Overview of research projects

Funding: DFG, 141.000 EUR

Project Details:
In this project, microbial changes in the pig intestine will be determined over the course of an Ascaris suum infection. In addition, samples will also be examined with regard to the metabolome. Furthermore, the question whether a single A. suum infection has the same effects as continuous exposure will be answered. Thus, the project aims at a comprehensive characterisation of the parasite-microbiome-host interactions in pig roundworm infections, the most significant helminthic parasitosis in pig farming.

Results:

Springer, A., Wagner, L., Koehler, S., Klinger, S., Breves, G., Brüggemann, D.A., Strube, C. (2022) Modulation of the porcine intestinal microbiota in the course of Ascaris suum infection. Parasite & Vectors 15, 433

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. D. Brüggemann, Max Rubner-Institut

Funding: DFG, 230.800 EUR

Project Details:
Das Projekt basiert auf zuvor durchgeführten Studien zur Rolle des Histamin H4 Rezeptors (H4R) im Vergleich zu anderen Histaminrezeptoren bei allergischen Entzündungen der Haut. Hier konnte gezeigt werden, dass Histamin, insbesondere über den H4R die Funktion von Zellen beeinflusst, die bei Entzündungen der Haut eine wichtige Rolle spielen, wie dendritischen Zellen, T-Zellen, Keratinozyten und Nervenzellen. Dabei zeigte sich, dass der H4R immunmodulatorische Funktionen hat, die Keratinozytenproliferation und -differenzierung beeinflusst, eine wesentliche Rolle in der Weiterleitung von Juckreiz spielt, und auf wichtigen Immunzellen von Patienten mit atopischer Dermatitis hochreguliert ist. Das Hauptziel dieses Projektes ist es, die Rolle von Histamin, insbesondere im Hinblick auf den H4R als neue therapeutische Zielstruktur, bei Hauterkrankungen zu untersuchen, die mit Entzündung, Juckreiz oder Keratinozytenproliferation einhergehen.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Werfel, Prof. Dr. Gutzmer (Hautklinik Linden der Medzinischen Hochschule Hannover)

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, 248.300 EUR

Project Details:
Non-verbal acoustic cues of the human voice are suggested to be an ornament signaling mate quality and therefore have an important impact on sexual behavior and mate choice. Thus, acoustic cues contain information about the physical characteristic, the motivational state and the level of sex hormones of the sender. Studies in nonhuman mammals revealed similar vocal correlates suggesting that vocal correlates in nonhuman mammals reflect also important proximate mechanisms for sexual behavior and mate choice. Such vocal correlates should play an important role in non-seasonally breeding large-bodied species. Because males and females often live separated from each other and females have a low reproductive output, it is important to find a high-quality mating partner at the right time. However, data on vocal correlates on such species are limited, therefore this project will investigate, as a first essential step, whether vocal correlates as proximate mechanisms for sexual behavior and mate choice, in the Southern white rhinoceros. To date, data on vocal correlates related to the motivational state and the hormonal level of the sender are lacking in rhinoceros and data on physical characteristics are limited to only one call type. Thus, the whole project will consist of four studies. These studies will investigate whether in white rhinoceros vocal correlates related to (1) the physical characteristics of the sender, (2) the motivational state of the sender, (3) the level of sex hormones in the sender exists and whether (4) conspecifics can recognize the fertility of females or male quality based on their voices. Thereby, these vocal correlates might encode mate quality, the willingness to mate as well as the reproductive status of the sender and will play an important role in sexual behavior. Combining the results of the Southern white rhinoceros with findings in group living mammals or/and seasonal breeders will allow a deeper understanding how vocal mating behavior is shaped by social structure of and/or mating strategy. Thus, the project will help to clarify the biological function and principles of vocal correlates on sexual interactions and mating behavior in mammals.

Results:

e.g.,

 

Jenikejew, J.; Wauters, J.; Dehnhard, M.; & Scheumann, M. (2021). The female effect?how female receptivity influences faecal testosterone metabolite levels, socio-positive behaviour and vocalization in male Southern white rhinoceroses. Conservation Physiology, 9(1), coab026.

 

Jenikejew, J.; Wauters, J.; Dehnhard, M.; & Scheumann, M. (2021). Linking socio-sexual and vocal behaviour with faecal progesterone and oestrogen metabolite levels in Southern white rhinoceros females. Conservation physiology, 9(1), coab098.

