One Health - Interfaculty Research Cooperation

One Health: Cascading, microbially mediated health

"One Health" is an inter-faculty initiative funded by the University of Bern. Established in February 2018, it deals with the relationship between environmental, animal and human well-being by means of a multidisciplinary approach. Experts from the Faculties of Natural Sciences, Vetsuisse and Medicine and external staff from the Universities of Vienna and Kiel are jointly investigating a new, highly relevant aspect of "One Health": Cascading, microbially mediated health.

This will improve our understanding of the health relationships between soils, plants, animals and humans as well as our handling of microbial interfaces and contribute to sustainable health management in a changing environment.

In August 2019 the first One Health Summer Schools and One Health Symposium were held, featuring leading international scientists and attracting students and delegates from around the world.

News

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"Emerging Investigator Series” of an RSC journal

Adrien Mestrot’s article on mercury mobility and methylmercury formation in contaminated floodplain soils was selected for the Emerging Investigator Series of the journal "Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts.”

Plant chemicals influence herbivore growth by modulating root microbial communities

Plants can change soil microbial communities and thereby affect the health of plants and herbivores. In a collaborative effort within the IRC One Health, researchers now provide a mechanism for this phenomenon by demonstrating that maize roots release bioactive compounds that reprogram soil microbial communities and thereby strengthen the defenses of the next plant generation against the fall armyworm, which currently threatens food security in Africa. This discovery may lead to new opportunities for the improvement of agricultural food chains. How the same natural plant chemicals may affect human health is currently under investigation.

Plant volatiles protect caterpillars against natural enemies

The herbivore induced plant volatile indole renders caterpillars repellent and more resistant to their natural enemies. Scientists from the University of Bern and the University of Neuchâtel discovered that this new aspect of tritrophic interactions may limit efforts to use plant volatiles for biological control. “This study also illustrates how plant metabolites can shape the health of food chains, a concept that we now investigate in more depth in the IRC One Health”, says co-author Matthias Erb.

Soils in Swiss nature reserves contain significant quantities of microplastics

Scientists from the University of Bern found significant amounts of microplastics in soils of Swiss nature reserves. Even many soils in remote, protected mountainous areas were found to be contaminated with microplastics. Moritz Bigalke, senior author of the study and principal investigator in the IRC One Health, emphasizes that “there is a need for research into the question of how microplastics affect food production, and whether they can get into the food chain."