Jamaican Field Cricket Mate Attraction Signals Provide Age Cues

Older males often have a mating advantage, either resulting from the fact that they live longer or resulting from the fact that they both live longer and signal this to females. Male field crickets signal acoustically to attract potential mates. Some field cricket mating signals provide cues about male age while others do not. We explored whether male Jamaican field crickets, Gryllus assimilis, mating signals change with age. Our results show that older males produce chirps with longer pulses, more pulses, at higher pulse and chirp rates, and their chirps are both longer and louder than those produced by younger males. Our findings suggest that Jamaican field cricket mating signals provide cues about male age, explaining between 10% and 54% of the variation in signaling traits. Females might be able to use these mating signal differences to distinguish between older and younger mates.     

Positional Cues in the Drosophila Nerve Cord: Semaphorins Pattern the Dorso-Ventral Axis

During the development of neural circuitry, neurons of different kinds establish specific synaptic connections by selecting appropriate targets from large numbers of alternatives. The range of alternative targets is reduced by well organised patterns of growth, termination, and branching that deliver the terminals of appropriate pre- and postsynaptic partners to restricted volumes of the developing nervous system. We use the axons of embryonic Drosophila sensory neurons as a model system in which to study the way in which growing neurons are guided to terminate in specific volumes of the developing nervous system. The mediolateral positions of sensory arbors are controlled by the response of Robo receptors to a Slit gradient. Here we make a genetic analysis of factors regulating position in the dorso-ventral axis. We find that dorso-ventral layers of neuropile contain different levels and combinations of Semaphorins. We demonstrate the existence of a central to dorsal and central to ventral gradient of Sema 2a, perpendicular to the Slit gradient. We show that a combination of Plexin A (Plex A) and Plexin B (Plex B) receptors specifies the ventral projection of sensory neurons by responding to high concentrations of Semaphorin 1a (Sema 1a) and Semaphorin 2a (Sema 2a). Together our findings support the idea that axons are delivered to particular regions of the neuropile by their responses to systems of positional cues in each dimension.     

位置信息与植物发育

位置信息是植物发育的重要机制之一,它在植物体的模式建成、细胞的分化及细胞命运的抉择过程中起重要作用.近些年的研究从细胞壁、激素、可扩散因子和非转录DNA等角度对这一问题进行了大量探索,成为植物发育生物学的一个热点领域.本文试对此作一简要介绍.     

位置信息与植物发育

位置信息是植物发育的重要机制之一, 它在植物体的模式建成、细胞的分化及细胞命运的抉择过程中起重要作用。近些年的研究从细胞壁、激素、可扩散因子和非转录DNA等角度对这一问题进行了大量探索, 成为植物发育生物学的一个热点领域。本文试对此作一简要介绍。     

Neuronal Activity Preceding Directional and Nondirectional Cues in the Premotor Cortex of Rhesus Monkeys

Pre-cue activity, the neuronal modulation that precedes a predictable stimulus, was studied in the premotor cortex of three rhesus monkeys. In one condition, a directional cue dictated the timing and target of a forelimb movement. In another condition, a non-directional cue provided identical timing information but did not indicate the target. Of 501 task-related neurons recorded in premotor cortex, 168 showed pre-cue activity. The onset time of pre-cue activity varied markedly from trial to trial and cell to cell, ranging from trial initiation to 4.8 sec later. No pre-cue activity reflected the direction of limb movement; thus, the data argue against the hypothesis that pre-cue activity reflects preparation for specific limb movements. A small number of cells showed greater pre-cue activity before directional than before nondirectional cues, and this difference may reflect anticipation of the cue's directional information. However, the vast majority (84%) of neurons lacked such differences. We therefore hypothesize that most pre-cue activity reflects or contributes to a facet of behavior common to the two conditions: anticipation of the time and/or nature of events.     

