Crop management shapes the diversity and activity of DNA and RNA viruses in the rhizosphere

BACKGROUND

The rhizosphere is a hotspot for microbial activity and contributes to ecosystem services including plant health and biogeochemical cycling. The activity of microbial viruses, and their influence on plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere, remains undetermined. Given the impact of viruses on the ecology and evolution of their host communities, determining how soil viruses influence microbiome dynamics is crucial to build a holistic understanding of rhizosphere functions.

RESULTS

Here, we aimed to investigate the influence of crop management on the composition and activity of bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and root viral communities. We combined viromics, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics on soil samples collected from a 3-year crop rotation field trial of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). By recovering 1059 dsDNA viral populations and 16,541 ssRNA bacteriophage populations, we expanded the number of underexplored Leviviricetes genomes by > 5 times. Through detection of viral activity in metatranscriptomes, we uncovered evidence of "Kill-the-Winner" dynamics, implicating soil bacteriophages in driving bacterial community succession. Moreover, we found the activity of viruses increased with proximity to crop roots, and identified that soil viruses may influence plant-microbe interactions through the reprogramming of bacterial host metabolism. We have provided the first evidence of crop rotation-driven impacts on soil microbial communities extending to viruses. To this aim, we present the novel principal of "viral priming," which describes how the consecutive growth of the same crop species primes viral activity in the rhizosphere through local adaptation.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, we reveal unprecedented spatial and temporal diversity in viral community composition and activity across root, rhizosphere soil, and bulk soil compartments. Our work demonstrates that the roles of soil viruses need greater consideration to exploit the rhizosphere microbiome for food security, food safety, and environmental sustainability. Video Abstract.

Circadian rhythms in the plant host influence rhythmicity of rhizosphere microbiota

Background

Recent studies demonstrated that microbiota inhabiting the plant rhizosphere exhibit diel changes in abundance. To investigate the impact of plant circadian rhythms on bacterial and fungal rhythms in the rhizosphere, we analysed temporal changes in fungal and bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of Arabidopsis plants overexpressing or lacking function of the circadian clock gene LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY).

Results

Under diel light–dark cycles, the knock-out mutant lhy-11 and the gain-of-function mutant lhy-ox both exhibited gene expression rhythms with altered timing and amplitude compared to wild-type plants. Distinct sets of bacteria and fungi were found to display rhythmic changes in abundance in the rhizosphere of both of these mutants, suggesting that abnormal patterns of rhythmicity in the plant host caused temporal reprogramming of the rhizosphere microbiome. This was associated with changes in microbial community structure, including changes in the abundance of fungal guilds known to impact on plant health. Under constant environmental conditions, microbial rhythmicity persisted in the rhizosphere of wild-type plants, indicating control by a circadian oscillator. In contrast, loss of rhythmicity in lhy-ox plants was associated with disrupted rhythms for the majority of rhizosphere microbiota.

Conclusions

These results show that aberrant function of the plant circadian clock is associated with altered rhythmicity of rhizosphere bacteria and fungi. In the long term, this leads to changes in composition of the rhizosphere microbiome, with potential consequences for plant health. Further research will be required to understand the functional implications of these changes and how they impact on plant health and productivity.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12915-022-01430-z.

Newspaper framing of food and beverage corporations' sponsorship of sport: a content analysis

BACKGROUND

Unhealthy diets are a leading contributor to obesity, disability and death worldwide. One factor cited as contributing to rises in obesity rates is the pervasive and ubiquitous marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages (F&Bs) across a variety of mediums, such as sport sponsorship at both professional and amateur levels. Despite increased academic attention on the detrimental impacts of sport sponsorship within the obesogenic environment, this has not been matched by legislative action. One explanation may be the way that F&B corporations' sport sponsorship is framed within policy debates. Framing is the deliberate ways in which (often contested) issues are presented in communication. This paper examines how sport sponsorship by F&B corporations is framed through media reports.

METHODS

This study employed a mixed methods content and framing analysis. First, we conducted a quantitative newsprint content analysis (n = 234). This then informed and directed a thematic framing analysis of a sub-set of articles (n = 54) that specifically associated sport sponsorship by F&B corporations with obesity and childhood obesity.

RESULTS

The findings suggest that two competing frames are evident within newspaper coverage: 1) public health and 2) industry. The public health frame rejects the sponsorship of sport by High in Fat Sugar and Salt (HFSS) product corporations in particular, calling for such sponsorship to be restricted or banned. The industry frame characterises sponsorship of sport as a form of corporate social responsibility, positioning industry as good moral actors and part of the solution to childhood and adult obesity. These frames are evident across other Unhealthy Commodity Industries (UCIs) policy debates. However, the prominence of industry actors within the sample is potentially indicative of their discursive power within this space, particularly with their emphasis on the financial maintenance of sport as well as encouraging physical activity, contributing to the lack of regulatory development of sport sponsorship by F&B corporations.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study are particularly useful for public health organisations who seek regulatory change, as it may provide further insight into countering industry framing practices, raising the salience of regulation of sport sponsorship and thus increasing the likelihood of regulatory development that seeks to improve population health.

P07.05.A Implantable electrophoretic devices for local treatment of inoperable brain tumours

Background

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant primary brain tumour in adults, with a median overall survival of fewer than 18 months after initial diagnosis. For over five decades, research has been focused on developing new anticancer therapies for GBM, including anti-neoplastic agents, molecular targeted drugs, immunotherapeutic approaches, and angiogenesis inhibiting compounds; however, the prognosis of patients has hardly improved and temozolomide remains the only chemotherapy shown to improve patient survival in randomized clinical trials. A fundamental limitation of the success of chemotherapy in brain cancer therapies is the blood-brain barrier which significantly reduces the concentration of chemotherapeutic agents delivered into a tumour.

Material and Methods

Therapeutic strategies that control drug release spatially and temporally represent a significant step forward in terms of reducing side effects and improving treatment efficacy and will thus have a significant clinical impact. Electrophoretic drug delivery devices, which use electric fields to enhance drug transport, represent one such strategy.

