Butterfly morphology in a molecular age – Does it still matter in butterfly systematics?

We review morphological characters considered important for understanding butterfly phylogeny and evolution in the light of recent large-scale molecular phylogenies of the group. A number of the most important morphological works from the past half century are reviewed and morphological character evolution is reassessed based on the most recent phylogenetic results. In particular, higher level butterfly morphology is evaluated based on a very recent study combining an elaborate morphological dataset with a similar molecular one. Special attention is also given to the families Papilionidae, Nymphalidae and Hesperiidae which have all seen morphological and molecular efforts come together in large, combined works in recent years. In all of the examined cases the synergistic effect of combining elaborate morphological datasets with ditto molecular clearly outweigh the merits of either data type analysed on its own (even for ‘genome size’ molecular datasets). It is evident that morphology, far from being obsolete or arcane, still has an immensely important role to play in butterfly (and insect) phylogenetics. Not least because understanding morphology is essential for understanding and evaluating the evolutionary scenarios phylogenetic trees are supposed to illustrate.     

Biomine: predicting links between biological entities using network models of heterogeneous databases

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Biological databases contain large amounts of data concerning the functions and associationsof genes and proteins. Integration of data from several such databases into a single repositorycan aid the discovery of previously unknown connections spanning multiple types ofrelationships and databases. RESULTS: Biomine is a system that integrates cross-references from several biological databases into agraph model with multiple types of edges, such as protein interactions, gene-diseaseassociations and gene ontology annotations. Edges are weighted based on their type,reliability, and informativeness. We present Biomine and evaluate its performance in linkprediction, where the goal is to predict pairs of nodes that will be connected in the future,based on current data. In particular, we formulate protein interaction prediction and diseasegene prioritization tasks as instances of link prediction. The predictions are based on aproximity measure computed on the integrated graph. We consider and experiment withseveral such measures, and perform a parameter optimization procedure where different edgetypes are weighted to optimize link prediction accuracy. We also propose a novel method fordisease-gene prioritization, defined as finding a subset of candidate genes that cluster togetherin the graph. We experimentally evaluate Biomine by predicting future annotations in thesource databases and prioritizing lists of putative disease genes. CONCLUSIONS: The experimental results show that Biomine has strong potential for predicting links when aset of selected candidate links is available. The predictions obtained using the entire Biominedataset are shown to clearly outperform ones obtained using any single source of data alone,when different types of links are suitably weighted. In the gene prioritization task, anestablished reference set of disease-associated genes is useful, but the results show that underfavorable conditions, Biomine can also perform well when no such information is available.The Biomine system is a proof of concept. Its current version contains 1.1 million entities and8.1 million relations between them, with focus on human genetics. Some of its functionalitiesare available in a public query interface at http://biomine.cs.helsinki.fi, allowing searching forand visualizing connections between given biological entities.     

An apolipoprotein A-V gene SNP is associated with marked hypertriglyceridemia among Asian-American patients

Apolipoprotein A-V (apoA-V) is an important regulator of plasma levels of triglyceride (TG) in mice. In humans, APOA5 genetic variation is associated with TG in several populations. In this study, we determined the effects of the p.185Gly>Cys (c.553G>T; rs2075291) polymorphism on plasma TG levels in subjects of Chinese ancestry living in the United States and in a group of non-Chinese Asian ancestry. The frequency of the less common cysteine allele was 4-fold higher (15.1% vs. 3.7%) in Chinese high-TG subjects compared with a low-TG group (Chi-square = 20.2; P < 0.0001), corresponding with a 4.45 times higher risk of hypertriglyceridemia (95% confidence interval, 2.18-9.07; P < 0.001). These results were replicated in the non-Chinese Asians. Heterozygosity was associated, in the high-TG group, with a doubling of TG (P < 0.001), mainly VLDL TG (P = 0.014). All eleven TT homozygotes had severe hypertriglyceridemia, with mean TG of 2,292 +/- 447 mg/dl. Compared with controls, carriers of the T allele had lower postheparin lipoprotein lipase activity but not hepatic lipase activity. In Asian populations, this common polymorphism can lead to profound adverse effects on lipoprotein profiles, with homozygosity accounting for a significant number of cases of severe hypertriglyceridemia. This specific apoA-V variant has a pronounced effect on TG metabolism, the mechanism of which remains to be elucidated.     

Setup and dosimetry for exposing anaesthetised pigs in vivo to 900 MHz GSM mobile phone fields

The aim of this study was a dosimetrical analysis of the setup used in the exposure of the heads of domestic pigs to GSM-modulated radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) at 900 MHz. The heads of pigs were irradiated with a half wave dipole using three different exposure routines; short bursts of 1-3 s at two different exposure levels and a continuous 10-min exposure. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was registered continuously during the exposures to search for RF-EMF originated changes. The dosimetry was based on simulations with the anatomical heterogeneous numerical model of the pig head. The simulation results were validated by experimental measurements with the exposure dipole and a homogeneous liquid phantom resembling the pig head. The specific absorption rate (SAR), defined as a maximum average over 10 g tissue mass (SAR(10g)), was 7.3 W/kg for the first set of short bursts and 31 W/kg for the second set of short bursts. The SAR(10g) in the continuous 10-min exposure was 31 W/kg. The estimated uncertainty for the dosimetry was +/-25% (K = 2).     

