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Endozoicomonas bacteria are generally beneficial symbionts of diverse marine invertebrates including reef-building corals, sponges, sea squirts, sea slugs, molluscs, and Bryozoans. In contrast, the recently reported Ca. Endozoicomonas cretensis was identified as a vertebrate pathogen, causing epitheliocystis in fish larvae resulting in massive mortality. Here, we described the Ca. E. cretensis draft genome, currently undergoing genome decay as evidenced by massive insertion sequence (IS element) expansion and pseudogene formation. Many of the insertion sequences are also predicted to carry outward-directed promoters, implying that they may be able to modulate the expression of neighbouring coding sequences (CDSs). Comparative genomic analysis has revealed many Ca. E. cretensis-specific CDSs, phage integration and novel gene families. Potential virulence related CDSs and machineries were identified in the genome, including secretion systems and related effector proteins, and systems related to biofilm formation and directed cell movement. Mucin degradation would be of importance to a fish pathogen, and many candidate CDSs associated with this pathway have been identified. The genome may reflect a bacterium in the process of changing niche from symbiont to pathogen, through expansion of virulence genes and some loss of metabolic capacity. Genome Biology and Evolution, 10 (6) ISSN:1759-6653

Several decades of research on invasive marine species have yielded a broad understanding of the nature of species invasion mechanisms and associated threats globally. However, this is not true of the Arctic, a region where ongoing climatic changes may promote species invasion. Here, we evaluated risks associated with non-indigenous propagule loads discharged with ships' ballast water to the high-Arctic archipelago, Svalbard, as a case study for the wider Arctic. We sampled and identified transferred propagules using traditional and DNA barcoding techniques. We then assessed the suitability of the Svalbard coast for non-indigenous species under contemporary and future climate scenarios using ecophysiological models based on critical temperature and salinity reproductive thresholds. Ships discharging ballast water in Svalbard carried high densities of zooplankton (mean 1522 ± 335 SE individuals m−3), predominately comprised of indigenous species. Ballast water exchange did not prevent non-indigenous species introduction. Non-indigenous coastal species were present in all except one of 16 ballast water samples (mean 144 ± 67 SE individuals m−3), despite five of the eight ships exchanging ballast water en route. Of a total of 73 taxa, 36 species including 23 non-indigenous species were identified. Of those 23, sufficient data permitted evaluation of the current and future colonization potential for eight widely known invaders. With the exception of one of these species, modelled suitability indicated that the coast of Svalbard is unsuitable presently; under the 2100 Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8·5 climate scenario, however, modelled suitability will favour colonization for six species. Synthesis and applications. We show that current ballast water management practices do not prevent non-indigenous species from being transferred to the Arctic. Consequences of these shortcomings will be shipping-route dependent, but will likely magnify over time: our models indicate future conditions will favour the colonization of non-indigenous species Arctic-wide. Invasion threats will be greatest where shipping transfers organisms across biogeographic realms, and for these shipping routes ballast water treatment technologies may be required to prevent impacts. Our results also highlight critical gaps in our understanding of ballast water management efficacy and prioritization. Thereby, our study provides an agenda for research and policy development. Published version. Source at http://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12566.

Subglacial meltwater drainage can enhance localized melting along grounding zones and beneath the ice shelves of marine-terminating glaciers. Efforts to constrain the evolution of subglacial hydrology and the resulting influence on ice stability in space and on decadal to millennial timescales are lacking. Here, we apply sedimentological, geochemical, and statistical methods to analyze sediment cores recovered offshore Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica to reconstruct meltwater drainage activity through the pre-satellite era. We find evidence for a long-lived subglacial hydrologic system beneath Thwaites Glacier and indications that meltwater plumes are the primary mechanism of sedimentation seaward of the glacier today. Detailed core stratigraphy revealed through computed tomography scanning captures variability in drainage styles and suggests greater magnitudes of sediment-laden meltwater have been delivered to the ocean in recent centuries compared to the past several thousand years. Fundamental similarities between meltwater plume deposits offshore Thwaites Glacier and those described in association with other Antarctic glacial systems imply widespread and similar subglacial hydrologic processes that occur independently of subglacial geology. In the context of Holocene changes to the Thwaites Glacier margin, it is likely that subglacial drainage enhanced submarine melt along the grounding zone and amplified ice-shelf melt driven by oceanic processes, consistent with observations of other West Antarctic glaciers today. This study highlights the necessity of accounting for the influence of subglacial hydrology on grounding-zone and ice-shelf melt in projections of future behavior of the Thwaites Glacier ice margin and marine-based glaciers around the Antarctic continent. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10 ISSN:2296-6463