Results

Here, we present an implantable device that enables highly spatially selective delivery of charged drug molecules directly into brain tumours. Our device combines a microfluidic system for drug transport with embedded electrodes which enable electrophoretic transport of drug molecules into the target tissue. This allows delivery of chemotherapeutic agents without transport of bulk solvent preventing issues arising from intracranial pressure gradients. We have shown that the device can be implanted safely without any limitation. We have tested the device's capabilities to deliver a wide range of small, medium, and large chemotherapeutic agents without limitations. Currently, we are investigating the delivery of cisplatin in GBM-bearing mice.

Conclusion

While electrophoretic drug delivery was first described in the early 20th century and has been used since primarily for transdermal drug delivery, we believe that our approach is one of the first times this has been demonstrated for brain cancer therapy.

Diversity and Ecological Guild Analysis of the Oil Palm Fungal Microbiome Across Root, Rhizosphere, and Soil Compartments

The rhizosphere microbiome is a major determinant of plant health, which can interact with the host directly and indirectly to promote or suppress productivity. Oil palm is one of the world’s most important crops, constituting over a third of global vegetable oil production. Currently there is little understanding of the oil palm microbiome and its contribution to plant health and productivity, with existing knowledge based almost entirely on culture dependent studies. We investigated the diversity and composition of the oil palm fungal microbiome in the bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and roots of 2-, 18-, and 35-year old plantations in Selangor, Malaysia. The fungal community showed substantial variation between the plantations, accounting for 19.7% of community composition, with compartment (root, rhizosphere soil, and bulk soil), and soil properties (pH, C, N, and P) contributing 6.5 and 7.2% of community variation, respectively. Rhizosphere soil and roots supported distinct communities compared to the bulk soil, with significant enrichment of Agaricomycetes, Glomeromycetes, and Lecanoromycetes in roots. Several putative plant pathogens were abundant in roots in all the plantations, including taxa related to Prospodicola mexicana and Pleurostoma sp. The mycorrhizal status and dependency of oil palm has yet to be established, and using 18S rRNA primers we found considerable between-site variation in Glomeromycotinian community composition, accounting for 31.2% of variation. There was evidence for the selection of Glomeromycotinian communities in oil palm roots in the older plantations but compartment had a weak effect on community composition, accounting for 3.9% of variation, while soil variables accounted for 9% of community variation. While diverse Mucoromycotinian fungi were detected, they showed very low abundance and diversity within roots compared to bulk soil, and were not closely related to taxa which have been linked to fine root endophyte mycorrhizal morphology. Many of the fungal sequences showed low similarity to established genera, indicating the presence of substantial novel diversity with significance for plant health within the oil palm microbiome.

Agricultural land-use favours Mucoromycotinian, but not Glomeromycotinian, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi across ten biomes

Globally, agricultural land-use negatively affects soil biota that contribute to ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling, yet arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are promoted as essential components of agroecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi include Glomeromycotinian AMF (G-AMF) and the arbuscule-producing fine root endophytes, recently re-classified into the Endogonales order within Mucoromycotina. The correct classification of Mucoromycotinian AMF (M-AMF) and the availability of new molecular tools can guide research to better the understanding of their diversity and ecology. To investigate the impact on G-AMF and M-AMF of agricultural land-use at a continental scale, we sampled DNA from paired farm and native sites across 10 Australian biomes. Glomeromycotinian AMF were present in both native and farm sites in all biomes. Putative M-AMF were favoured by farm sites, rare or absent in native sites, and almost entirely absent in tropical biomes. Temperature, rainfall, and soil pH were strong drivers of richness and community composition of both groups, and plant richness was an important mediator. Both fungal groups occupy different, but overlapping, ecological niches, with M-AMF thriving in temperate agricultural landscapes. Our findings invite exploration of the origin and spread of M-AMF and continued efforts to resolve the phylogeny of this newly reclassified group of AMF.

Natural attenuation of legacy hydrocarbon spills in pristine soils is feasible despite difficult environmental conditions in the monsoon tropics

The Kimberley region of Western Australia is a National Heritage listed region that is internationally recognised for its environmental and cultural significance. However, petroleum spills have been reported at a number of sites across the region, representing an environmental concern. The region is also characterised as having low soil nutrients, high temperatures and monsoonal rain - all of which may limit the potential for natural biodegradation of petroleum. Therefore, this work evaluated the effect of legacy petroleum hydrocarbons on the indigenous soil microbial community (across the domains Archaea, Bacteria and Fungi) at three sites in the Kimberley region. At each site, soil cores were removed from contaminated and control areas and analysed for total petroleum hydrocarbons, soil nutrients, pH and microbial community profiling (using16S rRNA and ITS sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq Platform). The presence of petroleum hydrocarbons decreased microbial diversity across all kingdoms, altered the structure of microbial communities and increased the abundance of putative hydrocarbon degraders (e.g. Mycobacterium, Acremonium, Penicillium, Bjerkandera and Candida). Microbial community shifts from contaminated soils were also associated with an increase in soil nutrients (notably Colwell P and S). Our study highlights the long-term effect of legacy hydrocarbon spills on soil microbial communities and their diversity in remote, infertile monsoonal soils, but also highlights the potential for natural attenuation to occur in these environments.

Instrumental, structural & discursive power & the regulation of online advertising of unhealthy food

Background

Examinations of corporate power demonstrate how Unhealthy Commodity Industries (UCIs) exert influence on the public and policymakers. For example, the High in Fat Sugar and Salt (HFSS) product industry exploit online environments to market their products to young people as a form of discursive power, and regulating this marketing can limit the power of those industries and is recognised as an important policy response. Here we address the gap in consideration of stakeholders' views of regulation of online advertising of HFSS products to young people to limit industry power.

Methods

We undertook primary analysis of 8 focus groups of parents, 11 stakeholder interviews and secondary analysis of 15 focus groups of young people (aged 12 and 15 years-of-age) in various community settings, with 5 individual interviews over the telephone. Focus group participants were recruited from a range of socioeconomic areas following the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintiles. Stakeholders were recruited from civil society organisations, government bodies and industry. Analysis employed Fuchs and Lederer's (2007) framework on instrumental, structural and discursive power.

