Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) Council and Business Meetings, 2004 State College, Pennsylvania, USA

Council Meeting

1. Call to order.—President John Avise called the meetingto order at 9:00 AM, 17 June 2004. In attendance were PresidentJohn Avise, Treasurer Marta L. Wayne, Editorial Advisory Boardmember Stanley A. Sawyer, Editor William Martin, Past- PresidentNaoyuki Takahata, Secretary Sudhir Kumar, and Councillors G.Brian Golding, Laura A. Katz, and Jody Hey. President-ElectJeffrey R. Powell arrived later due to flight delays. The meetingbegan with Introductions.
2. Approval of minutes.—Councilapproved the minutes of the2003 Council and Business meetings,published in the December2003 issue of the journal MolecularBiology and Evolution (MBE).
3. Editor's report.—Most ofthe meeting addressed a discussionconcerning the Journal'sfuture and dealings with the OxfordUniversity Press (OUP) (seereport).
4. Treasurer's report.—Treasurer Marta L. Waynesummarizedthe financial state of the Society (see report).The fiscalyear has now changed to January–December (coincidentwith     

Horizontal distribution of Thetys vagina Tilesius (Tunicata, Thaliacea) in the Japan Sea during spring 2004

The occurrence of the salp Thetys vagina was observed in theJapan Sea during spring 2004. Catches up to 187 kg wet weight(WW) per 2.18 x 10⁵ m³ (equal to 0.9 g WW m^–3) were collectedwith 10-m diameter surface-water otter trawl nets. The horizontaldistribution indicated that the high biomass was related tothe area with high chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration, whichwas located around the subarctic front with the warm TsushimaCurrent. Five prey taxa were identified from the gut contentsof individuals from the high Chl a area. The diatom Coscinodiscusspp. (13–55 µm in diameter) dominated numerically.Another significant prey was the large diatom Coscinodiscuswailesii (219–313 µm) that is an indicator of thespring bloom in this area. The mass occurrence of T. vaginathus appears related to phytoplankton availability, though themechanisms remain uncertain.     

PLASTICITY OF THE LIFE CYCLE OF XEROPICTA DERBENTINA (KRYNICKI, 1836), A RECENTLY INTRODUCED SNAIL IN MEDITERRANEAN FRANCE

Xeropicta derbentina (Krynicki, 1836), a native of Eastern MediterraneanEurope, was introduced to southeastern France during the 1940sand is now widely spread across Provence. In summer it aggregateson plants, making its populations clearly visible. However,its life cycle within the Mediterranean basin is poorly documented.While X. derbentina in its native area exhibits an annual lifecycle, this species has been found in Provence to have a bienniallife cycle. Moreover, in southeastern France, field studieswithin a restricted area show variations in demographic structure.In consequence, the life cycle of X. derbentina and the demographicpatterns observed require clarification. Five populations withvarious demographic structures were studied over 1 year in thesame location, i.e. under the same climatic conditions. Thefield study was complemented by laboratory observations on mating,egg-laying and hatching. Xeropicta derbentina appears to bea semelparous species, with an annual life cycle being foundon four plots. The reproductive period begins at the end ofsummer and lasts until the beginning of winter. First egg-layingoccurs within 1 week after mating and lasts up to 30 days. Hatchingtakes place 15–20 days after egg-laying. Xeropicta derbentinapossesses multiple mating and egg-laying sessions, involvingsuccessive hatching. Populations are mainly characterized bytwo growth stages, the first in spring when newly-hatched snailsevolve into juveniles, and the second in late summer when theyreach maturity. However, on the highest density plot, a bienniallife cycle is observed for some newly-hatched snails that showan interrupted growth during summer and evolve into juvenilesonly in the second autumn. Moreover, this life cycle not onlyvaries among plots but also at a 1-year interval within plots.Hence, the life span of X. derbentina is between 12 and 20 months,but can be extended up to 30 months according to whether hatchingoccurs early or late and whether they survive the first andsecond winters. Xeropicta derbentina is thus able to have variousgrowth speeds and life spans, and appears to switch from anannual life cycle to a biennial cycle in response to populationdensity or climatic conditions. (Received 8 October 2004; accepted 15 December 2004)     

