Climate Change and Human Disturbance Can Lead to Local Extinction of Alpine Rock Ptarmigan: New Insight from the Western Italian Alps

Alpine grouses are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their adaptation to extreme conditions and to their relict distributions in the Alps where global warming has been particularly marked in the last half century. Grouses are also currently threatened by habitat modification and human disturbance, and an assessment of the impact of multiple stressors is needed to predict the fate of Alpine populations of these birds in the next decades. We estimated the effect of climate change and human disturbance on a rock ptarmigan population living in the western Italian Alps by combining an empirical population modelling approach and stochastic simulations of the population dynamics under the a1B climate scenario and two different disturbance scenarios, represented by the development of a ski resort, through 2050.The early appearance of snow-free ground in the previous spring had a favorable effect on the rock ptarmigan population, probably through a higher reproductive success. On the contrary, delayed snowfall in autumn had a negative effect possibly due to a mismatch in time to molt to white winter plumage which increases predation risk. The regional climate model PROTHEUS does not foresee any significant change in snowmelt date in the study area, while the start date of continuous snow cover is expected to be significantly delayed. The net effect in the stochastic projections is a more or less pronounced (depending on the model used) decline in the studied population. The addition of extra-mortality due to collision with ski-lift wires led the population to fatal consequences in most projections. Should these results be confirmed by larger studies the conservation of Alpine populations would deserve more attention. To counterbalance the effects of climate change, the reduction of all causes of death should be pursued, through a strict preservation of the habitats in the present area of occurrence.     

The Viral Chemokine MCK-2 of Murine Cytomegalovirus Promotes Infection as Part of a gH/gL/MCK-2 Complex

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) forms two gH/gL glycoprotein complexes, gH/gL/gO and gH/gL/pUL(128,130,131A), which determine the tropism, the entry pathways and the mode of spread of the virus. For murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), which serves as a model for HCMV, a gH/gL/gO complex functionally homologous to the HCMV gH/gL/gO complex has been described. Knock-out of MCMV gO does impair, but not abolish, virus spread indicating that also MCMV might form an alternative gH/gL complex. Here, we show that the MCMV CC chemokine MCK-2 forms a complex with the glycoprotein gH, a complex which is incorporated into the virion. We could additionally show that mutants lacking both, gO and MCK-2 are not able to produce infectious virus. Trans-complementation of these double mutants with either gO or MCK-2 showed that both proteins can promote infection of host cells, although through different entry pathways. MCK-2 has been extensively studied in vivo by others. It has been shown to be involved in attracting cells for virus dissemination and in regulating antiviral host responses. We now show that MCK-2, by forming a complex with gH, strongly promotes infection of macrophages in vitro and in vivo. Thus, MCK-2 may play a dual role in MCMV infection, as a chemokine regulating the host response and attracting specific target cells and as part of a glycoprotein complex promoting entry into cells crucial for virus dissemination.     

Neural Substrates of Drosophila Larval Anemotaxis

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Functional analysis of two-amino acid substitutions in gp91<Emphasis Type="Italic">phox</Emphasis> in a patient with X-linked flavocytochrome <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis><Subscript>558</Subscript>-positive chronic granulomatous disease by means of transgenic PLB-985 cells

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare inherited disorder in which phagocytes lack NADPH oxidase activity. The most common form is caused by mutations in the CYBB gene encoding gp91phox protein, the heavy chain of cytochrome b₅₅₈, which is the redox element of NADPH oxidase. In some rare cases, the mutated gp91phox is normally expressed but no NADPH oxidase can be detected. This type of CGD is called X91⁺ CGD. We have previously reported an X⁺ CGD case with a double-missense mutation in gp91phox. Transgenic PLB-985 cells have now been made to study the impact of each single mutation on oxidase activity and assembly to rule out a possible new polymorphism in the CYBB gene. The His303Asn/Pro304Arg gp91phox transgenic PLB-985 cells exactly mimic the phenotype of the neutrophils of the X⁺ CGD patient. The His303Asn mutation is sufficient to inhibit oxidase activity in intact cells and in a broken cell system, whereas in the Pro304Arg mutant, residual activity suggests that the Pro304Arg substitution is less devastating to oxidase activity than the His303Asn mutation. The study of NADPH oxidase assembly following the in vitro and in vivo translocation of cytosolic factors p47phox and p67phox has demonstrated that, in the double mutant and in the His303Asn mutant, NADPH oxidase assembly is abolished, although the translocation is only attenuated in Pro304Arg mutant cells. Thus, even though the His303Asn mutation has a more severe inhibitory effect on NADPH oxidase activity and assembly than the Pro304Arg mutation, neither mutation can be considered as a polymorphism.Clara Bionda and Xing Jun Li contributed equally to this work     

The newly synthesized plant growth regulator <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-methylmethionine salicylate may provide protection against high salinity in wheat

High salinity is one of the major environmental factors limiting the productivity of crop species worldwide. Improving the stress tolerance of cultivated plants and thus increasing crop yields in an environmentally friendly way is a crucial task in agriculture. In the present work the ability of a new derivative, S-methylmethionine-salicylate (MMS), to improve the salt tolerance of wheat plants was tested parallel with its related compounds salicylic acid and S-methylmethionine. The results show that while these compounds are harmful at relatively high concentration (0.5 mM), they may provide protection against high salinity at lower (0.1 mM) concentration. This was confirmed by gas exchange, chlorophyll content and chlorophyll-a fluorescence induction measurements. While osmotic adjustment probably plays a critical role in the improved salt tolerance, neither Na or K transport from the roots to the shoots nor proline synthesis are the main factors in the tolerance induced by the compounds tested. MMS, S-methylmethionine and Na-salicylate had different effects on flavonol biosynthesis. It was also shown that salt treatment had a substantial influence on the SA metabolism in wheat roots and leaves. Present results suggest that the investigated compounds can be used to improve salt tolerance in plants.     

Optimization of tetanus toxoid ammonium sulfate precipitation process using response surface methodology

Tetanus toxoid (TTd) is a highly immunogenic, detoxified form of tetanus toxin, a causative agent of tetanus disease, produced by Clostridium tetani. Since tetanus disease cannot be eradicated but is easily prevented by vaccination, the need for the tetanus vaccine is permanent. The aim of this work was to investigate the possibility of optimizing TTd purification, i.e., ammonium sulfate precipitation process. The influence of the percentage of ammonium sulfate, starting amount of TTd, buffer type, pH, temperature, and starting purity of TTd on the purification process were investigated using optimal design for response surface models. Responses measured for evaluation of the ammonium sulfate precipitation process were TTd amount (Lf/mL) and total protein content. These two parameters were used to calculate purity (Lf/mgPN) and the yield of the process. Results indicate that citrate buffer, lower temperature, and lower starting amount of TTd result in higher purities of precipitates. Gel electrophoresis combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–mass spectrometric analysis of precipitates revealed that there are no inter-protein cross-links and that all contaminating proteins have pIs similar to TTd, so this is most probably the reason for the limited success of purification by precipitation.