Results

Stakeholders' views on the power of HFSS product industry appeared to predicate their views on regulation as an appropriate policy response. The majority of participants viewed regulation as a means to increase young people's and parents' autonomy over young people's diets by addressing the problematic power dynamic with industry at a policy level, yet concern remained about the adverse impact of regulation on individual autonomy.

Conclusions

Power is an important consideration when examining acceptability of To increase public support for regulation, it may be beneficial to emphasise the empowering effects of policy proposals. Advocates should shift their framing of regulation from focusing on restricting industry, to focusing on empowering the public.

Key messages

Views on power appear important when considering public acceptability of regulatory policy. Understanding views on power may improve public health messaging on policy interventions.

Tree phyllospheres are a habitat for diverse populations of CO-oxidizing bacteria

Carbon monoxide (CO) is both a ubiquitous atmospheric trace gas and an air pollutant. While aerobic CO-degrading microorganisms in soils and oceans are estimated to remove ~370 Tg of CO per year, the presence of CO-degrading microorganisms in above-ground habitats, such as the phyllosphere, and their potential role in CO cycling remains unknown. CO-degradation by leaf washes of two common British trees, Ilex aquifolium and Crataegus monogyna, demonstrated CO uptake in all samples investigated. Based on the analyses of taxonomic and functional genes, diverse communities of candidate CO-oxidizing taxa were identified, including members of Rhizobiales and Burkholderiales which were abundant in the phyllosphere at the time of sampling. Based on predicted genomes of phyllosphere community members, an estimated 21% of phyllosphere bacteria contained CoxL, the large subunit of CO-dehydrogenase. In support of this, data mining of publicly available phyllosphere metagenomes for genes encoding CO-dehydrogenase subunits demonstrated that, on average, 25% of phyllosphere bacteria contained CO-dehydrogenase gene homologues. A CO-oxidizing Phyllobacteriaceae strain was also isolated from phyllosphere samples which contains genes encoding both CO-dehydrogenase as well as a ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase. These results suggest that the phyllosphere supports diverse and potentially abundant CO-oxidizing bacteria, which are a potential sink for atmospheric CO.

A Novel Signaling Pathway Required for Arabidopsis Endodermal Root Organization Shapes the Rhizosphere Microbiome

The Casparian strip (CS) constitutes a physical diffusion barrier to water and nutrients in plant roots, which is formed by the polar deposition of lignin polymer in the endodermis tissue. The precise pattern of lignin deposition is determined by the scaffolding activity of membrane-bound Casparian Strip domain proteins (CASPs), but little is known of the mechanism(s) directing this process. Here, we demonstrate that Endodermis-specific Receptor-like Kinase 1 (ERK1) and, to a lesser extent, ROP Binding Kinase1 (RBK1) are also involved in regulating CS formation, with the former playing an essential role in lignin deposition as well as in the localization of CASP1. We show that ERK1 is localized to the cytoplasm and nucleus of the endodermis and that together with the circadian clock regulator, Time for Coffee (TIC), forms part of a novel signaling pathway necessary for correct CS organization and suberization of the endodermis, with their single or combined loss of function resulting in altered root microbiome composition. In addition, we found that other mutants displaying defects in suberin deposition at the CS also display altered root exudates and microbiome composition. Thus, our work reveals a complex network of signaling factors operating within the root endodermis that establish both the CS diffusion barrier and influence the microbial composition of the rhizosphere.

Evidence for Niche Differentiation in the Environmental Responses of Co-occurring Mucoromycotinian Fine Root Endophytes and Glomeromycotinian Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Fine root endophytes (FRE) were traditionally considered a morphotype of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), but recent genetic studies demonstrate that FRE belong within the subphylum Mucoromycotina, rather than in the subphylum Glomeromycotina with the AMF. These findings prompt enquiry into the fundamental ecology of FRE and AMF. We sampled FRE and AMF in roots of Trifolium subterraneum from 58 sites across temperate southern Australia. We investigated the environmental drivers of composition, richness, and root colonization of FRE and AMF by using structural equation modelling and canonical correspondence analyses. Root colonization by FRE increased with increasing temperature and rainfall but decreased with increasing phosphorus (P). Root colonization by AMF increased with increasing soil organic carbon but decreased with increasing P. Richness of FRE decreased with increasing temperature and soil pH. Richness of AMF increased with increasing temperature and rainfall but decreased with increasing soil aluminium (Al) and pH. Aluminium, soil pH, and rainfall were, in decreasing order, the strongest drivers of community composition of FRE; they were also important drivers of community composition of AMF, along with temperature, in decreasing order: rainfall, Al, temperature, and soil pH. Thus, FRE and AMF showed the same responses to some (e.g. soil P, soil pH) and different responses to other (e.g. temperature) key environmental factors. Overall, our data are evidence for niche differentiation among these co-occurring mycorrhizal associates.

Contrasting Responses of Rhizosphere Bacterial, Fungal, Protist, and Nematode Communities to Nitrogen Fertilization and Crop Genotype in Field Grown Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus)

