Light-harvesting adaptations of planktonic phototrophic micro-organisms to different light quality conditions

The effects of light spectral distribution on the composition of phototrophic microbial communities were analyzed in three metalimnetic levels (relative depth positions) of 41 lakes. Principal Component Analysis was used to compare light quality conditions reaching the populations of phototrophic micro-organisms containing different photosynthetic pigments. Results allowed to identify the optimal light quality conditions for the selection of each microbial group at their respective levels. Two general light-harvesting adaptations were defined, according to the wavebands that could be related to the selection of these microbial groups. The micro-organisms adapted to use red and near-infrared light – eukaryotic phytoplankton, Chloronema spp. and green-coloured Chlorobiaceae – predominated at shallow depths (specially in waters containing high gilvin contents) using their respective Q_y absorption bands. The micro-organisms adapted to green-yellow light – phycoerythrin-containing cyanobacteria, Chromatiaceae and brown-coloured Chlorobiaceae – were dominant in deep metalimnetic communities. Laboratory experiments with cultures of Chlorobium limicola and C. phaeobacteroides growing under different light quality conditions showed that the green-coloured species had higher photosynthetic activity under red light, while the brown-coloured species was more active under green light. These results demonstrated that physiological differences between micro-organisms with different light-harvesting adaptations are responsible of their selection under different light quality conditions. This selection is experimented by Chlorobiaceae (as it was previously indicated by other investigators) at the deepest positions of the metalimnetic communities (level 3), but also by Chromatiaceae and Chloronema spp. at level 2 and by the eukaryotic phytoplankton and cyanobacteria at level 1.     

Pastoral Sedentarization and Its Effects on Children’s Diet,Health, and Growth Among Rendille of Northern Kenya

Throughout the arid regions of Africa formerly mobile pastoral populations are becoming sedentary. Although pastoral sedentarization is encouraged by international development agencies and national governments as solutions to food insecurity, poor health care, and problems of governance, it has not been demonstrated that abandoning the pastoral way of life, and particularly childrens access to milk and other livestock products, is beneficial to the health and well-being of pastoral populations. This paper reports the results of a 3-year study of one pastoral and four settled Rendille communities of northern Kenya based on data from 17 repeated bimonthly surveys of childhood dietary, growth, and morbidity patterns and household level economic strata. Bivariate analysis of 5,535 measurements from 488 children from birth to 9 years revealed that age-specific height and weight measurements for the pastoral community are uniformly heavier and taller than children from the sedentary villages. Multivariate analysis using Generalized Estimating Equations methodology showed that the amount of milk consumed was always a statistically significant determinant of child weight and height growth, regardless of drought or non-drought times and breastfeeding status. Other significant determinants of child growth include morbidity and poverty, both associated with sedentary communities. These results indicate that international development assistance should not neglect improvements in livestock production and support of pastoral movements in Africas arid lands.     

Binding of calmodulin to the carboxy-terminal region of p21 induces nuclear accumulation via inhibition of protein kinase C-mediated phosphorylation of Ser153

Intracellular localization plays an important role in the functional regulation of the cell cycle inhibitor p21. We have previously shown that calmodulin binds to p21 and that calmodulin is essential for the nuclear accumulation of p21. Here, we analyze the mechanism of this regulation. We show that calmodulin inhibits in vitro phosphorylation of p21 by protein kinase C (PKC) and that this inhibition is dependent upon calmodulin binding to p21. Two-dimensional electrophoresis analysis of cells expressing the p21 wild type or p21S153A, a nonphosphorylatable mutant of p21 at position 153, indicates that Ser153 of p21 is a phosphorylable residue in vivo. Furthermore, Western blot analysis using phospho-Ser153-specific antibodies indicates that Ser153 phosphorylation in vivo is induced when PKC is activated and calmodulin is inhibited. The mutation of Ser153 to aspartate, a pseudophosphorylated residue, inhibits the nuclear accumulation of p21. Finally, whereas wild-type p21 translocates to the cytoplasm after PKC activation in the presence of calmodulin inhibitors, p21 carrying a nonphosphorylatable residue at position 153 remains in the nucleus. We propose that calmodulin binding to p21 prevents its phosphorylation by PKC at Ser153 and consequently allows its nuclear localization. When phosphorylated at Ser153, p21 is located at the cytoplasm and disrupts stress fibers.     

Demise of the Sepaade Tradition: Cultural and Biological Explanations

In an attempt to find common theoretical and methodological ground between anthropological demography and human evolutionary ecology, this article analyzes and interprets one recent event, the termination of the sepaade tradition among Rendille pastoralists of northern Kenya. Long described in the anthropological literature as an example of cultural population regulation, the sepaade tradition ended in 1998. Previously collected qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed to assess the various rationales for the demise of the tradition. Qualitative data link its termination to changing group morals, while quantitative data point to the loss of individual-level benefits as the underlying rationale. Combining such seemingly disparate interpretations highlights common research interests for anthropological demography and human evolutionary ecology. [ anthropological demography, human evolutionary ecology, culture change ]     

Proximate and Distal Variables in the Demography of Rendille Pastoralists

Following the widespread application and success of Bongaarts' proximate fertility framework in the 1980s, anthropologists and demographers have shown increased interest in the delineation of distal fertility variables, alternatively called higher-order by cultural ecologists or ultimate variables by evolutionary ecologists. This shift in focus raises at least four immediate issues: (1) confusion over the role and effect of culture on individual members' behavior, (2) whether the individual or the group forms the basic unit of analysis, (3) discordance between external and internal perspectives of demographic regimes, and (4) difficulty comparing and evaluating quantitative survey-based data with qualitative information derived from focus groups or key informants. This paper presents one approach to dealing with these problems, featuring the assessment of anthropological and demographic data collected for Rendille pastoralists of northern Kenya, a group long cited in both anthropological and demographic literature as regulating their fertility in relation to ecological factors.     