Distinct organization of energy metabolism in HL-1 cardiac cell line and cardiomyocytes

Expression and function of creatine kinase (CK), adenylate kinase (AK) and hexokinase (HK) isoforms in relation to their roles in regulation of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and intracellular energy transfer were assessed in beating (B) and non-beating (NB) cardiac HL-l cell lines and adult rat cardiomyocytes or myocardium. In both types of HL-1 cells, the AK2, CKB, HK1 and HK2 genes were expressed at higher levels than the CKM, CKMT2 and AK1 genes. Contrary to the saponin-permeabilized cardiomyocytes the OXPHOS was coupled to mitochondrial AK and HK but not to mitochondrial CK, and neither direct transfer of adenine nucleotides between CaMgATPases and mitochondria nor functional coupling between CK-MM and CaMgATPases was observed in permeabilized HL-1 cells. The HL-1 cells also exhibited deficient complex I of the respiratory chain. In conclusion, contrary to cardiomyocytes where mitochondria and CaMgATPases are organized into tight complexes which ensure effective energy transfer and feedback signaling between these structures via specialized pathways mediated by CK and AK isoforms and direct adenine nucleotide channeling, these complexes do not exist in HL-1 cells due to less organized energy metabolism.     

Regulation, cycles and stability in northern carnivore-herbivore systems: back to first principles

In studies on dynamics of northern predator‐prey systems, two assumptions are often made. First, the bifurcation from stable to cyclic dynamics is seen as a consequence of changing generalist‐specialist ratio, ultimately due to reduced prey diversity at high latitudes and the negative impact of snow on the efficiency of generalists as predators of small, folivorous mammals. Supposedly, the primary mechanism is the qualitative difference between the functional response of specialist and generalist predators. Second, the interaction between large predators and ungulates is supposed to be prone to lead to two alternative equilibria, one where predation regulates ungulates at a relatively low equilibrium and another, where ungulate densities are close to carrying capacity. In the first‐mentioned issue, our analysis corroborates the general idea of snow favoring specialists and leading to cycles. However, differences in functional response appear to be of secondary importance only, and rather special conditions are required for generalists to have a stabilizing type III functional response. A destabilizing type II functional response or a slight modification of it should be common in generalists, too, as also indicated by the classical experiments. Stability of generalist dominated systems seems primarily to derive from their relative inefficiency, allowing prey's density‐dependent mechanisms to play a bigger role in the neighborhood of the equilibrium. Moreover, the main destabilizing impact of deep, long‐lasting snow cover appears to lie in the protection it offers to the efficient but vulnerable specialists, which are eliminated or marginalized by intraguild predation in areas with snow‐free winters, unless the habitat offers some other form of efficient protection. As for the conjecture of multiple equilibria in northern wolf‐ungulate systems, it seems to be derived from an erroneous operational definition of numerical response and has little if any empirical support. Available data suggest that predation limitation of folivorous mammals prevails along the entire gradient from relatively productive low arctic habitats to the humid parts of the temperate zone, provided that the numbers of predators are not controlled by man.     

State of Lake Sysmäjärvi,Eastern Finland,after loading with mine water and municipal waste water for several decades

Hydrobiologia - The deep mining of copper and nickel at Outokumpu, Eastern Finland, lasted from 1910 to the late 1980s, during which period metalliferous waste water of high conductivity and...     

MOLTING PHENOLOGY OF HARBOR SEALS ON TUGIDAK ISLAND, ALASKA

We documented the progression and timing of the annual molt of harbor seals on Tugidak Island, Alaska, from 1997 to 1999. In all years the timing of molting differed among age-sex classes. Yearlings molted first, subadults second, adult females third, and lastly adult males. Timing of molting was nearly identical in 1997–1998, whereas in 1999 molting occurred three to six days later for all age-sex classes except yearlings. Estimated dates when peak proportions of each age-sex class were molting ranged from 2 August (yearlings) to 2 September (adult males). The number of seals hauled out was positively related to the proportion of seals in the molt and negatively related to the proportion of seals in the postmolt. Population trend estimates, based on aerial counts conducted during a narrow window within the molting period, are likely biased toward certain age-sex classes. Statistical models used to estimate trend include covariates to help account for within-year variation in seal numbers, but do not account for compositional changes that occur during molting. Population modeling may elucidate the effects of within-year population structure on trend estimates. Monitoring molting phenology at additional sites is necessary to determine the extent of geographic variation in molting.     

Role of litter decomposition for the increased primary production in areas heavily grazed by reindeer: a litterbag experiment

Heavy grazing and trampling by reindeer increase nutrient cycling and primary production in areas where grasslands have replaced shrub and moss tundra. One way in which herbivores can affect nutrient cycling is through changing the litter decomposition processes. We studied the effect of herbivory on litter decomposition rate by reciprocal transplantation of litter between lightly grazed and heavily grazed areas, using the litterbag technique. We used litter from two of the most common species on the lightly grazed side, Betula nana and Empetrum nigrum , and two of the most common species on the heavily grazed side, Carex bigelowii and Deschampsia flexuosa . We found that herbivory improved litter quality by favouring species with easily decomposed litter. However, herbivory also improved litter quality by increasing the nitrogen content and lowering the C/N ratio of each species. Decomposition rates even correlated with the abundance of the plant category in question. Shrub litter decomposed faster in the lightly grazed area where shrubs were common, and graminoid litter decomposed faster in the heavily grazed area where graminoids were common. These results indicate that the decomposer micro-organisms are adapted to the most common litter types. This study shows that detailed information about the effect of herbivory on litter quality is important to understand differences between the short-term and long-term effects of herbivory on nutrient cycling and primary production.