Modeling Drosophila Positional Preferences in Open Field Arenas with Directional Persistence and Wall Attraction

In open field arenas, Drosophila adults exhibit a preference for arena boundaries over internal walls and open regions. Herein, we investigate the nature of this preference using phenomenological modeling of locomotion to determine whether local arena features and constraints on movement alone are sufficient to drive positional preferences within open field arenas of different shapes and with different internal features. Our model has two components: directional persistence and local wall force. In regions far away from walls, the trajectory is entirely characterized by a directional persistence probability, , for each movement defined by the step size, , and the turn angle, . In close proximity to walls, motion is computed from and a local attractive force which depends on the distance between the fly and points on the walls. The directional persistence probability was obtained experimentally from trajectories of wild type Drosophila in a circular open field arena and the wall force was computed to minimize the difference between the radial distributions from the model and Drosophila in the same circular arena. The two-component model for fly movement was challenged by comparing the positional preferences from the two-component model to wild type Drosophila in a variety of open field arenas. In most arenas there was a strong concordance between the two-component model and Drosophila. In more complex arenas, the model exhibits similar trends, but some significant differences were found. These differences suggest that there are emergent features within these complex arenas that have significance for the fly, such as potential shelter. Hence, the two-component model is an important step in defining how Drosophila interact with their environment.     

Chemosensory Cues to Conspecific Emotional Stress Activate Amygdala in Humans

Alarm substances are airborne chemical signals, released by an individual into the environment, which communicate emotional stress between conspecifics. Here we tested whether humans, like other mammals, are able to detect emotional stress in others by chemosensory cues. Sweat samples collected from individuals undergoing an acute emotional stressor, with exercise as a control, were pooled and presented to a separate group of participants (blind to condition) during four experiments. In an fMRI experiment and its replication, we showed that scanned participants showed amygdala activation in response to samples obtained from donors undergoing an emotional, but not physical, stressor. An odor-discrimination experiment suggested the effect was primarily due to emotional, and not odor, differences between the two stimuli. A fourth experiment investigated behavioral effects, demonstrating that stress samples sharpened emotion-perception of ambiguous facial stimuli. Together, our findings suggest human chemosensory signaling of emotional stress, with neurobiological and behavioral effects.     

Point Me in the Right Direction: Same and Cross Category Visual Aftereffects to Directional Cues

Of the many hand gestures that we use in communication pointing is one of the most common and powerful in its role as a visual referent that directs joint attention. While numerous studies have examined the developmental trajectory of pointing production and comprehension, very little consideration has been given to adult visual perception of hand pointing gestures. Across two studies, we use a visual adaptation paradigm to explore the mechanisms underlying the perception of proto-declarative hand pointing. Twenty eight participants judged whether 3D modeled hands pointed, in depth, at or to the left or right of a target (test angles of 0°, 0.75° and 1.5° left and right) before and after adapting to either hands or arrows which pointed 10° to the right or left of the target. After adaptation, the perception of the pointing direction of the test hands shifted with respect to the adapted direction, revealing separate mechanisms for coding right and leftward pointing directions. While there were subtle yet significant differences in the strength of adaptation to hands and arrows, both cues gave rise to a similar pattern of aftereffects. The considerable cross category adaptation found when arrows were used as adapting stimuli and the asymmetry in aftereffects to left and right hands suggests that the adaptation aftereffects are likely driven by simple orientation cues, inherent in the morphological structure of the hand, and not dependent on the biological status of the hand pointing cue. This finding provides evidence in support of a common neural mechanism that processes these directional social cues, a mechanism that may be blind to the biological status of the stimulus category.     

Positional Information and Positional Signalling in Hydra

A model is proposed for regulation and regeneration of the headend of hydra in terms of positional information, which involvestwo gradients. One is a diffusible substance made at the headend, which may be regarded as a positional signal. The otheris a more stable cellular parameter which is the positionalvalue. The rule for head end formation is that the concentrationof the diffusible substance falls a threshold amount below thepositional value. This model, for which some computer simulationis provided, can account for head end formation in a wide varietyof grafts. Evidence for a diffusable signal is provided by experimentsin which the time/distance relationships for head inhibitionby a grafted head are determined. Changes in positional valueduring regulation have been assayed and are much slower awayfrom the boundary. Polarity is interpreted in terms of the interactionbetween the two gradients. The biochemical basis of the gradientsis not known, but an approach to the problem has been made bytreating hydra with a variety of chemical agents.     

