Gut microbiota composition is associated with environmental landscape in honey bees

There is growing recognition that the gut microbial community regulates a wide variety of important functions in its animal hosts, including host health. However, the complex interactions between gut microbes and environment are still unclear. Honey bees are ecologically and economically important pollinators that host a core gut microbial community that is thought to be constant across populations. Here, we examined whether the composition of the gut microbial community of honey bees is affected by the environmental landscape the bees are exposed to. We placed honey bee colonies reared under identical conditions in two main landscape types for 6 weeks: either oilseed rape farmland or agricultural farmland distant to fields of flowering oilseed rape. The gut bacterial communities of adult bees from the colonies were then characterized and compared based on amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. While previous studies have delineated a characteristic core set of bacteria inhabiting the honey bee gut, our results suggest that the broad environment that bees are exposed to has some influence on the relative abundance of some members of that microbial community. This includes known dominant taxa thought to have functions in nutrition and health. Our results provide evidence for an influence of landscape exposure on honey bee microbial community and highlight the potential effect of exposure to different environmental parameters, such as forage type and neonicotinoid pesticides, on key honey bee gut bacteria. This work emphasizes the complexity of the relationship between the host, its gut bacteria, and the environment and identifies target microbial taxa for functional analyses.     

2,3-butanedione monoxime unmasks Ca(2+)-induced NADH formation and inhibits electron transport in rat hearts

We used 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) to suppress work by the perfused rat heart and to investigate the effects of calcium on NADH production and tissue energetics. Hearts were perfused with buffer containing BDM and elevated perfusate calcium to maintain the rates of cardiac work and oxygen consumption at levels similar to those of control perfused hearts. BDM plus calcium hearts displayed higher levels of NADH surface fluorescence, indicating calcium activation of mitochondrial dehydrogenases. These hearts, however, displayed 20% lower phosphocreatine levels. BDM suppressed the rates of state 3 respiration of isolated mitochondria. Uncoupled respiration was suppressed to a lesser degree, and the state 4 respiration rates were not affected. Double-inhibitor experiments with liver mitochondria using BDM and carboxyatractyloside (CAT) were used to identify the site of inhibition. BDM at low levels (0-5 mM) suppressed respiration. In the presence of CAT at levels that inhibit respiration by 60%, low levels of BDM were without effect. Because these effects were not additive, BDM does not inhibit adenine nucleotide transport. This was supported by an assay of adenine nucleotide transport in liver mitochondria. BDM did not inhibit ATP hydrolysis by submitochondrial particles but strongly suppressed reversed electron transport from succinate to NAD(+). Oxidation of NADH by submitochondrial particles was inhibited by BDM but oxidation of succinate was not. We conclude that BDM inhibits electron transport at site 1.     

Seed dormancy release and germination characteristics of <i>Corispermum lehmannianum</i> Bunge,an endemic species in the Gurbantunggut desert of China

Seed dormancy release and germination of Corispermum lehmannianum Bunge were tested using various treatments: temperature, cold stratification, gibberelins (GA3), dry storage and sand burial. Results showed that temperature and light did not affect the germination of fresh seeds, cold stratification and GA3 could improve seed germination, whereas dry storage and sand burial did not. The germination percentage was highest at 35/20 °C after the cold stratification and GA3 treatments. Corispermum lehmannianum seeds were classified as non-deep, Type-2, physiological dormancy (PD), whose seed dormancy could be released by cold stratification and GA3.     

Effect of training in minimalist footwear on oxygen consumption during walking and running

The present study sought to examine the effect of 5 weeks of training with minimalist footwear on oxygen consumption during walking and running. Thirteen college-aged students (male n = 7, female n = 6, age: 21.7±1.4 years, height: 168.9±8.8 cm, weight: 70.4±15.8 kg, VO₂max: 46.6±6.6 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) participated in the present investigation. The participants did not have experience with minimalist footwear. Participants underwent metabolic testing during walking (5.6 km·hr⁻¹), light running (7.2 km·hr⁻¹), and moderate running (9.6 km·hr⁻¹). The participants completed this assessment barefoot, in running shoes, and in minimalist footwear in a randomized order. The participants underwent 5 weeks of training with the minimalist footwear. Afterwards, participants repeated the metabolic testing. Data was analyzed via repeated measures ANOVA. The analysis revealed a significant (F_4,32= 7.576, ηp2=0.408, p ≤ 0.001) interaction effect (time × treatment × speed). During the initial assessment, the minimalist footwear condition resulted in greater oxygen consumption at 9.6 km·hr⁻¹ (p ≤ 0.05) compared to the barefoot condition, while the running shoe condition resulted in greater oxygen consumption than both the barefoot and minimalist condition at 7.2 and 9.6 km·hr⁻¹. At post-testing the minimalist footwear was not different at any speed compared to the barefoot condition (p> 0.12). This study suggests that initially minimalist footwear results in greater oxygen consumption than running barefoot, however; with utilization the oxygen consumption becomes similar.     

Enemy at the Gates: Interaction-Specific Stomatal Responses to Pathogenic Challenge

Stomata regulate gas exchange and their closure in response to pathogens may, in some cases, contribute to resistance. However, in the cereal mildew and rust systems, stomatal closure follows establishment of compatible infections. In incompatible systems, expression of major (R) gene controlled hypersensitive responses (HR), causes drastic, permanent stomatal dysfunction: stomata become locked open following powdery mildew attack and locked shut following rust attack. Thus, stomatal locking can be a hitherto unsuspected negative consequence of R gene resistance that carries a physiological cost affecting plant performance.Key Words: stomata, rust, mildew, hypersensitive response, stomatal lock-up     

Nucleotide variation in the triosephosphate isomerase (Tpi) locus of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans

DNA sequence variation in a 1.1-kb region including the coding portion of the Tpi locus was examined in 25 homozygous third-chromosome lines of Drosophila melanogaster, nine lines of Drosophila simulans, and one line of Drosophila yakuba. Our data show that the widespread allozyme polymorphism observed in cosmopolitan D. melanogaster is due to a glutamic acid substitution occurring in a phylogenetically conserved lysine that has been identified as part of the "hinged-lid" active site of the enzyme. This observation suggests that the replacement polymorphism may have important functional consequences. One replacement polymorphism was also observed in D. simulans, although its functional relevance is more difficult to assess, since it affects a site that is not strongly conserved. This amino acid change in D. simulans is associated with a single lineage possessing seven unique silent substitutions, which may be indicative of balancing selection or population subdivision. The absence of fixed amino acid differences between D. melanogaster and D. simulans and only a single difference with D. yakuba suggests that triose phosphate isomerase is under strong functional constraint. Silent variation is slightly higher for D. melanogaster than for D. simulans. Finally, we outline the general lack of evidence for old balanced polymorphisms at allozyme loci in D. melanogaster.      

First multi-locus sequence typing scheme for Arcobacter spp.

Background  

Arcobacter spp. are a common contaminant of food and water, and some species, primarily A. butzleri and A. cryaerophilus, have been isolated increasingly from human diarrheal stool samples. Here, we describe the first Arcobacter multilocus sequence typing (MLST) method for A. butzleri, A. cryaerophilus, A. skirrowii, A. cibarius and A. thereius.