Views,landmarks, and routes: how do desert ants negotiate an obstacle course?

The Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti often follows stereotypical routes through a cluttered landscape containing both distant panoramic views and obstacles (plants) to navigate around. We created an artificial obstacle course for the ants between a feeder and their nest. Landmarks comprised natural objects in the landscape such as logs, branches, and tussocks. Many ants travelled stereotypical routes home through the obstacle course in training, threading repeatedly the same gaps in the landmarks. Manipulations altering the relations between the landmarks and the surrounding panorama, however, affected the routes in two major ways. Both interchanging the positions of landmarks (transpositions) and displacing the entire landmark set along with the starting position of the ants (translations) (1) reduced the stereotypicality of the route, and (2) increased turns and meanders during travel. The ants might have used the entire panorama in view-based travel, or the distal panorama might prime the identification and use of landmarks en route. Despite the large data set, both options (not mutually exclusive) remain viable.     

Accurate MS-based Rab10 Phosphorylation Stoichiometry Determination as Readout for LRRK2 Activity in Parkinson's Disease

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Highlights

• •MS-based clinical assay that accurately determines phospho Rab10 occupancy.
• •Stable isotope labeled phosphopeptide injected as a standard with endogenous tryptic phospho Rab peptide for accurate ratio determination.
• •Determination of pRab levels in neutrophils of Parkinson disease patients.
• •Relevance of pRab levels as marker of PD.

     

A Correspondence between Individual Differences in the Brain's Intrinsic Functional Architecture and the Content and Form of Self-Generated Thoughts

Although neural activity often reflects the processing of external inputs, intrinsic fluctuations in activity have been observed throughout the brain. These may relate to patterns of self-generated thought that can occur while not performing goal-driven tasks. To understand the relationship between self-generated mental activity and intrinsic neural fluctuations, we developed the New York Cognition Questionnaire (NYC-Q) to assess the content and form of an individual''s experiences during the acquisition of resting-state fMRI data. The data were collected as a part of the Nathan Kline Rockland Enhanced sample. We decomposed NYC-Q scores using exploratory factor analysis and found that self-reported thoughts clustered into distinct dimensions of content (future related, past related, positive, negative, and social) and form (words, images, and specificity). We used these components to perform an individual difference analysis exploring how differences in the types of self-generated thoughts relate to whole brain measures of intrinsic brain activity (fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, regional homogeneity, and degree centrality). We found patterns of self-generated thoughts related to changes that were distributed across a wide range of cortical areas. For example, individuals who reported greater imagery exhibited greater low frequency fluctuations in a region of perigenual cingulate cortex, a region that is known to participate in the so-called default-mode network. We also found certain forms of thought were associated with other areas, such as primary visual cortex, the insula, and the cerebellum. For example, individuals who reported greater future thought exhibited less homogeneous neural fluctuations in a region of lateral occipital cortex, a result that is consistent with the claim that particular types of self-generated thought depend on processes that are decoupled from sensory processes. These data provide evidence that self-generated thought is a heterogeneous category of experience and that studying its content can be helpful in understanding brain dynamics.     

Fibromodulin Interacts with Collagen Cross-linking Sites and Activates Lysyl Oxidase

The hallmark of fibrotic disorders is a highly cross-linked and dense collagen matrix, a property driven by the oxidative action of lysyl oxidase. Other fibrosis-associated proteins also contribute to the final collagen matrix properties, one of which is fibromodulin. Its interactions with collagen affect collagen cross-linking, packing, and fibril diameter. We investigated the possibility that a specific relationship exists between fibromodulin and lysyl oxidase, potentially imparting a specific collagen matrix phenotype. We mapped the fibromodulin-collagen interaction sites using the collagen II and III Toolkit peptide libraries. Fibromodulin interacted with the peptides containing the known collagen cross-linking sites and the MMP-1 cleavage site in collagens I and II. Interestingly, the interaction sites are closely aligned within the quarter-staggered collagen fibril, suggesting a multivalent interaction between fibromodulin and several collagen helices. Furthermore, we detected an interaction between fibromodulin and lysyl oxidase (a major collagen cross-linking enzyme) and mapped the interaction site to 12 N-terminal amino acids on fibromodulin. This interaction also increases the activity of lysyl oxidase. Together, the data suggest a fibromodulin-modulated collagen cross-linking mechanism where fibromodulin binds to a specific part of the collagen domain and also forms a complex with lysyl oxidase, targeting the enzyme toward specific cross-linking sites.     

