Holocephalan (Chondrichthyes) dental plates with hypermineralized dentine as a substitute for missing teeth through developmental plasticity

All extant holocephalans (Chimaeroidei) have lost the ability to make individual teeth, as tooth germs are not part of the embryonic development of the dental plates or of their continuous growth. Instead, a hypermineralized dentine with a unique mineral, whitlockin, is specifically distributed within a dentine framework into structures that give the dental plates their distinctive, species-specific morphology. Control of the regulation of this distribution must be cellular, with a dental epithelium initiating the first outer dentine, and via contact with ectomesenchymal tissue as the only embryonic cell type that can make dentine. Chimaeroids have three pairs of dental plates within their mouth, two in the upper jaw and one in the lower. In the genera Chimaera, Hydrolagus and Harriotta, the morphology and distribution of this whitlockin within each dental plate differs both between different plates in the same species and between species. Whitlockin structures include ovoids, rods and tritoral pads, with substantial developmental changes between these. For example, rods appear before the ovoids and result from a change in the surrounding trabecular dentine. In Harriotta, ovoids form separately from the tritoral pads, but also contribute to tritor development, while in Chimaera and Hydrolagus, tritoral pads develop from rods that later are perforated to accommodate the vasculature. Nevertheless, the position of these structures, secreted by the specialized odontoblasts (whitloblasts), appears highly regulated in all three species. These distinct morphologies are established at the aboral margin of the dental plate, with proposed involvement of the outer dentine. We observe that this outer layer forms into serially added lingual ridges, occurring on the anterior plate only. We propose that positional, structural specificity must be contained within the ectomesenchymal populations, as stem cells below the dental epithelium, and a coincidental occurrence of each lingual, serial ridge with the whitlockin structures that contribute to the wear-resistant oral surface.     

Solubility and disintegration of a glass ionomer cement

ABSTRACT

The mechanism of erosion of a glass ionomer cement (PR Scell) was studied using two experimental procedures: discs of dental cement were immersed in distilled water under unrenewed conditions as defined by ISO standard or under continuously running distilled water to simulate the oral environment. Both experiments suggest that erosion is important and highly correlated to the cryolithe material included in the formulation of this cement.     

Origins of bone repair in the armour of fossil fish: response to a deep wound by cells depositing dentine instead of dermal bone

The outer armour of fossil jawless fishes (Heterostraci) is, predominantly, a bone with a superficial ornament of dentine tubercles surrounded by pores leading to flask-shaped crypts (ampullae). However, despite the extensive bone present in these early dermal skeletons, damage was repaired almost exclusively with dentine. Consolidation of bone, by dentine invading and filling the vascular spaces, was previously recognized in Psammolepis and other heterostracans but was associated with ageing and dermal shield wear (reparative). Here, we describe wound repair by deposition of dentine directly onto a bony scaffold of fragmented bone. An extensive wound response occurred from massive deposition of dentine (reactionary), traced from tubercle pulp cavities and surrounding ampullae. These structures may provide the cells to make reparative and reactionary dentine, as in mammalian teeth today in response to stimuli (functional wear or damage). We suggest in Psammolepis, repair involved mobilization of these cells in response to a local stimulatory mechanism, for example, predator damage. By comparison, almost no new bone is detected in repair of the Psammolepis shield. Dentine infilling bone vascular tissue spaces of both abraded dentine and wounded bone suggests that recruitment of this process has been evolutionarily conserved over 380 Myr and precedes osteogenic skeletal repair.     

Adaptation of the toxic freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa to salinity is achieved by the selection of spontaneous mutants

The cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa causes most of the harmful toxic blooms in freshwater ecosystems. Some strains of M. aeruginosa tolerate low‐medium levels of salinity, and because salinization of freshwater aquatic systems is increasing worldwide it is relevant to know what adaptive mechanisms allow tolerance to salinity. The mechanisms involved in the adaptation of M. aeruginosa to salinity (acclimation vs. genetic adaptation) were tested by a fluctuation analysis design, and then the maximum capacity of adaptation to salinity was studied by a ratchet protocol experiment. Whereas a dose of 10 g NaCl L^?1 completely inhibited the growth of M. aeruginosa, salinity‐resistant genetic variants, capable of tolerating up to 14 g NaCl L^?1, were isolated in the fluctuation analysis experiment. The salinity‐resistant cells arose by spontaneous mutations at a rate of 7.3 × 10^?7 mutants per cell division. We observed with the ratchet protocol that three independent culture populations of M. aeruginosa were able to adapt to up to 15.1 g L^?1 of NaCl, suggesting that successive mutation‐selection processes can enhance the highest salinity level to which M. aeruginosa cells can initially adapt. We propose that increasing salinity in water reservoirs could lead to the selection of salinity‐resistant mutants of M. aeruginosa.     

