Looking to the past and the future: were the Madeira River rapids a geographical barrier to the boto (Cetacea: Iniidae)?

In the present study we tested if a series of 18 rapids on the upper Madeira River form an effective barrier to gene flow, and in particular if they delimit the distribution of the boto Inia boliviensis—which it is believed to occurs only in the Bolivian sub-basin, above the rapids—and I. geoffrensis, which occurs throughout the Amazon basin and below the upper Madeira River rapids. We analyzed 125 individuals from the Madeira River basin sampled from upstream and downstream of the rapids. As the two species are morphologically similar, we used diagnostic molecular characters from known reference specimens to assign individuals to species. We observed that all individuals of Inia from the Bolivian sub-basin up to almost the mouth of the Madeira River belong to the species I. boliviensis. Therefore we concluded that the rapids do not delimit the distribution of I. boliviensis upstream and I. geoffrensis downstream of the rapids as previously hypothesized. Since we registered I. boliviensis along almost the entire length of the Madeira River, we estimated gene flow, time of divergence and effective population sizes of the upstream (Bolivian) and downstream (Madeira River) groups of I. boliviensis using IMa2. We concluded that gene flow is uni-directional from the upstream to the downstream group. Divergence time between the two groups was estimated to have occurred ~122 thousand years ago. The coalescent effective population size for the upstream group was estimated at ~131 thousand individuals, while for the downstream group it was estimated at ~102 thousand individuals. Recently two dams have been constructed in the region of the rapids; neither has a mechanism that will maintain connectivity between the upstream and downstream regions, and together with anthropogenic alterations to the hydrodynamic regime and ecology of the river will likely pose serious long-term and short-term consequences for I. boliviensis and other aquatic taxa.     

Immunity to helminths: Ready to tip the biochemical balance?

Using data from recent laboratory and field studies, Peter Brophy and David Pritchard here summarize our current understanding of the approximate sequence of events leading to protective immune responses against some chronic parasitic helminth infections.     

Articulations of Islamophobia: from the extreme to the mainstream?

This article will examine the construction and functions of, as well as relationship between, the diverse and changing articulations of Islamophobia. The aim is to contribute to debates about the definition of Islamophobia, which have tended to be contextually specific, fixed and/or polarized between racism and religious prejudice, between extreme and mainstream, state and non-state versions or undifferentiated, and offer a more nuanced framework to: (a) delineate articulations of Islamophobia as opposed to precise types and categories; (b) highlight the porosity in the discourse between extreme articulations widely condemned in the mainstream, and normalized and insidious ones, which the former tend to render more acceptable in comparison; (c) map where these intersect in response to events, historical and political conditions and new ideological forces and imperatives and (d) compare these articulations of Islamophobia in two contexts, France and the US.     

Animal phylogeny: back to the coelomata?

The relationship between vertebrates and the principal model invertebrates - fruitflies and nematodes - is unclear. A fly-nematode grouping was becoming widely accepted, but recent comparisons of their genomes argue against this and link flies with the vertebrates instead.     

The onchocerciasis chronicle: from the beginning to the end?

The year 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the donation of ivermectin to fight onchocerciasis and the projected date for elimination of transmission of the disease in the Americas. This review looks at the history of onchocerciasis, from its discovery through to 2025, by which time it is projected that the disease will have been eliminated as a public health problem, except in a handful of sub-Saharan countries, where it should be well on the way towards elimination.     

Immobility: the key to family harmony?

The lethal fighting of larvae in many parasitoid species is a striking example of sibling rivalry. Theory has suggested that such fighting, and subsequent solitary development, might be irreversible, but phylogenetic evidence suggests otherwise. New empirical work now shows that the loss of mobility in parasitoid larvae, with the retention of fighting behaviour, is one way to escape the trap of solitary development.     

‘Racism: From the Labour Movement to the Far-Right’

This report is a reflection on a recent conference, ‘Racism: From the Labour Movement to the Far-Right’, which was held at the University of Glasgow from Friday 5th to Saturday 6th September 2014. The authors discuss the main themes that the conference sought to address, consider the key highlights of the event including a summary of the opening address by Floya Anthias, and offer some suggestions as to how the initiative may be taken forward.     

Motor learning: spare the rod to benefit the child?

A new study has found that individuals who were rewarded while they learned a motor task performed it much better one month later than those who were punished or received nothing. Long-term memories depend on events experienced during learning.     

Dissecting the molecular damage to stallion spermatozoa: the way to improve current cryopreservation protocols?

We review recent developments in the technology of freezing stallion sperm, paying special attention to the molecular lesions that spermatozoa suffer during freezing and thawing, such as osmotic stress, oxidative damage, and apoptotic changes. We also discuss the applicability of colloidal centrifugation in stallion sperm cryobiology. Increased knowledge about the molecular injuries that occur during cryopreservation may lead to improved protective techniques and thus to further improvements in fertility in the current decade.     

Correction to: Who is the ocean? Preface to the future seas 2030 special issue

Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries - A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-021-09657-9     

Plicatamide: A lead to the biosynthetic origins of the tunichromes?

Plicatamide is a modified octapeptide from the ascidian Styela plicata having the structure Phe-Phe-His-Leu-His-Phe-His-decarboxyDeltaDOPA (where decarboxyDeltaDOPA = decarboxy-(E)-alpha,beta-dehydro-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine). Edman sequencing, tandem mass spectrometry, and proton NMR have been used to characterize 100 microg of the compound. Plicatamide represents an important link between two classes of biomolecules: the tunichromes which share an oxidatively decarboxylated C-terminus and higher molecular weight DOPA-polypeptides. The 8-residue sequence provides the first opportunity to investigate the biosynthetic origins of the tunichrome family by molecular biological techniques.     

Truffle trouble: what happened to the Tuberales?

An overview of truffles (now considered to belong in the Pezizales, but formerly treated in the Tuberales) is presented, including a discussion on morphological and biological traits characterizing this form group. Accepted genera are listed and discussed according to a system based on molecular results combined with morphological characters. Phylogenetic analyses of LSU rDNA sequences from 55 hypogeous and 139 epigeous taxa of Pezizales were performed to examine their relationships. Parsimony, ML, and Bayesian analyses of these sequences indicate that the truffles studied represent at least 15 independent lineages within the Pezizales. Sequences from hypogeous representatives referred to the following families and genera were analysed: Discinaceae–Morchellaceae (Fischerula, Hydnotrya, Leucangium), Helvellaceae (Balsamia and Barssia), Pezizaceae (Amylascus, Cazia, Eremiomyces, Hydnotryopsis, Kaliharituber, Mattirolomyces, Pachyphloeus, Peziza, Ruhlandiella, Stephensia, Terfezia, and Tirmania), Pyronemataceae (Genea, Geopora, Paurocotylis, and Stephensia) and Tuberaceae (Choiromyces, Dingleya, Labyrinthomyces, Reddellomyces, and Tuber). The different types of hypogeous ascomata were found within most major evolutionary lines often nesting close to apothecial species. Although the Pezizaceae traditionally have been defined mainly on the presence of amyloid reactions of the ascus wall several truffles appear to have lost this character. The value of the number of nuclei in mature ascospores as a delimiting family character is evaluated and found to be more variable than generally assumed.     

Sequence learning: what's the hippocampus to do?

The medial temporal lobe is crucial for some forms of memory, but its role in implicit learning has remained in question. A brain imaging study by Schendan et al., in this issue of Neuron, provides direct evidence of medial temporal lobe activation during implicit learning of motor sequences.