Intraspecific variation in host plant traits mediates taxonomic and functional composition of local insect herbivore communities

1. Host plant phenotypic traits affect the structure of the associated consumer community and mediate species interactions. Intraspecific variation in host traits is well documented, although a functional understanding of variable traits that drive herbivore community response is lacking. We address this gap by modelling the trait-environment relationship using insect traits and host plant traits in a multilevel model. 2. We compare herbivore assemblages from the canopy of the phenotypically variable tree Metrosideros polymorpha on Hawai‘i Island. Multiple distinct varieties of M. polymorpha frequently co-occur, with variation in morphological traits. Using this system, we identify host and insect traits that underlie patterns of herbivore abundance and quantify the strength of host-insect trait interactions. 3. This work examines plant-insect interactions at a community scale, across 36 herbivore species in three orders. We find that co-occurring trees of varying phenotype support distinct communities. Leaf traits, including specific leaf area, trichome presence, and leaf nutrients, explain 46% of variation in insect communities. We find that feeding guild and nymphal life history are correlated with host plant traits, and we show that model predictions are improved by including the host and insect trait interaction. 4. This study demonstrates how insect herbivores traits influence community response to morphologically variable hosts. Environmental heterogeneity indirectly affected herbivore community structure via intraspecific variation in host plants, providing an important source of variation for maintaining diversity in the broader community.     

Leydig cell mitoses in human testes bearing early germ cell tumors

Summary Numerous mitoses were noted in testicular tissue from adult men with early germ cell tumors. More than 15 Leydig cells undergoing mitosis were found in the interstitial compartment. The presence of specific crystalline intracytoplasmatic inclusions demonstrated for the first time that differentiated Leydig cells are capable of proliferation. Occasionally cells are difficult to discriminate during mitosis. To establish reference criteria, the light- and electron-microscopic features of the following mitotic cells were examined: Leydig cells, fibroblasts, perivascular cells, peritubular cells, and lymphocytes. Supplementary mitoses in germ cell tumors and in a case of Leydig cell tumor were investigated. In the literature, only single reports of mitoses in Leydig cells are available. The frequent incidence of Leydig cell mitosis in early germ cell tumors may be due to the presence of growth-promoting factors in the testicular tissue.     

No evidence for linkage of autosomal dominant proximal spinal muscular atrophies to chromosome 5q markers

Summary Two recent articles have reported the linkage of a gene for recessive spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) on the chromosome region 5q11.2–13.3. Our data show no linkage of the dominantly inherited forms of SMA to this chromosome region.     

Observation of inverted cubic phase in hydrated dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine membranes

We report the observation of an inverted cubic phase in aqueous dispersions of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) by small-angle X-ray diffraction. DOPE is a paradigm in the study of nonlamellar phases in biological systems: it exhibits a well-known phase transition from the lamellar (L alpha) to the inverted hexagonal phase (HII) as the temperature is raised. The transition is observed to occur rapidly when a DOPE dispersion is heated from 2 degrees C, where the L alpha phase is stable, to 15 degrees C, where the HII phase is stable. We report on the induction of a crystallographically well-defined cubic lattice that is slowly formed when the lipid dispersion is rapidly cycled between -5 and 15 degrees C hundreds of times. Once formed, the cubic lattice is stable at 4 degrees C for several weeks and exhibits the same remarkable metastability that characterizes other cubic phases in lipid-water systems. X-ray diffraction indicates that the cubic lattice is most consistent with either the Pn3m or Pn3 space group. Tests of lipid purity after induction of the cubic indicate the lipid is at least 98% pure. The cubic lattice can be destroyed and the system reset by cycling the specimen several times between -30 and 2 degrees C. The kinetics of the formation of the cubic are dependent on the thermal history of the sample, overall water concentration, and the extreme temperatures of the cycle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Synthesis patterns of a set of follicle cell proteins in Drosophila melanogaster sibling species

The protein synthesis pattern of a set of stage and tissue specific proteins has previously been described in Drosophila melanogaster. The analysis of this set of follicle cell proteins (Fc proteins) is here extended to cover several sibling species of Drosophila melanogaster, namely D. simulans, D. mauritiana, D. erecta and D. yakuba. Even though a similar set of proteins were synthesized in these species, minor differences in size of the proteins were found between the species. Some of the species exhibited variation within species.     

Novel multilayered lipid vesicles: comparison of physical characteristics of multilamellar liposomes and stable plurilamellar vesicles

The preparation of a new kind of multilayered liposome, called a stable plurilamellar vesicle (SPLV), is described. Although SPLVs and classical multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) are made of the same materials and appear overtly similar in the electron microscope, the two types of vesicles differ as determined by stability, entrapment efficiency, electron spin resonance (ESR), NMR, X-ray diffraction, and biological effects. It is demonstrated that, contrary to what has been assumed, classical MLVs exclude solutes during their formation and, thus, are under a state of osmotic compression. By contrast, the SPLV process produces liposomes that are not compressed. The effects of osmotic compression are discussed. It is suggested that the state of osmotic stress is an important variable that distinguishes various types of liposomes and that has significant physical and biological consequences.     