 

Jenikejew, J.; Chaignon B.; Linn, S.; Scheumann, M. (2020): Proximity-Based Vocal Networks Reveal Social Relationships in the Southern White Rhinoceros. Scientific Reports 10(1): 15104. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-72052-0.

Cooperation Partners:

Sabrina Linn, Zoo Frankfurt

Dr. Jella Wauters, Leibniz Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung

Serengeti-Park Hodenhagen

Zoo Osnabrück

Allwetterzoo Münster

Zoo Augsburg

Zoo Dortmund

Zoo Schwerin

Zoo Erfurt

Zoom Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen

Knuthenborg Safaripark, Dänemark

Zoo Amneville, Frankreich

Planét Sauvage, Frankreich

Project Details:
Die mikrobielle Gemeinschaft im Pansen ist durch eine hohe Komplexität gekennzeichnet. Die seit längerem bekannten klassischen Pansenbakterien wurden durch Kulturmethoden nachgewiesen. Die neuen Techniken der Hochdurchsatzsequenzierung zeigen jedoch, dass diese nur einen kleinen Teil der mikrobiellen Gemeinschaft im Pansen repräsentieren und zahlreiche bisher nicht kultivierbare Mikroorganismen einen weitaus größeren Teil ausmachen. Die Rumen Simulation Technique (RUSITEC) ist ein semikontinuierliches Fermentationssystem, das in vitro Stoffwechselvorgänge im Pansen simuliert. In diesem Vorhaben sollen Veränderungen im Mikrobiom im RUSITEC unter unterschiedlichen physiologischen oder pathologischen Bedingungen näher charakterisiert werden. Durch eine Metabolomanalyse ist zusätzliche eine weitreichende Bestimmung der gebildeten Metabolite möglich.

Results:

https://doi.org/10.1111/jpn.13412

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.019225

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01813

Cooperation Partners:

Institut für Lebensmittelsicherheit, Lebensmitteltechnologie und öffentliches Gesundheitswesen in der Veterinärmedizin, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien

Funding: Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Serengetiepark-Stiftung, 17.650 EUR

Project Details:
Vocal communication plays an important role in coordinating social interactions. Vocalizations convey various information?s about the sender itself (e.g., physical characteristics, emotional state) as well as about the situation in which the sender is (e.g., mating, mother-infant communication). Sociality has been hypothesized to be a driving factor of the evolution of complex communication systems: Thus, the majority of studies on acoustic communication focussed on species living in complex social systems. However, also species living in less complex systems have to communicate to each other. Thus, in this study we investigate vocal communication in a mammalian species living in a less complex social system, the white rhinoceros. In this species, females and subadults form temporally stable groups whereas bulls live solitarily. To get insight into the vocal complexity, vocal repertoires have to be established. To date, two publications exist on the vocal repertoire of the white rhinoceros describing 10 to 11 distinct vocalizations, but both coincide only in five call types. Whereas Owen-Smith, (1973) characterized the call types only based on onomatopoetic descriptions of free-living rhinoceros, Policht et al., (2008) conducted a detailed multi-parametric sound analysis combined with statistical methods on a captive rhinoceros herd of a different subspecies. Thus, captivity and/or subspecies differences may also affect the results. To clarify the vocal repertoire of the white rhinoceros and to investigate the effect of captivity on vocal production, we compare the vocal repertoires of captive rhinoceros herd of different zoos and in the field (Ziwa Rhino Sancatury).

Results:

e.g.,

 

Pfannerstill, V.; Härdtner, R.; Maboga, O. S.; Balkenhol, N.; Bennitt, E.; Scheumann, M. (2023). Dehorning impacts white rhinoceros behaviour less than social events: evidence from Botswana. Journal of Zoology, 321(4), 249-259.

 

Pfannerstill, V.; Balkenhol, N.; Bennitt, E.; Maboga, O. S.; Scheumann, M. (2023). Assessing the potential of conspecific playbacks as a post‐translocation management tool for white rhinoceros. Conservation Science and Practice, 5(9), e12996.

 

Linn, S. N.; Schmidt, S.; & Scheumann, M. (2021). Individual distinctiveness across call types of the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). Journal of Mammalogy, 102(2), 440-456.

 

Jenikejew J, Wauters J, Dehnhard M, Scheumann M (2021a). Linking socio-sexual and vocal behaviour with faecal progesterone and oestrogen metabolite levels in Southern white rhinoceros females. Conservation Physiology, 9(1), coab098. DOI:10.1093/conphys/coab098.

