Plant community and tissue chemistry responses to fertilizer and litter nutrient manipulations in a temperate grassland

Human-mediated nutrient amendments have widespread effects on plant communities. One of the major consequences has been the loss of species diversity under increased nutrient inputs. The loss of species can be functional group dependent with certain functional groups being more prone to decline than others. We present results from the sixth year of a long-term fertilization and litter manipulation study in an old-field grassland. We measured plant tissue chemistry (C:N ratio) to understand the role of plant physiological responses in the increase or decline of functional groups under nutrient manipulations. Fertilized plots had significantly more total aboveground biomass and live biomass than unfertilized plots, which was largely due to greater productivity by exotic C₃ grasses. We found that both fertilization and litter treatments affected plant species richness. Species richness was lower on plots that were fertilized or had litter intact; species losses were primarily from forbs and non-Poaceae graminoids. C₃ grasses and forbs had lower C:N ratios under fertilization with forbs having marginally greater %N responses to fertilization than grasses. Tissue chemistry in the C₃ grasses also varied depending on tissue type with reproductive tillers having higher C:N ratios than vegetative tillers. Although forbs had greater tissue chemistry responses to fertilization, they did not have a similar positive response in productivity and the number of forb species is decreasing on our experimental plots. Overall, differential nutrient uptake and use among functional groups influenced biomass production and species interactions, favoring exotic C₃ grasses and leading to their dominance. These data suggest functional groups may differ in their responses to anthropogenic nutrient amendments, ultimately influencing plant community composition.     

Evidence for a rapid rate of molecular evolution at the hypervariable and immunogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE38 gene region

Background  

PPE38 (Rv 2352c) is a member of the large PPE gene family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and related mycobacteria. The function of PPE proteins is unknown but evidence suggests that many are cell-surface associated and recognised by the host immune system. Previous studies targeting other PPE gene members suggest that some display high levels of polymorphism and it is thought that this might represent a means of providing antigenic variation. We have analysed the genetic variability of the PPE38 genomic region on a cohort of M. tuberculosis clinical isolates representing all of the major phylogenetic lineages, along with the ancestral M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) member M. canettii, and supplemented this with analysis of publicly available whole genome sequences representing additional M. tuberculosis clinical isolates, other MTBC members and non tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Where possible we have extended this analysis to include the adjacent plcABC and PPE39/40 genomic regions.     

Airborne Pollen Grains of Bozuyuk （Bilecik, Turkey）

Airborne pollen grains in the atmosphere of Bozuyuk were investigated over a 2 yr period from 2000 to 2001 using a Durham sampler. A total number of pollen grains of 5 170 pollen grains belonging to 32 taxa were identified and recorded along with some unidentified pollen grains. Of all the pollen grains, 78.66% were arboreal, 19.20% were non-arboreal, and 2.12% were unidentified. The majority of pollen grains investigated were Pinus, Platanus, Quercus, Cupressaceae, Poaceae, Fagus, Salix, Rosaceae, Urticaceae, Asteraceae, and Chenopodiaceae. The maximum number of pollen grains was recorded in May.     

Polymorphic microsatellites for the study of Aconitum napellus L. (Ranunculaceae), a rare species in France

Aconitum napellus is a perennial European Ranunculaceae that is currently decreasing in France. Six polymorphic microsatellite markers were characterized to study the polymorphism among individuals sampled from six populations in France. The total number of alleles per locus varied from two to four. Mean observed heterozygosities at each microsatellite locus ranged from 0.05 to 0.19. This set of microsatellites offers an efficient tool for more detailed investigations on population genetic structure of a rare species that can reproduce both sexually and by vegetative spread.     

Evolutionary dynamics of tandem repeats in the mitochondrial DNA control region of the minnow Cyprinella spiloptera

Length variation due to tandem repeats is now recognized as a common feature of animal mitochondrial DNA; however, the evolutionary dynamics of repeated sequences are not well understood. Using phylogenetic analysis, predictions of three models of repeat evolution were tested for arrays of 260-bp repeats in the cyprinid fish Cyprinella spiloptera. Variation at different nucleotide positions in individual repeats supported different models of repeat evolution. One set of characters included several nucleotide variants found in all copies from a limited number of individuals, while the other set included an 8- bp deletion found in a limited number of copies in all individuals. The deletion and an associated nucleotide change appear to be the result of a deterministic, rather than stochastic, mutation process. Parallel origins of repeat arrays in different mitochondrial lineages, possibly coupled with a homogenization mechanism, best explain the distribution of nucleotide variation.