Climate warming and related drivers of soil thermal change in the Arctic are expected to modify the distribution and dynamics of carbon contained in perennially frozen grounds. Thawing of permafrost in the Mackenzie Delta region of northwestern Canada, coupled with increases in river discharge and coastal erosion, trigger the release of terrestrial organic matter (OMt) from the largest Arctic drainage basin in North America into the Arctic Ocean. While this process is ongoing, well-established, and its rate is accelerating, the fate of the newly-mobilized organic matter, as it transits from the watershed through the delta and into the marine system, remains poorly understood. In the framework of the European Horizon 2020 Nunataryuk programme, and as part of the Work Package 4 (WP4) Coastal Waters theme, four field expeditions were conducted in the Mackenzie Delta region and southern Beaufort Sea from April to September 2019. The temporal sampling design allowed the survey of ambient conditions in the coastal waters under full ice cover prior to the spring freshet, during ice break-up in summer, as well as anterior to the freeze-up period in fall. To capture the fluvial-marine transition zone, and with distinct challenges related to shallow waters and changing seasonal and meteorological conditions, the field sampling was conducted in close partnership with members of the communities of Aklavik, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, using several platforms: helicopters, snowmobiles and small boats. Water column profiles of physical and optical variables were measured in situ, while surface water, groundwater and sediment samples were collected and preserved for the determination of the composition and sources of OMt, including particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC, DOC), and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), as well as a suite of physical, chemical and biological variables. Here we present an overview of the standardized datasets, including hydrographic profiles, remote sensing reflectance, temperature and salinity, particle absorption, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, particulate organic carbon, particulate organic nitrogen, colored dissolved organic matter absorption, fluorescent dissolved organic matter intensity, suspended particulate matter, total particulate carbon, total particulate nitrogen, stable water isotopes, radon in water, bacterial abundance, and a string of phytoplankton pigments including total chlorophyll. Datasets and related metadata can be found in Juhls et al. 2021. https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.937587.

Background Persistent covert infections of the myxozoan, Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, in primary invertebrate hosts (the freshwater bryozoan, Fredericella sultana) have been proposed to represent a reservoir for proliferative kidney disease in secondary fish hosts. However, we have limited understanding of how covert infections persist and vary in bryozoan populations over time and space and how they may impact these populations. In addition, previous studies have likely underestimated covert infection prevalence. To improve our understanding of the dynamics, impacts and implications of covert infections we employed a highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and undertook the first investigation of covert infections in the field over an annual period by sampling bryozoans every 45 days from three populations within each of three rivers. Results Covert infections persisted throughout the year and prevalence varied within and between rivers, but were often > 50%. Variation in temperature and water chemistry were linked with changes in prevalence in a manner consistent with the maintenance of covert infections during periods of low productivity and thus poor growth conditions for both bryozoans and T. bryosalmonae. The presence and increased severity of covert infections reduced host growth but only when bryozoans were also investing in the production of overwintering propagules (statoblasts). However, because statoblast production is transitory, this effect is unlikely to greatly impact the capacity of bryozoan populations to act as persistent sources of infections and hence potential disease outbreaks in farmed and wild fish populations. Conclusions We demonstrate that covert infections are widespread and persist over space and time in bryozoan populations. To our knowledge, this is the first long-term study of covert infections in a field setting. Review of the results of this and previous studies enables us to identify key questions related to the ecology and evolution of covert infection strategies and associated host-parasite interactions. Parasites & Vectors, 10 (1) ISSN:1756-3305

Leptoquarks (LQs) have attracted increasing attention within recent years, mainly since they can explain the flavor anomalies found in R(D(⁎)), b→sℓ+ℓ− transitions and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. In this article, we lay the groundwork for further automated analyses by presenting the complete Lagrangian and the corresponding set of Feynman rules for scalar leptoquarks. This means we consider the five representations Φ1,Φ1˜,Φ2,Φ2˜ and Φ3 and include the triple and quartic self-interactions, as well as couplings to the Standard Model (SM) fermions, gauge bosons and the Higgs. The calculations are performed using FeynRules and all model files are publicly available online at https://gitlab.com/lucschnell/SLQrules. Program Title: SLQrules CPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/sf8s89rhmv.1 Developer's repository link:https://gitlab.com/lucschnell/SLQrules Licensing provisions: CC By 4.0 Programming language: Mathematica, FeynRules Nature of problem: In order to explain the deviations from SM predictions in R(D(⁎)), b→ℓ+ℓ− transitions and the muon AMM jointly, models involving multiple LQ representations are necessary. This significantly increases the number of possible interactions and creates the need for computational tools that allow for studying the phenomenology of these LQ models in an automated manner. While model files exist for each LQ representation individually [1], we are not aware of any publicly available model files that combine all scalar LQ representations as well as their self-interactions. Solution method: We implemented the complete scalar LQ Lagrangian in a FeynRules [2] model file and provide the corresponding MOD and UFO model files. These can be imported directly in FeynArts [3] and MadGraph [4] to obtain a versatile toolbox for the study of scalar LQs. [1]I. Doršner, A. Greljo, J. High Energy Phys. 05 (2018) 1-21.[2]A. Alloul, et al. Comput. Phys. Commun. 185 (2014) 2250-2300.[3]T. Hahn, Comput. Phys. Commun. 140 (2001) 418-431.[4]J. Alwall, et al., J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2014) 079. Leptoquarks (LQs) have attracted increasing attention within recent years, mainly since they can explain the flavor anomalies found in $R(D^{(*)})$, $b \rightarrow s \ell^+ \ell^-$ transitions and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. In this article, we lay the groundwork for further automated analyses by presenting the complete Lagrangian and the corresponding set of Feynman rules for scalar leptoquarks. This means we consider the five representations $\Phi_1, \Phi_{\tilde1}, \Phi_2, \Phi_{\tilde2}$ and $\Phi_3$ and include the triple and quartic self-interactions, as well as couplings to the Standard Model (SM) fermions, gauge bosons and the Higgs. The calculations are performed using FeynRules and all model files are publicly available online at https://gitlab.com/lucschnell/SLQrules.