Members of the Fusarium graminearum species complex are important cereal pathogens worldwide and belong to one of at least nine phylogenetically distinct species. We examined 298 strains of the F. graminearum species complex collected from wheat or barley in Japan to determine the species and trichothecene chemotype. Phylogenetic analyses and species-diagnostic polymerase chain reaction-restric...

Up to now, the only species in the complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato known to cause Lyme borreliosis in the United States has been B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. However, some atypical strains closely related to the previously designated genomic group DN127 have been isolated in the United States, mostly in California. To explore the diversity of B. burgdorferi sensu lato group DN127, we a...

Little attention has been given in scientific literature to how introduced species may act as a new host for native infectious agents and modify the epidemiology of a disease. In this study, we investigated whether an introduced species, the Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus barberi), was a potentially new reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme disease...

Historically, genome-wide and molecular characterization of the genus Listeria has concentrated on the important human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes and a small number of closely related species, together termed Listeria sensu strictu. More recently, a number of genome sequences for more basal, and nonpathogenic, members of the Listeria genus have become available, facilitating a wider perspe...

On smallholder farms in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal, fungi of the Fusarium graminearum clade cause Gibberella ear rot of maize and contamination with the 8-ketotrichothecenes nivalenol and deoxynivalenol. Previous DNA marker analyses of the F. graminearum clade from maize in Nepal found a high level of genetic diversity but were limited in detail or scope. The present stud...

Internal transcribed spacer regions of the nuclear ribosomal repeat have been sequenced from 47 isolates belonging to 38 recognized species of Suillus sensu lato. The sequences have been analyzed for phylogenetic and taxonomic implications using parsimony as well as distance methods. Based on these data, the genera Boletinus and Fuscoboletinus, that are often recognized within Suillus sensu lat...

We present a phylogenetic investigation of the Northern Clade, the major monophyletic clade within the freshwater fish family Cobitidae, one of the most prominent families of freshwater fishes found in Asian and European waters. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on the cytochrome b and RAG-1 genes show the genera Microcobitis, Sabanejewia, Koreocobitis and Kichulchoia as monophyletic groups. T...

Ecological changes are recognized as an important driver behind the emergence of infectious diseases. The prevalence of infection in ticks depends upon ecological factors that are rarely taken into account simultaneously. Our objective was to investigate the influences of forest fragmentation, vegetation, adult tick hosts, and habitat on the infection prevalence of three tick-borne bacteria, Bo...

Fusarium species can produce mycotoxins, which can contaminate cereal-based food producing adverse effects for human and animal health. In recent years, the importance of Fusarium poae has increased within the Fusarium head blight complex. Fusarium poae is known to produce trichothecenes, especially nivalenol, a potent mycotoxin able to cause a variety of toxic effects. In this study, a specifi...