An interaction index to predict turtle bycatch in a Mediterranean bottom trawl fishery

Incidental catch is the major threat to the survival of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Mediterranean and the main reason for their decline. More than 100,000 turtles are estimated to be caught annually due to fishing practices; 10–50% die. Bottom trawls are among the fishing gears exerting the worst impact on sea turtle populations, especially in the coastal waters of Tunisia and Libya, northern Adriatic Sea, the Mediterranean coastal areas of Turkey and Egypt, where the continental shelf is large and turtles in the demersal stage are commonly found also in winter. Seven adult-sized loggerhead turtles captured incidentally by bottom trawls in the central-northern Adriatic Sea and treated in rescue centres were tagged with satellite transmitters before release. In this paper Italian bottom trawl track data obtained from vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) were analysed by VMSbase R suite to identify the areas of maximum fishing effort in the Adriatic. These data were combined with satellite information on turtle distribution to provide an interaction index enabling prediction of potential trawl–turtle interaction hotspots and periods. The present pilot study can be considered as a risk-analysis approach directed at identifying the areas and times of possible trawling–turtle interactions in a Mediterranean trawl fishery. By identifying the areas and seasons at highest risk of turtle bycatch, the index here developed has the potential to provide key information to design and implement mitigation strategies. Vessel monitoring system is actually in force in several countries, therefore the approach here studied might have a worldwide application.     

Competition between laboratory populations of green leafhoppers,Nephotettix spp. (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)

Intra- and interspecific competition between laboratory populations of four green leafhoppers, Nephotettix spp. was studied in the laboratory under three different temperature regimes of 24°C, 27°C and 30°C. For the single-species population of the three tropical species, the equilibrium density increased as the temperature increased. On the other hand, for the temperature species N. cincticeps, the highest equilibrium density was at the intermediate temperature and the lowest at high temperature. Interspecific interactions between two tropical (N. virescens vs. N. nigropictus), a tropical and a temperature (N. virescens vs. N. cincticeps) and a rice-feeding and a grass-inhabiting (N. virescens vs. N. malayanus) Nephotettix species were also studied in the laboratory at the three temperature regimes. Temperature differentially affected the outcome of competition between two Nephotettix species. Between N. virescens and N. nigropictus, the latter was more successful over the former at low and intermediate temperatures, while the former was more successful at high temperature. Between N. virescens and N. cincticeps, the temperate species inhibited the growth of the tropical species at low temperature while the tropical species inhibited the growth of the temperate species at high temperature. At intermediate temperature, the population of N. virescens persisted at a slightly higher density over the population of N. cincticeps. Between the rice-feeding N. virescens and the grass-inhabiting N. malayanus, regardless of temperature the population density of the latter was greatly reduced and later became extinct while the population of the former continued its growth. These consequences of competition between two Nephotettix species conformed fairly well to those predicted by theLotka-Volterra model using demographic parameters specified for each species.     

利用各世代的小区平均数估计遗传参数的加权最小二乘法

本文提出了在随机区组设计下利用六个世代的小区平均数估计加性-显性-二基因互作模型的各参数、检验该模型的加权最小二乘法的基本步骤。     

The meaning of interaction parameters in two-state protein complexes

The theory of interaction parameters has thus far been based on the free-energy relationships in the formation of ternary complexes formed between a pair of ligands and a protein molecule. The concept has been formulted in terms of a thermodynamic square comprised of the free protein, the two binary complexes, and the ternary complex. However, an increasing number of proteins have been found to exist as equilibrium mixtures of two macrostates. The equilibrium constants for such two-state transitions vary quite considerably between the various binary and ternary complexes of a given protein. We show here that the interpretations of interaction parameters in such two-state systems, requiring the use of a thermodynamic cube, are much more complex than those based on the classic thermodynamic square commonly employed. We demonstrate the use of enthalpies of interaction and heat capacities of interaction to analyze the source of observed free enerigies of interaction in such systems. Specifically, we find that measured negative interaction parameters may arise simply from the inability of a system to achieve all of the positive component effects anticipated by the conventional formulation.     

