An assessment of the breeding range,colony sizes and population of the Westland petrel (Procellaria westlandica)

Abstract

The Westland petrel (Procellaria westlandica) is an endemic New Zealand species and one of the very few burrowing seabird species still breeding on mainland New Zealand. It nests only on a series of coastal ridgelines near to Punakaiki on the West Coast of the South Island. Between 2002 and 2005, surveys were undertaken at 28 of the 29 known colonies. The area occupied by the colonies was 73 ha; most colonies had fewer than 50 burrows, but six colonies had 201–500 burrows and four colonies had more than 1000 burrows. We find that the current breeding range of Westland petrel and the location of individual colonies are similar to those reported in both the 1950s and 1970s. Based on total burrow counts at 28 colonies and burrow occupancy rates determined by annual monitoring, the annual breeding population is estimated to be between 2954 and 5137 breeding pairs.     

Simultaneous reduction of the sarcolemmal and SR calcium ATPase activities and gene expression in cardiomyopathic hamster.

Altered calcium regulation is a prominent feature in the hereditary cardiomyopathy of the Syrian hamster. However, the activity of the two systems necessary for intracellular calcium homeostasis in the heart, the sarcolemmal and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase pumps, have not been correlated. Using age- and pair-matched myopathic and control hamsters, a simultaneous reduction in gene expression and enzyme activity for these two pumps has been demonstrated. The concomitant alteration in gene expression as early as 1 month of age, preceding noticeable myocytolysis suggests that the depressed activity in these two calcium ATPase systems is not due to cell necrosis but at least in part due to reduction in their mRNA levels. Reduced capacity of the calcium pumps would result in calcium overload as well as impaired contractility that leads to the eventual heart failure in this animal model.     

Chemical Constituents from a Mangrove-Derived Actinobacteria Isoptericola chiayiensis BCRC 16888 and Evaluation of Their Anti-NO Activity

Cultivation of the actinobacteria strain Isoptericola chiayiensis, a mangrove - derived actinobacteria that was isolated from a mangrove soil collected in Chiayi County, resulted in the isolation of one new 2-furanone derivative, isopterfuranone ( 1 ), one new sesquiterpenoid, isopterchiayione ( 2 ), one new benzenoid derivative, isopterinoid ( 3 ), five new flavonoids, chiayiflavans A−E ( 4 – 8 ), and 4 metabolites isolated for the first time from nature source, methyl 3-(4-methyl-2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-3-yl)propanoate ( 9 ), 3-ethyl-4-methylpyrrolidine-2,5-dione ( 10 ), chiayiensol ( 11 ) and chiayiensic acid ( 12 ). Their structures were determined through in-depth spectroscopic and mass-spectrometric analyses. Most of the isolates showed potent inhibitory effects on NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages cells with IC₅₀ values ranging from 9.36 to 40.02 μM. Of these isolates, 4 and 5 showed NO inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 17.14 and 9.36 μM, stronger than the positive control quercetin (IC₅₀=36.95 μM). This is the first report on flavan metabolites from the genus Isoptericola.     

Complete Plastid Genome Sequence of the Basal Asterid Ardisia polysticta Miq. and Comparative Analyses of Asterid Plastid Genomes

Ardisia is a basal asterid genus well known for its medicinal values and has the potential for development of novel phytopharmaceuticals. In this genus of nearly 500 species, many ornamental species are commonly grown worldwide and some have become invasive species that caused ecological problems. As there is no completed plastid genome (plastome) sequence in related taxa, we sequenced and characterized the plastome of Ardisia polysticta to find plastid markers of potential utility for phylogenetic analyses at low taxonomic levels. The complete A. polysticta plastome is 156,506 bp in length and has gene content and organization typical of most asterids and other angiosperms. We identified seven intergenic regions as potentially informative markers with resolution for interspecific relationships. Additionally, we characterized the diversity of asterid plastomes with respect to GC content, plastome organization, gene content, and repetitive sequences through comparative analyses. The results demonstrated that the genome organizations near the boundaries between inverted repeats (IRs) and single-copy regions (SCs) are polymorphic. The boundary organization found in Ardisia appears to be the most common type among asterids, while six other types are also found in various asterid lineages. In general, the repetitive sequences in genic regions tend to be more conserved, whereas those in noncoding regions are usually lineage-specific. Finally, we inferred the whole-plastome phylogeny with the available asterid sequences. With the improvement in taxon sampling of asterid orders and families, our result highlights the uncertainty of the position of Gentianales within euasterids I.     

Search for amino acids in Apollo returned lunar soil.

The lunar samples from Apollo flights 11 through 17 provided the students of chemical evolution with an opportunity of examining extraterrestrial materials for evidence of early prebiological chemistry in the solar system. Our search was directed to water-extractable compounds with emphasis on amino acids. Gas chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry were used for the analysis. It is our conclusion that amino acids are not present in the lunar regolith above the background levels of our investigations.     

Effects of neocarzinostatin on mammalian nuclei: release of nucleosomes.

When Chinese hamster cell nuclei (Line CHO) were reacted with neocarzinostatin and its DNA was analyzed on non-denaturing agarose gel electrophoresis, a series of bands with a multiplicity of 175 base pairs was obtained. A similar result was also obtained when the DNA samples were electrophoresed under denaturing gels. Our results suggest that the linker DNA between nucleosomes is the susceptible site to the drug and that neocarzinostatin can be used to study the chromatin structure.     

Ability of the leprous macrophage to accept cytophilic antibodies.

The ability of leprous macrophages to accept cytophilic antibodies was not damaged. Blood macrophages derived from both types of leprosy formed rosettes with cytophilic antibody sensitized goat red cells. The rosette forming rates of tuberculoid (65.0%) and lepromatous macrophages (66.4%) were essentially the same as that of normal blood macrophages (68.8%).