectable food source, these terrapin were brought to San Francisco and Sacramento to feed the hungry Gold Rush populous. Their taste, popularity and demand also resulted in small numbers being imported into gold mining towns in the San Joaquin Valley and foothills of the Sierra Nevada’s. Remarkable as this process was, the consumption and importation of both sea turtles and Galapagos tortoises during the Gold Rush pushed native populations of these species to the brink of extinction during the mid to late-nineteenth century. Declining numbers of terrapin and increased scientific curiosity, with a desire to safeguard these creatures for future generations, resulted in their eventually legal protection and conservation. In many ways the impacts of the decimation of terrapin in the eastern Pacific during the Gold Rush are still felt today, as conservation and breeding efforts continue in an attempt to return native turtle and tortoise populations to pre-Euro-American contact levels. This research describes the historical, and new archaeofaunal, evidence of the terrapin import market in San Francisco, Sacramento and beyond during the dynamic period of the California Gold Rush.

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Chelonicola and Poulinea, two new gomphonemoid diatom genera (Bacillariophyta) living on marine turtles from Costa Rica

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.233.3.2 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 233 (3) ◽

pp. 236 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Roksana Majewska ◽

J. P. Kociolek ◽

Evan W. Thomas ◽

Mario De Stefano ◽

Mario Santoro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Marine Mammals ◽

Sea Turtles ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

New Genera ◽

Olive Ridley ◽

Lepidochelys Olivacea ◽

Marine Turtles ◽

The Family ◽

Long Time

Marine mammals such as whales and dolphins have been known for a long time to host a very specific epizoic community on their skin. Less known however is the presence of a similar community on the carapaces of sea turtles. The present study is the first describing new taxa inhabiting sea turtle carapaces. Samples, collected from nesting olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) on Ostional Beach (Costa Rica), were studied using light and scanning electron microscopy. Two unknown small-celled gomphonemoid taxa were analysed in more detail and are described as two new genera, closely related to other gomphonemoid genera with septate girdle bands, such as Tripterion, Cuneolus and Gomphoseptatum. Chelonicola Majewska, De Stefano & Van de Vijver gen. nov. has a flat valve face, uniseriate striae composed of more than three areolae, simple external raphe endings, internally a siliceous flap over the proximal raphe endings and lives on mucilaginous stalks. Poulinea Majewska, De Stefano & Van de Vijver gen. nov. has at least one concave valve, uniseriate striae composed of only two elongated areolae, external distal raphe endings covered by thickened siliceous flaps and lives attached to the substrate by a mucilaginous pad. Chelonicola costaricensis Majewska, De Stefano & Van de Vijver sp. nov. and Poulinea lepidochelicola Majewska, De Stefano & Van de Vijver sp. nov. can be separated based on stria structure, girdle structure composed of more than 10 copulae, raphe structure and general valve outline. A cladistics analysis of putative members of the Rhoicospheniaceae indicates that the family is polyphyletic. Chelonicola and Poulinea are sister taxa, and form a monophyletic group with Cuneolus and Tripterion, but are not closely related to Rhoicosphenia, or other genera previously assigned to this family. Features used to help diagnose the family such as symmetry and presence of septa and pseudosepta are homoplastic across the raphid diatom tree of life.

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Fisheries bycatch reduction within the least-cost biodiversity mitigation hierarchy: Conservatory offsets with an application to sea turtles

10.31230/osf.io/jzmrf ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Dale Squires ◽

Victor Restrepo ◽

Serge Garcia ◽

Peter Dutton

Keyword(s):

Sea Turtles ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Impact Mitigation ◽

Bycatch Reduction ◽

Conservation Programme ◽

Mitigation Hierarchy ◽

Turtle Conservation ◽

Sea Turtle Conservation ◽

Fisheries Bycatch

This paper considers fisheries bycatch reduction within the least-cost biodiversity impact mitigation hierarchy. It introduces conservatory offsets that are implemented earlier in the biodiversity impact mitigation hierarchy than conventional compensatory offsets used as instruments of last resort. The paper illustrates implementation in an on-going sea turtle conservation programme by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation.

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Allium vegetables intake and endometrial cancer risk

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980008003820 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 1576-1579 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Carlotta Galeone ◽

Claudio Pelucchi ◽

Luigino Dal Maso ◽

Eva Negri ◽

Maurizio Montella ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Endometrial Cancer ◽

Cancer Risk ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Wide Spectrum ◽

Protective Role ◽

Case Control ◽

Endometrial Cancer Risk ◽

Allium Vegetables ◽

Control Study

AbstractObjectiveThe potential role of allium vegetables on endometrial cancer risk has been scarcely investigated and the results of previous Chinese studies are not easily applicable to Western populations. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship between onion and garlic intake and endometrial cancer, using data from an Italian case–control study.SettingWe analysed data from a multi-centre case–control study of 454 endometrial cancer cases and 908 controls, admitted to the same hospitals for a wide spectrum of acute, non-neoplastic conditions. Information was collected by trained interviewers using a validated and reproducible FFQ. Multivariate odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals were obtained after allowance for recognized confounding factors.ResultsCompared with non-users, the OR of endometrial cancer for successive categories of onion intake were 0·94 (95 % CI 0·72, 1·21) for <2 portions/week and 0·40 (95 % CI 0·22, 0·72) for ≥2 portions/week, with a significant inverse trend in risk (P = 0·01). The OR for an increment of one portion (i.e. 80 g) of onions per week was 0·81 (95 % CI 0·70, 0·95). For garlic, the OR for successive categories of intake were 0·89 (95 % CI 0·68, 1·15) for intermediate use and 0·62 (95 % CI 0·42, 0·92) for high use, with a significant inverse trend in risk (P = 0·02).ConclusionsOur study found a moderate protective role of allium vegetables on the risk of endometrial cancer.

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