Humans introduce viable seeds to the Arctic on footwear

Expanding visitation to Polar regions combined with climate warming increases the potential for alien species introduction and establishment. We quantified vascular plant propagule pressure associated with different groups of travelers to the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, and evaluated the potential of introduced seeds to germinate under the most favorable average Svalbard soil temperature (10°C). We sampled the footwear of 259 travelers arriving by air to Svalbard during the summer of 2008, recording 1,019 seeds: a mean of 3.9 (±0.8) seeds per traveler. Assuming the seed influx is representative for the whole year, we estimate a yearly seed load of around 270,000 by this vector alone. Seeds of 53 species were identified from 17 families, with Poaceae having both highest diversity and number of seeds. Eight of the families identified are among those most invasive worldwide, while the majority of the species identified were non-native to Svalbard. The number of seeds was highest on footwear that had been used in forested and alpine areas in the 3 months prior to traveling to Svalbard, and increased with the amount of soil affixed to footwear. In total, 26% of the collected seeds germinated under simulated Svalbard conditions. Our results demonstrate high propagule transport through aviation to highly visited cold-climate regions and isolated islands is occurring. Alien species establishment is expected to increase with climate change, particularly in high latitude regions, making the need for regional management considerations a priority.     

Chemicals in the Environment

Synthetic chemicals are now being incorporated into the earth''s ecosystems at a rate and in such manners as to alarm environmentalists. These chemicals are the uncontrolled waste products of a technological society. Most prominent among them at the present time are organochlorine, organomercurial and lead compounds. Persistent members of these groups disperse in water, air and animal tissues. Also they have the capacity for concentration in animal food chains, thereby reversing the historical expectation of the dilution and degradation of wastes.Examples of damage from environmental residues to man are at this stage speculative but documentation from effects on wild species is abundant. Already several species of birds seem on their way to extinction. These wild species constitute a gratuitous monitoring system which already has signaled clear warnings for the welfare of man.     

A Potential Metric of the Attractiveness of Bird Song to Humans

The prevalence of passerines (mostly oscines, or songbirds) in international bird trade suggests that the possession or production of a song that is attractive or desirable to people may contribute to the likelihood of a species being traded. Testing this is difficult because we lack a general and readily available metric that quantifies attractiveness of bird song to humans. We propose and validate such a metric, based on the number of sound files lodged for a species on the Xeno‐Canto website ( www.xeno-canto.org ). Our hypothesis is that species with more attractive songs are likely to be recorded more often, and so be represented more often in this online bird sound resource, all else being equal. Using a sample of North American and European passerines, we show that song repertoire size and geographic range size are consistently related to the number of recordings on Xeno‐Canto. We use these results to derive a metric (the residuals of a model of the number of recordings in Xeno‐Canto as a function of geographic range size) that may identify songs that are attractive to humans. Bird species whose songs are known to have inspired classical music, including several well known for their songs (e.g. common nightingale, European blackbird), have higher values of the metric than those that have not been referenced in classical music. The metric may help explain which bird species are present in trade, and so contribute to studies of invasion and conservation biology.     

Mapping Approaches to Gene Identification in Humans

Although a number of human genes that cause disease have been traced through the defective product, most genetic defects are recognized only by phenotype. When the biochemical defect is unknown, a gene can be located only through molecular approaches based on coinheritance (genetic linkage) of the disease phenotype with a particular allele of a polymorphic DNA marker that has already been mapped to a specific chromosomal region. Linkage studies in affected families have already localized genes for several important diseases, including cystic fibrosis. Finding a genetic linkage in families in which a disease segregates requires that the human genetic map have a large number of polymorphic markers; when the map is dense enough, any disease gene can be located by linkage to a known marker. Many DNA segments with a high degree of polymorphism are being found and mapped as markers in normal reference pedigrees. Genetic linkage mapping has implications even broader than its application to prenatal diagnosis or therapeutic strategy; analyzing mutations in important genes will illuminate basic mechanisms in molecular biology and the early events that lead to cancer and other disorders.     

Genetic Susceptibility to Fungal Infections in Humans

Most fungal infections in humans occur in the setting of iatrogenic immunosuppression or HIV infection. In the absence of these factors, fungi cause mild, self-limited infections that typically involve mucocutaneous surfaces. Hence, when persistent or recurrent mucocutaneous infections (chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis [CMC]) or invasive fungal infections (IFIs) develop in a “normal” host, they are indicative of genetic defects causing innate or adaptive immune dysfunction. In this review, recent developments concerning genetic and immunologic factors that affect the risk for IFIs and CMC are critically discussed.     

Negative Chemotaxis of Marine Bacteria to Toxic Chemicals

The positive chemotactic responses of motile marine bacteria were reversed by the addition of sublethal concentrations of a toxic chemical. The negative chemotactic effect was observed with a wide range of toxicants including heavy metals and hydrocarbons. This phenomenon may be utilized to develop new approaches for control of marine fouling.     

An Introduction to the Biosynthesis of Chemicals Used in Plant-Microbe Communication

Abstract Plants accumulate a diverse array of natural products, which can serve either to defend the plant against various microbes in its environment or to attract various microbes, both beneficial and pathogenic. Plants must also attract pollinators, repel or poison herbivores, compete with other plant species, and protect themselves from environmental dangers such as high light intensities. Some compounds have been implicated in playing a role in multiple interactions. Although the structures vary immensely in size and complexity, most are derived from a limited number of core biosynthetic pathways. This review briefly summarizes the biosynthetic origins of phenylpropanoid (including simple phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins and isoflavonoids), polyacetate, terpenoid, and alkaloid classes of metabolites. Compounds reported to be important in plant-microbe, plant-animal, and plant-plant interactions will be given as examples of each of these classes. Other aspects of biosynthesis also will be discussed, including the timing or location of biosynthesis, the potential for genetic manipulation of these pathways, and various questions regarding the biosynthesis of these compounds.     

Chemicals to induce plastid signals in Arabidopsis seedlings

Abstract

Tetrapyrroles and abscisic acid (ABA) were considered as plastid signal molecules for plant cells. However, they attract hot controversies. High levels of sugars also trigger plastid signals to regulate nuclear gene expression. However, the effective concentrations of sugar are extremely high (100–10,000 times of tetrapyrroles). To resolve these controversies and inconsistencies, we investigated which chemicals at what concentrations may work as plastid signal molecules, and summarize their common chemical structures. We found that they can be classified into two categories: (1) tetrapyrroles or other carbon–nitrogen heterocyclic compounds with an adjacent three-membered ring (two of them may be incomplete), with a signaling impact order: Mg–protoporphyrin IX/ABA>Fe–protoporphyrin IX>Zn–protoporphyrin IX>protoporphyrin IX>tryptophan>histidine. The completeness of the rings with a chelated metal ion has a positive effect on the effectiveness of plastid signaling stimulation. (2) Sugar or other carbon–oxygen (sulfur) five- or six-membered ring compounds, such as cyclohexane and thiophene. The effective concentrations of the second category of signal molecules are very high (about 400 mM for the monosaccharide). The two types of signal molecules are possibly perceived by different receptors in the plastid.