Generalization of learned predator recognition: an experimental test and framework for future studies

While some prey species possess an innate recognition of their predators, others require learning to recognize their predators. The specific characteristics of the predators that prey learn and whether prey can generalize this learning to similar predatory threats have been virtually ignored. Here, we investigated whether fathead minnows that learned to chemically recognize a specific predator species as a threat has the ability to generalize their recognition to closely related predators. We found that minnows trained to recognize the odour of a lake trout as a threat (the reference predator) generalized their responses to brook trout (same genus as lake trout) and rainbow trout (same family), but did not generalize to a distantly related predatory pike or non-predatory suckers. We also found that the intensity of antipredator responses to the other species was correlated with the phylogenetic distance to the reference predator; minnows responded with a higher intensity response to brook trout than rainbow trout. This is the first study showing that prey have the ability to exhibit generalization of predator odour recognition. We discuss these results and provide a theoretical framework for future studies of generalization of predator recognition.     

Glutamate and monoamine transporters: new visions of form and function

Neurotransmitters are rapidly removed from the extracellular space primarily through the actions of plasma membrane transporters. This uptake process is not only essential in the termination of neurotransmission but also serves to replenish intracellular levels of transmitter for further release. Neurotransmitter transporters couple the inward movement of substrate to the movement of Na(+) down a concentration gradient and, in addition to their transport function, some carriers also display channel-like activities. Five Na(+)/K(+)-dependent glutamate transporter subtypes belong to the solute carrier 1 (SLC1) family and a second family, SLC6, encompasses the Na(+)/Cl(-)-dependent transporters for dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), noradrenaline, GABA and glycine. Recent advances, including high-resolution structures from both families, are now providing new insights into the molecular determinants that contribute to substrate translocation and ion channel activities. Other influential studies have explored how cellular regulatory mechanisms modulate transporter function, and how the different functions of the carrier shape the patterns of neurotransmitter signaling. This review focuses on recent studies of glutamate and monoamine transporters as prototypes of the two carrier families.     

Effect of chitosan type on protein and water recovery efficiency from surimi wash water treated with chitosan-alginate complexes

Previous research has shown that soluble protein recovery by chitosan (Chi) complexes with polyanions such as alginate (Alg) is more effective than using chitosan alone. In this study, Chi-Alg complexes were used to recover soluble proteins from surimi wash water (SWW) slightly acidified to pH 6. Six Chi samples differing in molecular weight (MW) and degree of deacetylation (DD) were used at 20, 40 and 100mg/L SWW Chi-Alg complexes prepared with a Chi:Alg mixing ratio previously optimized (MR=0.2). FTIR analysis of the solids recovered revealed the three characteristic amide bands observed in the same region for untreated SWW confirming protein adsorption by Chi-Alg. The superior effectiveness of Chi complexes was confirmed but differences among chitosan types could not be correlated to MW and DD. Experimental Chi samples with 94%, 93%, 75% and 93% DD and 22, 47, 225 and 3404 x 10(3)Da, respectively, showed 73-76% protein adsorption while a commercial chitosan sample with 84% DD and 3832 x 10(3)Da had 74-83% protein adsorption. An experimental chitosan, SY-1000 with 94% DD and 1.5 x 10(6)Da, showed the highest protein adsorption (79-86%) and turbidity reduction (85-92%) when used at 20mg/L SWW.     

Foxb1-driven Cre expression in somites and the neuroepithelium of diencephalon, brainstem, and spinal cord

We have knocked-in Cre-IRES-EGFP in the Foxb1 locus by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. We removed the PGK-neo cassette (which was flanked by FRT sequences) by crossing with the FLPeR deleter mouse. The Foxb1(Cre) line showed Cre recombinase activity as well as EGFP fluorescence reproducing Foxb1 expression accurately. By crossing Foxb1(Cre) mice with the ROSA26R and Z/AP mouse reporter lines we have been able to trace the lineage of Foxb1-expressing cells. Early transient expression of Foxb1 in the paraxial mesoderm translates into labeling of the somites. In the central nervous system (CNS), the Foxb1 lineage includes the thalamus and mammillary body (hypothalamus), brainstem, and the ventral spinal cord and floor plate.     

Notch signaling is essential for ventricular chamber development

Ventricular chamber morphogenesis, first manifested by trabeculae formation, is crucial for cardiac function and embryonic viability and depends on cellular interactions between the endocardium and myocardium. We show that ventricular Notch1 activity is highest at presumptive trabecular endocardium. RBPJk and Notch1 mutants show impaired trabeculation and marker expression, attenuated EphrinB2, NRG1, and BMP10 expression and signaling, and decreased myocardial proliferation. Functional and molecular analyses show that Notch inhibition prevents EphrinB2 expression, and that EphrinB2 is a direct Notch target acting upstream of NRG1 in the ventricles. However, BMP10 levels are found to be independent of both EphrinB2 and NRG1 during trabeculation. Accordingly, exogenous BMP10 rescues the myocardial proliferative defect of in vitro-cultured RBPJk mutants, while exogenous NRG1 rescues differentiation in parallel. We suggest that during trabeculation Notch independently regulates cardiomyocyte proliferation and differentiation, two exquisitely balanced processes whose perturbation may result in congenital heart disease.     

