Origins of the freshwater attractant(s) of migrating elvers of the American eel,Anguilla rostrata

Synopsis Origins of the freshwater attractant(s) of migrating elvers of the American eel were investigated by assaying elvers' responses to rinses of plants, animals, and inanimate objects collected from a Rhode Island (U.S.A.) brook with a sizable elver run. Odor rinses were tested in a Y-maze at naturally occurring concentrations against both blank and brook water. Many items were attractive, several were repulsive, and some caused a reduction in elvers' rheotactic behavior, suggesting that elvers respond to a bouquet of odors. The odor of abundant decaying leaf detritus was highly attractive as were odors of the surfaces of aquatic plants, submerged stones, and migrating alewives. Conspecific odor was only weakly attractive. Because unattractive leaves became attractive when cultured with stream water, microorganisms responsible for detrital decomposition and present in/on most stream objects are thought to be the major source of the attractant(s). Decaying detritus and its associated microorganisms are abundant in most freshwater streams, where they often constitute the ecosystem's primary energy source; their odor could serve as an index of environmental suitability for migrating eels.     

葡萄酒相关酵母的香气形成及香气特征

一系列相关微生物的代谢及相互作用贯穿在葡萄酒的酿造过程中,其中各种酵母菌的代谢产物是影响葡萄酒感官特征的关键,不同菌种代谢产生不同的挥发性物质,造成对葡萄酒香气的最直接影响。介绍了酿酒酵母以及非酿酒酵母的代谢特征与差别,由此所引起的葡萄酒气味的不同表现,以及发酵过程中不同菌种的相互作用,总结了近些年来对非酿酒酵母酿酒特性的研究与利用。目前已证实非酿酒酵母的一些代谢特征对葡萄酒香气和香气结构具有一些积极的作用,并且酿酒酵母和有些非酿酒酵母的结合使用对改善葡萄酒感官也具有良好的作用与发展前景。     

Mutations that affect meiosis in male mice influence the dynamics of the mid-preleptotene and bouquet stages

Meiosis pairs and segregates homologous chromosomes and thereby forms haploid germ cells to compensate the genome doubling at fertilization. Homologue pairing in many eukaryotic species depends on formation of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) during early prophase I when telomeres begin to cluster at the nuclear periphery (bouquet stage). By fluorescence in situ hybridization criteria, we observe that mid-preleptotene and bouquet stage frequencies are altered in male mice deficient for proteins required for recombination, ubiquitin conjugation and telomere length control. The generally low frequencies of mid-preleptotene spermatocytes were significantly increased in male mice lacking recombination proteins SPO11, MEI1, MLH1, KU80, ubiquitin conjugating enzyme HR6B, and in mice with only one copy of the telomere length regulator Terf1. The bouquet stage was significantly enriched in Atm(-/-), Spo11(-/-), Mei1(m1Jcs/m1Jcs), Mlh1(-/-), Terf1(+/-) and Hr6b(-/-) spermatogenesis, but not in mice lacking recombination proteins DMC1 and HOP2, the non-homologous end-joining DNA repair factor KU80 and the ATM downstream effector GADD45a. Mice defective in spermiogenesis (Tnp1(-/-), Gmcl1(-/-), Asm(-/-)) showed wild-type mid-preleptotene and bouquet frequencies. A low frequency of bouquet spermatocytes in Spo11(-/-)Atm(-/-) spermatogenesis suggests that DSBs contribute to the Atm(-/-)-correlated bouquet stage exit defect. Insignificant changes of bouquet frequencies in mice with defects in early stages of DSB repair (Dmc1(-/-), Hop2(-/-)) suggest that there is an ATM-specific influence on bouquet stage duration. Altogether, it appears that several pathways influence telomere dynamics in mammalian meiosis.     

葡萄酒相关酵母的香气形成及香气特征

一系列相关微生物的代谢及相互作用贯穿在葡萄酒的酿造过程中,其中各种酵母菌的代谢产物是影响葡萄酒感官特征的关键,不同菌种代谢产生不同的挥发性物质,造成对葡萄酒香气的最直接影响。介绍了酿酒酵母以及非酿酒酵母的代谢特征与差别,由此所引起的葡萄酒气味的不同表现,以及发酵过程中不同菌种的相互作用,总结了近些年来对非酿酒酵母酿酒特性的研究与利用。目前已证实非酿酒酵母的一些代谢特征对葡萄酒香气和香气结构具有一些积极的作用,并且酿酒酵母和有些非酿酒酵母的结合使用对改善葡萄酒感官也具有良好的作用与发展前景。     

Morphology and ultrastructure of the germarium in panoistic ovarioles of a basal “apterygotous” insect,Thermobia domestica

It has been shown that in Drosophila the germline stem cells (GSCs), similar to the germline and non-germline stem cells of other species, develop and function in specialized microenvironments formed by somatic cells, referred to as the niches. In the fruit fly ovaries, the female GSCs divide asymmetrically to produce new GSCs and the progenitor cells, the cystoblasts (Cbs). Each Cb then divides to generate the cyst composed of 16 interconnected sibling cells, the cystocytes. After cyst formation, specific molecules are transferred to one of the cystocytes which differentiates into the oocyte, whereas the other 15 cystocytes become the nurse cells. We have studied morphology and ultrastructure of the germaria in the ovarioles (ovaries) of a basal “apterygotous” insect, the firebrat (Thermobia domestica). Our analyses have revealed that in this insect, putative GSCs are present along the anterior apex of the germarium. These cells are separated from each other and from the basement lamina covering the ovariole by characteristic somatic cells, termed the apical somatic cells (ASCs), or their elongated processes. We believe that all the ASCs of a given ovariole constitute a “dispersed” niche in which putative GSCs are anchored. Our analyses have additionally shown that in Thermobia, both the Cbs and young (meiotic) oocytes are always individual and never form syncytial cysts. These findings indicate that in certain basal insects the syncytial phase of oogenesis has been eliminated during evolution. Finally, we show that in the early meiotic oocytes of Thermobia, during the so-called bouquet stage, prominent Balbiani bodies (Bbs) are formed. Analysis of serial micrographs indicates that the Bbs invariably arise next to the segment of the nuclear envelope to which the telomeres of the bouquet chromosomes are attached. We suggest, in the light of these data, that the localization of the Bb together with the polar attachment of the bouquet chromosomes play a crucial role in the early asymmetrization of Thermobia oocytes.