Taxon-specific content of oligonucleotide triplets in 16S rRNAs of anoxygenic phototrophic and nitrifying bacteria

Theoretical evaluation of the content of oligonucleotide triplets AAA, CCC, and UAU in 16S rRNAs of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (genera Chlorobium; Chloroflexus; Chromatium: Rhodopseudomonas) and nitrifying bacteria (genera Nitrosococcus, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosolobus, Nitrosovibrio, Nitrospira, Nitrospina, Nitrobacter) showed that the number of the AAA, CCC or UAU triplets in 16S rRNAs specifically corresponds to the genus and species of bacteria. The ratio of AAA and CCC triplet numbers in the sequences of 16S rRNA (AAA/CCC) of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria was within the range of 0.61 to 2.03, and the ratio of AAA and UAU (AAA/UAU) triplet numbers in the sequence of 16S rRNA was within the range of 2.88 to 12.00. The regions of any genus within the AAA/CCC and AAA/UAU axes did not overlap. The combination of the numbers of nucleotide triplets in 16S rRNA is genus-specific character. The similar data were obtained in the study of a physiological group of nitrifying bacteria. The range of AAA/UAU ratio was from 1.8 to 9.0, and range of AAA/CCC was from 0.9 to 2.6 for this taxon. The number of triplets in 16S rRNAs of the studied taxa was genus- and species-specific character. The biological significance of these data is the evidence that not only the sequence but the number of nucleotide triplets in 16S rRNAs reflects the phylogeny of corresponding taxa.     

UNOBSERVED KILL OF NURSING DOLPHIN CALVES IN A TUNA PURSE-SEINE FISHERY

The kill of dolphins ( Stenella attenuata and S. longirostris ) in the eastern tropical Pacific tuna purse-seine fishery has been underestimated because of unobserved deaths of nursing calves due to separation from their mothers during fishing. Based on an analysis of dolphins killed from 1973 to 1990, and depending on the length at which calves are assumed to become independent, there was a deficit of calves relative to the number of lactating females killed in 24%–32% of 1,847 spotted-dolphin sets and in 13%–19% of 563 spinner-dolphin sets. We found a deficit of 0.31–0.45 spotted dolphin and 0.15–0.26 spinner dolphin calves per set. If these missing calves were added to the observed kill, it would represent an increase in the kill of 10%–15% for spotted dolphins and 6%–10% for spinner dolphins in the sets we examined. We did not attempt to estimate the actual number of unobserved calf deaths due to purse-seine fishing on dolphins, either in the sets we examined or in all dolphin sets. The actual number of unobserved calf deaths is likely to be higher than the calf deficit we found. Separation of dolphin mothers from calves could occur at any of several points in the fishing process, but most of these would be invisible to us and not produce a calf deficit. Estimation of the actual number of unobserved calf deaths would require further information on how frequently permanent mother-calf separations occur, the fraction of calves that survive after separation, the fraction of lactating females set upon that are carrying calves, and the fraction of calves killed that are actually related to lactating females killed in the same set. In any case, the observation of a calf deficit indicates that the reported dolphin kill fails to measure the full impact of purse-seine fishing on spotted and spinner dolphin populations.     

Megalictis,the Bone-Crushing Giant Mustelid (Carnivora,Mustelidae, Oligobuninae) from the Early Miocene of North America

We describe cranial and mandibular remains of three undescribed individuals of the giant mustelid Megalictis ferox Matthew, 1907 from the latest Arikareean (Ar4), Early Miocene mammal fauna of Nebraska, and Wyoming (USA) housed at the American Museum of Natural History (New York, USA). Our phylogenetic hypothesis indicates that Ar4 specimens assigned to M. ferox constitute a monophyletic group. We assign three additional species previously referred to Paroligobunis to Megalictis: M. simplicidens, M. frazieri, and “M.” petersoni. The node containing these four species of Megalictis and Oligobunis forms the Oligobuninae. We test the hypothesis that Oligobuninae (Megalictis and Oligobunis) is a stem mustelid taxon. Our results indicate that the Oligobuninae form the sister clade to the crown extant mustelids. Based on the cranium, M. ferox is a jaguar-size mustelid and the largest terrestrial mustelid known to have existed. This new material also sheds light on a new ecomorphological interpretation of M. ferox as a bone-crushing durophage (similar to hyenas), rather than a cat-like hypercarnivore, as had been previously described. The relative large size of M. ferox, together with a stout rostrum and mandible made it one of the more powerful predators of the Early Miocene of the Great Plains of North America.