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase-PEST and β8 Integrin Regulate Spatiotemporal Patterns of RhoGDI1 Activation in Migrating Cells

Directional cell motility is essential for normal development and physiology, although how motile cells spatiotemporally activate signaling events remains largely unknown. Here, we have characterized an adhesion and signaling unit comprised of protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP)-PEST and the extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion receptor β8 integrin that plays essential roles in directional cell motility. β8 integrin and PTP-PEST form protein complexes at the leading edge of migrating cells and balance patterns of Rac1 and Cdc42 signaling by controlling the subcellular localization and phosphorylation status of Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor 1 (RhoGDI1). Translocation of Src-phosphorylated RhoGDI1 to the cell''s leading edge promotes local activation of Rac1 and Cdc42, whereas dephosphorylation of RhoGDI1 by integrin-bound PTP-PEST promotes RhoGDI1 release from the membrane and sequestration of inactive Rac1/Cdc42 in the cytoplasm. Collectively, these data reveal a finely tuned regulatory mechanism for controlling signaling events at the leading edge of directionally migrating cells.     

Maintaining Specimen Integrity for G6PD Screening by Cytofluorometric Assays

Cytochemical staining remains an efficient way of identifying females who are heterozygous for the X chromosome-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) gene. G6PD is highly polymorphic with certain alleles resulting in low intracellular G6PD activity in red blood cells. Low intracellular G6PD activity is associated with a risk of severe hemolysis when exposed to an oxidative stress such as fava beans, certain drugs and infections. Heterozygous females express the enzyme from both X-chromosome alleles resulting in two red blood cell populations each with G6PD enzyme characteristics representative of each allele; for example, normal and deficient. Cytochemical staining is the only way to determine the relative representation of each allele in red blood cells, a feature that is critical when assessing the risk for severe hemolysis when exposed to an oxidant such as the anti-malarial drug primaquine. This letter discusses red blood cell integrity with respect to the cytofluorometric assays for G6PD activity. An approach to making this test more robust is suggested. The approach makes this test more reliable and extends its use to a broader range of blood specimens.     

Saturation Mutagenesis of the Antithrombin Reactive Center Loop P14 Residue Supports a Three-step Mechanism of Heparin Allosteric Activation Involving Intermediate and Fully Activated States

Past studies have suggested that a key feature of the mechanism of heparin allosteric activation of the anticoagulant serpin, antithrombin, is the release of the reactive center loop P14 residue from a native state stabilizing interaction with the hydrophobic core. However, more recent studies have indicated that this structural change plays a secondary role in the activation mechanism. To clarify this role, we expressed and characterized 15 antithrombin P14 variants. The variants exhibited basal reactivities with factors Xa and IXa, heparin affinities and thermal stabilities that were dramatically altered from wild type, consistent with the P14 mutations perturbing native state stability and shifting an allosteric equilibrium between native and activated states. Rapid kinetic studies confirmed that limiting rate constants for heparin allosteric activation of the mutants were altered in conjunction with the observed shifts of the allosteric equilibrium. However, correlations of the P14 mutations'' effects on parameters reflecting the allosteric activation state of the serpin were inconsistent with a two-state model of allosteric activation and suggested multiple activated states. Together, these findings support a minimal three-state model of allosteric activation in which the P14 mutations perturb equilibria involving distinct native, intermediate, and fully activated states wherein the P14 residue retains an interaction with the hydrophobic core in the intermediate state but is released from the core in the fully activated state, and the bulk of allosteric activation has occurred in the intermediate.     

Parallel evolution in Ugandan crater lakes: repeated evolution of limnetic body shapes in haplochromine cichlid fish

Background

The enormous diversity found in East African cichlid fishes in terms of morphology, coloration, and behavior have made them a model for the study of speciation and adaptive evolution. In particular, haplochromine cichlids, by far the most species-rich lineage of cichlids, are a well-known textbook example for parallel evolution. Southwestern Uganda is an area of high tectonic activity, and is home to numerous crater lakes. Many Ugandan crater lakes were colonized, apparently independently, by a single lineage of haplochromine cichlids. Thereby, this system could be considered a natural experiment in which one can study the interaction between geographical isolation and natural selection promoting phenotypic diversification.

Results

We sampled 13 crater lakes and six potentially-ancestral older lakes and, using both mitochondrial and microsatellite markers, discovered strong genetic and morphological differentiation whereby (a) geographically close lakes tend to be genetically more similar and (b) three different geographic areas seem to have been colonized by three independent waves of colonization from the same source population. Using a geometric morphometric approach, we found that body shape elongation (i.e. a limnetic morphology) evolved repeatedly from the ancestral deeper-bodied benthic morphology in the clear and deep crater lake habitats.

Conclusions

A pattern of strong genetic and morphological differentiation was observed in the Ugandan crater lakes. Our data suggest that body shape changes have repeatedly evolved into a more limnetic-like form in several Ugandan crater lakes after independent waves of colonization from the same source population. The observed morphological changes in crater lake cichlids are likely to result from a common selective regime.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0287-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.