Formation of melanin-based wing patterns is influenced by condition and immune challenge in Pieris brassicae

According to life‐history theory, trade‐offs emerge because organisms possess a limited amount of resources that they have to allocate between different bodily functions. Here, we tested whether there is a trade‐off between melanin‐based immune response and dark melanized wing patterning in the large white butterfly, Pieris brassicae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), by activating the immune system of pupae and measuring the wing pigmentation of freshly emerged adults. In contrast to expectations, we did not find any negative associations between immune challenge and wing patterning. Furthermore, implanted and punctured male pupae tended to have larger and darker forewing tips as adults compared to controls. Both in females and males, different wing spots were affected by condition‐reflecting traits (e.g., pupal mass, brood), which suggest that formation of wing patterns may be a condition‐dependent process and/or heritable.     

Bioaugmentation in a newly established LECA-based horizontal flow soil filter reduces the adaptation period and enhances denitrification

The possibility of enhancing the denitrification of a newly established LECA-based horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) soil filter receiving pretreated wastewater from a vertical flow filter was studied. The pilot-scale experiment offers evidence regarding the survival and reproduction of introduced microbes taken from an LECA-based HSSF constructed wetland (CW) that has similar internal conditions, after bioaugmentation into newly established LECA-based HSSF CW mesocosms. Bioaugmentation resulted in a trend towards higher and more stable denitrification in the supplemented mesocosms during the nearly half-year study period.     

Role of glutamine and interlinked asparagine metabolism in vessel formation

Endothelial cell (EC) metabolism is emerging as a regulator of angiogenesis, but the precise role of glutamine metabolism in ECs is unknown. Here, we show that depriving ECs of glutamine or inhibiting glutaminase 1 (GLS1) caused vessel sprouting defects due to impaired proliferation and migration, and reduced pathological ocular angiogenesis. Inhibition of glutamine metabolism in ECs did not cause energy distress, but impaired tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle anaplerosis, macromolecule production, and redox homeostasis. Only the combination of TCA cycle replenishment plus asparagine supplementation restored the metabolic aberrations and proliferation defect caused by glutamine deprivation. Mechanistically, glutamine provided nitrogen for asparagine synthesis to sustain cellular homeostasis. While ECs can take up asparagine, silencing asparagine synthetase (ASNS, which converts glutamine‐derived nitrogen and aspartate to asparagine) impaired EC sprouting even in the presence of glutamine and asparagine. Asparagine further proved crucial in glutamine‐deprived ECs to restore protein synthesis, suppress ER stress, and reactivate mTOR signaling. These findings reveal a novel link between endothelial glutamine and asparagine metabolism in vessel sprouting.     

Plant species richness and productivity determine the diversity of soil fungal guilds in temperate coniferous forest and bog habitats

Fungi have important roles as decomposers, mycorrhizal root symbionts and pathogens in forest ecosystems, but there is limited information about their diversity and composition at the landscape scale. This work aimed to disentangle the factors underlying fungal richness and composition along the landscape‐scale moisture, organic matter and productivity gradients. Using high‐throughput sequencing, we identified soil fungi from 54 low‐productivity Pinus sylvestris‐dominated plots across three study areas in Estonia and determined the main predictors of fungal richness based on edaphic, floristic and spatial variables. Fungal richness displayed unimodal relationship with organic matter and deduced soil moisture. Plant richness and productivity constituted the key predictors for taxonomic richness of functional guilds. Composition of fungi and the main ectomycorrhizal fungal lineages and hyphal exploration types was segregated by moisture availability and soil nitrogen. We conclude that plant productivity and diversity determine the richness and proportion of most functional groups of soil fungi in low‐productive pine forests on a landscape scale. Adjacent stands of pine forest may differ greatly in the dominance of functional guilds that have marked effects on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in these forest ecosystems.     

Strong host preference of ectomycorrhizal fungi in a Tasmanian wet sclerophyll forest as revealed by DNA barcoding and taxon-specific primers

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbiosis is a widespread plant nutrition strategy in Australia, especially in semiarid regions. This study aims to determine the diversity, community structure and host preference of ECM fungi in a Tasmanian wet sclerophyll forest. Ectomycorrhizal fungi were identified based on anatomotyping and rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-large subunit (LSU) sequence analysis using taxon-specific primers. Host tree roots were identified based on root morphology and length differences of the chloroplast trnL region. A total of 123 species of ECM fungi were recovered from root tips of Eucalyptus regnans (Myrtaceae), Pomaderris apetala (Rhamnaceae) and Nothofagus cunninghamii (Nothofagaceae). The frequency of two thirds of the most common ECM fungi from several lineages was significantly influenced by host species. The lineages of Cortinarius, Tomentella-Thelephora, Russula-Lactarius, Clavulina, Descolea and Laccaria prevailed in the total community and their species richness and relative abundance did not differ by host species. This study demonstrates that strongly host-preferring, though not directly specific, ECM fungi may dominate the below-ground community. Apart from the richness of Descolea, Tulasnella and Helotiales and the lack of Suillus-Rhizopogon and Amphinema-Tylospora, the ECM fungal diversity and phylogenetic community structure is similar to that in the Holarctic realm.     

