En junio del 2017,  The School of Public Health University of Michigan otorgó al Instituto de Microbiología un grant de NIH (considerable) para investigar Dengue y Zika en la costa ecuatoriana. Bajo la gestión de Gabriel Trueba.

Publicación del Instituto de Microbiología derivada del proyecto de Microbiota Vaginal de la USFQ, representada por Antonio Machado y la colaboración de investigadores de Portugal  

Abstract 

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a molecular method used to identify and quantify microorganisms in a wide range of samples. This technique combines the simplicity of microscopic observation and the specificity of DNA/rRNA hybridization, allowing detection of selected bacterial species and morphologic visualization. Here, we describe a quantitative molecular diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis, based on the classical Nugent score. Our probes are able to differentiate Lactobacillus spp. and Gardnerella vaginalis from the other undefined bacterial species considered in the Nugent score.

Abstract 

Janzen's extension of the climate variability hypothesis (CVH) posits that increased seasonal variation at high latitudes should result in greater temperature overlap across elevations, and favour wider thermal breadths in temperate organisms compared to their tropical counterparts. We tested these predictions by measuring stream temperatures and thermal breadths (i.e. the difference between the critical thermal maximum and minimum) of 62 aquatic insect species from temperate (Colorado, USA) and tropical (Papallacta, Ecuador) streams spanning an elevation gradient of c. 2000 m. Temperate streams exhibited greater seasonal temperature variation and overlap across elevations than tropical streams, and as predicted, temperate aquatic insects exhibited broader thermal breadths than tropical insects. However, elevation had contrasting effects on patterns of thermal breadth. In temperate species, thermal breadth decreased with increasing elevation because CTMAX declined with elevation while CTMIN was similar across elevations. In tropical insects, by contrast, CTMAX declined less sharply than CTMIN with elevation, causing thermal breadth to increase with elevation. These macrophysiological patterns are consistent with the narrower elevation ranges found in other tropical organisms, and they extend Janzen's CVH to freshwater streams. Furthermore, because lowland tropical aquatic insects have the narrowest thermal breadths of any region, they may be particularly vulnerable to short-term extreme changes in stream temperature.

Publicación del proyecto de Cetácea con la colaboración de expertos de Chile, México, Colombia, Perú, Panamá, Costa Rica y Ecuador, representado por Judith Denkinger.

Abstract 

Latitudinal preferences within the breeding range have been suggested for Breeding Stock G humpback whales that summer in different feeding areas of the eastern South Pacific. To address this hypothesis, humpback whales photo-identified from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Fueguian Archipelago (southern Chile) were compared with whales photo-identified from lower latitudes extending from northern Peru to Costa Rica. This comparison was performed over a time span that includes 18 austral seasons. A total of 238 whales identified from the Antarctic Peninsula and 25 whales from the Fueguian Archipelago were among those photo-identified at the breeding grounds. Our findings showed that humpback whales from each feeding area were resighted unevenly across the breeding grounds, which suggests a degree of spatial

           https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/cox028

"Mitigating cetacean bycatch in coastal Ecuador: Governance challenges for small-scale fisheries"

Aporte de Gunther Reck en artículo de El Comercio

http://www.elcomercio.com/tendencias/pais-proyecta-turismosustentable-biodiversidad-proteccion.html

"Distribution and Habitat Suitability of Andean Climbing Catfish in the Napo River Basin, Ecuador"

"Genetic diversity and gene flow decline with elevation in montane mayflies" 

Coautores: Juan M. Guayasamin, Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, entre otros.

 https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.673.12108