Re-evaluation of the relationship between rodent populations and acorn masting: a review from the aspect of nutrients and defensive chemicals in acorns

The responses of rodent populations to acorn masting were examined by reviewing 17 studies from the aspect of acorn nutrients and defensive chemicals. Oak species were grouped into three types based on their acorn nutritional characteristics by cluster analysis: Type 1 acorns (two North American red oaks, subgenus Erythrobalanus) were high in tannins and high in fat and proteins (and consequently rich in metabolizable energy); Type 2 acorns (two Japanese evergreen oaks, Cyclobalanopsis; three Japanese deciduous oaks, Lepidobalanus; one North American white oak, Lepidobalanus) were high in tannins but low in fat and proteins; and Type 3 acorns (one Cyclobalanopsis species; seven Lepidobalanus species) were low in tannins and had intermediate levels of fat and proteins. These three acorn groups were nutritionally, and thereby ecologically, not equivalent. Rodents, in general, responded differently to acorn masting depending on their feeding habits and the nutritional characteristics of acorns. Granivorous rodents showed positive responses to masting of Type 1 and 3 acorns, whereas rodents with feeding habits intermediate between granivory and herbivory showed positive responses to masting of Type 3 acorns. In addition, for herbivorous rodents, the responses to masting of any types of acorns have not been reported. The present findings emphasize that the relationship between rodents and acorn masting should not easily be generalized, because there are large variations in characteristics of both acorns and rodents. The viewpoint presented in this review could offer more convincing interpretations to the contradictory observations, found in the studies reviewed, on the response of rodent populations to acorn masting.     

Effects of salinity, temperature and pH on the survival of the nemertean Procephalothrix simulus Iwata, 1952

The salinity, temperature and pH tolerance of Procephalothrix simulus Iwata, 1952, were experimentally studied. In hypo-media, the nemerteans could survive 96 h in 3.3‰ solution at 10 °C (median lethal salinity [LS₅₀] was not determined at this temperature), and 96 h LS₅₀ were 7.3‰ and 13.5‰ at 20 °C and 30 °C, respectively. In hyper-media, 96 h LS₅₀ values were 53.9‰, 47.1‰ and 41.4‰ at 10 °C, 20 °C and 30 °C, respectively. The trend of body weight changes in diluted media indicated that this nemertean is a volume regulator. During a 96-h exposure in media at 0 °C, worms were thanatoid but could recover if the temperature was gradually elevated to 20 °C. In thermal tolerance experiments, the nemertean survived 96 h in seawater of 30 °C, and worms suffered high mortalities when the temperature exceeded 32 °C. Present results suggest that the interaction of temperature and salinity on the lethal effects on P. simulus is significant (P < 0.05). Elevated temperature (range 10-30 °C) decreased the worm's solute tolerance, and elevated salinity (range 18-38‰) decreased the worm's thermal tolerance. The survival pH level for this nemertean ranged from 5.00 to 9.20.     

酱香型白酒酿造拜耳接合酵母生理代谢特征及其与地衣芽孢杆菌相互作用

【目的】拜耳接合酵母(Zygosaccharomyces bailii)是酱香型白酒酿造过程优势菌株。通过研究拜耳接合酵母酿造相关生理代谢特征及其与酿造环境中其它功能菌株的相互作用,探索其在白酒酿造过程中的贡献。【方法】从酱香酒酿造中筛选一株性能优良的拜耳接合酵母,比较其与模式菌株(Z.bailii,ATCC 58445)的生理代谢特征。通过组合发酵研究其与产酱香特征风味细菌地衣芽孢杆菌的相互作用。【结果】从酱香型酒醅中筛选得到一株性状优良的拜耳接合酵母(Z.bailii 15),可耐受p H 2.0和37°C高温及8%酒精浓度(体积比),较模式株更适应酿造环境,酒精产量(33.58 g/L)也远高于模式株(19.04 g/L),且与酱香型白酒酿酒酵母MT1(34.29 g/L)相当。该菌可产多种风味物质,与模式株相比,独特产生法呢醇、十二醇、2-壬醇、2-乙基己醇、癸酸、月桂酸、辛酸、辛酸乙酯、苯乙酮、4-叔丁基苯酚。共培养体系中,30°C条件下地衣芽孢杆菌对拜耳接合酵母生长影响不大,而在37°C地衣芽孢杆菌抑制拜耳接合酵母生长。此外,地衣芽孢杆菌对拜耳接合酵母乙醇转化率有促进作用,共培养体系风味物质种类及含量也都受到很大影响。【结论】拜耳接合酵母在酱香型白酒酿造体系中产酒精、产风味方面表现优异,对酱香型白酒生产具有重要贡献。     

