An explosion caused by microbial hydrogen formation

Summary A gas phase explosion in a storage tower with semichemical pulp at a paper mill has possibly been caused by combustion of a mixture of hydrogen and air. The hydrogen was formed by microorganisms in the pulp. Ignition may be due to electric sparks in connection with an electric field in the mist above the pulp.     

An experimental comparison of selection alternatives to plateaued response

Three alternative selection methods for extending selection limits or breaking response plateaus were compared over ten generations in a replicated model experiment using two unrelated populations of Drosophila melanogaster that no longer responded to purebred selection for high egg number, a heterotic polygenic trait. The three methods were: (1) reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS) with selection within each of the plateaued populations based solely on crossbred performance, (2) a modification of reciprocal recurrent selection (MRRS) with selection within each population based on both purebred and crossbred performance, and (3) purebred selection within a new synthetic population formed by crossing the two plateaued populations.--Conflicting estimates were obtained for heritability of purebred egg number in each of the plateaued populations. The realized heritability values and estimates from diallel analyses indicated an absence of additive genetic variation for both populations; however, estimates from conventional intraclass correlation methods were positive. The diallel analyses revealed significant amounts of nonadditive gene effects for purebred egg number in each population, while the significant gene effects for crossbred egg numbers were additive. Estimates of the genetic correlation between purebred and crossbred egg number were negative (-0.85 +/- 0.68 and -0.32 +/- 0.25) for the two base populations.--All three alternatives to continued purebred selection gave significant responses, with the average gain per generation from MRRS being significantly superior to the other two methods. Observed purebred and crossbred responses under RRS were in agreement with quantitative genetic theory. Such was not the case for MRRS, which suggested the possibility of major gene segregation.--Evidence supporting a negative genetic correlation between purebred and crossbred performance and the possibility of overdominance is presented and discussed.     

Niche explosion

The following syndrome of features occurs in several groups of phytophagous insects: (1) wingless females, (2) dispersal by larvae, (3) woody hosts, (4) extreme polyphagy, (5) high abundance, resulting in status as economic pests, (6) invasiveness, and (7) obligate parthenogenesis in some populations. If extreme polyphagy is defined as feeding on 20 or more families of hostplants, this syndrome is found convergently in several species of bagworm moths, tussock moths, root weevils, and 5 families of scale insects. We hypothesize that extreme polyphagy in these taxa results from “niche explosion”, a positive feedback loop connecting large population size to broad host range. The niche explosion has a demographic component (sometimes called the “amplification effect” in studies of pathogens) as well as a population-genetic component, due mainly to the increased effectiveness of natural selection in larger populations. The frequent origins of parthenogenesis in extreme polyphages are, in our interpretation, a consequence of this increased effectiveness of natural selection and consequent reduced importance of sexuality. The niche explosion hypothesis makes detailed predictions about the comparative genomics and population genetics of extreme polyphages and related specialists. It has a number of potentially important implications, including an explanation for the lack of observed trade-offs between generalists and specialists, a re-interpretation of the ecological correlates of parthenogenesis, and a general expectation that Malthusian population explosions may be amplified by Darwinian effects.     

Infaunal augurs of the Cambrian explosion: An Ediacaran trace fossil assemblage from Nevada,USA

Morphologically complex trace fossils, recording the infaunal activities of bilaterian animals, are common in Phanerozoic successions but rare in the Ediacaran fossil record. Here, we describe a trace fossil assemblage from the lower Dunfee Member of the Deep Spring Formation at Mount Dunfee (Nevada, USA), over 500 m below the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. Although millimetric in scale and largely not fabric‐disruptive, the Dunfee assemblage includes complex and sediment‐penetrative trace fossil morphologies that are characteristic of Cambrian deposits. The Dunfee assemblage records one of the oldest documented instances of sediment‐penetrative infaunalization, corroborating previous molecular, ichnologic, and paleoecological data suggesting that crown‐group bilaterians and bilaterian‐style ecologies were present in late Ediacaran shallow marine ecosystems. Moreover, Dunfee trace fossils co‐occur with classic upper Ediacaran tubular body fossils in multiple horizons, indicating that Ediacaran infauna and epifauna coexisted and likely formed stable ecosystems.     

An explosion of perfume: Mass flowering and sphingophily in the Caatinga dry region in Brazil

'Big Bang' flowering is common among geophyte plants and is a strategy particularly important in arid areas. Griffinia is a genus whose species have very ephemeral flowering. Not surprisingly, there is so far no information on the reproductive biology and pollination ecology of any Griffinia species. Here, we highlight an amazing phenomenon of massive flowering in Griffinia gardneriana, a species that blooms for only one or two nights and emits a remarkable odor plume in the Caatinga night. The flowering event of the species varied depending on the locality, but it was always associated with the rainy season. The high number of white tubular flowers produce a strong sweet perfume dominated by (E)-nerolidol (42%), linalool (33%) and (E)-β-ocimene (15%). Agrius cingulata (Sphingidae) was the only pollinator recorded. Because G. gardneriana set only a few fruits by self-pollination, in contrast to a high number of fruits under natural conditions, this hawkmoth pollination system seems to be very efficient.