Upper thermal limits predict herpetofaunal responses to forest edge and cover

Amphibians and reptiles are sensitive to changes in the thermal environment, which varies considerably in human-modified landscapes. Although it is known that thermal traits of species influence their distribution in modified landscapes, how herpetofauna respond specifically to shifts in ambient temperature along forest edges remains unclear. This may be because most studies focus on local-scale metrics of edge exposure, which only account for a single edge or habitat patch. We predicted that accounting for the combined effect of multiple habitat edges in a landscape would best explain herpetofaunal response to thermally mediated edge effects. We (1) surveyed herpetofauna at two lowland, fragmented forest sites in central Colombia, (2) measured the critical thermal maximum (CT_max) of the species sampled, (3) measured their edge exposure at both local and landscape scales, and (4) created a thermal profile of the landscape itself. We found that species with low CT_max occurred both further from forest edges and in areas of denser vegetation, but were unaffected by the landscape-scale configuration of habitat edges. Variation in the thermal landscape was driven primarily by changes in vegetation density. Our results suggest that amphibians and reptiles with low CT_max are limited by both canopy gaps and proximity to edge, making them especially vulnerable to human modification of tropical forest. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.     

Foraging,Delayed Maturation,and Advantages of Cooperative Breeding in White-winged Choughs,Corcorax melanorhamphos

White-winged choughs live in groups which cooperate in all aspects of rearing young, affording an opportunity to examine the influence of cooperation on foraging behavior. The amount of food choughs forage for themselves and feed to young increases with age, supporting the idea that individuals which dispersed to breed would have difficulty in rearing young. When feeding nestlings, individuals in the two larger groups returned to the nest less often and with larger loads than the individuals in the smallest group. Choughs in the smallest group also consumed less food at the beginning of each trip from the nest than those in the larger groups. We suggest that these measures indicate the greater efficiency allowed to individuals in larger groups when foraging from the nest. In all groups, individuals returning to the nest simultaneously with other group members carried smaller loads than those returning alone. We propose that returning in groups enables all nestlings of asynchronously hatched broods to obtain sufficient food.     

Solid-phase synthesis of triple-helical collagen-model peptides

Summary The triple-helical conformation of collagen has been proposed to be important for mediation of cellular activities, such as adhesion and activation, extracellular matrix assembly, and enzyme function. We have developed synthetic protocols that allow for the study of biological activities of specific collagen sequences in triple-helical conformation. These methods primarily involve solid-phase assembly and covalent linkage of three peptide chains. The resultant triple-helical peptides have sufficient thermal stabilities to permit structural and biological characterization under physiological conditions. The present article critically reviews the various approaches for constructing synthetic triple-helices.This paper is based on a presentation given at the Symposium on Peptide Structure and Design as part of the 31st Annual ACS Western Regional Meeting held in San Diego, CA, USA, October 18–21, 1995.     

Abundance of phytoseiid mites on Vitis species: effects of leaf hairs,domatia, prey abundance and plant phylogeny

We observed the number of predatory mites (Phytoseiidae:Typhlodromus caudiglans) on the foliage of 20 North American species of grapes (Vitis spp) plus the domesticated EuropeanVitis vinifera, all grown in a common garden. We found relatively few phytophagous mites. The numbers of phytophagous mites were not correlated with the plant characteristics that we measured. We found approximately five times as many predatory mites as phytophagous mites and the numbers of these phytoseiid predators were not affected by the availability of prey. Similarly, numbers of phytoseiids were unaffected by plant gender and, hence, the availability of pollen, another source of food. The numbers of phytoseiids were not clustered according to the taxonomic grouping of the tested plant species. Leaf surface characteristics explained over 25% of the variance in the numbers of phytoseiids. Numbers of phytoseiids were positively associated with the density of vein hairs, the density of bristles in leaf axils, and the presence of leaf domatia. These results suggest that sheltered habitats rather than food availability may limit the numbers of phytoseiid mites on grapevines.     

Strategies for the identification and purification of ligands for orphan biomolecules

The isolation of related genes with evolutionary conserved motifs by the application ofpolymerase chain reaction-based molecular biology techniques, or from database searchingstrategies, has facilitated the identification of new members of protein families. Many of theseprotein molecules will be involved in protein–protein interactions (e.g. growth factors,receptors, adhesion molecules), since such interactions are intrinsic to virtually every cellularprocess. However, the precise biological function and specific binding partners of these novelproteins are frequently unknown, hence they are known as orphan molecules.Complementary technologies are required for the identification of the specific ligands orreceptors for these and other orphan proteins (e.g., antibodies raised against crude biologicalextracts or whole cells). We describe herein several alternative strategies for the identification,purification and characterisation of orphan peptide and protein molecules, specifically thesynergistic use of micropreparative HPLC and biosensor techniques.     

DNA topology: Topoisomerases keep it simple

The ability of type II DNA topoisomerases to perturb the equilibrium distributions of DNA topoisomers is a consequence of their ability to hydrolyse ATP. A sliding mechanism of topoisomerase action has been proposed to account for this phenomenon.     

Comparison of the inhibitory effect of isothiourea and mercapto-alkylguanidine derivatives on the alternative pathways of arginine metabolism in macrophages

Novel, non-arginine based compounds have been identified as potent inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Members of the isothiourea and mercapto-alkylguanidine classes have generated much interest, as some members of these classes show selectivity towards the inducible isoform of NOS (iNOS), which plays a role in inflammation and shock. Here we compared the effect of a number of these compounds as well as L-arginine based NOS inhibitor reference compounds on macrophage-derived and liver arginase and macrophage iNOS activities. From the nonarginine based NOS inhibitors studied only S-aminoethyl-isothiourea (AETU) caused a slight inhibition of arginase activity. This inhibition was kinetically competitive and due to the rearrangement of AETU to mercapto-ethylguanidine (MEG). The weak inhibitory effect of non-arginine based iNOS inhibitors on arginase activity further supports the view that such compounds may be of practical use for inhibition of NO production in cells simultaneously expressing iNOS and arginase.