TAXONOMIC REVIEW OF THE TREE SNAIL AMPHIDROMUS ALBERS, 1850 (PULMONATA: CAMAENIDAE) IN THAILAND AND ADJACENT AREAS: SUBGENUS AMPHIDROMUS

Extensive series of Amphidromus Albers, 1850 were collectedfrom low-altitude areas (30–500 m above sea level)in Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia between1993 and 2004. Data on shell colour, genital and spermatophoremorphology, and radular structure are presented. Five speciesof Amphidromus (Amphidromus) are reviewed, of which four occurin Thailand. Intraspecific variation between populations ofAmphidromus (Amphidromus) atricallosus (Gould, 1843) is considered;three subspecies are accepted and a new subspecies described.Subspecies of A. (A.) inversus (Müller, 1774) and A. (A.)schomburgki (Pfeiffer, 1861) are reconsidered, and a new subspeciesof the latter is described. A dichotomous key to the speciesand subspecies of Amphidromus (Amphidromus) in Thailand is provided. (Received 7 May 2004; accepted 31 March 2005)     

Persistent Effects of Short-term, High Exposure to Chlorine Gas on Physiology and Growth of Pinus ponderosa andPseudotsuga menziesii

Following a single acute exposure to chlorine gas, persistenteffects on epicuticular waxes, cuticular transpiration, treegrowth and mortality were studied in foliage of Pinus ponderosaand Pseudotsuga menziesii for three growing seasons. Chlorinegas exposure caused foliar injury to both exposed foliage andfoliage that flushed after exposure (P < 0.05). The tendencyto form films of water rather than droplets was greater in directlyexposed foliage (P < 0.001). Rates of cuticular transpirationwere higher for directly and indirectly exposed foliage of Pinusponderosa up to 1 year after exposure and up to 6 months afterexposure for directly exposed Pseudotsuga menziesii(P < 0.001),after which P. menziesii needles defoliated. Total water content(TWC) and relative water content were significantly correlatedwith foliar injury (P < 0.05). TWC was lower for directlyexposed foliage up to 1 year after exposure (P < 0.001).There was no persistent negative effect on F_v/F_m ratios after1 year. Exposure to chlorine gas did not affect needle lengthor annual shoot increment growth, but exposure was correlatedwith increased bud production. Needle longevity of foliage thatflushed 2 months after exposure was reduced significantly (P< 0.001). Annual stem increment growth for both species decreasedover at least three growing seasons following chlorine gas exposure(P < 0.001), and depended on distance from the spill site.Cone production was lower for exposed Pinus ponderosa treescompared to controls (P < 0.05), and tree mortality was higherwithin approx. 50 m of the release site forPseudotsuga menziesii. Growth responses for both conifers agreed well with predictedpatterns of carbon allocation after defoliation caused by chlorinegas exposure. Copyright 2001 Annals of Botany Company Pinus ponderosa, Pseudotsuga menziesii, conifers, chlorine gas, leaf wettability, cuticular transpiration, water relations, growth, mortality     

A View of Comparative Endocrinology and Aubrey Gorbman

Analyses of papers published in General and Comparative Endocrinologyfrom 1961 to 1981 were made from several aspects. Number ofpapers published has increased year after year. Molluscan endocrinologypapers have increased and overtaken annelid publications. Duringthe past 20 yr studies using crustaceans and insects have comprised25–50% of all endocrine research on invertebrate groups.Papers on protochordates, elasmobranchs, and cyclostomes arefew but constant in number, indicating that these three groupsare important from phylogenic aspects. Studies on birds andteleosts have increased, while those on amphibians have decreased.Biochemical techniques were employed in 50% of all publicationsin this journal. Radioimmunoassay has replaced autoradiography.Immunohistochemistry increased in popularity. Studies on thepars distalis and gonads are predominant among all endocrineorgans. Research at the molecular level is decreasing, but isincreasing at the organismal level. Research at the organismallevel may be characteristic of comparative endocrinology. Largelythrough the initiative of Aubrey Gorbman, General and ComparativeEndocrinology was first published in 1961, and the InternationalCommittee of the Symposium on Comparative Endocrinology wasformed in 1957. Gorbman has produced many students. His originaland important contributions are in diversified areas: thyroidphysiology and its evolution, hormones and the brain and behavior,cyclostome endocrinology and neurosecretory systems in lowervertebrates. In addition, he has influenced investigators throughhis ideas of evolution. He has had particular impact on thedevelopment of comparative endocrinology in Japan.     

