Unexpectedly low UV-sensitivity in a bird,the budgerigar

Photoreceptor adaptation ensures appropriate visual responses during changing light conditions and contributes to colour constancy. We used behavioural tests to compare UV-sensitivity of budgerigars after adaptation to UV-rich and UV-poor backgrounds. In the latter case, we found lower UV-sensitivity than expected, which could be the result of photon-shot noise corrupting cone signal robustness or nonlinear background adaptation. We suggest that nonlinear adaptation may be necessary for allowing cones to discriminate UV-rich signals, such as bird plumage colours, against UV-poor natural backgrounds.     

PAR‐3 controls endothelial planar polarity and vascular inflammation under laminar flow

Impaired cell polarity is a hallmark of diseased tissue. In the cardiovascular system, laminar blood flow induces endothelial planar cell polarity, represented by elongated cell shape and asymmetric distribution of intracellular organelles along the axis of blood flow. Disrupted endothelial planar polarity is considered to be pro‐inflammatory, suggesting that the establishment of endothelial polarity elicits an anti‐inflammatory response. However, a causative relationship between polarity and inflammatory responses has not been firmly established. Here, we find that a cell polarity protein, PAR‐3, is an essential gatekeeper of GSK3β activity in response to laminar blood flow. We show that flow‐induced spatial distribution of PAR‐3/aPKCλ and aPKCλ/GSK3β complexes controls local GSK3β activity and thereby regulates endothelial planar polarity. The spatial information for GSK3β activation is essential for flow‐dependent polarity to the flow axis, but is not necessary for flow‐induced anti‐inflammatory response. Our results shed light on a novel relationship between endothelial polarity and vascular homeostasis highlighting avenues for novel therapeutic strategies.     

Individual Variation in Advertisement Calls of Territorial Male Green Frogs, Rana clamitans: Implications for Individual Discrimination

Individuals of many territorial species discriminate between familiar territorial neighbors and unfamiliar strangers based on individual differences in acoustic signals. Many anuran amphibians are territorial and use primarily acoustic communication during social interactions, but evidence for acoustically mediated individual discrimination is available only for one species. As a first step in research designed to investigate individual discrimination in a second species of territorial frog, we examined patterns of within-male and among-male variability in 198 advertisement calls of 20 male green frogs, Rana clamitans . The aim was to determine which acoustic properties could be used by males to recognize their territorial neighbors and to estimate limits of reliability afforded by these properties for identifying different neighbors. All of the call properties that we examined exhibited significant inter-individual variation. Discriminant function analyses assigned between 52% and 100% of calls to the correct individual, depending on sample size and the call properties included in the model. This suggests that there is sufficient among-male variability to statistically identify individuals by their advertisement calls. The call properties of fundamental frequency and dominant frequency contributed the most towards discrimination among individuals. Based on their natural history and behavior and the results reported here, we suggest that male green frogs likely discriminate between strangers and adjacently territorial neighbors based on individual variation in advertisement calls.     

INFLUENCE OF SALINITY AND SULFATE ON THE TOXICITY OF CHROMIUM(VI) TO THE ESTUARINE DIATOM THALASSIOSIRA PSEUDONANA1

The acute toxicity of Cr(VI) to the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana (Hasle and Heimdal) clone 3H was determined in artificial media of 3.2 and 0.32 ppt salinity and with variations of sulfate concentration in the media independent of salinity. Inhibitory concentrations of Cr(VI) ranged from 6.6 μM for growth rate and 4.9 μM for cell yield at 3.2 ppt salinity and 2.8 μM sulfate to 0.04 μM for growth rate and 0.02 μM for cell yield at 0.32 ppt salinity and 0.019 mM sulfate. The inhibition by Cr(VI) was a function of the ratio of Cr(VI) to sulfate. Inhibition occurred when-this ratio exceeded about 500:1. It is suggested that the mechanism for the toxicity of Cr(VI) to diatoms and perhaps other aquatic organisms involves a site at which sulfate and chromate compete.     

Location of Calcium Within Bacillus Spores by Electron Probe X-Ray Microanalysis

Spectroscopic microanalysis of the element-characteristic X rays produced by a scanning electron microprobe was employed to detect calcium and carbon in both intact and thin-sectioned spores of Bacillus cereus T and B. megaterium QM B1551. Linear scan profiles and multilinear scan images of the X-ray emissions for calcium (Ca(Kalpha)) were compared with those for carbon (C(Kalpha)) as an index of mass. Location was accomplished by stereological comparisons with secondary electron images and conventional transmission electron micrographs. Although the elements could be detected at the attogram level theoretically, spatial resolution was limited to approximately 500 to 1,000 nm in an intact spore, e.g., by the primary electron beam diameter, the electron-excited spore microvolume, and the type of specimen support. The resolution was improved to approximately 100 to 200 nm by use of thin-sectioned spores, with precautions to prevent calcium leakage from the specimen during preparations. In both intact and sectioned spores, calcium was distributed throughout the spore, similarly to carbon, and concentrated mainly in a central region corresponding to the spore protoplast.     

Paracrystalline Sheets Reaggregated from Solubilized Exosporium of Bacillus cereus

Fragments of exosporium, isolated from dormant spores of Bacillus cereus, were disintegrated by treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or with phenol and acetic acid. After centrifugation of each preparation, proteins in the supernatant fractions were resolved by disc gel electrophoresis into either two or eight bands, respectively. The SDS-solubilized fraction contained spheroidal particles 11 to 44 nm in diameter. When centrifuged until clear, this fraction after dialysis still gave rise to crystal-like sheets which had the same lattice symmetry and major chemical components (protein, lipid, and carbohydrate) as fragments of the native exosporium.