The Co-Occurrence of Species and the Co-Diversity of Sites in Neutral Models of Biodiversity

Patterns of co-occurrence of species are widely used to assess the fit of ecological neutral models to empirical patterns. The mathematically equivalent patterns of co-diversity of sites, in contrast, have been considered only indirectly and analyses normally are focused on the spatial distribution of species richness, rather than on the patterns of species sharing. Here we use two analytical tools (range-diversity plots and rank plots) to assess the predictions of simple neutral models in relation to patterns of co-occurrence and co-diversity. Whereas a fully stochastic null model predicts zero average among species and among sites, neutral models generate systems with low levels of covariance among species and high levels of positive covariance among sites. These patterns vary with different combinations of dispersal and speciation rates, but are always linked to the shape, symmetry, and spread of the range-size and species-richness frequency distributions. Non-homogeneous patterns of diversity and distribution arise in neutral models because of the spatial arrangement of sites and their concomitant similarity, which is reflected also in the spread of the range-size frequency distribution. The nearly null covariance among species, in contrast, implies low variance in species richness of sites and very slim frequency distributions. In real world assemblages of Mexican volant and non-volant mammals, patterns of range-size and species-richness frequency distribution are similar to those generated by neutral models. However, when the comparison includes the covariance both for species (co-occurrence) and for sites (co-diversity), empirical patterns differ significantly from the predictions of neutral models. Because of the mathematical links between the covariance in the distribution of species and the variance of species-richness values and between the covariance in species sharing among sites and the variance of range-size values, a full understanding of patterns of diversity calls for the simultaneous analysis of co-occurrence and co-diversity.     

Ground beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) assemblages inhabiting Scots pine stands of Puszcza Piska Forest: six-year responses to a tornado impact

Ground beetle assemblages were studied during 2003-08 in the Pisz Forest by comparing stands disturbed by a tornado to undisturbed control stands. The following exploratory questions were put forward. (1) How do the carabid assemblages change during six years following the tornado impact? (2) Does the carabid assemblage recovery begin during the six first post-tornado years? To assess the state of carabid assemblages we used two indices: the MIB (Mean Individual Biomass) and the SPC (Sum of Progressive Characteristics). Carabid assemblages in the disturbed and in the control stands, as expressed by these two indices, were compared using the length of a regression distance (sample distance in a MIB:SPC coordinate system). A cluster analysis revealed that the assemblages of the disturbed and the control stands were different. The tornado-impacted stands produced lower carabid catch rates, but species richness was significantly higher there than in the control stands. They hosted lower proportions of individuals of European species, of large zoophages, and of forest and brachypterous species, than the control stands. The observed reduction in SPC and MIB, and an increase in the regression distances may indicate that the carabid assemblages had not started to recover from the tornado-caused disturbance. Carabid assemblages apparently responded to the tornado in two steps. Firstly, the first three years were characterized by moderate decreases of index values. Secondly, from the fourth to the sixth year after the tornado, many observed changes became magnified. We did not observe clear signals of the recovery of forest carabid assemblages during the six follow-up years.     

The presence of extended phragmosomes containing cytoskeletal elements in fusiform cambial cells ofFraxinus excelsior L.

Summary Fusiform cambial cells of the ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), which are strongly elongated and vacuolated, contain a phragmosome which traverses the whole length of the cells during preprophase and karyokinesis and which remains present during cytokinesis until it is integrated in cell plate with adjacent cytoplasm.The phragmosome consists of a thin perforated cytoplasmic layer located in the plane of the future cell plate. Otherwise oriented transvacuolar cytoplasmic layers or strands are not present in these cells.The phragmosome contains cytoskeletal elements, namely microtubules and also microfilament bundles both of which are oriented mainly in longitudinal direction.The phragmosomal microtubules are a new category of microtubules associated with cell division; presumably they guide the centrifugally growing cell plate to the parental cell wall site previously marked by the preprophase band of microtubules.     

The ChrA homologue from a sulfur-regulated gene cluster in cyanobacterial plasmid pANL confers chromate resistance

The cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus strain PCC 7942 possesses pANL, a plasmid rich in genes related to sulfur metabolism. One of these genes, srpC, encodes the SrpC protein, a homologue of the CHR chromate ion transporter superfamily. The srpC gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli and its role in relation to sulfate and chromate was analyzed. srpC was unable to complement the growth of an E. coli cysA sulfate uptake mutant when sulfate was utilized as a sole sulfur source, suggesting that SrpC is not a sulfate transporter. Expression of srpC in E. coli conferred chromate resistance and caused diminished chromate uptake. These results suggest that the S. elongatus SrpC protein functions as a transporter that extrudes chromate ions from the cell’s cytoplasm, and further demonstrate the close relationship between sulfate and chromate metabolism in this organism.     