The rhizosphere microbiome is considered to play a key role in determining crop health. However, current understanding of the factors which shape assembly and composition of the microbiome is heavily biased toward bacterial communities, and the relevance for other microbial groups is unclear. Furthermore, community assembly is determined by a variety of factors, including host genotype, environment and agricultural management practices, and their relative importance and interactions remain to be elucidated. We investigated the impact of nitrogen fertilization on rhizosphere bacterial, fungal, nematode and protist communities of 10 contrasting oilseed rape genotypes in a field experiment. We found significant differences in the composition of bacteria, fungi, protist and nematode communities between the rhizosphere and bulk soil. Nitrogen application had a significant but weak effect on fungal, bacterial, and protist community composition, and this was associated with increased relative abundance of a complex of fungal pathogens in the rhizosphere and soil, including Mycosphaerella sp. and Leptosphaeria sp. Network analysis showed that nitrogen application had different effects on microbial community connectivity in the soil and rhizosphere. Crop genotype significantly affected fungal community composition, with evidence for a degree of genotype specificity for a number of pathogens, including L. maculans, Alternaria sp., Pyrenopeziza brassicae, Olpidium brassicae, and L. biglobosa, and also potentially beneficial Heliotales root endophytes. Crop genotype had no significant effect on assembly of bacteria, protist or nematode communities. There was no relationship between genetic distance of crop genotypes and the extent of dissimilarity of rhizosphere microbial communities. Field disease assessment confirmed infection of crops by Leptosphaeria sp., P. brassicae, and Alternaria sp., indicating that rhizosphere microbiome sequencing was an effective indicator of plant health. We conclude that under field conditions soil and rhizosphere nutrient stoichiometry and crop genotype are key factors determining crop health by influencing the infection of roots by pathogenic and mutualistic fungal communities, and the connectivity and stability of rhizosphere microbiome interaction networks.

Identification of microbial signatures linked to oilseed rape yield decline at the landscape scale

BACKGROUND

The plant microbiome plays a vital role in determining host health and productivity. However, we lack real-world comparative understanding of the factors which shape assembly of its diverse biota, and crucially relationships between microbiota composition and plant health. Here we investigated landscape scale rhizosphere microbial assembly processes in oilseed rape (OSR), the UK's third most cultivated crop by area and the world's third largest source of vegetable oil, which suffers from yield decline associated with the frequency it is grown in rotations. By including 37 conventional farmers' fields with varying OSR rotation frequencies, we present an innovative approach to identify microbial signatures characteristic of microbiomes which are beneficial and harmful to the host.

RESULTS

We show that OSR yield decline is linked to rotation frequency in real-world agricultural systems. We demonstrate fundamental differences in the environmental and agronomic drivers of protist, bacterial and fungal communities between root, rhizosphere soil and bulk soil compartments. We further discovered that the assembly of fungi, but neither bacteria nor protists, was influenced by OSR rotation frequency. However, there were individual abundant bacterial OTUs that correlated with either yield or rotation frequency. A variety of fungal and protist pathogens were detected in roots and rhizosphere soil of OSR, and several increased relative abundance in root or rhizosphere compartments as OSR rotation frequency increased. Importantly, the relative abundance of the fungal pathogen Olpidium brassicae both increased with short rotations and was significantly associated with low yield. In contrast, the root endophyte Tetracladium spp. showed the reverse associations with both rotation frequency and yield to O. brassicae, suggesting that they are signatures of a microbiome which benefits the host. We also identified a variety of novel protist and fungal clades which are highly connected within the microbiome and could play a role in determining microbiome composition.

CONCLUSIONS

We show that at the landscape scale, OSR crop yield is governed by interplay between complex communities of both pathogens and beneficial biota which is modulated by rotation frequency. Our comprehensive study has identified signatures of dysbiosis within the OSR microbiome, grown in real-world agricultural systems, which could be used in strategies to promote crop yield. Video abstract.

First Cryo-Scanning Electron Microscopy Images and X-Ray Microanalyses of Mucoromycotinian Fine Root Endophytes in Vascular Plants

AIMS

Arbuscule-producing fine root endophytes (FRE) (previously incorrectly Glomus tenue) were recently placed within subphylum Mucoromycotina; the first report of arbuscules outside subphylum Glomeromycotina. Here, we aimed to estimate nutrient concentrations in plant and fungal structures of FRE and to test the utility of cryo-scanning electron microscopy (cryoSEM) for studying these fungi.

METHODS

We used replicated cryoSEM and X-ray microanalysis of heavily colonized roots of Trifolium subterraneum.

RESULTS

Intercellular hyphae and hyphae in developed arbuscules were consistently very thin; 1.35 ± 0.03 μm and 0.99 ± 0.03 μm in diameter, respectively (mean ± SE). Several intercellular hyphae were often adjacent to each other forming "hyphal ropes." Developed arbuscules showed higher phosphorus concentrations than senesced arbuscules and non-colonized structures. Senesced arbuscules showed greatly elevated concentrations of calcium and magnesium.

CONCLUSION

While uniformly thin hyphae and hyphal ropes are distinct features of FRE, the morphology of fully developed arbuscules, elevated phosphorus in fungal structures, and accumulation of calcium with loss of structural integrity in senesced arbuscules are similar to glomeromycotinian fungi. Thus, we provide evidence that FRE may respond to similar host-plant signals or that the host plant may employ a similar mechanism of association with FRE and AMF.

The Scottish case: minimum unit pricing for alcohol

There have been longstanding social and public health concerns about the levels of harmful alcohol consumption in Scotland. The Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 targets all alcohol sold through licensed premises in Scotland by ensuring it cannot be sold below a set minimum unit price. The pricing policy is currently set at 50p per unit of alcohol. Following a legal challenge and a vote in the Scottish Parliament, minimum unit pricing was implemented in Scotland on 1 May 2018. The aim of the Scottish alcohol policy has been to reduce the adverse public health consequences of alcohol consumption. It has also been identified as a potential measure for reducing health inequalities since alcohol-related harms are strongly socially patterned. The Scottish alcohol policy is important case to consider for a number of reasons. First, the nature of the policy differs. Rather than the introduction of a variable floor price, which may encourage switching in consumption from one product to another to maintain alcohol intake, minimum unit pricing introduces a price threshold that is uniform across all alcohol products. Second, minimum unit pricing is being introduced into a competitive commercial environment with strong vested interests, rather than a government-controlled monopoly. Third, the policy has been framed as a public health intervention, rather than primarily for revenue-raising reasons. Research on its development and evaluation will be considered to inform broader discussions on policy advocacy. Here we show a visualisation of the minimum unit pricing policy network to highlight how the public health community could work in more coordinated manner to support alcohol policy interventions.

A comparison of stakeholder networks across two pricing policy debates using discourse analysis

Background

Public health policy development is subject to a large number of stakeholders seeking to influence government thinking on policy options. One approach is via the news media. We compare the competing discourse coalitions evident in the UK public debate across two pricing policies, Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for alcohol and the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL).