Dissecting the Contribution of Sensory Cues to Directional Responses by Female Crickets in a two-Loudspeaker Paradigm

Sound localization in insects is typically investigated using single loudspeaker paradigms to examine the impact of sensory cues. Here, the contribution of specific cues to turning responses in a two-loudspeaker paradigm equivalent to a choice situation was examined. For that, several sensory cues were systematically varied to determine their respective contribution to the strength of the turning response in female crickets. In three experimental sets (1) the temporal arrangement of chirp patterns broadcast from two speakers, (2) the relative timing of chirps and (3) the impact of phase differences of the carrier frequency were varied at different intensity levels between both speakers. While the arrangement of chirp patterns had little influence on the strength of turning responses, time delays up to 20 ms and phase differences of 90° and 270° clearly affected directional turning at otherwise equal intensities. In all three sets of experiments turning responses were sensitive to intensity differences and saturated at +/? 6 dB. Turning responses due to timing of pulses or phase differences were compensated by intensity differences of 2–3 dB. Building on a large body of literature on peripheral and central processing it was possible to assign the observed effects to specific processing stages in the auditory pathway of crickets.     

Comparative Proteomic Analyses Provide New Insights into Low Phosphorus Stress Responses in Maize Leaves

Phosphorus deficiency limits plant growth and development. To better understand the mechanisms behind how maize responds to phosphate stress, we compared the proteome analysis results of two groups of maize leaves that were treated separately with 1,000 µM (control, +P) and 5 µM of KH₂PO₄ (intervention group, −P) for 25 days. In total, 1,342 protein spots were detected on 2-DE maps and 15.43% had changed (P<0.05; ≥1.5-fold) significantly in quantity between the +P and −P groups. These proteins are involved in several major metabolic pathways, including photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, secondary metabolism, signal transduction, protein synthesis, cell rescue and cell defense and virulence. The results showed that the reduction in photosynthesis under low phosphorus treatment was due to the down-regulation of the proteins involved in CO₂ enrichment, the Calvin cycle and the electron transport system. Electron transport and photosynthesis restrictions resulted in a large accumulation of peroxides. Maize has developed many different reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging mechanisms to cope with low phosphorus stress, including up-regulating its antioxidant content and antioxidase activity. After being subjected to phosphorus stress over a long period, maize may increase its internal phosphorus utilization efficiency by altering photorespiration, starch synthesis and lipid composition. These results provide important information about how maize responds to low phosphorus stress.     

生长素介导环境信号调控植物的生长发育

植物是一类营固着生活的自养型生物, 如何更好地适应周围环境对植物的生存至关重要。生长素是调控植物生长发育的重要激素之一。近年来的研究发现, 生长素不仅能够响应内在的发育信号, 而且能够介导各种环境信号, 参与植物生长发育和生长反应的调控。该文主要从光信号、温度信号、重力信号、营养元素和金属离子信号等方面重点阐述生长素如何介导上述各种不同的环境信号, 从而调控植物的生长发育。     

Erwinia amylovora CRISPR Elements Provide New Tools for Evaluating Strain Diversity and for Microbial Source Tracking

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) comprise a family of short DNA repeat sequences that are separated by non repetitive spacer sequences and, in combination with a suite of Cas proteins, are thought to function as an adaptive immune system against invading DNA. The number of CRISPR arrays in a bacterial chromosome is variable, and the content of each array can differ in both repeat number and in the presence or absence of specific spacers. We utilized a comparative sequence analysis of CRISPR arrays of the plant pathogen Erwinia amylovora to uncover previously unknown genetic diversity in this species. A total of 85 E. amylovora strains varying in geographic isolation (North America, Europe, New Zealand, and the Middle East), host range, plasmid content, and streptomycin sensitivity/resistance were evaluated for CRISPR array number and spacer variability. From these strains, 588 unique spacers were identified in the three CRISPR arrays present in E. amylovora, and these arrays could be categorized into 20, 17, and 2 patterns types, respectively. Analysis of the relatedness of spacer content differentiated most apple and pear strains isolated in the eastern U.S. from western U.S. strains. In addition, we identified North American strains that shared CRISPR genotypes with strains isolated on other continents. E. amylovora strains from Rubus and Indian hawthorn contained mostly unique spacers compared to apple and pear strains, while strains from loquat shared 79% of spacers with apple and pear strains. Approximately 23% of the spacers matched known sequences, with 16% targeting plasmids and 5% targeting bacteriophage. The plasmid pEU30, isolated in E. amylovora strains from the western U.S., was targeted by 55 spacers. Lastly, we used spacer patterns and content to determine that streptomycin-resistant strains of E. amylovora from Michigan were low in diversity and matched corresponding streptomycin-sensitive strains from the background population.     