Optimization of culture conditions for human corneal endothelial cells

Summary Long-term cultivation of human corneal endothelial cells (HCEC) was optimized with respect to different components of the culture system: 25 different nutrient media, different sera, 6 mitogens and various substrates were tested in their ability to influence clonal growth and morphology of HCEC. F99, a 1∶1 mixture of the two media M199 and Ham’s F12, was the most effective basal medium in promoting clonal growth of HCEC. Among various sera, human serum and fetal bovine serum showed optimal growth promoting activities in combination with F99, whereas newborn bovine serum (NBS) was by far superior for the development of a typically corneal endothelial morphology. Crude fibroblast growth factor (FGF), or alternatively endothelial cell growth supplement, was absolutely essential for clonal growth of HCEC at low serum concentrations, for example 5% NBS. Formation of a monolayer with a morphology similar to corneal endothelium in vivo was observed only on culture dishes coated with basal membrane components such as collagen type IV, laminin, or fibronectin. The most pronounced effect on morphologic appearance was obtained by culturing the cells on the extracellular matrix (ECM) produced by bovine corneal endothelial cells. Moreover, ECM could substitute for crude FGF in clonal growth assays.     

Correlation between lipid plane curvature and lipid chain order.

The 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine: 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPE:POPC) system has been investigated by measuring, in the inverted hexagonal (HII) phase, the intercylinder spacings (using x-ray diffraction) and orientational order of the acyl chains (using 2H nuclear magnetic resonance). The presence of 20 wt% dodecane leads to the formation of a HII phase for the composition range from 0 to 39 mol% of POPC in POPE, as ascertained by x-ray diffraction and 2H nuclear magnetic resonance. The addition of the alkane induces a small decrease in chain order, consistent with less stretched chains. An increase in temperature or in POPE proportion leads to a reduction in the intercylinder spacing, primarily due to a decrease in the water core radius. A temperature increase also leads to a reduction in the orientational order of the lipid acyl chains, whereas the POPE proportion has little effect on chain order. A correlation is proposed to relate the radius of curvature of the cylinders in the inverted hexagonal phase to the chain order of the lipids adopting the HII phase. A simple geometrical model is proposed, taking into account the area occupied by the polar headgroup at the interface and the orientational order of the acyl chains reflecting the contribution of the apolar core. From these parameters, intercylinder spacings are calculated that agree well with the values determined experimentally by x-ray diffraction, for the variations of both temperature and POPE:POPC proportion. This model suggests that temperature increases the curvature of lipid layers, mainly by increasing the area subtended by the hydrophobic core through chain conformation disorder, whereas POPC content affects primarily the headgroup interface contribution. The frustration of lipid layer curvature is also shown to be reflected in the acyl chain order measured in the L alpha phase, in the absence of dodecane; for a given temperature, increased order is observed when the curling tendencies of the lipid plane are more pronounced.     

Enigmatic thermotropic phase behavior of highly asymmetric mixed-chain phosphatidylcholines that form mixed-interdigitated gel phases.

Twelve saturated mixed-chain phosphatidylcholines have been identified for which the thermotropic phase behavior observed upon cooling from the L alpha phase is dependent upon the thermal history of the sample in the gel phase. If fully hydrated samples of these lipids are cooled and soon thereafter examined by differential scanning calorimetry, one observes a single highly cooperative endotherm (the chain-melting phase transition) upon heating, and on subsequent cooling, a single exotherm that may occur at temperatures as much as 4-6 degrees C below that of the single endotherm observed upon heating. In contrast, if the samples are incubated in the gel state at low temperatures for prolonged periods of time, one observes a single heating endotherm as before, but two sharp exotherms upon cooling. The latter transitions occur at temperatures close to that of the single endotherm observed upon heating and the single cooling exotherm observed prior to incubation in the gel state. The combined enthalpy of the two cooling exotherms is the same as that of the single heating endotherm or the single cooling exotherm initially observed. Infrared spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction studies indicate that the structural conversions characteristic of liquid-crystalline/gel phase transitions occur at both of those cooling exotherms. Of the 12 lipids that exhibit this unusual behavior, nine fulfill the previously defined structural requirements for the formation of the so-called mixed-interdigitated gel phase, and there is evidence in the literature that one of the three remaining lipids also forms such a structure. Infrared spectroscopic studies of the other two lipids indicate that their gel phases exhibit spectroscopic features that closely resemble those of lipids that meet the previously defined structural criteria for the formation of mixed-interdigitated gel phases and that differ markedly from those of both saturated symmetric-chain and saturated mixed-chain phosphatidylcholines that do not normally form mixed-interdigitated gel phases. Also, electron density reconstructions based on small-angle X-ray diffraction studies of the gel phases of those two lipids indicate that the thickness of their gel phase bilayers is consistent with their forming mixed-interdigitated gel phases. Thus the unusual thermotropic phase behavior described here may be a general characteristic of phosphatidylcholines that form mixed-interdigitated gel phases. This unusual behavior is not associated with any major change in any of several physical properties of these lipid bilayers but may arise from an alteration of the size and/or structure of microdomains present in the liquid-crystalline phase.     

Freezing and melting water in lamellar structures.

The manner in which ice forms in lamellar suspensions of dielaidoylphosphatidylethanolamine, dielaidoylphosphatidylcholine, and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine in water depends strongly on the water fraction. For weight fractions between 15 and 9%, the freezing and melting temperatures are significantly depressed below 0 degree C. The ice exhibits a continuous melting transition spanning as much as 20 degrees C. When the water weight fraction is below 9%, ice never forms at temperatures as low as -40 degrees C. We show that when water contained in a lamellar lipid suspension freezes, the ice is not found between the bilayers; it exists as pools of crystalline ice in equilibrium with the bound water associated with the polar lipid headgroups. We have used this effect, together with the known chemical potential of ice, to measure hydration forces between lipid bilayers. We find exponentially decaying hydration repulsion when the bilayers are less than about 7 A apart. For larger separations, we find significant deviations from single exponential decay.