Methods

Existing discourse network analyses (DNA) for MUP and SDIL were harmonised in Visone to allow direct comparison. We applied a common tie-weight threshold to reduce ties to robust argumentative similarities and to maximise the identification of both network structures. We used network measures (size, density and EI index) to compare the two networks and principal coalitions.

Results

Both networks involve a similar range of stakeholder types and form two discourse coalitions representing proponents and opponents of the policies. The SDIL network is larger, particularly the proponents coalition with over three times as many nodes and a lower EI index. Both networks show tight discourse coalitions of manufactures and commercial analysts acting in opposition to policy supporters. The only actors that appear in both debates are politicians, government advisors, commercial analysts and supermarkets. While public health actors appear in both debates they appear siloed in their interests.

Conclusions

DNA enabled direct comparison of the discourse coalitions across two highly contested pricing policy debates, visualising the complex network of actors and relationships operating to influence policy-making via the media. Use of comparative DNA across policy debates shows promise for better understanding the common tactics of different unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) to disrupt public health policies. Public health actors could improve their response to UCIs by seeking to work across policy and commodity arenas.

Key messages

We compared the competing discourse coalitions across two pricing policy debates, MUP and SDIL. Public health advocates could improve their response by working across policy arenas.

Optimising message framing to advance cancer prevention pricing interventions in the UK and US

Background

One-third of the burden of cancer is associated with four health harming behaviours - tobacco use, alcohol consumption, poor diet and physical inactivity. The growing evidence base supporting price-related policies to curb over consumption is of interest to governments globally. However, implementation requires public and policy-maker support. The aim of this study is to enhance our understanding of the features of message framing that influence public support for price-related policies in relation to tobacco, alcohol, and sugar.

Methods

We conducted 18 semi-structured interviews (9 UK and 9 USA) exploring knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of 4 price policies in relation to tobacco, alcohol and sugar. Interviewees included cancer policy advocates, cancer survivors and members of the public. We used NVivo 12 to organise the data for inductive and deductive thematic analysis.

Results

Common supportive features included: (i) highlighting the health benefit (eg reduced cancer risk), arising from impact on purchasing behaviour; (ii) indirectly making the health harm associated with consumption clear. Common unsupportive features included: (i) policy effectiveness will depend on size of the financial penalty and consumer response; (ii) such policies are unfair on sensible consumers and potentially regressive. Interviewees were more supportive of price-related policies for products containing tobacco where they perceived a stronger association with cancer risk.

Conclusions

This study reveals important differences in levels of persuasiveness arising from the framing of messages to promote price-related policies. The results informed the identification of 4 frames to be tested in a multi-factorial quantitative study, currently under way. These frames can be characterised as: F1 - To reduce the financial strain on healthcare systems; F2 - For the protection of children; F3 - To reduce cancer risk; and F4 - To reduce the risk of other non-communicable diseases.

Key messages

Tailoring the framing of price-related policies in relation to the product they are applied to may increase public acceptability. This may in turn facilitate their implementation.

“People expect you to work like you don’t have a child but be a mum like you don’t have a job’

Background

Recent UK campaigns that aim to increase awareness of sepsis have been accompanied by high profile media reporting about deaths in children resulting from misdiagnosis. Parents have been urged by the Sepsis Trust to have a low threshold for suspecting sepsis when their child is unwell and to follow ‘gut instincts’, challenging health professionals if necessary. This study aims to explore how parents enact this advice in the context of everyday life.

Methods

Thematic analysis of 16 focus groups comprised of parents and carers of pre-school children and 4 groups with individuals affected by sepsis.

Findings

Participants encountered various barriers and conflicts of interest when endeavouring to do the ‘right’ thing in managing acute childhood illness. Gaining access to healthcare was often challenging, with parents weighing up the need for reassurance against fears of over using scarce health care resources. Despite knowledge of recent sepsis awareness campaigns, parents frequently reported that the diverse symptoms described were too non-specific to be of practical use. ‘Knowing your child’ and being able to detect subtle deviations from normal was seen as key to decision-making about the need to escalate care. However, for parents in paid employment, the obligation to be present with their sick child to monitor symptoms closely was often in conflict with their duty to employers. The capacity to work flexibly, while highly valued, was inconsistent and frequently based on discretion of line managers rather than supported by official workplace policies.

Conclusions

Recent awareness campaigns have highlighted the need for parents to be alert to the possibility of sepsis when their child is acutely unwell. However current campaign materials do not enable parents to confidently identify when to seek help. Lack of access to primary care appointments and unsupportive employment policies may act as barriers to acting in accordance with sepsis awareness messages.

Key messages

Recent sepsis awareness campaigns focus on the importance of ‘parental instinct’ in managing risk. Parents often experience conflicting obligations towards their child and employer which can act as a barrier when monitoring risk during episodes of acute illness.

A discourse network analysis of the public media debate on the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy

Background

On 6th April 2018, the UK Government introduced the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) as a policy designed to reduce population level sugar consumption and related illnesses. Given that the successful introduction of upstream food and nutrition policies is a highly political enterprise involving multiple interested parties, understanding the complex network of stakeholders seeking to influence such policy decisions is imperative.

Methods

Media content analysis was employed to build a data set of relevant articles from UK national newspapers. Articles were analysed to identify stakeholder agreement or disagreement with defined concept statements. We used discourse network analysis to produce visual representations of the stakeholder network and coalitions evident in the debate, leading up to and following the announcement of the SDIL.

Results

We identified 3,883 statements made by 214 individuals from 176 organisations, relating to 47 concepts. Visualisations revealed a complex network of stakeholders with two discourse coalitions. Polarisation arose from 3 factors: (i) differences in political ideology; (ii) position on the specific policy option; (iii) interpretation of the evidence. Industry stakeholders appeared less united before the SDIL announcement. Some industry actors appeared in the supportive coalition, possibly due to the use of corporate social responsibility rhetoric. Jamie Oliver was a dominant supportive stakeholder, suggestive of his role as a policy entrepreneur.

