Invasive aquatic pets: failed policies increase risks of harmful invasions

Businesses in the pet trade collect and transport many aquatic species around the globe, and some of these individuals are released into new habitats. Some jurisdictions have introduced laws intended to regulate this trade, but these regulations have rarely had the desired effects. Laws regarding pets and the pet trade are often poorly communicated, poorly enforced, and not aligned with hobbyists’ beliefs. Consequently, some laws may increase the number of unwanted introductions instead of decreasing them. A significant change in approach is needed, involving far greater communication with scientists, administrations, politicians, the pet industry, and pet owners, promoting euthanasia of unwanted pets rather than release, and the creation and promotion “white lists” of low risk species that can be sold in the pet trade.     

Improved synthesis of a protected 11-oxoestrone

An improved synthesis of 11-oxoestrone-3-acetate-17-ethyleneketal is reported. Adjustments are proposed for the oxidation of estrone by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone into 9(11)-dehydroestrone. A complete hydroboration-oxidation of the resulting ketal, by means of borane-methylsulfide complex, gives the corresponding 11-hydroxy derivative. This latter compound is then acetylated for successful oxidation with pyridinium chlorochromate on alumina. The overall yield is 30%.     

Distribution of enteric neural peptide YY in the dog gastrointestinal tract

Various regions of the dog gastrointestinal tract were investigated for the distribution of peptide YY (PYY) neurons using immunocytochemistry and radioimmunoassay. PYY neurons that encircled non-PYY-immunoreactive neurons were mainly observed in the myenteric plexus from the stomach to the colon. There was more PYY-like immunoreactivity in the muscle layer of the stomach and ileum than in the other intestines. The results of high performance liquid chromatography revealed that neural PYY-immunoreactive substance is identical to authentic PYY. PYY was not localized in the cholinergic neurons. These results indicate that PYY, as a neuropeptide, is involved in the regulation of gastrointestinal function.     

Construction of a cucumber genetic linkage map with SRAP markers and location of the genes for lateral branch traits

Using SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism) markers a genetic linkage map of cucumber was constructed with a population consisting of 138 F₂ individuals derived from a cross of the two cucumber lines, S06 and S52. In the survey of parental polymorphisms with 182 primer combinations, 64 polymorphism-revealing primer pairs were screened out, which generated totally 108 polymorphic bands with an average of 1.7 bands per primer pair and at most 6 bands from one primer pair. The constructed molecular linkage map included 92 loci, distributed in seven linkage groups and spanning 1164.2 cM in length with an average genetic distance of 12.6 cM between two neighboring loci. Based on this linkage map, the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for the lateral branch number (lbn) and the lateral branch average length (lbl) in cucumber were identified by QTLMapper1.6. A major QTL lbn1 located between ME11SA4B and ME5EM5 in LG2 could explain 10.63% of the total variation with its positively effecting allele from S06. A major QTL lbl1 located between DC1OD3 and DC1EM14 in LG2 could account for 10.38% of the total variation with its positively effecting allele from S₀₆.     

Brain Correlates of Self-Evaluation Deficits in Schizophrenia: A Combined Functional and Structural MRI Study

Self-evaluation plays an important role in adaptive functioning and is a process that is typically impaired in patients with schizophrenia. Underlying neural mechanisms for this dysfunction may be associated with manifested psychosis. However, the brain substrates underlying this deficit are not well known. The present study used brain blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and gray matter voxel-based morphometry to explore the functional and structural brain correlates of self-evaluation deficits in schizophrenia. Eighteen patients with schizophrenia and 17 healthy controls were recruited and asked to judge whether a set of personality-trait adjectives were appropriate for describing themselves, a familiar other, or whether the adjectives were of positive or negative valence. Patients had slower response times for negative trait attributions than controls did; responses to positive trait attributions were faster than those for negative traits among the patient group, while no differences were observed in the control group. Control subjects showed greater activation within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) than the patient group during the self-evaluation > semantic positivity-evaluation contrast. Patients showed greater activation mainly within the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCC) as compared to controls for the other-evaluation > semantic positivity-evaluation contrast. Furthermore, gray matter volume was reduced in the MPFC, temporal lobe, cuneus, and the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) among the patient group when compared to controls. The present study adds to previous findings regarding self- and other-referential processing in schizophrenia, providing support for neurobiological models of self-reflection impairment.     

Trophic polymorphism in bluegill sunfish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lepomis macrochirus</Emphasis>) introduced into Lake Biwa: evidence from stable isotope analysis

Trophic polymorphism was recently reported in introduced bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in Lake Biwa, Japan, where three morphs are specialized in benthic invertebrates (benthivorous type), submerged aquatic plants (herbivorous type), and zooplankton (planktivorous type). We evaluated the long-term effects of food resource utilization by these trophic morphs using stable isotope ratios, δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C. A significant difference in δ¹⁵N was found between the benthivorous and planktivorous types. The planktivorous type had the higher δ¹⁵N value, which corresponded with the value expected from its prey, zooplankton. The lower δ¹⁵N value of the benthivorous type would be derived from the lower δ¹⁵N values of benthic prey organisms compared to zooplankton. These results support previous findings that the benthivorous and planktivorous types have different food resource utilization. In contrast, the δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values of the herbivorous type were distinctly different from the expected values, indicating that this type was unlikely to utilize aquatic plants substantially, contradicting the results of the dietary analysis.     

Two new supermolecular structures of organic-inorganic hybrid compounds: [Zn(phen)(SO4)(H2O)2]n and [Cu(phen)(H2O)2] · SO4 (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline)

Two new organic-inorganic hybrid compounds [Zn(phen)(SO₄)(H₂O)₂]_n (1) and [Cu(phen)(H₂O)₂] · SO₄ (2) have been prepared by conventional aqueous solution synthesis and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and fluorescent spectroscopy. In compound 1, the sulfate group adopts bidentate mode to coordinate with two Zn(II) ions to form one-dimensional polymer. The one-dimensional polymers are further linked together via the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding and π-π stacking interactions to form a 3D supramolecular framework. Compound 2 is build up of discrete [Cu(phen)(H₂O]²⁺ cations and SO₄²⁻ anions to form a three-dimensional framework via hydrogen-bonding and π-π stacking interactions. Furthermore, the luminescent properties of both 1 and 2 were studied. The complexes 1 and 2 excited at 280 nm wavelength produced characteristic luminescence features, arising maybe due to the π-π transitions.     

What's new with lactose permease

The lactose permease ofEscherichia coli is a paradigm for polytopic membrane transport proteins that transduce free energy stored in an electrochemical ion gradient into work in the form of a concentration gradient. Although the permease consists of 12 hydrophobic transmembrane domains in probable -helical conformation that traverse the membrane in zigzag fashion connected by hydrophilic loops, little information is available regarding the folded tertiary structure of the molecule. In a recent approach site-directed fluorescence labeling is being used to study proximity relationships in lactose permease. The experiments are based upon site-directed pyrene labeling of combinations of paired Cys replacements in a mutant devoid of Cys residues. Since pyrene exhibits excimer fluorescence if two molecules are within about 3.5Å, the proximity between paired labeled residues can be determined. The results demonstrate that putative helices VIII and IX are close to helix X. Taken together with other findings indicating that helix VII is close to helices X and XI, the data lead to a model that describes the packing of helices VII to XI.K. Jung, H. Jung and G. G. Privé are Postdoctoral Fellows of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, the European Molecular Biology Organization, and the American Cancer Society (California Division), respectively.