Host location in Oomyzus gallerucae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), an egg parasitoid of the elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Eggs of the elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola are often heavily attacked by the chalcidoid wasp Oomyzus gallerucae. We studied the chemical signals mediating interactions between the egg parasitoid, its host, and the plant Ulmus campestris. Olfactometer bioassays with O. gallerucae showed that volatiles of the host-plant complex attract the parasitoid. In order to determine the source of attractive volatiles within this host-plant-complex, we tested separately the effect of odours of eggs, gravid elm leaf beetle females, faeces of the beetles and elm twigs (with undamaged leaves and leaves damaged either mechanically or by feeding of the beetles). Odours of faeces of the elm leaf beetle were attractive, whereas neither volatiles from eggs nor from gravid females acted as attractants. Volatiles from undamaged or damaged plants did not elicit a positive reaction in O. gallerucae, whereas volatiles from feeding-damaged plants onto which host eggs had been deposited were attractive. This latter result suggests that it is not feeding but deposition of host eggs onto elm leaves that induces the production of plant volatiles attractive to the egg parasitoid. Investigations of the search patterns of O. gallerucae within the habitat by laboratory bioassays revealed that the egg parasitoid encounters host eggs by chance. Contact kairomones from faeces were demonstrated to be important in microhabitat acceptance, while contact kairomones isolated from the host eggs are relevant for host recognition. Received: 12 February 1997 / Accepted: 29 April 1997     

Can Newts Cope with the Heat? Disparate Thermoregulatory Strategies of Two Sympatric Species in Water

Many ectotherms effectively reduce their exposure to low or high environmental temperatures using behavioral thermoregulation. In terrestrial ectotherms, thermoregulatory strategies range from accurate thermoregulation to thermoconformity according to the costs and limits of thermoregulation, while in aquatic taxa the quantification of behavioral thermoregulation have received limited attention. We examined thermoregulation in two sympatric newt species, Ichthyosaura alpestris and Lissotriton vulgaris, exposed to elevated water temperatures under semi-natural conditions. According to a recent theory, we predicted that species for which elevated water temperatures pose a lower thermal quality habitat, would thermoregulate more effectively than species in thermally benign conditions. In the laboratory thermal gradient, L. vulgaris maintained higher body temperatures than I. alpestris. Semi-natural thermal conditions provided better thermal quality of habitat for L. vulgaris than for I. alpestris. Thermoregulatory indices indicated that I. alpestris actively thermoregulated its body temperature, whereas L. vulgaris remained passive to the thermal heterogeneity of aquatic environment. In the face of elevated water temperatures, sympatric newt species employed disparate thermoregulatory strategies according to the species-specific quality of the thermal habitat. Both strategies reduced newt exposure to suboptimal water temperatures with the same accuracy but with or without the costs of thermoregulation. The quantification of behavioral thermoregulation proves to be an important conceptual and methodological tool for thermal ecology studies not only in terrestrial but also in aquatic ectotherms.     

Ribonuclease P: the diversity of a ubiquitous RNA processing enzyme

Ribonuclease P is the endonuclease required for generating the mature tRNA 5'-end. The ribonucleoprotein character of this enzyme has now been proven in most organisms and organelles. Exceptions, however, are still the chloroplasts, plant nuclei and animal mitochondria where no associated RNAs have been detected to date. In contrast to the known RNA subunits, which are fairly well-conserved in size and structure among diverse phylogenetic groups, the protein contribution to the holoenzyme is highly variable in size and number of the individual components. The structure of the bacterial protein component has recently been solved. In contrast, the spatial arrangement of the multiple subunits in eukaryotic enzymes is still enigmatic. Substrate requirements of the enzymes or their catalytic RNA subunits are equally diverse, ranging from simple single domain mimics to an almost intact three-dimensional structure of the pre-tRNA substrate. As an example for an intermediate in the enzyme evolution, ribonuclease P from the Cyanophora paradoxa cyanelle will be discussed in more detail. This enzyme is unique, as it combines cyanobacterial and eukaryotic features in its function, subunit composition and holoenzyme topology.     

Probing binding mechanism of interleukin-6 and olokizumab: in silico design of potential lead antibodies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases

Computer-aided antibody engineering has been successful in the design of new biologics for disease diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a well-recognized drug target for various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis, was investigated in silico to design potential lead antibodies. Here, crystal structure of IL-6 along with monoclonal antibody olokizumab was explored to predict antigen–antibody (Ag???Ab)-interacting residues using DiscoTope, Paratome, and PyMOL. Tyr56, Tyr103 in heavy chain and Gly30, Ile31 in light chain of olokizumab were mutated with residues Ser, Thr, Tyr, Trp, and Phe. A set of 899 mutant macromolecules were designed, and binding affinity of these macromolecules to IL-6 was evaluated through Ag???Ab docking (ZDOCK, ClusPro, and Rosetta server), binding free-energy calculations using Molecular Mechanics/Poisson Boltzman Surface Area (MM/PBSA) method, and interaction energy estimation. In comparison to olokizumab, eight newly designed theoretical antibodies demonstrated better result in all assessments. Therefore, these newly designed macromolecules were proposed as potential lead antibodies to serve as a therapeutics option for IL-6-mediated diseases.     