Conclusions

This study illustrates the complexity of the network of stakeholders involved in the public debate on food policies such as sugar tax and the SDIL. Public health advocates seeking to gain support for future upstream regulation to promote population health would benefit from tailoring their communication to take advantage of sources of polarisation. Vocal celebrity policy entrepreneurs may be instrumental to facilitate alignment of stakeholders around a clear ideology.

Key messages

This study provides a novel insight into the network of stakeholders involved in public debates on food policies. Public health advocates may benefit by identifying and aligning with a clear ideology.

Urban meadows as an alternative to short mown grassland: effects of composition and height on biodiversity

There are increasing calls to provide greenspace in urban areas, yet the ecological quality, as well as quantity, of greenspace is important. Short mown grassland designed for recreational use is the dominant form of urban greenspace in temperate regions but requires considerable maintenance and typically provides limited habitat value for most taxa. Alternatives are increasingly proposed, but the biodiversity potential of these is not well understood. In a replicated experiment across six public urban greenspaces, we used nine different perennial meadow plantings to quantify the relative roles of floristic diversity and height of sown meadows on the richness and composition of three taxonomic groups: plants, invertebrates, and soil microbes. We found that all meadow treatments were colonized by plant species not sown in the plots, suggesting that establishing sown meadows does not preclude further locally determined grassland development if management is appropriate. Colonizing species were rarer in taller and more diverse plots, indicating competition may limit invasion rates. Urban meadow treatments contained invertebrate and microbial communities that differed from mown grassland. Invertebrate taxa responded to changes in both height and richness of meadow vegetation, but most orders were more abundant where vegetation height was longer than mown grassland. Order richness also increased in longer vegetation and Coleoptera family richness increased with plant diversity in summer. Microbial community composition seems sensitive to plant species composition at the soil surface (0-10 cm), but in deeper soils (11-20 cm) community variation was most responsive to plant height, with bacteria and fungi responding differently. In addition to improving local residents' site satisfaction, native perennial meadow plantings can produce biologically diverse grasslands that support richer and more abundant invertebrate communities, and restructured plant, invertebrate, and soil microbial communities compared with short mown grassland. Our results suggest that diversification of urban greenspace by planting urban meadows in place of some mown amenity grassland is likely to generate substantial biodiversity benefits, with a mosaic of meadow types likely to maximize such benefits.

Communicating antimicrobial resistance and stewardship in the national press: Lessons from sepsis awareness campaigns

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and sepsis have been the subject of increasing media focus.

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Reporting of these issues in UK newspapers contains potentially conflicting messages about antibiotic use.

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Articles about sepsis frequently document its impact using personal narratives that rarely feature in articles about AMR.

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Few articles balance messages about early antibiotic treatment in sepsis with the need to reduce unnecessary prescribing.

•   Integrating

media discourses about AMR and sepsis may help improve public understandings about the importance of antimicrobial stewardship.

Data Management for an Efficacy Trial of a Vaccine in the Gambia

An individually randomised double-blind trial of PRP-T Hib conjugate vaccine was conducted in the Gambia between 1993 and 1995, in which 42,848 children were randomised into one of 10 groups, five corresponding to vaccine and five to placebo. Basic demographic data were collected on all children, and administration details of all doses of EPI vaccines were recorded. In addition, details on all doses of vaccines were recorded on each child’s home-based health card; 2,681 episodes of possible Hib disease were investigated and for each episode detailed clinical data were collected. These investigations yielded 50 cases of confirmed Hib disease, which formed the basis of the final efficacy results. In all 50 cases, the data on the children’s health card, describing the doses of study vaccine received exactly, matched the vaccination database which was filled with data returned from the clinics. The data-management procedures are described in detail in this paper.

Plant Rhizosphere Selection of Plasmodiophorid Lineages from Bulk Soil: The Importance of "Hidden" Diversity

Microbial communities closely associated with the rhizosphere can have strong positive and negative impacts on plant health and growth. We used a group-specific amplicon approach to investigate local scale drivers in the diversity and distribution of plasmodiophorids in rhizosphere/root and bulk soil samples from oilseed rape (OSR) and wheat agri-systems. Plasmodiophorids are plant- and stramenopile-associated protists including well known plant pathogens as well as symptomless endobiotic species. We detected 28 plasmodiophorid lineages (OTUs), many of them novel, and showed that plasmodiophorid communities were highly dissimilar and significantly divergent between wheat and OSR rhizospheres and between rhizosphere and bulk soil samples. Bulk soil communities were not significantly different between OSR and wheat systems. Wheat and OSR rhizospheres selected for different plasmodiophorid lineages. An OTU corresponding to Spongospora nasturtii was positively selected in the OSR rhizosphere, as were two genetically distinct OTUs. Two novel lineages related to Sorosphaerula veronicae were significantly associated with wheat rhizosphere samples, indicating unknown plant-protist relationships. We show that group-targeted eDNA approaches to microbial symbiont-host ecology reveal significant novel diversity and enable inference of differential activity and potential interactions between sequence types, as well as their presence.

Media framing and construction of childhood obesity: a content analysis of Swedish newspapers

Objective

Despite lower prevalence than most European countries, childhood obesity is a Swedish public health priority due to its lasting health impacts and socioeconomic patterning. Mass media content influences public and political perceptions of health issues, and media framing of childhood obesity may influence perceptions of its solutions. This study examines framing of childhood obesity in Swedish morning and evening newspapers from 1996 to 2014.

Methods

Content analysis of 726 articles about childhood obesity published in the five most-circulated Swedish newspapers. Article content coded quantitatively and subjected to statistical analysis, describing relationships between themes and trends over time.

Results

Childhood obesity was consistently problematised, primarily in health terms, and linked to socio-economic and geographical factors. The yearly frequency of articles peaked in 2004, followed by a decline, corresponding with evidence about prevalence. Childhood obesity was framed as being driven by individual behaviours more frequently than structural or environmental factors. Structural framings increased over time, but constructions of the problem as driven by individual behaviours, particularly parenting, remained prominent.