Gastrulation of Gastrotheca riobambae in comparison with other frogs

Blastopore formation, the embryonic disk, archenteron and notochord elongation, and Brachyury expression in the marsupial frog Gastrotheca riobambae was compared with embryos of Xenopus laevis and of the dendrobatids Colostethus machalilla and Epipedobates anthonyi. In contrast with X. laevis embryos, the blastopore closes before elongation of the archenteron and notochord in the embryos of G. riobambae and of the dendrobatid frogs. Moreover, the circumblastoporal collar (CBC) thickens due to the accumulation of involuted cells. An embryonic disk, however, is formed only in the G. riobambae gastrula. We differentiate three gastrulation patterns according to the speed of development: In X. laevis, elongation of the archenteron and notochord begin in the early to mid gastrula, whereas in the dendrobatids C. machalilla and E. anthonyi the archenteron elongates at mid gastrula and the notochord elongates after gastrulation. In G. riobambae, only involution takes place during gastrulation. Archenteron and notochord elongation occur in the post gastrula. In the non-aquatic reproducing frogs, the margin of the archenteron expands anisotropically, resulting in an apparent displacement of the CBC from a medial to a posterior location, resembling the displacement of Hensen's node in the chick and mouse. The differences detected indicate that amphibian gastrulation is modular.     

Effect of uncoupling protein-1 expression on 3T3-L1 adipocyte gene expression

The mitochondrial respiratory uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) partially uncouples substrate oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation to promote the dissipation of cellular biochemical energy as heat in brown adipose tissue. We have recently shown that expression of UCP1 in 3T3-L1 white adipocytes reduces the accumulation of triglycerides. Here, we investigated the molecular basis underlying UCP1 expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Gene expression data showed that forced UCP1 expression down-regulated several energy metabolism pathways; but ATP levels were constant. A metabolic flux analysis model was used to reflect the gene expression changes onto metabolic processes and concordance was observed in the down-regulation of energy consuming pathways. Our data suggest that adipocytes respond to long-term mitochondrial uncoupling by minimizing ATP utilization.     

Variation of haplotype distributions of two genomic regions of Citrus tristeza virus populations from eastern Spain

Genetic variation in natural populations of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) was studied using haplotypes detected by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of two genomic regions (p20 gene and segment A, located in ORF1a). Analysis of 254 samples from 125 trees, collected at 12 different sites, yielded 8 different haplotypes for p20 and 5 for segment A. The most frequent haplotype of p20 was predominant at all sites, but several sites differed in the predominance of segment A haplotypes. At most sites, the homozygosity observed for the p20 gene tended to be higher than expected in a neutral evolution, whereas the opposite was true for segment A. Comparison of the populations at different sites showed that 44 of the 66 possible population pairs were genetically distinct for segment A, but only six pairs differed for the p20 gene. Analysis of molecular variance grouping trees by site, scion variety, rootstock or age, showed that variation in segment A was significantly affected by site, tree age and rootstock, and that variation between trees in each group and within trees was even more important. In contrast, variation in p20 was affected only by site and rootstock, each factor contributing to < 2% of the variation. The data suggest that sequence variations in segment A must be functionally less important and that it has less evolutionary constraints than p20. Detection of different haplotypes in neighbour trees or in samples from the same tree may help explain part of the variability observed in CTV symptom expression.     

Assortative Mating and Fertility in two Drosophila subobscura Strains with different Mitochondrial DNA Haplotypes

The mating pattern and female fertility on the two main mitochondrial DNA haplotypes (I and II) of Drosophila subobscura were studied, in an attempt to find possible differences between them in relation to sexual selection or isolation that could explain the populational dynamics and the co-existence of these two strains in nature. The mating pattern indicated an assortative mating in population cages, where couples of the same haplotype, mainly those of haplotype I, mated more often. However, the significations detected in laboratory conditions disappeared in wild populations, where random mating was the rule. The female fertility also showed differences in the laboratory compared to the wild, since couples with haplotype I males were more efficient in the laboratory populations. These results, together with others that we previously obtained, either point to selection acting directly on the mtDNA or to the presence of some kind of cytonuclear co-adaptation in these two haplotypes, although this must be modulated by other factors that change with the seasons and time. The end result could well be a balance of opposite forces acting on both haplotypes.     

Comparative Molecular Evolution of Primary (<Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Buchnera</Emphasis>) and Secondary Symbionts of Aphids Based on Two Protein-Coding Genes

A+T content, phylogenetic relationships, codon usage, evolutionary rates, and ratio of synonymous versus non-synonymous substitutions have been studied in partial sequences of the atpD and aroQ/pheA genes of primary (Buchnera) and secondary symbionts of aphids and a set of selected non-symbiotic bacteria, belonging to the five subdivisions of the Proteobacteria. Compared to the homologous genes of the last group, both genes belonging to Buchnera behave in a similar way, showing a higher A+T content, forming a monophyletic group, a loss in codon bias, especially in third base position, an evolutionary acceleration and an increase in the number of non-synonymous substitutions, confirming previous results reported elsewhere for other genes. When available, these properties have been partly observed with the secondary symbionts, but with values that are intermediate between Buchnera and free living Proteobacteria. They show high A+T content, but not as high as Buchnera, a non-solved phylogenetic position between Buchnera, and the other γ-Proteobacteria, a loss in codon bias, again not as high as in Buchnera and a significant evolutionary acceleration in the case of the three atpD genes, but not when considering aroQ/pheA genes. These results give support to the hypothesis that they are symbionts at different stages of the symbiotic accommodation to the host.