Loci controlling lymphocyte production of interferon γ after alloantigen stimulation in vitro and their co-localization with genes controlling lymphocyte infiltration of tumors and tumor susceptibility

Low infiltration of lymphocytes into cancers is associated with poor prognosis, but the reasons why some patients exhibit a low and others a high infiltration of tumors are unknown. Previously we mapped four loci (Lynf1–Lynf4) controlling lymphocyte infiltration of mouse lung tumors. These loci do not encode any of the molecules that are involved in traffic of lymphocytes. Here we report a genetic relationship between these loci and the control of production of IFNγ in allogeneic mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC). We found that IFNγ production by lymphocytes of O20/A mice is lower than by lymphocytes of OcB-9/Dem mice (both H2 ^pz ) stimulated in MLC by irradiated splenocytes of C57BL/10SnPh (H2 ^b ) or BALB/cHeA (H2 ^d ) mice, or by ConA. IFNγ production in MLCs of individual (O20 × OcB-9)F₂ mice stimulated by irradiated C57BL/10 splenocytes and genotyped for microsatellite markers revealed four IFNγ-controlling loci (Cypr4-Cypr7), each of which is closely linked with one of the four Lynf loci and with a cluster of susceptibility genes for different tumors. This suggests that inherited differences in certain lymphocyte responses may modify their propensity to infiltrate tumors and their capacity to affect tumor growth.     

Mice Lacking Platelet-Derived Growth Factor D Display a Mild Vascular Phenotype

Platelet-derived growth factor D (PDGF-D) is the most recently discovered member of the PDGF family. PDGF-D signals through PDGF receptor β, but its biological role remains largely unknown. In contrast to other members of the PDGF family of growth factors, which have been extensively investigated using different knockout approaches in mice, PDGF-D has until now not been characterized by gene inactivation in mice. Here, we present the phenotype of a constitutive Pdgfd knockout mouse model (Pdgfd^-/-), carrying a LacZ reporter used to visualize Pdgfd promoter activity. Inactivation of the Pdgfd gene resulted in a mild phenotype in C57BL/6 mice, and the offspring was viable, fertile and generally in good health. We show that Pdgfd reporter gene activity was consistently localized to vascular structures in both postnatal and adult tissues. The expression was predominantly arterial, often localizing to vascular bifurcations. Endothelial cells appeared to be the dominating source for Pdgfd, but reporter gene activity was occasionally also found in subpopulations of mural cells. Tissue-specific analyses of vascular structures revealed that NG2-expressing pericytes of the cardiac vasculature were disorganized in Pdgfd^-/- mice. Furthermore, Pdgfd^-/- mice also had a slightly elevated blood pressure. In summary, the vascular expression pattern together with morphological changes in NG2-expressing cells, and the increase in blood pressure, support a function for PDGF-D in regulating systemic arterial blood pressure, and suggests a role in maintaining vascular homeostasis.     

Interactions of Carbon Dioxide and Food Odours in Drosophila: Olfactory Hedonics and Sensory Neuron Properties

Behavioural responses of animals to volatiles in their environment are generally dependent on context. Most natural odours are mixtures of components that can each induce different behaviours when presented on their own. We have investigated how a complex of two olfactory stimuli is evaluated by Drosophila flies in a free-flying two-trap choice assay and how these stimuli are encoded in olfactory receptor neurons. We first observed that volatiles from apple cider vinegar attracted flies while carbon dioxide (CO₂) was avoided, confirming their inherent positive and negative values. In contradiction with previous results obtained from walking flies in a four-field olfactometer, in the present assay the addition of CO₂ to vinegar increased rather than decreased the attractiveness of vinegar. This effect was female-specific even though males and females responded similarly to CO₂ and vinegar on their own. To test whether the female-specific behavioural response to the mixture correlated with a sexual dimorphism at the peripheral level we recorded from olfactory receptor neurons stimulated with vinegar, CO₂ and their combination. Responses to vinegar were obtained from three neuron classes, two of them housed with the CO₂-responsive neuron in ab1 sensilla. Sensitivity of these neurons to both CO₂ and vinegar per se did not differ between males and females and responses from female neurons did not change when CO₂ and vinegar were presented simultaneously. We also found that CO₂-sensitive neurons are particularly well adapted to respond rapidly to small concentration changes irrespective of background CO₂ levels. The ability to encode temporal properties of stimulations differs considerably between CO₂- and vinegar-sensitive neurons. These properties may have important implications for in-flight navigation when rapid responses to fragmented odour plumes are crucial to locate odour sources. However, the flies’ sex-specific response to the CO₂-vinegar combination and the context-dependent hedonics most likely originate from central rather than peripheral processing.