Biological studies ofDiadegma semiclausum (Hym., Ichneumonidae), a parasite of diamondback moth

Laboratory studies were conducted on certain aspects of biology ofDiadegma semiclausum Hellén, a larval parasite of a crucifer pest,Plutella xylostella (L.). Within the range of 15°C to 35°C, the higher temperature, the shorter was the duration of larval and adult stages. Egg hatching and adult emergence were high at 15°C to 30°C but were significantly reduced at 35°C. The higher the temperature, the higher was the proportion of males produced. Temperature threshold was 5.74°C for eggs, 3.80°C for larvae, 5.91°C for pupae and 6.60°C for adults.D. semiclausum oviposition in the first threeP. xylostella larval instars produced more parasite males than females but oviposition in the fourth instar produced significantly more females than males. Parasite adults tended to emerge from their pupae from 06∶00 to 09∶00 hours although some emerged at other hours during the photophase. Adult longevity and production of eggs increased when adults were provided with a food source (honey) compared with no food or provision of water alone. Parasite adults survived and laid eggs for 28 days when provided with food but for only three days when deprived of food.     

Temperature and immobility reaction in Rana temporaria

Experiments were conducted on two groups of Rana temporaria acclimatized to 7°C and to 14°C. Two hours prior to the experiments the animals were divided into six groups of 40 subjects each and placed in containers at temperatures of 5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25° and 30°C. Frogs remained immobile for a shorter time in temperatures which differed little from those of acclimatization. It was concluded that the body temperature interferes with the duration of the immobility reaction.     

Scanning electron microscopy of differentiating and non-differentiating uredosporelings of wheat stem rust fungus (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) on an artifical substrate

Germination of uredospores of the wheat stem rust fungus (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) on a Millipore membrane and differentiation of sporelings into hyphae and infection structures induced by a heat (30 °C) shock treatment are described. Development of infection structures on an agar medium was generally similar to those formed in vivo although some variations were also observed. Anastomoses among branches of the same hypha and between different hyphae were common. Uredospores germinated on Millipore membranes without the heat shock treatment, produced only undifferentiated long germ tubes; however, differentiation occurred when the spores were germinated on the agar medium by subjecting to the non-differentiating treatment (20 °C/3.5 hr) and incubating at 24 °C.     

A sequence of dependent stages in the development of Dictyostelium discoideum.

Eleven marker enzymes which accumulate during discrete stages of development in Dictyostelium discoideum were followed in two independent temperature-sensitive mutant strains. Strain TS2 has a temperature-sensitive period during aggregation and remains as a smooth lawn at the nonpermissive temperature (27°C). It develops normally at 22°C. Strain DTS6 has a temperature-sensitive lesion in the post-aggregation stage and fails to form slugs at 27°C. Early enzymes accumulate in these strains at the nonpermissive temperature but late stage-specific enzymes fail to accumulate at 27°C. The pattern of accumulation of specific enzymes in these and other morphological mutants defines a linear dependent pathway of at least eight steps which determines temporal differentiation in this organism. Development in Dictyostelium is also dependent on environmental cues which determine the onset of differentiation and the preparation for culmination.     

Levels of brain cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP during the initiation of adult development in the bertha armyworm,Mamestra configurata Wlk

Levels of brain cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP in Mamestra configurata remained essentially unchanged during the first three days of pharate adult development after pupae were transferred from eight months of cold storage at 5° to 20°C. Thereafter, cyclic AMP levels increased six-fold over a two week period from 0.22 pmole/brain to about 1.3 pmole/brain. Cyclic GMP levels doubled over the two week period, from 0.09 pmole/brain to about 0.19 pmole/brain. These changes appeared to follow the activation of brain neurosecretion rather than precede it.Brain cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP levels of non-developing pupae remained virtually unchanged at about 0.27 and 0.048 pmole/brain, respectively, following their transfer from two months of cold storage at 5° to 20°C. Cyclic AMP: cyclic GMP ratiosthus increase from about 2:1 in the pupal brain to 6:1 oreven 7:1 in the differentiating brain of the pharate adult.The results are consistent with an important role for cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP in brain processes that become established during differentiation of the adult brain, and perhaps in the case of cyclic AMP, in the differentiation process itself.     