Conclusions

A relative growth in structural framings of causes and solutions over time, combined with prominent coverage of socio-economic inequalities, might be indicative of public and political amenability towards societal-level solutions, but individual behaviours remain prominent in framing of the issue. Health advocates might incorporate these insights into media engagement.

Content analysis of UK newspaper and online news representations of women's and men's 'binge' drinking: a challenge for communicating evidence-based messages about single-episodic drinking?

OBJECTIVES

In the UK, men's alcohol-related morbidity and mortality still greatly exceeds women's, despite an increase in women's alcohol consumption in recent decades. New UK alcohol guidelines introduce gender-neutral low-risk alcohol consumption guidance. This study explores how UK newspaper and online news represent women's and men's 'binge' drinking to identify opportunities to better align reporting of harmful drinking with evidence.

DESIGN

Quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 308 articles published in 7 UK national newspapers and the BBC News website between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2013.

RESULTS

Articles associated women with 'binge' drinking more frequently than men, and presented women's drinking as more problematic. Men were more frequently characterised as violent or disorderly, while women were characterised as out of control, putting themselves in danger, harming their physical appearance and burdening men. Descriptions of female 'binge' drinkers' clothing and appearance were typically moralistic.

CONCLUSIONS

The UK news media's disproportionate focus on women's 'binge' drinking is at odds with epidemiological evidence, may reproduce harmful gender stereotypes and may obstruct public understandings of the gender-neutral weekly consumption limits in newly proposed alcohol guidelines. In order to better align reporting of harmful drinking with current evidence, public health advocates may engage with the media with a view to shifting media framing of 'binge' drinking away from specific groups (young people; women) and contexts (public drinking) and towards the health risks of specific drinking behaviours, which affect all groups regardless of context.

UV-curable gels as topical nail medicines:In vivo residence, anti-fungal efficacy and influence of gel components on their properties

UV-curable gels, used as nail cosmetics for their in vivo durability, were reported to be promising as topical nail medicines. Our first aim was thus to investigate whether such durability applies to drug-loaded formulations. This was found to be true. However, ethanol inclusion in the pharmaceutical formulation (to enable drug loading) reduced the in vivo residence. The second aim was therefore to determine any other effects of ethanol, and if ethanol could be avoided by the choice of monomers. Thus, three methacrylate monomers, ethyl methacrylate, isobornyl methacrylate and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were selected, and their influence on the formulation properties were determined. Ethanol and the methacrylate monomer influenced some (but not all) of the formulation properties. The most significant was that HEMA could dissolve drug and enable the preparation of ethanol-free, drug-loaded formulations, which would benefit in vivo residence. The absence of ethanol reduced drug loading, release and ungual flux, but had no negative impact on the in vitro anti-fungal efficacy. Thus, judicious selection of gel components enabled the exclusion of ethanol. The long in vivo residence, little residual monomers, sufficient ungual permeation and in vitro anti-fungal activity of the gels indicates their potential as anti-onychomycotic topical medicines.

Resistance and resilience responses of a range of soil eukaryote and bacterial taxa to fungicide application

The application of plant protection products has the potential to significantly affect soil microbial community structure and function. However, the extent to which soil microbial communities from different trophic levels exhibit resistance and resilience to such compounds remains poorly understood. The resistance and resilience responses of a range of microbial communities (bacteria, fungi, archaea, pseudomonads, and nematodes) to different concentrations of the strobilurin fungicide, azoxystrobin were studied. A significant concentration-dependent decrease, and subsequent recovery in soil dehydrogenase activity was recorded, but no significant impact on total microbial biomass was observed. Impacts on specific microbial communities were studied using small subunit (SSU) rRNA terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) profiling using soil DNA and RNA. The application of azoxystrobin significantly affected fungal and nematode community structure and diversity but had no impact on other communities. Community impacts were more pronounced in the RNA-derived T-RFLP profiles than in the DNA-derived profiles. qPCR confirmed that azoxystrobin application significantly reduced fungal, but not bacterial, SSU rRNA gene copy number. Azoxystrobin application reduced the prevalence of ascomycete fungi, but increased the relative abundance of zygomycetes. Azoxystrobin amendment also reduced the relative abundance of nematodes in the order Enoplia, but stimulated a large increase in the relative abundance of nematodes from the order Araeolaimida.

Teenagers' understandings of and attitudes towards vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases: a qualitative study

•

Explored understandings of diseases and knowledge and experiences of vaccination.

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Teenagers had limited knowledge and little direct experience of the diseases.

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Participants attitudes towards receiving vaccines’ varied.

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The success of mass immunisation programmes is associated with disease perceptions.

•

Need to engage with teenagers to address misconceptions about vaccines and diseases.

Background

To examine immunisation information needs of teenagers we explored understandings of vaccination and vaccine-preventable diseases, attitudes towards immunisation and experiences of immunisation. Diseases discussed included nine for which vaccines are currently offered in the UK (human papillomavirus, meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella), and two not currently included in the routine UK schedule (hepatitis B and chickenpox).

Methods

Twelve focus groups conducted between November 2010 and March 2011 with 59 teenagers (29 girls and 30 boys) living in various parts of Scotland.

Results

Teenagers exhibited limited knowledge and experience of the diseases, excluding chickenpox. Measles, mumps and rubella were perceived as severe forms of chickenpox-like illness, and rubella was not associated with foetal damage. Boys commonly believed that human papillomavirus only affects girls, and both genders exhibited confusion about its relationship with cancer. Participants considered two key factors when assessing the threat of diseases: their prevalence in the UK, and their potential to cause fatal or long-term harm. Meningitis was seen as a threat, but primarily to babies. Participants explained their limited knowledge as a result of mass immunisation making once-common diseases rare in the UK, and acknowledged immunisation's role in reducing disease prevalence.