Potential contributions of vertically migrating Rhizosolenia to nutrient cycling and new production in the open ocean

We present a numerical model of nutrient uptake and photosynthesisduring migrations of the marine diatom Rhizosolenia that wasdeveloped to estimate fluxes of carbon and nitrogen due to thesemigrations in the open ocean. The predicted specific rate ofincrease of Rhizosolenia was 0.11–0.15 day¹, whereas thetotal time for one migration cycle ranged between 3 and 5 days.Using published estimates of Rhizosolenia abundance, we estimatethat new primary production due to Rhizosolenia migrations rangesbetween 0.018 and 0.033 mmol N m^–2 day^–1. Thesevalues represent up to 17% of new production due to turbulentdiffusive fluxes of nitrate into the euphotic zone and are ofthe same order of magnitude as new production due to nitrogenfixation in tropical oceans. Large-scale contributions of Rhizosoleniato oceanic new production are limited by their relatively lowstanding crop. Variations in the formulation of losses withdepth greatly affected gross and net fluxes of carbon and nitrogen.Better characterization of losses of Rhizosolenia and improvedestimates of its abundance will help determine more accuratelythe contributions of Rhizosolenia to global biogeochemical cycles. ¹Present address: Department of Agricultural and EnvironmentalScience, The Queen's University of Belfast New forge Lane, BelfastBT95PX, UK     

Annual cycle of tintinnids in Admiralty Bay with an emphasis on seasonal variability in Cymatocylis affinis/convallaria lorica morphology

In water samples collected from the middle of Admiralty Bay(King George Island 62°08'S 58°25'W) between February1990 and January 1991, 17 Tintinnina species were noted. TotalTintinnina numbers in summer were very high (up to 5000 cellsm^–3), but species diversity was low, consisting mainlyof Cymatocylis affnislconvallaria, forma convallaria. Duringaustral winter, cell numbers were very low, but species compositionwas diverse. Cymatocylis affnislconvallaria, forma affinis,and C.affmis/convallaria, forma convallaria, the polymorphicforms of one species C.affinis/convallaria, appear to be interchangeableduring the year. The transition from one form to the other occursin the spring and autumn. The typical Tintinnina polymorphismcan be attributed to the prevailing environmental conditions.     

Mobilization of Reserves and Synthesis of Sterols and Triterpenes in Seedlings of Two Canarian Euphorbia Species

Seedlings from Euphorbia canariensis and Euphorbia lambii weregrown in the dark at 25 °C. Protein and triglyceride contentas well as levels of sugars and amino acids in the endospermwere determined during endosperm depletion. In the endospermof Euphorbia canariensis, relatively low levels of amino acids(up to 1 µmol.endosperm^–1) were found of which glutamine/glutamateaccounted for 40% at the stage of radicle emergence. High levelsof amino acids (up to 4 µmol.endosperm^–1) comparedwith sugars (up to 2 µmol sucrose.endosperm^–1) weredetected in the endosperm of Euphorbia lambii. Arginine wasthe main component (28 µmol%) of the amino acids in thistissue. In both species amino acid composition changed graduallyduring endosperm depletion. Cotyledons retained their ability to absorb a variety of watersoluble substrates after removal of the endosperm. ¹⁴C from[U-¹⁴C]sucrose was effectively incorporated into the triterpenesof the laticifers and to a lesser extent into the sterols ofthe seedling. The highest incorporation values were found inyoung seedlings about 2 d after the emergence of the radicle.Seedlings of this age also showed high incorporation rates of¹⁴C from labelled alanine, serine, threonine, valine, leucineand isoleucine into both triterpenols and sterols, but no generalconclusions about metabolic channelling in lipid synthesis couldbe made. Endosperm, Euphorbia canariensis L. Euphorbia lambii Svent., sterols, triterpenols, amino acids, laticifer, biosynthesis     