Short-term effects of temperature upon the growth of intertidal fucales

The growth rate of five species of intertidal Fucales (Pelvetia canaliculata (L.) Dec. et Thur., Fucus spiralis L., Fucus vesiculosus L., Fucus serratus L., Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jolis) was measured at temperatures from 2.5 to 35 °C. An increase in temperature immediately causes a high growth rate, and during the first hour it increases linearly with temperature; at 35 °C it is 20 times the control at 7 °C. This acceleration of growth is based mainly on stored photosynthate. After the first few hours the growth rate decreases rapidly, particularly at the highest temperatures. After 2–3 weeks a temperature optimum below 17.5 °C is indicated. High temperatures, 30–35 °C, were lethal to all species, with a survival time corresponding to their vertical zonation in the natural habitat.     

Diapause termination in two species of damselflies

Larvae of two species of damselflies, Enallagma hageni and E. aspersum, were collected in southwestern North Carolina and subjected to different combinations of daylength (SD, 11 hr day; LD, 14 hr day) and temperature to determine the factor critical in the termination of diapause. Diapausing larvae were collected in September, and 15 comparable groups of each species were given pretreatments (SD, 10°C; LD, 10°C; or SD, 21°C) for 2, 4, or 8 weeks and then transferred to SD, 21°C or LD, 21°C until emergence. Control groups were maintained under both photoperiods at 21°C.Response times (days from collection to emergence) for both species showed that rapid development required transfer to LD, 21°C regardless of the type of pretreatment or length of exposure. Larvae transferred to LD, 21°C after exposure to any of the three types of pretreatment for equal lengths of time developed at similar rates. Pretreatments at 10°C, which were equally effective with SD or LD, stimulated subsequent rapid development at LD, 21°C to a greater extent than continuous exposure to LD, 21°C conditions, and the longer the exposure to 10°C, the faster the subsequent response. Pretreatments at SD, 21°C also resulted in rapid development, similar to that of larvae exposed to 10°C, upon transfer to LD, 21°C conditions. Long daylengths administered only during pretreatments did not effect rapid development, since all larvae responded slowly when transferred to SD, 21°C. Diapause termination, therefore, was effected by LD, 21°C conditions preceded by exposure to either low temperatures, during which the photoperiod was not important, or short daylengths at 21°C.     

DNA synthesis and mitosis in a temperature sensitive Chinese hamster cell line

Viability, DNA synthesis and mitosis have been followed in the temperature sensitive Chinese hamster cell mutant K12 under permissive and non-permissive conditions. On incubation at 40°C cells retained their ability to form colonies at 33°C for 15 to 20 hours, but viability was lost gradually during the following 20 hours. When random cultures of K12 were shifted to 40°C the rate of DNA synthesis was normal for three to four hours but then decreased markedly, reaching 95% inhibition after 24 hours. Under the same conditions mitosis was inhibited after 15 hours. If cultures which had been incubated at 40°C for 16 hours were placed at 33°C the rate of DNA synthesis increased five hours after the shift down and mitosis 18 hours after. These results can be interpreted on the assumption that K12 at 40°C is unable to complete a step in the cell cycle which is essential for DNA synthesis and which occurs three to four hours before the start of S at 33°C.     

Alterations in the production of hemocytes due to a neoplastic mutation of Drosophila melanogaster

The hemocytes of a genetically induced, temperature-sensitive lethal mutation of Drosophila, Tum¹, were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively during the third larval instar. At the tumor-permissive temperature, 29°C, there was a fourfold increase in the concentration of circulating hemocytes in mutant larvae as compared to control. Additionally, the relative frequency of lamellocytes was 30 times greater in Tum¹ larvae than Basc in the early third instar. However, the severity of this abnormality gradually diminished as Tum¹ approached pupariation; though high frequencies of lamellocytes were always present. At the tumor-restrictive temperature (15°C) the concentration of circulating hemocytes was over twice that found at 29°C for Tum¹ larvae, and did not change during the course of third instar. However, in contrast to 29°C there was no abnormal increase in the frequency of lamellocytes at the tumor-restrictive temperature. Control larvae had equivalent concentrations of hemocytes at both temperatures. In one of two temperature shift experiments, Tum¹ larvae shifted from 15° to 29°C at the beginning of third instar expressed the abnormal hemocyte concentration and differentiation associated with larvae raised continuously at 29°C. In addition, Tum¹ larvae shifted from 29° to 15°C expressed reduced abnormalities of hemocyte differentiation, e.g., with fewer lamellocytes in circulation. The possibility of a temperature-sensitive period for the activation of the Tum¹ gene is discussed.     