Homozygosity mapping in families with Joubert syndrome identifies a locus on chromosome 9q34.3 and evidence for genetic heterogeneity

Joubert syndrome is a rare developmental defect of the cerebellar vermis, with autosomal recessive inheritance. The phenotype is highly variable and may include episodic hyperpnea, abnormal eye movements, hypotonia, ataxia, developmental delay, and mental retardation. Even within sibships the phenotype may vary, making it difficult to establish the exact clinical diagnostic boundaries of Joubert syndrome. To genetically localize the gene region, we have performed a whole-genome scan in two consanguineous families of Arabian/Iranian origins, with multiple affected probands. In one family, we detected linkage to the telomeric region of chromosome 9q, close to the marker D9S158, with a multipoint LOD score of Z=+3.7. The second family did not show linkage to this region, giving a first indication of genetic heterogeneity underlying Joubert syndrome. These findings were supported by subsequent analysis of two smaller families-one compatible with linkage to 9q; the other, unlinked. We conclude that Joubert syndrome is clinically and genetically heterogeneous and that one locus maps to chromosome 9q.     

The Fanconi anemia group E gene, FANCE, maps to chromosome 6p

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genetically heterogeneous autosomal recessive disease with bone marrow failure and predisposition to cancer as major features, often accompanied by developmental anomalies. The cells of patients with FA are hypersensitive to DNA cross-linking agents in terms of cell survival and chromosomal breakage. Of the eight complementation groups (FA-A to FA-H) distinguished thus far by cell fusion studies, the genes for three-FANCA, FANCC, and FANCG-have been identified, and the FANCD gene has been localized to chromosome 3p22-26. We report here the use of homozygosity mapping and genetic linkage analysis to map a fifth distinct genetic locus for FA. DNA from three families was assigned to group FA-E by cell fusion and complementation analysis and was then used to localize the FANCE gene to chromosome 6p21-22 in an 18.2-cM region flanked by markers D6S422 and D6S1610. This study shows that data from even a small number of families can be successfully used to map a gene for a genetically heterogeneous disorder.     

Liquid-phase synthesis of a pegylated adenosine-oligoarginine conjugate,cell-permeable inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase

An adenosine-oligoarginine conjugate (ARC) was assembled in a stepwise manner on a poly(ethylene glycol) carrier. The pegylated conjugate inhibited cAMP-dependent protein kinase with IC(50)=460 nM and the cellular uptake of its BODIPY FL derivative was demonstrated and compared to that of free ARC with fluorescence microscopy.     

Comparison of the effects of mechanical and osmotic pressures on the collagen fiber architecture of intact and proteoglycan-depleted articular cartilage

One of the functions of articular cartilage is to withstand recurrent pressure applied in everyday life. In previous studies, osmotic pressure has been used to mimic the effects of mechanical pressure. In the present study, the response of the collagen network of intact and proteoglycans (PG)-depleted cartilage to mechanical and osmotic pressures is compared. The technique used is one-dimensional ²H double quantum filtered spectroscopic MRI, which gives information about the degree of order and the density of the collagen fibers at the different locations throughout the intact tissue. For the nonpressurized plugs, the depletion had no effect on these parameters. Major differences were found in the zones near the bone between the effects of the two types of application of pressure for both intact and depleted plugs. While the order is lost in these zones as a result of mechanical load, it is preserved under osmotic pressure. For both intact and PG-depleted plugs under osmotic stress most of the collagen fibers become disordered. Our results indicate that different modes of strain are produced by unidirectional mechanical load and the isotropic osmotic stress. Thus, osmotic stress cannot serve as a model for the effect of load on cartilage in vivo. This paper is presented in part in ISMRM 11th Scientific Meeting, p. 55, 2003 and ISMRM 14th Scientific Meeting, p. 59, 2006. Dedicated to Prof. K. Arnold on the occasion of his 65th birthday.