Overview of research projects

Funding: DAAD, 24.705 EUR

Project Details:
Aposematism and crypsis are contrasting antipredator strategies. In the color polymorphic Oophaga pumilio, phylogenetic analyses have shown that populations with cryptic and aposematic coloration might have evolved independently in different islands. Two other species, O. granulifera and O. vicentei also display cryptic and aposematic color morphs in geographically isolated populations. Particularly, phylogenetic analyses of the evolution of these contrasting antipredator strategies can improve our understanding on the evolution of polymorphism in aposematic species. This project aims to uncover the molecular signatures of selection present in the genes of three Oophaga species that experienced independently evolved cryptic and aposematic phenotypes. To this effect, we look forward to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of the genus and quantify the variation in gene expression and allelic frequencies using state-of-the-art methods.

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Evan Towney, Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Biologicum

Funding: BLE, 443.163 EUR

Project Details:
The objective of the project is to assess the potential of the organic rearing system for dual-purpose chicken breeds under the aspects of a resource-efficient optimized feeding and animal welfare.
The focus is on the integration of two different insect species (Acheta domesticus/n.n.) and macroalgae (Palmaria palmata/n.n.) into the feeding regimes of currently used breeds in organic farming.

Cooperation Partners:

Oekologische Tierzucht gGmbH

Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut

Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde

Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie e. V.

Bioland Beratung GmbH

Project Details:
With Alexa, Siri and Cortana, voice recognition and control software has become an integral part of our everyday lives. Animal voices also contain a huge number of information about the sender animal, such as species, identity, gender, age, body size, emotional state, diseases and hormone status. Bioacoustics therefore enables the development of non-invasive, time- and cost-efficient, automatic bioacoustic monitoring systems for animals. For this purpose, microphones can be installed recording animals' vocalisations around the clock without disturbing or influencing them. The recordings can be automatically analysed using mathematical algorithms to extract specific information. In addition, psychoacoustic tools can be used to elicit specific positive behaviours. Such bioacoustic tools can be used for clarification of taxonomic questions, to monitor wildlife as well as to improve animal husbandry and thus play an increasingly important role in species conservation and animal management. The aim of this project is to explore the wide range of possible applications and to develop bioacoustic monitoring systems for species conservation and animal management.

Results:

van Elst T, Sgarlata GM, Schüßler D, Tiley GP, Poelstra JW, Scheumann M, Blanco MB, Aleixo-Pais IG, Rina Evasoa M, Ganzhorn JU, Goodman SM, Hasiniaina AF, Hending D, Hohenlohe PA, Ibouroi MT, Iribar A, Jan F, Kappeler PM, Le Pors B, Manzi S, Olivieri G, Rakotonanahary AN, Rakotondranary SJ, Rakotondravony R, Ralison JM, Ranaivoarisoa JF, Randrianambinina B, Rasoloarison RM, Rasoloharijaona S, Rasolondraibe E, Teixeira H, Zaonarivelo JR, Louis EE, Yoder AD, Chikhi L, Radespiel U, Salmona J (2025). Integrative taxonomy clarifies the evolution of a cryptic primate clade. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 9(1), 57-72. DOI:10.1038/s41559-024-02547-w.

 

Heseker P, Bergmann T, Liebolt M-A, Traulsen I, Kemper N, Probst J, Scheumann M (2024a). Exposing tail biters by automatic scream detection. Smart Agricultural Technology, 9. DOI:10.1016/j.atech.2024.100582.

 

Heseker P, Bergmann T, Scheumann M, Traulsen I, Kemper N, Probst J (2024b). Detecting tail biters by monitoring pig screams in weaning pigs. Scientific Report, 14(1), 4523. DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-55336-7.

 

Pfannerstill V, Balkenhol N, Bennitt E, Maboga O, Scheumann M (2023a). Assessing the potential of conspecific playbacks as a post-translocation management tool for white rhinoceros. Conservation Science and Practice, 5(9), e12996. DOI:10.1111/csp2.12996.

