Biodiversity and the Heterogeneous Disturbance Regime on Military Training Lands

Disproportionately large numbers of threatened and endangered species and unusually high biodiversity occur on active and former military training areas. Although this may seem paradoxical given the apparently destructive nature of military training, an evaluation of the nature and extent of the disturbances is enlightening. Military training frequently produces heterogeneous landscapes. Large portions of military training areas remain virtually untouched, favoring disturbance‐averse species; other portions are heavily disturbed, favoring disturbance‐dependent species. The rich habitat mosaics include the two extremes as well as the continua of disturbance and succession between them, thus providing suitable habitat for a very large number of species with widely varying habitat requirements. To explain the phenomenon, a heterogeneous disturbance hypothesis is proposed which suggests that biodiversity is maximized where multiple kinds, frequencies, severities, periodicities, sizes, shapes, and/or durations of disturbance occur concomitantly on a landscape in a spatially and temporally distributed fashion. The enhanced biodiversity occurring on active and former military training areas illustrates the need for restoration ecologists to restore or maintain an appropriate heterogeneous disturbance regime when attempting to restore ecosystem function and biodiversity.     

Unrecognized diversity of a scale worm,Polyeunoa laevis (Annelida: Polynoidae), that feeds on soft coral

A goal of taxonomy is to employ a method of classification based on phylogeny that captures the morphological and genetic diversity of organismal lineages. However, morphological and genetic diversity may not always be concordant, leading to challenges in systematics. The scale worm Polyeunoa laevis has been hypothesized to represent a species complex based on morphology, although there is little knowledge of its genetic diversity. Commonly found in Antarctic waters and usually associated with gorgonian corals (especially Thouarella), this taxon is also reported from the south-west Atlantic, Magellanic and sub-Antarctic regions. We employ an integrative taxonomic approach to examine the traditional morphological characters used for scale worm identification in combination with COI mitochondrial gene data and whole mtDNA genomes. Moreover, we consider P. laevis's association with Thouarella by examining data from the mMutS gene, a soft-coral phylogenetic marker. Analyses for P. laevis recovered 3 clades, two in Antarctic waters and one from the Argentina-Indian Ocean. Interestingly, genetic and morphological results show differences between specimens from South Argentina and the Antarctic region, suggesting that open ocean barriers might have limited gene flow from these regions. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses for Thouarella resulted in at least 12 lineages, although some of the lineages consist of only a single individual. Our results show different evolutionary histories for both species, confirming that association between these scale worms and their hosts is not restrictive. For both taxonomic groups, biodiversity in the Southern Ocean appears to be underestimated.     

Protein phosphorylation stimulates the rate of malate uptake across the peribacteroid membrane of soybean nodules

Incubation of intact isolated symbiosomes with [gamma-32P]ATP, followed by isolation of the peribacteroid membrane and polypeptide analysis, showed that a single major polypeptide at 26 kDa was labelled. Antibodies raised against nodulin 26 reacted with a similar sized polypeptide. Incubation of the symbiosomes with alkaline phosphatase removed the label from this polypeptide. Pre-incubation with ATP stimulated malate accumulation by isolated symbiosomes, but only slightly (10-30%). Pre-treatment of symbiosomes with alkaline phosphatase inhibited malate uptake substantially and this inhibition was completely relieved by addition of ATP. The ATP stimulation of malate uptake was not affected by ATPase inhibitors. It is suggested that the rate of malate uptake across the peribacteroid membrane is controlled by phosphorylation of nodulin 26.     

Protection Induced by Simultaneous Subcutaneous and Endobronchial Vaccination with BCG/BCG and BCG/Adenovirus Expressing Antigen 85A against Mycobacterium bovis in Cattle

The incidence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in the GB has been increasing since the 1980s. Immunisation, alongside current control measures, has been proposed as a sustainable measure to control bTB. Immunisation with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been shown to protect against bTB. Furthermore, much experimental data indicates that pulmonary local immunity is important for protection against respiratory infections including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and that pulmonary immunisation is highly effective. Here, we evaluated protection against M. bovis, the main causative agent of bTB, conferred by BCG delivered subcutaneously, endobronchially or by the new strategy of simultaneous immunisation by both routes. We also tested simultaneous subcutaneous immunisation with BCG and endobronchial delivery of a recombinant type 5 adenovirus expressing mycobacterial antigen 85A. There was significantly reduced visible pathology in animals receiving the simultaneous BCG/BCG or BCG/Ad85 treatment compared to naïve controls. Furthermore, there were significantly fewer advanced microscopic granulomata in animals receiving BCG/Ad85A compared to naive controls. Thus, combining local and systemic immunisation limits the development of pathology, which in turn could decrease bTB transmission.