Alterations in pancreatic islet phosphate content during secretory stimulation with glucose

Isolated rat pancreatic islets were perifused and analyzed for phosphate content immediately following the transient increase in the efflux of orthophosphate which occurs when insulin secretion is stimulated by glucose. In some instances, islets were perifused directly following isolation to minimize preparative delay; in others, islets were prelabeled during incubation with [³²P]orthophosphate for 90 min prior to perifusion. In both experimental situations, total islet phosphate content declined 40–50% following exposure to stimulating concentrations of glucose and initiation of enhanced insulin release. In the experiments with prelabeled islets, tissue content of [³²P]orthophosphate fell to a similar extent so that the specific radioactivity of islet orthophosphate was unaffected. Inhibition of heightened insulin release with Ni²⁺ did not modify the decrements in total or radioactive tissue orthophosphate, thus indicating that these responses to islet stimulation reflect events which are proximal to activated exocytosis. Simultaneous analyses for tissue ATP and ADP demonstrated that the efflux in orthophosphate and reduction in tissue orthophosphate content were not mediated via net changes in islet adenine nucleotides. The observations represent the first documentation that a net reduction of tissue inorganic phosphate is one of the early components of stimulus-secretion coupling in isolated pancreatic islets.     

Uncertainty associated with river health assessment in a varying environment: The case of a predictive fish-based index in France

Sensitive biological measures of river ecosystem quality are needed to assess, maintain or restore ecological conditions of water bodies. Since our understanding of these complex systems is imperfect, decision-making requires recognizing uncertainty. In this study, a new predictive multi-metric index based on fish functional traits was developed to assess French rivers. Information on fish assemblage structure, local environment and human-induced disturbances of 1654 French river sites was compiled. A Bayesian framework was used to predict theoretical metric values in absence of human pressure and to estimate the uncertainty associated with these predictions. The uncertainty associated with the index score gives the confidence associated with the evaluation of site ecological conditions.Among the 228 potential metrics tested, only 11 were retained for the index computation. The final index is independent from natural variability and sensitive to human-induced disturbances. In particular, it is affected by the accumulation of different degradations and specific degradations including hydrological perturbations. Predictive uncertainty is globally lower for IPR+ than for underlying metrics.This new methodology seems appropriate to develop bio-indication tools accounting for uncertainty related to reference condition definition and could be extended to other biological groups and areas. Our results support the use of multi-metric indexes to assess rivers and strengthen the idea that examination of uncertainty could contribute greatly to the improvement of the assessment power of bio-indicators.     

Development of Nutritionally Enhanced Tortillas

Large interest has recently risen in the development of “functional” foods, products that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients. Foods rich in antioxidants and, simultaneously, characterized by a low glycemic index (GI), can reduce, through a double mechanism, the risk of increased postprandial oxidative stress, which is one of the constituent of the onset of several chronic diseases. Nutritionally enhanced tortillas were therefore developed by incorporating ingredients with well-documented nutritional functionality (carrots, soy, and wholemeal kamut) in a standard wheat tortillas formulation, in an attempt to create low GI and antioxidant-rich products while preserving sensory acceptability and physico-chemical properties. Five tortilla prototypes were developed and characterized for sensory acceptability, textural attributes, color, total antioxidant capacity, and in vivo GI. The simultaneous combination of carrot juice, soy, and wholemeal kamut resulted in a very interesting product that was not only the most acceptable by the consumers (although slightly harder than the standard control) but also showed the lowest GI and was relatively high in total antioxidant capacity. This work was presented at the 2nd International Symposium on: Delivery of Functionality in Complex Food Systems, Amherst, MA, USA, October 8–10, 2007.     

Disruption of the reproductive behaviour of Scaphoideus titanus by playback of vibrational signals

Scaphoideus titanus Ball (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) is the vector of the grapevine disease Flavescence dorée. In S. titanus the male–female duet (MFD), based on species-specific vibrational signals, is essential for successful copulation. The female reply within a duet is a single pulse that is coupled with the male pulse with constant latency. It has been shown that a rival male can interrupt an existing duet by emitting disruptive noise signals. We tested whether the reproductive behaviour of S. titanus can be disrupted by the playback of intra-specific and synthesized vibrational signals. Tested males responded to the playback of an MFD with typical rivalry behaviour. Such behaviour includes silent search for a duetting female (satellite behaviour) and/or emission of disruptive signals. These signals were emitted either after exchange of male–female pulses or after two male pulses coupled by latency corresponding to the female response window. The onset of male disruptive signals overlapped with a female pulse. We suggest that the intruder's disruptive signals can mask the female reply and confuse courting males. Playback of disruptive vibrational signals reduced the level of male calling and interrupted an established MFD that consequently resulted in a significantly reduced number of copulations. These results indicate that the vibrational communication channel is open to interference either from abiotic environmental noise or from signals produced by sexual competitors or heterospecifics. The present study also suggests that a detailed understanding of leafhopper behaviour is essential for trying new approaches in the development of more environmentally friendly control practices.     

