Summary Vibrio parahaemolyticus , the leading cause of seafood‐associated gastroenteritis worldwide, requires the two type‐III secretion systems (T3SS1 and T3SS2) and a thermostable direct hemolysin (encoded by tdh1 and tdh2 ) for full virulence. The tdh genes and the T3SS2 gene cluster constitute an 80 kb pathogenicity island known as Vp‐PAI located on the chromosome II. Expression of T3SS1 and Vp‐PAI is regulated in a quorum...

In some insect nursery pollination mutualisms, plant hosts impose net costs to uncooperative “cheater” symbionts. These “sanctions” promote mutualism stability but their precise adaptive nature remains unclear. In fig–wasp mutualisms host trees ( Ficus spp.) are only pollinated by female agaonid wasps whose larvae only use galled fig flowers as food. In actively pollinated systems, if wasps fail to pollinate, sanctions can res...

The relationship between the Palaeolithic–Neolithic cultural transition and environmental changes is important for understanding human history. However, the timing and nature of human behaviour at the transition, and their relationship to local environmental conditions, remain poorly understood. The Yujiagou archaeological site in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, provides valuable chronological and archaeological information...