Hardarson, G. and Broughton, W. J. Maximising the use of biological nitrogen fixation in agriculture

This volume contains invited papers given at an FAO/IAEA technicalmeeting held in Rome in March 2001. Most have already been publishedin Plant and Soil 252(1), 2003 and have been reviewed, althoughthe latter is unclear for two papers, those by Cocking and byJensen et al. In that     

Biogeographic study of the planktonic communities of the Prince Edward Islands (Southern Ocean)

Microphytoplankton and zooplankton composition and distributionin the vicinity of the Prince Edward Islands and at the Sub-antarcticFront (SAF) were investigated in late austral summer (April/May)1996. Samples were collected for analysis of chlorophyll a concentration(Chi a), microphytoplankton and zooplankton abundance. Generally,the highest Chl a concentrations (up to 2.0 µg l^–1)and zooplankton densities (up to 192 ind. m^–3) were recordedat stations within the inter-island area while the lowest values(<0.4 µg l^–1) were observed at stations upstreamof the islands. High Chl a and zooplankton biomass values werealso associated with the SAF. Microphytoplankton were dominatedby chain-forming species of the genera Chaetoceros (mainly C.neglectus),Fragilariopsis spp. and the large diatom Dactyliosolen antarcticus.The zooplankton assemblages were always dominated by mesozooplanktonwhich at times contributed up to 98% of total zooplankton abundanceand up to 95% of total biomass. Among mesozooplankton, copepods,mainly Clausocalanus brevipes and Metridia lucens numericallydominated. Among the macrozooplankton euphausiids, mainly Euphausiavallentini, E.longirostis and Stylocheiron maximum, and chaetognaths(Sagitta gazellae) accounted for the bulk of abundance and biomass.Cluster and ordination analysis did not identify any distinctbiogeographic regions among either the microphytoplankton orzooplankton.     

Phytoplanktonic carbon isotope fractionation: equations accounting for CO2-concentrating mechanisms

A model of carbon isotope discrimination by phytoplankton wasdeveloped which took into account the occurrence of a carbon-concentratingmechanism (CCM). A simple equation was obtained for the modelinvolving CO₂ active transport. In the case of HCO₃^– activetransport, another equation was developed based on a seriesof approximations. The former equation was used to analyse reportedand newly obtained data from culture experiments and field observationsin both freshwater and marine environments. In most cases, alinear relationship between a combined parameter, (1–f)Ci,which was made up of the relative contribution of active CO₂uptake to total carbon uptake (f) and the intracellular CO₂concentration (Ci), and CO₂ concentration in bulk solution (Ce)was obtained as (1–f)Ci = ace–b, with a high correlationcmfficient (r²>0.9). The slope a is suggested as a measureof the ratio of diffusive to total (diffusive+active) CO₂ transport,while bla represents CO₂ demand.     

Nitrogen Utilization in N-limited Barley during Vegetative and Generative Growth: I. GROWTH AND NITRATE UPTAKE KINETICS IN VEGETATIVE CULTURES GROWN AT DIFFERENT RELATIVE ADDITION RATES OF NITRATE-N

Growth and nitrate uptake kinetics in vegetatively growing barley(Hordeum vulgare L., cvs Laevigatum, Golf, and Mette) were investigatedin solution culture under long-term limitations of externalnitrogen availability. Nitrate was fed to the cultures at relativeaddition rates (RA) ranging from 0.02 to 0.2 d^–1. Therelative growth rate (RG, calculated for total plant dry weight)correlated well with RA in the range 0.02 to 0.07 d^–1.In the RA range from 0.07 to 0.2 d^–1 RG continued to increase,but an increasing fraction of nitrogen, added and absorbed,was apparently stored rather than used for structural growth.The RG of the roots was less affected by RA. V_max, for net nitrateuptake increased with RA up to 0.11 d^–1, but decreasedat higher RA. The decline in V_max coincided with a build-upof nitrate stores in both roots and shoots. V_max, expressedper unit nitrogen in the plants (the relative V_max, was higherthan required for maintenance of growth (up to 30-fold) at lowRA, whereas at higher RA the relative V_max decreased. Kineticpredictions of steady-state external nitrate concentrationsduring N-limited growth ranged from 0.2 to 5.0 mmol m^–3over the RG range 0.02 to 0.11 d_–1. It is suggested thatthe nitrate uptake system is not under specific regulation atlow RA, but co-ordinated with root protein synthesis and growthin general. At RA higher than 0.11 d_–1, however, specificregulation of nitrate uptake, possibly via root nitrate pools,become important. The three cultivars showed very similar growthand nitrate uptake characteristics. Key words: Barley, growth, nitrogen limitation, nitrate uptake, kinetics     