Overproduction of, and interaction within, bifunctional domains from the amino- and carboxy-termini of the pentafunctional AROM protein of Aspergillus nidulans

The pentafunctional AROM protein in Aspergillus nidulans and other fungi catalyses five consecutive enzymatic steps leading to the production of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate (EPSP) in the shikimate pathway. The AROM protein has five separate enzymatic domains that have previously been shown to display a range of abilities to fold and function in isolation as monofunctional enzymes. In this communication, we report (1) the stable overproduction of a bifunctional protein containing the 3-dehydroquinate (DHQ) synthase and EPSP synthase activities in Escherichia coli to around 10% of the total cell protein; (2) that both the DHQ synthase and EPSP synthase activities in the over-produced fragment are enzymatically active as judged by their ability to complement aroA and aroB mutants of E. coli; (3) that the EPSP synthase domain is only enzymatically active when covalently attached to the DHQ synthase domain (the cis arrangement). When DHQ synthase and EPSP synthase are produced concomitantly by transcribing sequences encoding the individual domains from separate plasmids in the same bacterial cell (the trans arrangement) no overproduction or enzyme activity can be detected for the EPSP synthase domain; (4) the EPSP synthase domain can be stably overproduced as a fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase (GST), however the EPSP synthase in this instance is enzymatically inactive; (5) a protein containing an enzymatically inactive DHQ synthase domain in the cis arrangement with EPSP synthase domain is stably overproduced with enzymatically active EPSP synthase; (6) the two C-terminal domains of the AROM protein specifying the 3-dehydroquinase and shikimate dehydrogenase domains can be overproduced in A. nidulans using a specially constructed expression vector. This same bi-domain fragment however is not produced in E. coli when identical coding sequences are transcribed from a prokaryotic expression vector. These data support the view that multifunctional/multidomain proteins do not solely consist of independent units covalently linked together, but rather that certain individual domains interact to varying degrees to stabilise enzyme activity.     

Effects of the parasitic botfly Philornis carinatus on nestling house wrens,Troglodytes aedon,in Costa Rica

I studied the life cycle of a botfly (Diptera: Muscidae: Philornis carinatus) and examined the effects of botfly ectoparasitism on nestling house wrens (Passeriformes: Troglodytidae: Troglodytes aedon) during three years in Costa Rica. At three study sites, I found that nestlings were relatively unaffected by botflies, in contrast to all other studies of birds infected with philornid botflies. At Monteverde, the main study site, infected chicks grew slightly slower and had slightly shorter tarsi and wing chords than uninfected chicks, but both groups fledged at similar weights. Since weight at fledging is the only growth character associated with post-fledging survivorship, botfly infections likely cost wrens little in terms of fitness. At all sites, fledging success did not differ between infected and uninfected nests. Botfly infections were more prevalent at two lower elevation sites than at the high elevation Monteverde side. Infection prevalence increased during the nesting season at all study sites, which suggests a botfly life cycle in which adult population levels increase during the wren breeding season and then decline during a dormant period when wrens are not nesting. Finally, botflies may attack chicks throughout the period before fledging, but there is no indication they locate nests before hatching. In sum, botfly parasitism on wrens appears to be benign, perhaps because the study sites are at the edge of the botfly's range or because wrens are not a preferred host.     

氰类和酯类取代基水溶金属卟啉与DNA相互作用的共振拉曼研究

用共振拉曼和紫外－可见吸收光谱研究了水溶金属卟啉４－Ｎ－乙酸乙酯基－吡啶基铜卟啉和镍卟啉［简称Ｃｕ（ＮＥＡＥ）和Ｎｉ（ＮＥＡＥ）］及４－Ｎ－乙腈基－吡啶基铜卟啉［简称Ｃｕ（ＮＡＣＮ）］与小牛胸腺ＤＮＡ的相互作用。分析表明Ｃｕ（ＮＥＡＥ）、Ｎｉ（ＮＥＡＥ）和Ｃｕ（ＮＡＣＮ）分别以外部键联、部分插入和沟槽方式与ＤＮＡ作用;卟啉插入ＤＮＡ时吡啶基团向卟啉环平面转动但不可能转成与之共面;而以非插入方式作用时吡啶基团会向垂直于或者平行于卟啉环平面转动。吡啶取代基的大小和空间位阻是影响相互作用方式的关键因素之一。