Hormone-dependent terminal differentiation in vitro of chicken erythroleukemia cells transformed by ts mutants of avian erythroblastosis virus

Chicken erythroblast cell strains and a cell line transformed by ts mutants of avian erythroblastosis virus (AEV) terminally differentiate when shifted to the nonpermissive temperature (42°C). The differentiated cells resemble mature erythrocytes with respect to morphology and ultrastructure, expression of differentiation-specific cell-surface antigens, pattern of protein synthesis and hemoglobin content. Terminal differentiation is dependent on conditions favoring the differentiation of normal erythroid progenitor cells, including an erythropoietin-like factor. Colonies of ts AEV cells grown at 42°C in semisolid medium resemble erythrocyte colonies derived from normal erythroid progenitor cells. The colonies obtained were comparable in size or slightly larger than the late erythroid precursor (CFU-E) colonies. These results suggest that AEV-transformed cells are blocked at a stage of differentiation that is more advanced than that of the uninfected target cells. ts AEV cells are irreversibly committed to terminal differentiation within 20 to 30 hr after shift to 42°C.     

Escherichia coli viability in an isochoric system at subfreezing temperatures

In comparison with isobaric (constant pressure) freezing, isochoric (constant volume) freezing reduces potential mechanical damage from ice crystals and exposes stored biological matter to a lower extracellular concentration, at the price of increased hydrostatic pressure. This study evaluates the effects of isochoric freezing to low temperatures and high pressures on Escherichia coli (E. coli) survival. The viability of E. coli was examined after freezing to final temperatures between −5 °C and −20 °C for periods from 0.5 h to 12 h, with recovery periods from 0 h to 24 h. Freezing for up to two hours to −10 °C and −15 °C had little effect on the percentage of viable E. coli, relative to the controls. However, after two hours of exposure at −20 °C, when left to recover for 24 h, a 75% reduction in survival is observed. Furthermore, after 12 h of isochoric freezing at −15 °C and −20 °C, E. coli population is reduced by 2.5 logs while freezing to these temperatures in conventional isobaric atmospheric conditions reduces population by only one log. This suggests that the combination of low temperature and high pressure experienced during isochoric freezing close to the triple point may be more detrimental to biological matter survival than the combination of elevated concentration, low temperature, and ice crystallization experienced during conventional freezing, and that this effect may be related to the time of exposure to these conditions.     

Turnover of murein in cellular and filamentous populations ofBacillus megaterium

Bacillus megaterium grows in the form of filaments at temperatures above 45°C. The rate of turnover of the cell wall begins to decrease gradually under these conditions. At the same time sensitivity of the filamentous forms to lysozyme decreases. Filaments outgrown at 48°C retain the decreased rate of turnover of the cell wall for a certain time after transfer to 30°C, in spite of the fact that septa are formed and filaments are converted to cells. However, a population incubated longer than 2 h at 48°C often ceases to grow and the growth is not restored even after transfer to 30°C. Three clones of the asporogenic strainBacillus megaterium KM differing somewhat in their ability to form filaments at 35°C differ mutually also in the rate of turnover of the cell wall. However, the decreased rate of the turnover cannot be unambiguously correlated with the increased tendency to form filaments.     