 

Jenikejew J, Wauters J, Dehnhard M, Scheumann M (2021b). The female effect-how female receptivity influences faecal testosterone metabolite levels, socio-positive behaviour and vocalization in male Southern white rhinoceroses. Conservation Physiology, 9, coab026. DOI:10.1093/conphys/coab026.

Cooperation Partners:

Vera Pfannerstill, Universität Göttingen

Sabrina Linn, Zoo Frankfurt

Daniela Lahn, Zoo Rostock

Emily Bennitt, Botswana

Felix Patton, Ziwa Rhino Sancatury, Uganda

Serengeti-Park Hodenhagen

Zoo Osnabrück

Allwetterzoo Münster

Zoo Augsburg

Zoo Dortmund

Zoo Schwerin

Zoo Erfurt

Zoom Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen

Knuthenborg Safaripark, Dänemark

Zoo Amneville, Frankreich

Planét Sauvage, Frankreich

Project Details:
In avian medicine, there are only a few methods available to assess peripheral blood flow. This study aims to evaluate passive IR thermography and µCT to assess blood flow in the skin in the area of ​​the feet of birds of prey.

Results:

http://doi.org/10.1111/ahe.12369

Funding: DAAD-fellowship, external through collaborations

Project Details:
The increasing fragmentation of tropical rain forests, due to anthropogenic landscape changes, is an increasing problem for the biodiversity in this ecosystem. Changes of natural habitats affect individuals of different species in a variety of ways. Therefore, the knowledge of the ecological plasticity and sensitivity of a wide range of species is essential for empirically supported conservation efforts and management. Compared to large mammals, our knowledge about how small mammals are affected by habitat fragmentation is in its infancy. The aim of this study is to assess to what extent forest fragmentation influences the genetic diversity and gene flow among populations of small mammals by means of new methods in conservation genetics. Several small mammal communities from forest fragments of different size will be assessed in composition as well as diversity, and the species-specific abundance as well as the genetic structure of various model species will be studied in detail. The thereby acquired knowledge will help to get a better understanding of specific threats posed to small mammal communities due to forest fragmentation.

Results:

Brunke, J.; Russo, I.-R.M.; Orozco-terWengel, P.; Zimmermann, E.; Bruford, M.W.; Goossens, B.; Radespiel, U. (2020): Dispersal and genetic structure of a tropical small mammal, the Bornean tree shrew (Tupaia longipes), in a fragmented landscape along the Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia. BMC Genetics, 21, 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12863-020-00849-z

 

Brunke, J.; Radespiel, U.; Russo, I.-R.; Bruford, M.W.; Goossens, B. (2019): Messing about on the river: The role of geographic barriers in shaping the genetic structure of Bornean small mammals in a fragmented landscape. Cons. Gen., 20, 691-704, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-019-01159-3.

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Benoit Goossens, Danau Girang Field Center, Malaysia and Cardiff University, GB

Prof. Mike Bruford, Cardiff University, GB

Dr. Pablo Orozco-terWengel, Cardiff University, GB

Funding: Volkswagen Stiftung, external funding through cooperation, 148.400 EUR

Project Details:
Die Sensitivität und Spezifität der Pheromonwahrnehmung hängt von den Rezeptoren im Epithelium des VNOs ab. Es wurden bisher zwei Familien von VNO Rezeptoren identifiziert, V1R und V2R. Die Diversität von VNO Rezeptoren ist in den verschiedenen Primatenfamilien wenig untersucht. Das Verständnis der Evolution des VNO ist entscheidend, um die adaptiven Veränderungen der relativen Relevanz verschiedener Sinnessysteme während der Evolution der Primaten zu verstehen. Aufgrund der zunehmenden Degeneration des VNOs und der Pseudogenisierung der V1R Gene bei höheren Affen ereignete sich die adaptive Evolution dieser Gene vermutlich sehr früh innerhalb der Stammesgeschichte der Primaten. Innerhalb dieses Forschungsprojekts werden die funktionellen VNO-Rezeptorgene von basalen Primaten, den Mausmakis (Microcebus spp.), isoliert und hinsichtlich ihrer Variabilität, Selektion und phylogenetischen Bedeutung chrakterisiert. Zudem werden die olfaktorischen Markiersubstanzen hinsichtlich ihrer potentiell signalgebenden Komponenten untersucht und Bioessays zur olfaktorischen Wahrnehmungsleistung von Mausmakis entwickelt.