Internalization and Recycling of the CB1 Cannabinoid Receptor

Tolerance develops rapidly to cannabis, cannabinoids, and related drugs acting at the CB1 cannabinoid receptor. However, little is known about what happens to the receptor as tolerance is developing. In this study, we have found that CB1 receptors are rapidly internalized following agonist binding and receptor activation. Efficacious cannabinoid agonists (WIN 55,212-2, CP 55,940, and HU 210) caused rapid internalization. Methanandamide (an analogue of an endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide) was less effective, causing internalization only at high concentration, whereas delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol caused little internalization, even at 3 microM. CB1 internalized via clathrin-coated pits as sequestration was inhibited by hypertonic sucrose. Internalization did not require activated G protein alpha(i), alpha(o), or alpha(s) subunits. A region of the extreme carboxy terminus of the receptor was necessary for internalization, as a mutant CB1 receptor lacking the last 14 residues did not internalize, whereas a mutant lacking the last 10 residues did. Steps involved in the recycling of sequestered receptor were also investigated. Recovery of CB1 to the cell surface after short (20 min) but not long (90 min) agonist treatment was independent of new protein synthesis. Recycling also required endosomal acidification and dephosphorylation. These results show that CB1 receptor trafficking is dynamically regulated by cannabimimetic drugs.     

荒漠植物花花柴HTR基因家族表达模式分析及在细菌中抗逆性分析

摘要： 植物常遭受许多非生物胁迫的危害,温度、高盐是影响植物生长发育的重要非生物因子之一,因此研究其响应逆境胁迫的分子机理显得尤为重要。本研究从荒漠植物花花柴高温转录组数据中筛选并克隆了HTR基因家族的7个成员,通过构建原核表达载体并诱导表达,明确其cDNA长度在708～789 bp之间,所表达的蛋白质分子量在27～29 kD之间,编码基因和蛋白质大小相符;通过实验探索,发现在大肠杆菌BL21最适生长温度37℃下该家族蛋白的最佳诱导表达体系为OD600 为0.8、IPTG诱导浓度为0.5 mmol/L、诱导时间为8～10 h。通过对重组大肠杆菌的模拟高温、低温、盐胁迫处理,结果显示KcHTRs能够在一定程度上增强宿主对高温、低温和高盐的耐受性,该结果与本研究中花花柴KcHTRs的非生物胁迫表达模式分析结果一致。 为后期进一步验证基因功能以及荒漠植物抗逆相关基因资源的挖掘利用提供了研究基础和依据。     

Thermoregulatory (core, surface and metabolic) responses of unrestrained rats to repeated POAH injections of beta-endorphin or adrenocorticotropin

Repeated preoptic-anterior hypothalamic (POAH) injections of saline and 10 or 25 micrograms/microliters of beta-endorphin or ACTH were given to groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats. One hr after the fifth injection of beta-endorphin or ACTH, each rat received a POAH injection of naloxone HCl (10 micrograms/microliters). Core (Tre-rectal) and surface (Tt-tail) temperatures, metabolic (VO2) and behavioral responses were recorded 30 min before and 60 min after each drug injection. The initial POAH injection of either dose of beta-endorphin produced a hyperthermia. Peak hyperthermia was reduced in the group given 10 micrograms/microliters of beta-endorphin repeatedly. TtS rose after each beta-endorphin injection but temporally lagged Tre increases. Metabolic rate (VO2) was increased with repeated POAH injections of beta-endorphin. Naloxone reduced the elevated Tre seen with beta-endorphin by increasing Tt's further and reducing VO2. POAH administration of ACTH evoked only a slight hyperthermic Tre response, but elevated TtS and VO2S, due to enhanced grooming and explorative behavior. With repeated ACTH injections, TreS did not change from those on the first day as TtS and VO2 remained enhanced. Naloxone reduced VO2 and TtS of the ACTH-treated rats but TreS still were unchanged. Results suggest that the hyperthermia of unrestrained rats given an acute as opposed to repeated POAH beta-endorphin injections is mediated by different effector mechanisms. With the doses used, the slight and unchanging TreS seen with ACTH occurred because this peptide increased heat production due to locomotor activation yet also exaggerated heat loss by vasodilating the peripheral vasculature.     