Daily variations in the thermoregulatory behaviors of naked neck broilers in an equatorial semi-arid environment

The aim of this study was to evaluate the daily variations in the thermoregulatory behavior of 4- to 6-week-old naked neck broilers (Label Rouge) in an equatorial semi-arid environment. A total of 220 birds were monitored for 5 days starting at 0600 hours and ending at 1800 hours. The period of observation was divided into classes of hours (C _H). The observed behaviors were as follows: feed and water intake, wing-spreading, sitting or lying, and beak-opening. A total of 14,300 behavioral data values were registered. In C _H 2 (0900 hours to 1100 hours) and 3 (1200 hours to 1500 hours), the greatest average body surface temperature was recorded (34.67?±?0.25 °C and 35.12?±?0.22 °C, respectively). The C _H had an effect on the exhibition of all behaviors with the exception of the water intake behavior. Feed intake was more frequent in C _H 1 (0600 hours to 0800 hours) and 4 (1600 hours to 1800 hours). In C _H 2 and 3, the highest frequency of sitting or lying behavior was observed. Beak-opening and wing-spreading behaviors occurred more frequently in C _H 3 where the body surface temperature (35.12?±?0.22 °C), radiant heat load (519.38?±?2.22 W m^?2), and enthalpy (82.74?±?0.36 kJ kg^?1 of dry air) reached maximum recorded averages. Thus, it can be concluded that naked neck broilers adjust their behavior in response to daily variations in the thermal environment. Wing-spreading and beak-opening behaviors are important adaptive responses to the thermal challenges posed by the equatorial semi-arid environment.     

On the genetic control of cell cycles during morphogenesis in Ulva mutabilis

Development of the wild type and two temperature-sensitive mutants of the multicellular green alga Ulva mutabilis is compared. The mutants develop normal phenotypes at 22°C and abnormal phenotypes at 15°C. Normal development starts by formation of a filament consisting of a row of cells. The growth rate, the generation times, and the cell length at division change in a coordinated manner according to the positions of the cells within the filament. In the mutant cs₂ transfer to 15°C inhibits all cytoplasmic divisions during early development. In the mutant cs₆ the first three divisions proceed normally. Then cytoplasmic division is blocked in the most distal cells, while the proximal cells continue to divide according to a branched pattern. In the cs₂ mutant cell determination seems to occur at 15°C, while the differentiation of the determined cells can only occur at 22°C. In the mutant cs₆ the cells are not determined at 15°C. The cs₆⁺ gene, as well as the previously described Slender-like genes, presumably has a short period of activity and is concerned with more fundamental epigenetic processes than the cs₂⁺-gene and the previously described precocious-like genes, which seem to have more prolonged periods of activity.     

Temperature-Dependent Dispersal Strategies of Aphanizomenon ovalisporum (Nostocales, Cyanobacteria): Implications for the Annual Life Cycle

Aphanizomenon ovalisporum is a planktonic nostocalean cyanobacterium with increasing research interest due to its ability to produce the potent cytotoxin cylindrospermopsin and its potential invasiveness under the global warming scenario. The present study provides novel data on the potential dispersal strategies of A. ovalisporum by analyzing the influence of temperature (10–40 °C) on akinete differentiation and cell morphometry in cultures of A. ovalisporum UAM 290 isolated from a Spanish pond. Our results confirmed a temperature-dependent akinete differentiation, with the maximum akinete production reached at 20 °C (15 % of the cells), a low basal production at 25–30 °C (<0.4 % of the cells) and no detectable production at 35 °C. Furthermore, we reported the fragmentation of A. ovalisporum filaments at temperatures of 25 °C and above. Additionally, we observed that the morphology of vegetative cells varied under different temperature scenarios. Indeed, a strong negative correlation was found between temperature and the width, length and biovolume of vegetative cells, whereas akinete dimensions remained stable along the temperature gradient. Therefore, linear regressions between temperature and the cell size parameters are herein presented aiming to facilitate the identification of A. ovalisporum in the field throughout the course of the year. This is the first study evidencing that akinete production is triggered by temperatures between 20 and 25 °C in A. ovalisporum and reporting the existence of filament fragmentation as a potential dispersal strategy of this species. The importance of these findings for understanding the annual life cycle and invasive potential of A. ovalisporum is further discussed herein.     

Temperature sensitivity of muscle and neuron differentiation in embryonic cell cultures from the Drosophila mutant, shibire.