 

Hasiniaina AF, Radespiel U, Kessler SE, Evasoa MR, Rasoloharijaona S, Randrianambinina B, Zimmermann E+, Schmidt S, Scheumann M+ (2020). Evolutionary significance of the variation in acoustic communication of a cryptic nocturnal primate radiation (Microcebus spp.). Ecology and Evolution, 10(8), 3784-3797. DOI:10.1002/ece3.6177; + shared senior authorship

Funding: European Commission, 261.775 EUR

Project Details:
Farmed seafood is an important source of protein for food and feeds with a low-carbon footprint which has an important role to play in helping to build a sustainable food system. A strategic and long-term approach for the sustainable growth of a resilient EU aquaculture is, therefore, more relevant today than ever. However, the efficient and cost-effective control of pathogens remains among the main challenges for the sector, particularly relevant for Europe, where there is a great variety of species and production systems, which hinders the implementation of good husbandry practices tailored to each aquatic species. Through active engagement with key stakeholders, Cure4Aqua aims to jointly improve the resilience of EU aquaculture under environmental,biological, and socio-economic stress, by improving aquatic animal health and welfare and supporting the environmentally friendly, inclusive, safe, and healthy production of seafood. Cure4Aqua will do so by 1) developing cost-effective vaccines to prevent disease caused by 5 pathogens of economic significance to EU aquaculture; 2) Identifying markers with diagnostic capacity to be integrated to selective breeding programs to improve stress and disease management; 3) Developing innovative, bio-based and sustainable solutions as an alternative to antibiotics for controlling fish pathogens at various life stages and alleviate the pressure of global antimicrobial resistance; 4) Developing new tools and technology to improve health and welfare monitoring at the fish farm level and
diagnostics of fish pathogens both at the laboratory and the fish farm levels; 5) Placing fish welfare at the foreground of aquaculture production, through the development of high welfare standards that consider different life-stages, production systems, and knowledge of welfare needs, and 6) Ensuring effective external communication, dissemination and exploitation of project activities and results to all relevant target groups.

Results:

https://cure4aqua-project.eu/team/consortium/fish-disease-research-unit-university-of-veterinary-medicine-hannover/

Cooperation Partners:

1 Biologicke centrum AV CR, v. v. i. Czechia Coordinator

2 Thalassa Limited UK Partner

3 RODGER HAMISH IE Partner

4 MOREDUN RESEARCH INSTITUTE UK Partner

5 ERINN INNOVATION LIMITED Ireland Partner

6 HELLENIC CENTRE FOR MARINE RESEARCH EL Partner

7 DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET DK Partner

8 KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET DK Partner

9 NOVAPTECH FR Partner

10 THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF

ABERDEEN UK Partner

11 PANEPISTIMIO KRITIS EL Partner

12 UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA ES Partner

13 SVEUCILISTE U SPLITU MEDICINSKI FAKULTET HR Partner

14 INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE LEIRIA PT Partner

15 AQUATIC BIOLOGICALS PRIVATE COMPANY EL Partner

16 NORD UNIVERSITET NO Partner

17 SWANSEA UNIVERSITY UK Partner

18 UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA ES Partner

20 AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE

INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS ES Partner

21 Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University TH Partner

Administrative forms

Page 6 of 232

Proposal ID 101084204

Acronym Cure4Aqua

Horizon Europe ver 1.00 20220223 Last saved 23/02/2022 18:34

22 GALAXIDI MARINE FARM AE EL Partner

23 BIOCEANOR FR Partner

24 IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND

MEDICINE UK Partner

25 Prorata S.A. EL Partner

26 Wylegarnia Ryb Dabie, Krzysztof Grecki i Jacek

Juchniewicz PL Partner

27 EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH CH Associated

28 TissueLabs Sagl CH Associated

29 Pathovet AG CH Associated

30 PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE VALPARAISO CL Associated

Funding: DAAD, Gesellschaft der Freunde der TiHo, 65.000 EUR

Project Details:
Parkinson?s disease (PD) is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder, which is characterized by loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons and both motor and non-motor clinical features. There is no disease-modifying therapy available and the cause of the disease remains unknown. The presence of alpha-synuclein (αSyn)-positive neuronal inclusions called Lewy bodies in the substantia nigra is the pathological hallmark of PD. αSyn is a small acidic protein predominantly expressed in neurons. An unspecified pathomechanism leads to a misfolding of soluble monomeric aSyn into fibrils, which transfers "prion-like" across the brain.
We hypothesize that spread of this pathology to a given brain region is sufficient to induce the motor and non-motor symptoms observed in PD patients. Specifically, we focus on the under-treated psychiatric symptoms fear and anxiety, which may originate from pathology in the basolateral amygdala. To test our hypothesis we will stereotactically inject αSyn-preformed amyloid fibrils (PFF) in different brain regions in a mouse model with alpha-synuclein overexpression (Thy1-αSyn). Readouts are (i) spread of pathology across brain tissue and (ii) the concurrent development of progressive behavioral phenotypes.

