Cellular Aspects of the Control of Physiological Color Changes in Fishes

SYNOPSIS. Recent advances in the cellular aspects of chromatophoricactivities in fishes are reviewed, special emphasis being laidon the black pigment-containing cells, the melanophores. A fewrecent electron-microscopic studies have disclosed the finestructure of melanophores. They are enclosed with a single cellmembrane, within which melanosomes and other cell organellesare found. All observations favor the view that melanosomesare selectively moved through the cellular processes, leavingthe cell contour rather fixed. In regard to these findings,current ideas about the mechanisms of pigment movements arediscussed. Particular attention is directed to the possibleintervention of microtubules and the theory of migration ofpigment by intracellular electrophoresis. The regulatory mechanismsof pigment cells are then dealt with. The adrenergic natureof transmission is affirmed in the peripheral melanin-aggregatingnervous system. The mode of nervous supply to a melanophoreis also analyzed. Investigations of the antagonistic, melanin—dispersing,nervous system are also considered, with special reference torecent physiological studies and to the finding of synapticvesicles by electron microscopy. On the basis of these results,a new interpretation of the so-called Parker effect is proposed.     

Regeneration of Vitamin A Deficient Rat Tracheal Epithelium After Mild Mechanical Injury

Mild mechanical abrasion of tracheal epithelium of Vitamin A deficient rats removed the superficial cells and spared basal cells which divided to repopulate the damaged area. The proliferative cells passed through a period of DNA synthesis with the greatest numbers of thymidine incorporating cells in samples labelled 22 h after injury. A peak of cell division occurred at 32 h and there was no further DNA synthesis or cell division. The area of wounding exhibited squamous metaplasia while normal pseudostratified muco-ciliary structure was retained by adjacent epithelium which had not been injured. The data indicates that squamous metaplasia in the respiratory epithelium in longstanding Vitamin A deficiency is due to redirected differentiation of basal cells and is seen only after mitotic activity has occurred.     

Integration of Local and Regional Perspectives on the Species Richness of Coral Assemblages

SYNOPSIS. We have evaluated the relationship between regionalspecies richness and the number of species occurring withinlocal, quantitatively sampled assemblages of scleractinian corals.Our data have been extracted from the published literature describingrichness patterns from over 100 locations around the world.In general, we find a positive relationship between local andregional richness. Local richness is not independent of regionalrichness as posited by conventional theory and there is no hardupper limit indicating saturation. Instead, local coral assemblagesare regionally enriched. This result suggests that these assemblagesare open to regional sources of species. The degree of regionalenrichment is geographically variable. In the Indo-Pacific,assemblages in speciose regions appear to be less open and muchmore sensitive to local depth and habitat gradients than thosein more depauperate regions. Other large-scale geographicaland historical effects on local richness in the Indo-Pacificinclude the degree of isolation from high-diversity regionsand distance from the equator. In contrast, local richness inthe relatively homogeneous and depauperate western Atlanticis insensitive to the large-scale variables we examined. Asin most ecological communities, membership in local assemblagesof corals is not absolutely limited (by biotic interactionsor local environmental factors) nor is it totally open to regionalpools of species. Understanding the dynamics of coral communitieswill require integrating the local ecological perspective withlarge-scale phenomena (i.e., physical TECO processes [Myers,1994] and evolutionary history [Hugueny et al. 1997]). Suchan integration will necessarily encompass multiple spatial andtemporal scales.     

Methane flux from Missippi River deltaic plain wetlands

Methane emissions from three wetland habitats in the MississippiRiver deltaic plain were measured over a three year period. Fluxdata collected indicate that each habitat was a net source of methane to the atmosphere throughout the year. Average emissionfrom a Taxodium distichum / Nyssa aquatica (bald cypress / watertupelo) swamp forest was 146 ± 199 mgCH₄ m^-2d^-1 whileemissions from a Sagittaria lancifolia (bulltongue) freshwatermarsh averaged 251 ± 188 mg CH₄m^-2d^-1. Methane flux from a Spartina patens / Sagittaria lancifolia intermediate marsh was significantlyhigher, 912 ± 923 mg CH₄m^-2d^-1. Seasonal variation wassignificant with emissions being higher in the late summer andearly fall. Significant diurnal emissions were observed fromthe Sagittaria lancifolia marsh site. Soil temperature (5 and 10 cm depths) was found to be significantly correlated with methaneemission from the three sites.     