Effect of oxafun on the antibiosis between Bacillus subtilis and Phoma betae

The fungicide oxafun decreased the production of antibiotic substances active against Phoma betae, by Bacillus subtillis. This was confirmed by reduced effectiveness of antibiotic substances against Phoma infection in micropot experiment. Besides, the bacterial metabolites effected cell membrane permeability of mycelium and resulted in some relationships of fungicide and antibiotic substances.     

During apoptosis bcl-2 changes membrane topology at both the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria

In healthy cells the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 adopts a topology typical of tail-anchored proteins with only the hydrophobic carboxyl terminus inserted into the membrane, as shown by labeling cell lysates with a membrane-impermeant sulfhydryl-specific reagent. Induction of apoptosis in cells triggered a change in the conformation of Bcl-2 such that cysteine 158 near the base of helix 5 inserted into the lipid bilayer of both endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria where it was protected from labeling. Addition of a peptide corresponding to the BH3 domain of the proapoptotic protein Bim to cell lysates triggered a similar conformational change in Bcl-2, demonstrating that preexisting, membrane-bound Bcl-2 proteins change topology.     

Benzodiazepine-based selective inhibitors of mitochondrial F1F0 ATP hydrolase

A series of benzodiazepine-based inhibitors of mitochondrial F(1)F(0) ATP hydrolase were prepared and evaluated for their ability to selectively inhibit the enzyme in the forward direction. Compounds from this series showed excellent potency and selectivity for ATP hydrolase versus ATP synthase, suggesting a potentially beneficial profile useful for the treatment of ischemic heart disease.     

Effects of feeding Spodoptera littoralis on lima bean leaves: IV. Diurnal and nocturnal damage differentially initiate plant volatile emission

Continuous mechanical damage initiates the rhythmic emission of volatiles in lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) leaves; the emission resembles that induced by herbivore damage. The effect of diurnal versus nocturnal damage on the initiation of plant defense responses was investigated using MecWorm, a robotic device designed to reproduce tissue damage caused by herbivore attack. Lima bean leaves that were damaged by MecWorm during the photophase emitted maximal levels of beta-ocimene and (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate in the late photophase. Leaves damaged during the dark phase responded with the nocturnal emission of (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, but with only low amounts of beta-ocimene; this emission was followed by an emission burst directly after the onset of light. In the presence of (13)CO(2), this light-dependent synthesis of beta-ocimene resulted in incorporation of 75% to 85% of (13)C, demonstrating that biosynthesis of beta-ocimene is almost exclusively fueled by the photosynthetic fixation of CO(2) along the plastidial 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-P pathway. Jasmonic acid (JA) accumulated locally in direct response to the damage and led to immediate up-regulation of the P. lunatus beta-ocimene synthase gene (PlOS) independent of the phase, that is, light or dark. Nocturnal damage caused significantly higher concentrations of JA (approximately 2-3 times) along with enhanced expression levels of PlOS. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana transformed with PlOS promoter :: beta-glucuronidase fusion constructs confirmed expression of the enzyme at the wounded sites. In summary, damage-dependent JA levels directly control the expression level of PlOS, regardless of light or dark conditions, and photosynthesis is the major source for the early precursors of the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-P pathway.     

Isomerization of the phytohormone precursor 12-oxophytodienoic acid (OPDA) in the insect gut: a mechanistic and computational study

12-Oxophytodienoic acid (OPDA) is isomerized in the gut of herbivorous insects to tetrahydrodicranenone B (iso-OPDA). The transformation is achieved by a glutathione S-transferase present in the gut epithelium. Experiments with 9-[(2)H]-iso-OPDA demonstrated the complete retention of the deuterium atom in the product 11-[(2)H]-OPDA consistent with an intramolecular 1,3-hydrogen shift. Homology modeling based on the x-ray structure of a glutathione S-transferase from Anopheles gambiae revealed that the co-factor glutathione does not covalently bind to the substrate but appears to be involved in the initial deprotonation and enolization of the OPDA. The transformation resembles that of a mammalian GST-catalyzed isomerization of Δ(5)-3-ketosteroids to Δ(4)-3-ketosteroids or the conversion of prostaglandin A(1) to the biologically inactive prostaglandin B(1).