Where do these bugs come from? Phenotypic structure of Triatoma infestans populations after control interventions in the Argentine Chaco

House re-invasion by native triatomines after insecticide-based control campaigns represents a major threat for Chagas disease vector control. We conducted a longitudinal intervention study in a rural section (Area III, 407 houses) of Pampa del Indio, northeastern Argentina, and used wing geometric morphometry to compare pre-spray and post-spray (re-infestant bugs) Triatoma infestans populations. The community-wide spraying with pyrethroids reduced the prevalence of house infestation by T. infestans from 31.9% to < 1% during a four-year follow-up, unlike our previous studies in the neighbouring Area I. Two groups of bug collection sites differing in wing shape variables before interventions (including 221 adults from 11 domiciles) were used as a reference for assigning 44 post-spray adults. Wing shape variables from post-spray, high-density bug colonies and pre-spray groups were significantly different, suggesting that re-infestant insects had an external origin. Insects from one house differed strongly in wing shape variables from all other specimens. A further comparison between insects from both areas supported the existence of independent re-infestation processes within the same district. These results point to local heterogeneities in house re-infestation dynamics and emphasise the need to expand the geographic coverage of vector surveillance and control operations to the affected region.     

Cerebral nitric oxide represses choroid plexus NFκB‐dependent gateway activity for leukocyte trafficking

Chronic neuroinflammation is evident in brain aging and neurodegenerative disorders and is often associated with excessive nitric oxide (NO) production within the central nervous system (CNS). Under such conditions, increased NO levels are observed at the choroid plexus (CP), an epithelial layer that forms the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) and serves as a selective gateway for leukocyte entry to the CNS in homeostasis and following injury. Here, we hypothesized that elevated cerebral NO levels interfere with CP gateway activity. We found that induction of leukocyte trafficking determinants by the CP and sequential leukocyte entry to the CSF are dependent on the CP epithelial NFκB/p65 signaling pathway, which was inhibited upon exposure to NO. Examining the CP in 5XFAD transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer''s disease (AD-Tg) revealed impaired ability to mount an NFκB/p65-dependent response. Systemic administration of an NO scavenger in AD-Tg mice alleviated NFκB/p65 suppression at the CP and augmented its gateway activity. Together, our findings identify cerebral NO as a negative regulator of CP gateway activity for immune cell trafficking to the CNS.     

The COP9 signalosome is vital for timely repair of DNA double-strand breaks

The DNA damage response is vigorously activated by DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). The chief mobilizer of the DSB response is the ATM protein kinase. We discovered that the COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a crucial player in the DSB response and an ATM target. CSN is a protein complex that regulates the activity of cullin ring ubiquitin ligase (CRL) complexes by removing the ubiquitin-like protein, NEDD8, from their cullin scaffold. We find that the CSN is physically recruited to DSB sites in a neddylation-dependent manner, and is required for timely repair of DSBs, affecting the balance between the two major DSB repair pathways—nonhomologous end-joining and homologous recombination repair (HRR). The CSN is essential for the processivity of deep end-resection—the initial step in HRR. Cullin 4a (CUL4A) is recruited to DSB sites in a CSN- and neddylation-dependent manner, suggesting that CSN partners with CRL4 in this pathway. Furthermore, we found that ATM-mediated phosphorylation of CSN subunit 3 on S410 is critical for proper DSB repair, and that loss of this phosphorylation site alone is sufficient to cause a DDR deficiency phenotype in the mouse. This novel branch of the DSB response thus significantly affects genome stability.     

The Tyrosine Kinase c-Abl Promotes Homeodomain-interacting Protein Kinase 2 (HIPK2) Accumulation and Activation in Response to DNA Damage

The non-receptor tyrosine kinase c-Abl is activated in response to DNA damage and induces p73-dependent apoptosis. Here, we investigated c-Abl regulation of the homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2), an important regulator of p53-dependent apoptosis. c-Abl phosphorylated HIPK2 at several sites, and phosphorylation by c-Abl protected HIPK2 from degradation mediated by the ubiquitin E3 ligase Siah-1. c-Abl and HIPK2 synergized in activating p53 on apoptotic promoters in a reporter assay, and c-Abl was required for endogenous HIPK2 accumulation and phosphorylation of p53 at Ser⁴⁶ in response to DNA damage by γ- and UV radiation. Accumulation of HIPK2 in nuclear speckles and association with promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) in response to DNA damage were also dependent on c-Abl activity. At high cell density, the Hippo pathway inhibits DNA damage-induced c-Abl activation. Under this condition, DNA damage-induced HIPK2 accumulation, phosphorylation of p53 at Ser⁴⁶, and apoptosis were attenuated. These data demonstrate a new mechanism for the induction of DNA damage-induced apoptosis by c-Abl and illustrate network interactions between serine/threonine and tyrosine kinases that dictate cell fate.     