Conclusions

While it is welcome that fewer teenagers have experienced vaccine-preventable diseases, this presents public health advocates with the challenge of communicating benefits of immunisation when advantages are less visible. The findings are timely in view of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's recommendation that a booster of meningitis C vaccine should be offered to teenagers; that teenagers did not perceive meningitis C as a significant threat should be a key concern of promotional information. While teenagers’ experiences of immunisation in school were not always positive, they seemed enthusiastic at the prospect of introducing more vaccines for their age group.

Impact of shortened crop rotation of oilseed rape on soil and rhizosphere microbial diversity in relation to yield decline

Oilseed rape (OSR) grown in monoculture shows a decline in yield relative to virgin OSR of up to 25%, but the mechanisms responsible are unknown. A long term field experiment of OSR grown in a range of rotations with wheat was used to determine whether shifts in fungal and bacterial populations of the rhizosphere and bulk soil were associated with the development of OSR yield decline. The communities of fungi and bacteria in the rhizosphere and bulk soil from the field experiment were profiled using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and sequencing of cloned internal transcribed spacer regions and 16S rRNA genes, respectively. OSR cropping frequency had no effect on rhizosphere bacterial communities. However, the rhizosphere fungal communities from continuously grown OSR were significantly different to those from other rotations. This was due primarily to an increase in abundance of two fungi which showed 100% and 95% DNA identity to the plant pathogens Olpidium brassicae and Pyrenochaeta lycopersici, respectively. Real-time PCR confirmed that there was significantly more of these fungi in the continuously grown OSR than the other rotations. These two fungi were isolated from the field and used to inoculate OSR and Brassica oleracea grown under controlled conditions in a glasshouse to determine their effect on yield. At high doses, Olpidium brassicae reduced top growth and root biomass in seedlings and reduced branching and subsequent pod and seed production. Pyrenochaeta sp. formed lesions on the roots of seedlings, and at high doses delayed flowering and had a negative impact on seed quantity and quality.

Planning for, implementing and assessing the impact of health promotion and behaviour change interventions: a way forward for health psychologists

Researchers in the field of health psychology have increasingly been involved in translating a body of knowledge about psychological factors associated with health-relevant behaviours, into the development and evaluation of interventions that seek to apply that knowledge. In this paper we argue that a changing economic and political climate, and the strong behavioural contribution to disease morbidity and mortality in developed nations, requires health psychologists to plan more rigorously for, and communicate more effectively, about how health promotion, social cognition and behaviour change interventions will have impact and be increasingly embedded into health services or health promotion activity. We explain academic and wider socio-economic uses of 'impact' in health services research. We describe the relationship between impact and dissemination, and impact as distinct from, but often used interchangeably with the terms 'implementation', 'knowledge transfer' and 'knowledge translation' (KT). The evidence for establishing impact is emergent. We therefore draw on a number of impact planning and KT frameworks, with reference to two self- management interventions, to describe a framework that we hope will support health psychologists in embedding impact planning and execution in research. We illustrate this further in an on-line annexe with reference to one of our own interventions, Mums-and-MS (see Supplemental Material).

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence for flexible sigmoidoscopy as a screening method for the prevention of colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Colorectal cancer is a significant cause of death. Removal of precancerous adenomas, and early detection and treatment of cancer, has been shown to reduce the risk of death. The aim of this review and meta-analysis was to determine whether flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) is an effective population screening method for reducing mortality from colorectal cancer.

METHODS

MEDLINE (1946 to December 2012) and Embase (1980-2012, week 15) were searched for randomized clinical trials in which FS was used to screen non-symptomatic adults from a general population, and FS was compared with either no screening or any other alternative screening methods. Meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects Mantel-Haenzsel model.

RESULTS

Twenty-four papers met the inclusion criteria, reporting results from 14 trials. Uptake of FS was usually lower than that for stool-based tests, although FS was more effective at detecting advanced adenoma and carcinoma. FS reduced the incidence of colorectal cancer after screening, and long-term mortality from colorectal cancer, compared with no screening in a selected population. Compared with stool-based tests in a general population, FS was associated with fewer interval cancers.

CONCLUSION

FS is efficacious at reducing colorectal cancer mortality compared with no screening. It is more effective at detecting advanced adenoma and carcinoma than stool-based tests. FS may be compromised by poorer uptake. Introduction of FS as a screening method should be done on a pilot basis in populations in which it is not currently used, and close attention should be paid to maximizing uptake. The relative risk of adverse events with FS compared with stool-based tests should be quantified, and its real-world effectiveness evaluated against the most effective stool-based tests.

Assessment of neurovascular involvement by malignant musculoskeletal tumors

Determining the presence or absence of neurovascular involvement by a malignant musculoskeletal neoplasm is an important aspect of local tumor staging. This article discusses issues concerning such assessments made by diagnostic imaging techniques, including factors inherent to the patient and those related to imaging technology. The distinction between tumor contact and tumor encasement is emphasized and illustrated.

Reporting of MMR evidence in professional publications: 1988-2007

OBJECTIVE

To examine how journals and magazines disseminate research evidence and guidance on best practice to health professionals by aligning commentaries on measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) evidence in journals with key events in the MMR controversy.

DESIGN

Content analysis.

DATA SOURCES

Comment articles in six commonly read UK publications.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Number of comment pieces by publication, year and article type; trends in the focus, tone and inclusion of recommendations on MMR.

RESULTS

860 articles met the inclusion criteria (BMJ n = 104, Community Practitioner n = 45, Health Visitor n = 24, Practice Nurse n = 61, Nursing Standard n = 61 and Pulse n = 565). Of these 860 comment pieces, 264 made some reference to evidence endorsing the safety of MMR. Around one in 10 were rated as negative (10.9%, n = 29) or neutral (11.3%, n = 30) in relation to MMR safety, and nearly a quarter (22.7%, n = 60) were rated as mixed. Following the publication of Wakefield et al's 1998 paper there was a period of neutrality. In 2000, despite growing public concerns and widespread media coverage, fewer than 20 comment pieces were published. Less than a quarter of comment pieces (n = 196, 22.7%) included recommendations.

CONCLUSION

While a period of neutrality may reflect a professional response to uncertainty by holding back until consensus emerges, it may also represent a missed opportunity to promote evidence-based practice.