Cooperation Partners:

Wei Xiang, Friederike Zunke, Department of Molecular Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg; Moriel Zelikowsky, University of Utah Neuroscience

Funding: EU Kommission (HORIZON 2020), 405.001 EUR

Project Details:
MERMAID proposes to further develop tissue-based in vitro mucosa models and assays to serve as in vitro models for
infection and to study immune protection with selected immune components. As such, the models will consist of a pathogenmucosal interface with a third dimension added, i.e. the interaction with selected immune mediators mimicking a relevant
(protective) natural immune response that can or should be obtained by vaccination. The models that will be developed will
also account for the heterogeneity existing in the population. The resultant next-generation mucosal tissue models will then
be validated using specimens derived from controlled human infection model (CHIM) studies and natural infections to
confirm the relevance of the model for the in vivo situation and the selected immune mediators. Subsequently, samples from
vaccine trials will be used to assess the induction of these immune responses in vivo and prove their efficacy ex vivo in next
generation models.

Project Details:
Roundworms of the genus Toxocara can infect humans and persist in tissues for years or decades. Although the parasite cannot complete its life cycle, the infective larvae migrate through the body and can reach various organs, and thus cause considerable health damage. To characterise the zoonotic risk by roundworms, studies are being conducted on environmental contamination, human infections and evaluation of diagnostic tools. At the level of parasite-host interaction, in addition to immunological interactions, neurological damage in the host as a result of roundworm infection is also being characterised. Thus, not only larval distribution in the entire body of the host, but also the distribution of larvae and resulting damage in the brain is investigated. Here, neuropathological changes and gene regulation in the paratenic host are assessed by histopathology, molecular biological methods and behavioural studies.

Results:

Waindok, P., Janecek-Erfurth, E., Lindenwald, D. L., Wilk, E., Schughart, K., Geffers, R., Strube, C. (2022) Toxocara canis- and Toxocara cati-induced neurotoxocarosis is associated with comprehensive brain transcriptomic alterations. Microorganisms 10, 177

 

Waindok, P., Kann, S., Aristizabal, A., Dib, J. C., Strube, C. (2021) Toxocara seroprevalence and risk factor analysis in four communities of the Wiwa, an indigenous tribe in Colombia. Microorganisms 9, 1768

 

Raulf, M.-K., Lepenies, B., Strube, C. (2021) Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati somatic and excretory-secretory antigens are recognised by C-type lectin receptors. Pathogens 10, 321

 

Waindok, P., Raulf, M. K., Springer, A., Strube, C. (2020) The zoonotic dog roundworm Toxocara canis, a worldwide burden of public health. In: Strube C., Mehlhorn H. (Hrsg.) Dog Parasites Endangering Human Health. Parasitology Research Monographs, Band 13. Springer, Cham, Schweiz. S. 5-26

 

Strube, C., Waindok, P., Raulf, M. K., Springer, A. (2020) Toxocara-induced Neural Larva Migrans (neurotoxocarosis) in rodent model hosts. Advances in Parasitology 109, 189-218

 

Strube, C., Raulf, M. K., Springer, A., Waindok, P., Auer, H. (2020) Seroprevalence of human toxocarosis in Europe - a review and meta-analysis. Advances in Parasitology 109, 375-418

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. G. Gerold, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, Österreich

Prof. Dr. B. Lepenies, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Prof. Dr. M. Pfeffer, Universität Leipzig

Dr. S. Kann, Missionsärztliches Institut Würzburg

Prof. Dr. M. Leschnik, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Österreich

Funding: Gesellschaft für Kynologische Forschung, Hahn-Stiftung, DFG, DAAD, 30.000 EUR