Light-Harvesting Complex Stress-Related Proteins Catalyze Excess Energy Dissipation in Both Photosystems of Physcomitrella patens

Two LHC-like proteins, Photosystem II Subunit S (PSBS) and Light-Harvesting Complex Stress-Related (LHCSR), are essential for triggering excess energy dissipation in chloroplasts of vascular plants and green algae, respectively. The mechanism of quenching was studied in Physcomitrella patens, an early divergent streptophyta (including green algae and land plants) in which both proteins are active. PSBS was localized in grana together with photosystem II (PSII), but LHCSR was located mainly in stroma-exposed membranes together with photosystem I (PSI), and its distribution did not change upon high-light treatment. The quenched conformation can be preserved by rapidly freezing the high-light-treated tissues in liquid nitrogen. When using green fluorescent protein as an internal standard, 77K fluorescence emission spectra on isolated chloroplasts allowed for independent assessment of PSI and PSII fluorescence yield. Results showed that both photosystems underwent quenching upon high-light treatment in the wild type in contrast to mutants depleted of LHCSR, which lacked PSI quenching. Due to the contribution of LHCII, P. patens had a PSI antenna size twice as large with respect to higher plants. Thus, LHCII, which is highly abundant in stroma membranes, appears to be the target of quenching by LHCSR.     

Silencing the mob: disrupting quorum sensing as a means to fight plant disease

Bacteria are able to sense their population's density through a cell–cell communication system, termed ‘quorum sensing’ (QS). This system regulates gene expression in response to cell density through the constant production and detection of signalling molecules. These molecules commonly act as auto‐inducers through the up‐regulation of their own synthesis. Many pathogenic bacteria, including those of plants, rely on this communication system for infection of their hosts. The finding that the countering of QS‐disrupting mechanisms exists in many prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms offers a promising novel method to fight disease. During the last decade, several approaches have been proposed to disrupt QS pathways of phytopathogens, and hence to reduce their virulence. Such studies have had varied success in vivo, but most lend promising support to the idea that QS manipulation could be a potentially effective method to reduce bacterial‐mediated plant disease. This review discusses the various QS‐disrupting mechanisms found in both bacteria and plants, as well as the different approaches applied artificially to interfere with QS pathways and thus protect plant health.     

How diversification rates and diversity limits combine to create large-scale species-area relationships

Species-area relationships (SARs) have mostly been treated from an ecological perspective, focusing on immigration, local extinction and resource-based limits to species coexistence. However, a full understanding across large regions is impossible without also considering speciation and global extinction. Rates of both speciation and extinction are known to be strongly affected by area and thus should contribute to spatial patterns of diversity. Here, we explore how variation in diversification rates and ecologically mediated diversity limits among regions of different sizes can result in the formation of SARs. We explain how this area-related variation in diversification can be caused by either the direct effects of area or the effects of factors that are highly correlated with area, such as habitat diversity and population size. We also review environmental, clade-specific and historical factors that affect diversification and diversity limits but are not highly correlated with region area, and thus are likely to cause scatter in observed SARs. We present new analyses using data on the distributions, ages and traits of mammalian species to illustrate these mechanisms; in doing so we provide an integrated perspective on the evolutionary processes shaping SARs.     

Induction of karyopherin α1 expression by indole-3-acetic acid in auxin-treated or overproducing tobacco plants

Macromolecules may transfer between the cytoplasm and the nucleus only through specific gates—the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Translocation of nucleic acids and large proteins requires the presence of a nuclear localization signal (NLS) within the transported molecule. This NLS is recognized by a class of soluble transport receptors termed karyopherins α and β. We previously characterized the expression pattern of the tomato karyopherin α1 (LeKAPα1) promoter in transformed tobacco plants. Expression of LeKAPα1 was mainly observed in growing tissues where cell division and extension is rapid. The expression pattern of LeKAPα1 resembled that of auxin-responsive genes. This led us to suggest that auxin participates in the regulation of LeKAPα1 expression. Here we characterized the correlation between auxin level and the activity of the LeKAPα1 promoter. To this end, transgenic tobacco plants carrying the GUS reporter gene under the control of the LeKAPα1 promoter were treated with various levels of exogenous auxin. We also studied transgenic plants in which we increased the endogenous levels of auxin. For this, we expressed in plants both the LeKAPα1 promoter-GUS reporter and the Agrobacterium tumefaciens iaaM gene, which increases the endogenous levels of auxin. The results indicate that the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) can induce LeKAPα1 expression. We also identified that the sites and levels of LeKAPα1 expression correlated with the endogenous pathways of polar auxin transport.Key words: auxin, karyopherin α1, nuclear pore complex, TYLCV, plant virus