Some Mathematical Properties of Cumulative Damage Models Regarding Their Application in Cancer Epidemiology

In an earlier paper, cumulative damage models (CD models) were proposed for modelling the epidemiological aspects of carcinogenesis. In the present paper, further, mainly mathematical support is given for the adequacy of this approach. In the first place, this concerns the aspect that the cumulative damage process is a compound Poisson process. Secondly, it will be demonstrated that the CD models can be considered as a formal generalization of certain well-known special carcinogenesis models. A more intensive investigation of these models themselves makes it evident that, on account of their mathematical qualities, they will possibly place very efficient new measures at the disposal of epidemiology. A diffusion approximation, however, does, after first experiments, not appear to make the handling of the models any easier but, on the contrary, to lead to a loss of certain pleasant qualities.     

Influence of menstrual cycle and oral contraceptives on tolerance to uncompensable heat stress

In this study we examined the influence of menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use on thermoregulation and tolerance during uncompensable heat stress. Eighteen women (18-35 years), who differed only with respect to oral contraceptive use (n = 9) or non-use (n = 9), performed light intermittent exercise at 40 degrees C and 30% relative humidity while wearing nuclear, biological and chemical protective clothing. Their responses were compared during the early follicular (EF, days 2-5) and mid-luteal (ML, days 19-22) phases of the menstrual cycle. Since oral contraceptives are presumed to inhibit ovulation, a quasi-early follicular (q-EF) and quasi-mid-luteal (q-ML) phase was assumed for the users. Estradiol and progesterone measurements verified that all subjects were tested during the desired phases of the menstrual cycle. Results demonstrated that rectal temperature (Tre) was elevated in ML compared with EF among the non-users at the beginning and throughout the heat-stress trial. For the users, Tre was higher in q-ML compared with q-EF at the beginning, and for 75 min of the heat-stress exposure. Tolerance times were significantly longer during EF [128.1 (13.4) min, mean (SD)] compared with ML [107.4 (8.6) min] for the nonusers, indicating that these women are at a thermoregulatory advantage during the EF phase of their menstrual cycle. For the users, tolerance times were similar in both the q-EF [113.0 (5.8) min] and q-ML [116.8 (11.2) min] phases and did not differ from those of the non-users. It was concluded that oral contraceptive use had little or no influence on tolerance to uncompensable heat stress, whereas tolerance was increased during EF for non-users of oral contraceptives.     

Mycobacterial and mouse HSP70 have immuno-modulatory effects on dendritic cells

Previously, it has been shown that heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) can prevent inflammatory damage in experimental autoimmune disease models. Various possible underlying working mechanisms have been proposed. One possibility is that HSP70 induces a tolerogenic phenotype in dendritic cells (DCs) as a result of the direct interaction of the antigen with the DC. Tolerogenic DCs can induce antigen-specific regulatory T cells and dampen pathogenic T cell responses. We show that treatment of murine DCs with either mycobacterial (Mt) or mouse HSP70 and pulsed with the disease-inducing antigen induced suppression of proteoglycan-induced arthritis (PGIA), although mouse HSP70-treated DCs could ameliorate PGIA to a greater extent. In addition, while murine DCs treated with Mt- or mouse HSP70 had no significantly altered phenotype as compared to untreated DCs, HSP70-treated DCs pulsed with pOVA (ovalbumin peptide 323–339) induced a significantly increased production of IL-10 in pOVA-specific T cells. IL-10-producing T cells were earlier shown to be involved in Mt HSP70-induced suppression of PGIA. In conclusion, this study indicates that Mt- and mouse HSP70-treated BMDC can suppress PGIA via an IL-10-producing T cell-dependent manner.