Kinematics of Intracellular Chlamydiae Provide Evidence for Contact-Dependent Development

A crucial process of chlamydial development involves differentiation of the replicative reticulate body (RB) into the infectious elementary body (EB). We present experimental evidence to provide support for a contact-dependent hypothesis for explaining the trigger involved in differentiation. We recorded live-imaging of Chlamydia trachomatis-infected McCoy cells at key times during development and tracked the temporospatial trajectories of individual chlamydial particles. We found that movement of the particles is related to development. Early to mid-developmental stages involved slight wobbling of RBs. The average speed of particles increased sharply at 24 h postinfection (after the estimated onset of RB to EB differentiation). We also investigated a penicillin-supplemented culture containing EBs, RBs, and aberrantly enlarged, stressed chlamydiae. Near-immobile enlarged particles are consistent with their continued tethering to the chlamydial inclusion membrane (CIM). We found a significantly negative, nonlinear association between speed and size/type of particles, providing further support for the hypothesis that particles become untethered near the onset of RB to EB differentiation. This study establishes the relationship between the motion properties of the chlamydiae and developmental stages, whereby wobbling RBs gradually lose contact with the CIM, and RB detachment from the CIM is coincidental with the onset of late differentiation.Members of the Chlamydiaceae are ubiquitous bacterial pathogens in humans and animals. While many primary chlamydial infections are asymptomatic or of limited severity, severe disease and the most serious sequelae are thought to be associated with chronic or persistent infection or repeat infections that may occur over years or decades. In the laboratory, cultured eukaryotic cells such as HEp-2 or McCoy cells and various animal models are used as suitable model systems for primary chlamydial infection. Under these optimized conditions, chlamydiae undergo a typical developmental cycle, which is highly conserved across the genus. Initial internalization of the infectious chlamydial elementary body (EB) particle occurs within the first 2 h, followed shortly by differentiation of the EB into the chlamydial replicative form, the reticulate body (RB). RBs are thought to multiply exponentially, replicating their DNA every 2 to 3 h for approximately 6 to 10 generations. At 16+ h postinfection (hpi), an unknown signal provokes the onset of RB to EB differentiation, whereby individual RBs engage in a cellular condensation process, progressing through a poorly defined intermediate body (IB) form and ending with the metabolically inactive but highly infectious EB, thereby closing the developmental “cycle.” Unlike the initial differentiation step which can be reasonably well synchronized, the late differentiation step is always asynchronous. Indeed, few EBs can be observed in relatively young inclusions, while significant numbers of RBs can often be seen in late inclusions (for C. trachomatis, these stages occur at approximately 20 and 48 hpi, respectively). Another perennial observation is that RBs are often observed in association with the chlamydial inclusion membrane (CIM) (21, 22, 27, 37), the membrane of the parasitophorous vacuole that contains the chlamydiae and is derived from the host cell plasma membrane (14). This is further supported by various imaging methods including cryo-electron microscopy (14), indirect immunofluorescence, confocal electron microscopy, and Nomarski differential interference contrast imaging (10, 15, 16, 31).Models for persistent or chronic infection have also been established both in vitro and in animal models. Under conditions that induce a classical stress response in many bacteria, such as exposure to gamma interferon (3) or penicillin (23, 34), infection with phage (18), or deprivation of iron (30) or amino acids (9), chlamydial RBs undergo a dramatic morphological change to nondividing, aberrantly enlarged RBs (termed maxiRBs or mRBs) that will not differentiate into EBs (3, 23, 30, 34). Coincidental to the morphological change, expression of stress response genes is upregulated (e.g., hsp60) while expression of genes thought to be involved in late differentiation (e.g., omcB) is blocked (5, 6, 13). Because mRBs may be kept in culture for several weeks (except for phage-induced stress) and removal of the stressor “unlocks” development and allows resumption of late differentiation to EBs, the stress response of the chlamydiae is thought to represent a suitable in vitro model for persistent infection (1, 2, 4, 25).We have previously proposed a model for chlamydial development that reconciles many of the observations outlined above (26, 35). Two essential features of the model are the replication of RBs in type III secretion (T3S)-mediated contact with the CIM and the disruption of T3S activity through physical detachment from the CIM, which is associated with RB to EB differentiation. This so-called “contact-dependent” model has several important theoretical implications. First, an RB that actively translocates T3S effector proteins through the CIM (i.e., an RB tethered to the CIM) should not differentiate into an EB. Second and correlated to the first, an RB whose T3S system remains active for extended periods of time, by definition, should represent a persisting chlamydial cell. Biomathematical simulations predict two situations under which detachment of RBs from the CIM is physically restricted: the case of normal size RBs in a small, tight inclusion and that of abnormally large RB(s) in normal size inclusions (17, 35). The biological relevance of these simulations lies in the frequent occurrence of multiple small or lobar inclusions, e.g., for Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia caviae, in a single infected cell and the observation of stress-induced mRBs, respectively. In either case, because of the imposed spatial constraints, disruption of contact-induced T3S activity through physical RB detachment becomes a statistical rarity as the RB/mRB size approaches that of the inclusion that contains it. Remarkably, therefore, the observed in vitro persistence is not only a prediction of the biomathematical model but an implication of it as well.We now present experimental evidence using innovative real-time light microscopy that provides some support to the contact-dependent hypothesis in its most fundamental aspects. We captured images of C. trachomatis-infected McCoy cells at key times during development using a Richardson RTM3 microscope optimized for live-cell imaging in extreme dark field (28). Live images were obtained with a high-resolution color analogue output video camera and recorded with Volocity software (Improvision, Coventry, United Kingdom). Taped imaging sequences were captured in Final Cut Pro and converted to Quicktime movies. We then analyzed these movies to obtain the spatial time-dependent trajectories of the movement of individual chlamydial particles in each infected cell, allowing kinematic calculations of the displacement and speed of individual particles.     