Microzooplankton grazing in a coastal embayment off Concepcion, Chile, (~36{degrees} S) during non-upwelling conditions

The impact of grazing by natural assemblages of microzooplanktonwas estimated in an upwelling area (Concepción, Chile)during the non-upwelling season in 2003 and 2004. Seawater dilutionexperiments using chlorophyll a (Chl a) as a tracer were usedto estimate daily rates of phytoplankton growth and microzooplanktongrazing. Initial Chl a concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 1.4mg Chl a m^–3 and phytoplankton prey biomass and abundancewere numerically dominated by components <20 µm. Phytoplanktongrowth and microzooplankton grazing rates were 0.19–0.25day^–1 and 0.26–0.52 day ^–1, respectively.These results suggest that microzooplankton exert a significantremoval of primary production (>100%) during the non-upwellingperiod.     

Differential expression pattern of C4 bundle sheath expression genes in rice, a C3 plant

NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase(PCK) are specifically expressed in bundle sheath cells (BSCs)in NADP-ME-type and PCK-type C₄ plants, respectively. Unlikethe high activities of these enzymes in the green leaves ofC₄ plants, their low activities have been detected in the leavesof C₃ plants. In order to elucidate the differences in the geneexpression system between C₃ and C₄ plants, we have producedchimeric constructs with the ß-glucuronidase (GUS)reporter gene under the control of the maize NADP-Me (ZmMe)or Zoysia japonica Pck (ZjPck) promoter and introduced theseconstructs into rice. In leaves of transgenic rice, the ZmMepromoter directed GUS expression not only in mesophyll cells(MCs) but also in BSCs and vascular cells, whereas the ZjPckpromoter directed GUS expression only in BSCs and vascular cells.Neither the ZjPck nor ZmMe promoters induced GUS expressiondue to light. In rice leaves, the endogenous NADP-Me (OsMe1)was expressed in MCs, BSCs and vascular cells, whereas the ricePck (OsPck1) was expressed only in BSCs and vascular cells.Taken together, the results obtained from transgenic rice demonstratethat the expression pattern of ZmMe or ZjPck in transgenic ricewas reflected by that of its counterpart gene in rice. (Received August 8, 2004; Accepted February 20, 2005 )     

Modeling developmental changes in strength and aerobic power in children

The present studyexamined two contrasting multilevel model structures to describe thedevelopmental (longitudinal) changes in strength and aerobic power inchildren: 1) an additive polynomial structure and 2) a multiplicativestructure with allometric body size components. On the basis of themaximum log-likelihood criterion, the multiplicative "allometric"model was shown to be superior to the additive polynomial model whenfitted to the data from two published longitudinal studies and toprovide more plausible solutions within and beyond the range ofobservations.The multilevel regression analysis ofstudy 1 confirmed that aerobic powerdevelops approximately in proportion to body mass,m^1/3. Theanalyses from study 2 identified asignificant increase in quadriceps and biceps strength, in proportionto body size, plus an additional contribution from age, centered atabout peak height velocity (PHV). The positive "age" term forboys suggested that at PHV the boys were becoming stronger in thequadriceps and biceps in relation to their body size. In contrast, thegirls' age term was either negligible (quadriceps) or negative(biceps), indicating that at PHV the girls' strength was developing inproportion to or, in the case of the biceps, was becoming weaker inrelation to their body size.