Results:

e.g.

 

Kollikowski, A.; Jeschke, S.; Radespiel, U. (2020): Experimental evaluation of spontaneous olfactory discrimination in two nocturnal primates (Microcebus murinus and M. lehilahytsara). Chemical Senses, 45, 581-592. bjaa051. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjaa051

 

Caspers, J.; Radespiel, U.; Zimmermann, E. Schulz, S. (2020): Volatile urinary signals of two nocturnal primates, Microcebus murinus and M. lehilahytsara. Frontiers Ecology and Evolution, 8, 158. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.00158

 

Kollikowski, A.; Zimmermann, E.; Radespiel, U. (2019): First experimental evidence for olfactory species discrimination in two nocturnal primate species (Microcebus lehilahytsara and M. murinus). Sci. Rep., 9, 20386. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56893-y.

 

Unsworth, J.; Loxley, G.; Davidson, A.; Hurst, J.L.; Gomez-Baena, G.; Mundy, N.I.; Beynon, R.; Zimmermann, E. and Radespiel, U. (2017): Characterisation of urinary WFDC12 in small nocturnal basal primates, mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.). Scientific Reports, 7, 42940. doi:10.1038/srep42940.

 

Hohenbrink, P.; Mundy, N.I.; Radespiel, U. (2017): Population genetics of mouse lemur vomeronasal receptors: current versus past selection and demographic inferences. BMC Evol.Biol., DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-0874-6.

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Nick Mundy, Cambridge University, UK

Prof. Jane Hurst, University of Liverpool, UK

Prof. Rob Beynon, University of Liverpool, UK

Prof. Dr. S. Schulz, TU Braunschweig

Prof. Dr. Markus Rothermel, Universität Magdeburg

Funding: ALZCHEM, 19.529 EUR

Project Details:
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Funding: Ministerium für Landwirtschaft, Ländliche Räume, Europa und Verbraucherschutz (MLLEV), 37.245 EUR

Project Details:
Seals are the most common marine mammal species in Schleswig-Holstein and therefore cause the majority of calls for seal hunters. In addition, in the past the seal population has been frequently affected by infectious diseases such as phocine distemper, influenza, brucellosis, and erysipelas, some of which have led to mass mortalities among the seal population or are of zoonotic relevance. To support the work of seal hunters with current research results, the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) of University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo) Foundation plans to continue the long-established investigation and monitoring of zoonotic and infectious diseases in the seal population of Schleswig-Holstein, their influence on the health status and the possible causes of death of the animals. Furthermore, other diseases and changes, especially those caused by anthropogenic influence, are recorded.
The research project investigates pathologic changes associated with infectious agents, with a special focus on zoonotic diseases. Given the ongoing avian influenza epidemic on the coasts of Schleswig-Holstein, the detection of serotype H5N8 in acutely deceased seals in 2021, as well as the interactions with other animals, the virologicinvestigations will be continued and also the importance of bacterial and parasitic pathogens will be evaluated. In addition, a possible increase in infectious diseases in harbor seals will also be evaluated in regard to increasing human activities.
The scientific knowledge gained is directly incorporated into the work of the seal hunters, who are trained in detection of infectious diseases and handling of marine mammals. The development and review of hygienic measures, theoretic knowledge about infectious diseases and documentation materials play an important role. A regionally representative number of seals will be selected from those recovered by the seal hunters and forwarded to the ITAW. Furthermore, any abnormalities reported by the seal hunters will be acted upon immediately. Scientific exchange with the seal hunters will take place throughout duration of the research project. The investigations include complete postmortem examinations of seals shot by seal hunters and further microbiologic examinations to reveal infectious agents.

Results:

Untersuchungen zum Gesundheitszustand von Seehunden in Schleswig-Holstein im Jahr 2023

Bericht an das Ministerium für Energiewende, Klimaschutz, Umwelt und Natur des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, das Ministerium für Landwirtschaft, ländliche Räume, Europa und Verbraucherschutz des Landes Schleswig-Holstein und den Landesbetrieb für Küstenschutz, Nationalpark und Meeresschutz Schleswig-Holstein

https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/fachinhalte/A/artenschutz/Downloads/seehundbericht2023.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2