Amplitude-Dependent Stress Fiber Reorientation in Early Response to Cyclic Strain

Almost all types of cellsin vivoare constantly subjected to mechanical deformation derived from muscular movement, respiration, or blood pulsation. In order to elucidate how cells and their cytoskeletal components respond to these stimuli, we developed a new device which can apply a wide range of uniaxial cyclic strain to cultured cells. When the cells were subjected to this stimulation, their stress fibers were rapidly arranged at a specific oblique angle relative to the direction of stretching. This stress fiber angulation showed a close relationship to the amplitude of stretching.     

Preimplantation Stress and Development

The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis holds that inappropriate environmental cues in utero, a period marked by tremendous developmental sensitivity, facilitate cellular reprogramming to ultimately predispose disease in adulthood. In this review, we analyze if stress during early stages of development can affect future health. This has wide clinical importance, given that 5 million children have been conceived with assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Because the primary outcome of assisted reproduction procedures is delivery at term of a live, healthy baby, the postnatal effects occurring outside ofthe neonatal period are often overlooked. To this end, the long‐term outcome of ART is appropriately the most relevant concern of the field today. Evidence of adverse consequences is controversial. The majority of studies have concluded no obvious problems in IVF‐conceived children, although a number of isolated cases of imprinted diseases, cancers, or malformations have been reported. Given that animal studies suggest alteration of metabolic pathways following preimplantation stress, it will be of great importance to follow‐up ART individuals as they enter later stages of adult life. Birth Defects Research (Part C) 96:299–314, 2012. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.