Dispersal traits as indicators of vegetation dynamics in long-term old-field succession

Succession is a key ecological process that supports our understanding of community assembly and biotic interactions. Dispersal potential and dispersal strategies, such as wind- or animal-dispersal, have been assumed to be highly relevant for the success of plant species during succession. However, research yielded varying results on changes in dispersal modes between successional stages. Here, we test the hypotheses that (a) vascular plant species that use a number of dispersal modes dominate in early stages of succession while species specialized on one/few dispersal modes increase in abundance towards later stages of succession; (b) species well adapted to wind-dispersal (anemochory) will peak in abundance in early successional stages and (c) species well adapted to adhesive dispersal (epizoochory) will increase with proceeding succession. We test these hypotheses in four sites within agriculturally dominated landscapes in Germany. Agricultural use in these sites was abandoned 20–28 years ago, leaving them to secondary succession. Sites have been monitored for plant biodiversity ever since. We analyze changes in plant species richness and abundance, number of dispersal modes and two ranking indices for wind- and adhesive dispersal by applying generalized linear mixed-effect models. We used both abundance-weighted and unweighted dispersal traits in order to gain a comprehensive picture of successional developments. Hypothesis (a) was supported by unweighted but not abundance-weighted data. Anemochory showed no consistent changes across sites. In contrast, epizoochory (especially when not weighted by abundance) turned out to be an indicator of the transition from early to mid-successional stages. It increased for the first 9–16 years of succession but declined afterwards. Species richness showed an opposing pattern, while species abundance increased asymptotically. We suggest that plant-animal interactions play a key role in mediating these processes: By importing seeds of highly competitive plant species, animals are likely to promote the increasing abundance of a few dominant, highly epizoochorous species. These species outcompete weak competitors and species richness decreases. However, animals should as well promote the subsequent increase of species richness by disturbing the sites and creating small open patches. These patches are colonized by weaker competitors that are not necessarily dispersed by animals. The changes in the presence of epizoochorous species indicate the importance of plant traits and related plant–animal interactions in the succession of plant communities.     

授粉用明亮熊蜂的人工饲养技术

为提高授粉用熊蜂人工繁育效率,降低生产成本,对明亮熊蜂Bombus lucorumL.人工饲养中诱导蜂王产卵和人工控制下的交配2个技术环节进行了研究。结果表明,采用诱导器和伴饲2~3只蜜蜂工蜂的诱导方法,蜂王产卵率和蜂群成群率最高,成群时间最短;使用塑料诱导器和木制诱导器的效果没有显著差异。将8~9日龄的蜂王和11~12日龄的雄蜂放入交配笼时,其交配成功率最高。交配笼内的蜂王数量应控制在30只/m3左右。在晴天,交配笼放置在室外(758 000 lux),其交配成功率最高;在阴天,交配笼应放在交配室内,并开启荧光灯照明(35 000 lux),其交配成功率最高。     

草间钻头蛛(Hylyphantes graminicola)对果蝇(Drosophila melanogaster)捕食作用的研究

在实验室条件下,研究了草间钻头蛛Hylyphantes graminicola对果蝇Drosophila melanogaster的捕食功能反应.结果表明,在一定范围内,草间钻头蛛捕食效应随猎物密度增加而增加;随自身密度增加而减小;随着蜘蛛和果蝇密度的增加,相互干扰明显,捕食效率下降;雌蛛比雄蛛捕食量大.     

Transepithelial transport of artepillin C in intestinal Caco-2 cell monolayers

The absorption characteristics of artepillin C (AC), an active ingredient of Brazilian propolis, were examined by measuring permeation across Caco-2 cell monolayers. The permeation rate in the basolateral-to-apical direction, J_bl → ap, in the presence of proton gradient was 0.14 nmol/min/mg protein, whereas J_bl → ap in the absence of proton gradient was 1.14 nmol/min/mg protein. The latter value is nearly the same as the permeation rate in the apical-to-basolateral direction, J_ap → bl, both in the presence and absence of proton gradient. In the presence of proton gradient, J_ap → bl was almost constant, irrespective of NaN₃ or benzoic acid. However, J_bl → ap dramatically increased upon the addition of NaN₃ or benzoic acid specifically to the apical side. In both the presence and absence of proton gradient, J_ap → bl also appeared to be constant irrespective of the paracellular permeability of Caco-2 cells. After AC was loaded apically in the presence of proton gradient, the intracellular AC increased with time. This accumulation was inhibited by apically loaded NaN₃. These indicate that AC transport occurs mainly via transcellular passive diffusion, although a considerable amount of AC was taken up intracellularly by monocarboxylic acid transporter (MCT) on the apical side and not transported out across the basolateral membrane, suggesting that different subtypes of MCT are involved.