The sex-linked temperature-sensitive mutation, shibire^ts1, which causes, at the restrictive temperature, adult paralysis and pleiotropic morphological defects in embryonic, larval, and pupal development, has been shown to exhibit temperature-sensitive inhibition of differentiation in embryonic cultures in vitro. When shi cultures were incubated at 30°C for 24 hr, both muscle and neuron differentiation were inhibited more than 90% compared to control shi cultures incubated at 20°C. Heat shift experiments showed that the temperature-sensitive periods for neuron and muscle differentiation occurred at 11 to 18 and 14 to 16 hr, respectively, where zero time was the initiation of gastrulation in donor embryos. Short heat pulses (4 and 8 hr) which extended into the temperature-sensitive period resulted in moderate inhibition of differentiation; greater inhibition occurred as the duration of the pulses increased. In contrast, heating wild-type Oregon-R cultures at 30°C for 24 hr did not inhibit muscle cell differentiation and inhibited neuron differentiation relatively little. The temperature-sensitive period in shibire for muscle differentiation occurred well after myoblast division, during the period of myocyte elongation, aggregation, and fusion, whereas that for neuron differentiation took place during a period of enzyme synthesis (acetylcholinesterase and choline acetyltransferase) and axon elongation. Thus, the shi temperature-sensitive gene product affects at least two different cell types, in vitro, at different times during differentiation.     

Viral transformation of chick myogenic cells: The relationship between differentiation and the expression of the SRC gene

When chick embryo presumptive muscle cells are transformed at 35 °C with a temperature-sensitive mutant of Rous sarcoma virus, tsLA29, they do not undergo myogenic differentiation. When these cultures are shifted to 41 °C the cells revert to a phenotypically normal state and fuse into myotubes. The synthesis of myosin, the appearance of myosin mRNA active in vitro, and the synthesis of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were all activated following a shift from 35 °C to 41 °C. The activation of myosin synthesis also occurred in cultures prevented from fusing by calcium deprivation. After myosin synthesis had been initiated at 41 °C, however, it could not be suppressed by shifting the cultures back to 35 °C. [³H]Thymidine labeling and autoradiography demonstrated that DNA synthesis in tsLA29-infected myoblasts ceased within 24 h after the shift to 41°C. A kinetic analysis of the withdrawal of these cells from the cell cycle indicates that at least a fraction of the cells do not need to traverse a complete cell cycle prior to terminal differentiation.     

Mating duration and egg production of the predaceous mite Neoseiulus californicus (Acari: Phytoseiidae) vary with temperature

Effects of constant temperature on mating duration and total fecundity of Neoseiulus californicus females mated once were investigated at 18 °C, 25 °C, 30 °C, and 35 °C with a photoperiod of 16L:8D. Adult mites grown and maintained at 25 °C mated for 315.3 min on average and produced 46.1 eggs per female. These values varied significantly by temperature: 553.6 and 13.9 (18 °C), 261.2 and 26.6 (30 °C), and 253.6 and 23.9 (35 °C), respectively. Duration of copulation was negatively correlated with temperature. However, total egg production peaked at 25 °C and decreased at lower and higher temperatures. Reduced sperm transfer and/or survival rate of sperm in the female body may account for decreased egg production when temperatures are not optimal.     

Biomass production in mass cultures of marine phytoplankton at varying temperatures

Natural populations of marine phytoplankton obtained from a large outdoor pond were grown on waste water-sea water mixtures in laboratory continuous cultures in the temperature range 5–33 °C. Virtually all of the influent inorganic nitrogen (14.0 mg l^?1) was assimilated at every temperature tested. There was, however, a distinct change in dominant species with temperature: below 19.8 °C Phaeodactylum tricornutum was dominant, at 27 °C Nilzschia sp. was the main species, and as the temperature increased above 27 °C a blue-green alga, Oscillatoria sp., became increasingly dominant. There is some indication that the excellent growth of P. tricornutum below 10 °C was related to a dramatic increase in the nutrient content per cell as the temperature decreased. Thus at low temperatures reduced division rates are compensated for by increased nutrient uptake rates. It follows that there is a transfer of phytoplankton protein from numerous small cells at intermediate temperatures to large cells that are reduced in numbers at lower temperatures but which represent the same total organic matter. The effect of this phenomenon on annual food chain efficiencies in both controlled and natural marine ecosystems is unknown.