Project Details:
Die Untersuchung des Liquor cerebrospinalis ist ein wertvolles Instrument, um in vivo Informationen über den Zustand des zentralen Nervensystems zu erhalten. Die darin enthaltenen Zellen reflektieren zumindest teilweise die perivaskuläre Zellpopulation im ZNS. Es wurde daher eine Methode entwickelt, diese Zellen mit Hilfe der Durchflusszytometrie zu charakterisieren. Derzeit werden die Toll-like Rezeptoren näher bestimmt.
In einer 2. Studie wird untersucht, wie sich die Glukose im Liquor cerebrospinalis des Hundes verhält, und ob die Bestimmung von dieser zur Diagnostik beitragen kann oder sich proportional zur Zellzahl bzw. zur Blutglukose verhält.
In weiteren Studien werden verschiedene Biomarker, wie Tau-Protein, Chemokine, Zytokine und Abbauprodukte von Gliazellen und Nervenzellen untersucht, um einen prognostischen Faktor für Rückenmarkserkrankungen zu erhalten. Neue Methoden zur Haltbarmachung der Zellen werden evaluiert. Zusätzlich werden verschiedene Proteine auf ihre Eigenschaft als Biomarker geprüft (ApoE) und IL21.

Funding: teilweise BMBF (Lichtenbergstipendium); Gesellschaft für Kynologische Forschung; Irene und Hans-Joachim Hahn-Stiftung, DAAD, 80.000 EUR

Project Details:
Die steril-eitrige Meningitis-Arteriitis des Hundes (SRMA)ist die häufigste entzündliche Erkrankung des zentralen Nervensystems des Hundes im Norddeutschen Raum. Mit Hilfe mehrerer Pathogenesestudien soll versucht werden, die Erkrankung besser zu charakterisieren, um neue Therapiestrategien entwickeln zu können. Die Zellpopulation in Liquor cerebrospinalis und Blut wurde mit Hilfe durchflusszytometrischer Studien charakterisiert. Studien zur Zytokinexpression sollen helfen, das Phänomen der hohen IgA Produktion zu erleuchten. Die Untersuchung von Toll-like Rezeptoren soll einen Hinweis auf die Ätiologie der Erkrankung liefern. Die Th17 Antwort, NETs und das Endocannabinoidsystem werden näher untersucht

Results:

Arianna Maiolini, Regina Carlson, M. Schwartz, G. Gandini and Andrea Tipold: "Determination of immunoglobulin A concentrations in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of dogs: An estimation of its diagnostic value in canine steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis." The Veterinary Journal, 191, 219-224, 2012

 

S.A. Moore, M.Y. Kim, Arianna Maiolini, Andrea Tipold and M.J. Oglesbee: "Extracellular hsp70 release in Canine Steroid Responsive Menintis-Arteritis." Vet Immunol Immunopathol., 145, 129-133, 2012

 

Arianna Maiolini, Regina Carlson and Andrea Tipold: "Toll-like receptors 4 and 9 are responsible for the maintenance of the inflammatory reaction in canine steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis, a large animal model for neutrophilic meningitis." J Neuroinflammation 9, 226 (1-12), 2012.

 

Arianna Maiolini, M. Otten, M. Hewicker-Trautwein, R. Carlson and Andrea Tipold: "Interleukin-6, vascular endothelial growth factor and transforming growth fator beta 1 in canine steroid responsive meningitis-arteritis." BMC Veterinary Research, 9:23, 1-10, 2013.

 

J. Freundt-Revilla, A. Maiolini, R. Carlson, M. Beyerbach, K. Rentmeister, T. Flegel, A. Fischer and Andrea Tipold: "Th17 skewed immune response and cluster of differentiation 40 ligand expression in canine steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis, a large animal model for neutrophilic meningitis." J. Neuroinflammation 14:20, 2017. doi.10.1186/s12974-016-0784-3.

 

J.C. Wohlsein, M. Meurer, M. Mörgelin, J.N. Nessler, T. Flegel, H. Schenk, K. Jurina, K. Rentmeister, A. Fischer, T. Gödde, W. Baumgärtner, M. v.Köckritz-Blickwede and Andrea Tipold: "Neutrophil extracellular traps in CSF and serum of dogs with steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis." Plos One 19(1):e0295268, 2024

Project Details:
Few standardized studies are available on the effect of slow-release GnRH agonists in avian patients. With this background, the aim of this study is to examine the influence of deslorelin, a slow-release GnRH agonist, on the gonadal activity of female and male budgerigars in order to optimize the clinical use of this drug. The activity of the gonads will be examined, for example, by determining the sex hormones and by radiographic assessment of the reproductive organs.