Degradation of 4-chlorophenylacetic acid by a Pseudomonas species.

Pseudomonas sp. strain CBS3 was able to utilize 4-chlorophenylacetic acid as the sole source of carbon and energy. When this strain was grown with 4-chlorophenylacetic acid, homoprotocatechuic acid was found to be an intermediate which was further metabolized by the meta-cleavage pathway. Furthermore, three isomers of chlorohydroxyphenylacetic acid, two of them identified as 3-chloro-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and 4-chloro-3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, were isolated from the culture medium. 4-Hydroxyphenylacetic acid was catabolized in a different manner by the glutathione-dependent homogentisate pathway. Degradation enzymes of both of these pathways were inducible.     

Stereotypies in Laboratory Mice — Quantitative and Qualitative Description of the Ontogeny of ‘Wire-gnawing’ and ‘Jumping’ in Zur:ICR and Zur:ICR nu

The ontogeny of two stereotypic patterns, wire-gnawing and jumping, was studied in 24 laboratory mice: six males and six females each of two closely related outbred strains, kept under standard housing conditions, a conventional albino strain (ICR) and a nude, athymic mutant (ICR nu; hereafter: NU). All 24 individuals developed wire-gnawing after weaning at 20 d of age. In ICR one female and in NU five males and three females additionally developed jumping. ICR developed wire-gnawing between the age of 20 and 30 d, in NU jumping started at the age of 20 d, but intense jumping and wire-gnawing comparable to that of ICR did not develop in NU before the age of 40–50 d. Within each strain there was no significant difference between males and females with respect to the development of stereotypic behaviour. By contrast, ICR showed significantly more wire-gnawing but less jumping than NU. Stereotypy level increased with age up to a mean of 10.7 % of total activity in ICR and up to 7.4 % in NU at 100 d of age. However, there was huge inter- and intra-individual variability with respect to all parameters assessed in this study, i.e. total duration, number of bouts and bout length of the two stereotyped patterns. Wire-gnawing developed from outside-directed explorative climbing at the cage lid, whereas the source behaviour pattern (Mason 1991 a, Anim. Behav. 41, 1015–1037) of jumping was outside-directed explorative rearing at the cage wall. At 20 d of age, before the onset of stereotypy development, ICR showed significantly more climbing but less rearing than NU. Physical retardation of NU at weaning may account for decreased climbing ability during early ontogeny, and hence for the retarded development of wire-gnawing. The difference in early experience with either of the two patterns rather than genetic effects may be responsible for the qualitative difference between the strains with respect to the form of later stereotypy.     

Influence of Developmental Conditions on Immune Function and Dispersal-Related Traits in the Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia) Butterfly

Organisms in the wild are constantly faced with a wide range of environmental variability, such as fluctuation in food availability. Poor nutritional conditions influence life-histories via individual resource allocation patterns, and trade-offs between competing traits. In this study, we assessed the influence of food restriction during development on the energetically expensive traits flight metabolic rate (proxy of dispersal ability), encapsulation rate (proxy of immune defence), and lifespan using the Glanville fritillary butterfly, Melitaea cinxia, as a model organism. Additionally, we examined the direct costs of flight on individual immune function, and whether those costs increase under restricted environmental conditions. We found that nutritional restriction during development enhanced adult encapsulations rate, but reduced both resting and flight metabolic rates. However, at the individual level metabolic rates were not associated with encapsulation rate. Interestingly, individuals that were forced to fly prior to the immune assays had higher encapsulation rates than individuals that had not flown, suggesting that flying itself enhances immune response. Finally, in the control group encapsulation rate correlated positively with lifespan, whereas in the nutritional restriction group there was no relationship between these traits, suggesting that the association between encapsulation rate on adult lifespan was condition-dependent. Thus stressful events during both larval development (food limitation) and adulthood (forced flight) induce increased immune response in the adult butterflies, which may allow individuals to cope with stressful events later on in life.     

The impact of global climate change on genetic diversity within populations and species

Genetic diversity provides the basic substrate for evolution, yet few studies assess the impacts of global climate change (GCC) on intraspecific genetic variation. In this review, we highlight the importance of incorporating neutral and non‐neutral genetic diversity when assessing the impacts of GCC, for example, in studies that aim to predict the future distribution and fate of a species or ecological community. Specifically, we address the following questions: Why study the effects of GCC on intraspecific genetic diversity? How does GCC affect genetic diversity? How is the effect of GCC on genetic diversity currently studied? Where is potential for future research? For each of these questions, we provide a general background and highlight case studies across the animal, plant and microbial kingdoms. We further discuss how cryptic diversity can affect GCC assessments, how genetic diversity can be integrated into studies that aim to predict species' responses on GCC and how conservation efforts related to GCC can incorporate and profit from inclusion of genetic diversity assessments. We argue that studying the fate of intraspecifc genetic diversity is an indispensable and logical venture if we are to fully understand the consequences of GCC on biodiversity on all levels.     

Delta-sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP): An update

The isolation and characterization of delta-sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) achieved from 1963 to 1977 were reviewed in 1984. The first reports describing sleep as well as extra-sleep effects of DSIP also were included in that work. Only two years later, much additional literature concerning DSIP has accumulated. Besides further sleep-inducing and/or-supporting effects of DSIP in animals, considerable work has been carried out to evaluate the potential use of the peptide for therapeutic purposes such as treatment of insomnia, pain, and withdrawal. Immunohistochemical as well as radioimmunochemical studies provided further insights into the natural occurrence of the nonapeptide and the distribution of DSIP-like material in the body, suggesting possible relations of the peptide to certain diseases. Various physiological functions of DSIP and a possible mechanism of action involving the modulation of adrenergic transmission remain to be established.