The population dynamics of an introduced tree, Sesbania punicea, in South Africa, in response to long-term damage caused by different combinations of three species of biological control agents

This paper contributes to the relatively sparse literature on the effects of insect herbivory on the population dynamics of plants and is probably unique in that it reports the long-term effects of combinations of three insect herbivore species on the population densities of a moderately long-lived tree species. The tree is Sesbania punicea, a leguminous perennial from South America that has been the target of a biological control programme in South Africa for almost 20 years. Sixteen infestations of the weed have been monitored for periods of up to 10 years to determine changes in the density of the mature, reproductive plants under the influence of different combinations of three biological control agents (i.e. with one, two or three of the agent species present in the weed infestation). The three biological control agents, all weevil species, include Trichapion lativentre, which primarily destroys the flower-buds, Rhyssomatus marginatus, which destroys the developing seeds, and Neodiplogrammus quadrivittatus, whose larvae bore into the trunk and stems of the plants. While T. lativentre occurs throughout the range of the weed in South Africa, the other two species are less mobile, more recent introductions and are largely confined to the vicinity of selected release sites. There has been a significant decline in the density of mature S. punicea in areas where two or more of the agents are established. The decline of the weed has been most evident where N. quadrivittatus is active and particularly so where both of the other two weevil species are also present. Received: 2 April 1997 / Accepted: 30 November 1997     

Extensive proliferation of transposable elements in heritable bacterial symbionts

We found that insertion sequence (IS) elements are unusually abundant in the relatively recently evolved bacterial endosymbionts of maize weevils. Because multicopy elements can facilitate genomic recombination and deletion, this IS expansion may represent an early stage in the genomic reduction that is common in most ancient endosymbionts.     

A “new” tree fern species from southeastern Brazil: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyathea myriotricha</Emphasis> (Cyatheaceae)

Morphological and plastid rbcL and trnG-R sequence data suggest that the fern currently recognized as Megalastrum lasiernos (Dryopteridaceae) is in fact a tree fern (Cyatheaceae) and a member of the Cyathea clade. Accordingly, a new combination is made: Cyathea myriotricha. Based on morphological and ecological similarities, this species appears most closely related to C. aterrima. Both species are described and illustrated herein.     

Molecular determinants of ammonia and urea conductance in plant aquaporin homologs

Aquaporins and/or aquaglyceroporins regulate the permeability of plant membranes to water and small, uncharged molecules. Using molecular simulations with a plant plasma membrane aquaporin tetramer, the residues in the channel constriction region were identified as the crucial determinants of ammonia and urea conductance. The impact of these residues was experimentally verified using AtPIP2;1 pore mutants. Several, but not all, mutants with a NIP-like selectivity filter promoted yeast growth on urea or ammonia as sole sources of nitrogen. TIP-like mutants conducted urea but not NH(3), and a residue without direct contact to the pore lumen was critical for conduction in the mutants.     

Symbiosis and Insect Diversification: an Ancient Symbiont of Sap-Feeding Insects from the Bacterial Phylum Bacteroidetes

Several insect groups have obligate, vertically transmitted bacterial symbionts that provision hosts with nutrients that are limiting in the diet. Some of these bacteria have been shown to descend from ancient infections. Here we show that the large group of related insects including cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, spittlebugs, and planthoppers host a distinct clade of bacterial symbionts. This newly described symbiont lineage belongs to the phylum Bacteroidetes. Analyses of 16S rRNA genes indicate that the symbiont phylogeny is completely congruent with the phylogeny of insect hosts as currently known. These results support the ancient acquisition of a symbiont by a shared ancestor of these insects, dating the original infection to at least 260 million years ago. As visualized in a species of spittlebug (Cercopoidea) and in a species of sharpshooter (Cicadellinae), the symbionts have extraordinarily large cells with an elongate shape, often more than 30 μm in length; in situ hybridizations verify that these correspond to the phylum Bacteroidetes. “Candidatus Sulcia muelleri” is proposed as the name of the new symbiont.     

Dynamics of Bacterial and Fungal Communities on Decaying Salt Marsh Grass

Both bacteria and fungi play critical roles in decomposition processes in many natural environments, yet only rarely have they been studied as an integrated microbial community. Here we describe the bacterial and fungal assemblages associated with two decomposition stages of Spartina alterniflora detritus in a productive southeastern U.S. salt marsh. 16S rRNA genes and 18S-to-28S internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were used to target the bacterial and ascomycete fungal communities, respectively, based on DNA sequence analysis of isolates and environmental clones and by using community fingerprinting based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. Seven major bacterial taxa (six affiliated with the α-Proteobacteria and one with the Cytophagales) and four major fungal taxa were identified over five sample dates spanning 13 months. Fungal terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) were informative at the species level; however, bacterial T-RFs frequently comprised a number of related genera. Amplicon abundances indicated that the salt marsh saprophyte communities have little-to-moderate variability spatially or with decomposition stage, but considerable variability temporally. However, the temporal variability could not be readily explained by either successional shifts or simple relationships with environmental factors. Significant correlations in abundance (both positive and negative) were found among dominant fungal and bacterial taxa that possibly indicate ecological interactions between decomposer organisms. Most associations involved one of four microbial taxa: two groups of bacteria affiliated with the α-Proteobacteria and two ascomycete fungi (Phaeosphaeria spartinicola and environmental isolate “4clt”).     

Recent Advances in Understanding Biofilms of Mucosae

Extensive information on biofilm formation on different mucosal surfaces, particularly those of bacteria, have been accumulated. Different body sites such as body cavities, organs and tracts can become colonized by a variety of microbial species, but which are specific for the location. Biofilms of mucosae can aid colonization and contribute to pathogenesis, and are produced by microbial persistence on artificial abiotic surfaces which are implanted or by direct biofilm formation on biotic surfaces of tissues or organs. Such aspects of biofilms are discussed in this review.