Isolation and characterization of an ipt gene from the Ti plasmid Bo542

Summary A 1.9 kb clone of the T-DNA region of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmid Bo542 which exhibited homology to the isopentenyl transferase (ipt) locus of pTiA6 was identified by low stringency DNA hybridization. Introduction of this segment of pTiBo542 DNA into cells of Nicotiana tabacum or N. glauca caused tumor formation in vivo, and allowed hormone independent growth in vitro. Furthermore, this DNA segment complemented ipt mutant strains of A. tumefaciens, restoring their ability to cause tumors on Kalanchöe leaves and tomato stems. The complete DNA sequence of this segment has been determined, revealing an open reading frame homologous to other known Agrobacterium ipt genes.     

Comparative biochemical and immunological studies of the glycine betaine synthesis pathway in diverse families of dicotyledons

Members of the Chenopodiaceae can accumulate high levels (>100 mol·(g DW)^-1) of glycine betaine (betaine) in leaves when salinized. Chenopodiaceae synthesize betaine by a two-step oxidation of choline (cholinebetaine aldehyde betaine), with the second step catalyzed by betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH, EC 1.2.1.8). High betaine levels have also been reported in leaves of species from several distantly-related families of dicotyledons, raising the question of whether the same betaine-synthesis pathway is used in all cases.Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry showed that betaine levels of >100 mol·(g DW)^-1 are present in Lycium ferocissimum Miers (Solanaceae), Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae), Convolvulus arvensis L. (Convolvulaceae), and Amaranthus caudatus L. (Amaranthaceae), that salinization promotes betaine accumulation in these plants, and that they can convert supplied choline to betaine aldehyde and betaine. Nicotiana tabacum L. and Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L.) Karst. ex Farw. (Solanaceae), Lactuca sativa L. (Asteraceae) and Ipomoea purpurea L. (Convolvulaceae) also contained betaine, but at a low level (0.1–0.5 mol·(g DW)^-1. Betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase activity assays, immunotitration and immunoblotting demonstrated that the betaine-accumulating species have a BADH enzyme recognized by antibodies raised against BADH from Spinacia oleracea L. (Chenopodiaceae), and that the M_r of the BADH monomer is in all cases close to 63 000. These data indicate that the cholinebetaine aldehydebetaine pathway may have evolved by vertical descent from an early angiosperm ancestor, and might be widespread (albeit not always strongly expressed) among flowering plants. Consistent with these suggestions, Magnolia x soulangiana was found to have a low level of betaine, and to express a protein of M_r 63 000 which cross-reacted with antibodies to BADH from Spinacia oleracea.Abbreviations BADH Betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase - DCIMS desorption chemical ionization mass spectrometry - FABMS fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry - M_r relative molecular mass - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate - TLC thin-layer chromatography     

Social organization and ecology of proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) in mixed coastal forest in Sarawak

Data are presented from a 16-month study of proboscis monkeys in an area of mixed coastal forest in Sarawak. The population density, social organization, and feeding and ranging behavior are described in detail. Results are compared with those from other primates in an attempt to understand why females of certain species (including proboscis monkeys) transfer between social groups. The scarcity of available food and reasons for the limited habitat preferences of proboscis monkeys are also discussed.     

Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of exon 11 of the CFTR gene reliably detects more than one third of non-ΔF508 mutations in German cystic fibrosis patients

Summary In Central Europe, the F508 deletion accounts for approximately 75% of mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene causing cystic fibrosis. The remainder comprise a large number of individually infrequent mutations whose detection requires a disproportionately large effort. However, a sizeable proportion of non-F508 mutations have been found to cluster within exon 11. We have taken advantage of this clustering to detect a total of five previously described point mutations present on 26/72 (36%) non-F508 chromosomes by polymerase chain reaction/direct sequencing of exon 11. These exon 11 mutations were then subjected to single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, which was shown (i) to discriminate reliably between mutant and wildtype alleles and (ii) to generate reproducible mutation-specific band patterns. This analysis thus represents the first attempt to assess SSCP analysis retrospectively, and serves to illustrate the potential of this screening technique in diagnostic medicine.