Methane emission from Texas rice paddy soils. 2. Seasonal contribution of rice biomass production to CH4 emission

Measurements focused on seasonal contribution of rice productivity to methane emission were made in three experiments conducted in Texas flooded paddy soils during 1994 and 1995 growing seasons. A total of five rice cultivars representing two distinct groups in methane emission were involved. Over a 10-week period after permanent flooding, total seasonal methane emission was positively correlated with rice above-ground biomass ( r ² = 0.845, n = 11). A very strong dependence of daily methane emission on above-ground vegetative biomass ( r ² = 0.887, n = 93) and on root biomass ( r ² = 0.816, n = 33) was also observed. Calculation from three developmental periods (vegetative, reproductive and ripening) of rice plant indicated that more than 75% of total seasonal methane was emitted during the last 5-week period in concert with reproductive and ripening stages, while rice biomass production during the same period amounted to ≈ 50% of the seasonal total. According to the correlation of cumulative methane emission with above-ground biomass increment between every two-week interval ( r ² = 0.490, n = 93, P = 0.000), the carbon released as methane is approximately equivalent to 3% and 4.5% of photosynthetically fixed carbon in the biomass for low and high emission cultivars, respectively. A further investigation showed that these fractions are related to plant growth and development. The carbon ratio of methane emitted to net photosynthetic production during vegetative, reproductive, and ripening periods averaged 0.9%, 3.6% and 7.9%, respectively, for low emission cultivars, and 2.0%, 5.0% and 8.3%, respectively, for high emission cultivars. Moreover, the ratio was strongly dependent on plant biomass, resulting in r 2 values from 0.775 to 0.907.     

Late Paleozoic stromatolites: new insights from the Lower Permian of Kansas

Carboniferous to Permian marine stromatolites are widely dispersed across the Pangaean margins and embayments and are typified by the ‘Ottonosia-grade stromatolite’ (designated herein). This stromatolite type consists of a well-laminated oncoid or domical stromatoid that developed into branching, laminated columns in the upper reaches. To develop a model for the global pattern, we investigated Lower Permian stromatolites from Kansas (Howe Limestone Member, Red Eagle Limestone). Stromatoids from the Lyon County locality typify the Ottonosia-grade stromatolites. The laminae are sharp throughout the stromatoid and are defined by an increase in cornuspirid foraminfera and algal filaments. The upper zone of the stromatoid is composed of well-laminated branching and brecciated columns (‘pseudo-thrombolitic’). Coeval stromatolites from a new exposure at the Tuttle Creek Dam spillway possess a more massive mesostructure. These stromatolites are composed of a turbinate stromatoid or oncoid base and an overlying domical stromatoid, and are rimmed by smaller meandering columns. Only the basal stromatoid, oncoids, and upper columns are well laminated. In both localities, the microbial-constructing ecosystem is dominated by cornuspirids and calcifying filamentous algae (?Girvanella). The mesostructural differences of the stromatolites are due to different environments of formation. The Tuttle Creek stromatolites formed in a shallow-subtidal to intertidal open marine setting. The coeval Lyon County stromatolites formed in a semi-restricted, marginal marine environment such as a lagoon or supratidal zone. Based on this information and independent sedimentological data, we conclude that lagoonal or supratidal zones were common features in the late Paleozoic intracratonal zones of the Pangaean supercontinent and account for Ottonosia-grade stromatolites occurring in the Laurentian mid-continent, the Zechstein Basin, Japan, Brazil, and Tunisia.     

Phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA sequences reveal three cryptic lineages in the widespread neotropical frog Leptodactylus fuscus (Schneider, 1799) (Anura, Leptodactylidae)

Leptodactylus fuscus is a neotropical frog ranging from Panamá to Argentina, to the east of the Andes mountains, and also inhabiting Margarita, Trinidad, and the Tobago islands. We performed phylogenetic analyses of 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, tRNA-Leu, and ND1 mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences from specimens collected across the geographic distribution of L. fuscus to examine two alternative hypotheses: (i) L. fuscus is a single, widely distributed species, or (ii) L. fuscus is a species complex. We tested statistically for geographic association and partitioning of genetic variation among mtDNA clades. The mtDNA data supported the hypothesis of several cryptic species within L. fuscus. Unlinked mtDNA and nuclear markers supported independently the distinctness of a 'northern' phylogenetic unit. In addition, the mtDNA data divided the southern populations into two clades that showed no sister relationship to each other, consistent with high differentiation and lack of gene flow among southern populations as suggested by allozyme data. Concordance between mtDNA and allozyme patterns suggests that cryptic speciation has occurred in L. fuscus without morphological or call differentiation. This study illustrates a case in which lineage splitting during the speciation process took place without divergence in reproductive isolation mechanisms (e.g. advertisement call in frogs), contrary to expectations predicted using a biological species framework.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 87 , 325–341. No claim to original US government works.     

Cell Division in Gonyaulax catenella,A Marine Catenate Dinoflagellate*

Mitosis and cytokinesis are described and illustrated for the first time in the mesokaryotic, catenate dinoflagellate Gonyaulax catenella. A structure similar to the central body of G. tamarensis and G. monilata is shown by light and electron microscopy to be situated intranuclearly near the arms of the U-shaped interphase nucleus, and is suggested to function in the segregation of daughter chromosomes. This structure has the fine structure of a nucleolus, and it is suggested that the term central body be replaced by persistent nucleolus (= endosome). The time required for the completion of mitosis is 4–6 hr, while cytokinesis requires at least 2 hr. Cytokinesis begins during the mitotic cycle, and the plane of fission is perpendicular to the mitotic plane of division. Parental fission moieties are retained and shared by the daughter cells while either a new antero-sinistral moiety or a posterodextral moiety is synthesized by the dividing cell.