The Relative Abundance of Mountain Pine Beetle Fungal Associates Through the Beetle Life Cycle in Pine Trees

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) is a native bark beetle of western North America that attacks pine tree species, particularly lodgepole pine. It is closely associated with the ophiostomatoid ascomycetes Grosmannia clavigera, Leptographium longiclavatum, Ophiostoma montium, and Ceratocystiopsis sp.1, with which it is symbiotically associated. To develop a better understanding of interactions between beetles, fungi, and host trees, we used target-specific DNA primers with qPCR to assess the changes in fungal associate abundance over the stages of the MPB life cycle that occur in galleries under the bark of pine trees. Multivariate analysis of covariance identified statistically significant changes in the relative abundance of the fungi over the life cycle of the MPB. Univariate analysis of covariance identified a statistically significant increase in the abundance of Ceratocystiopsis sp.1 through the beetle life cycle, and pair-wise analysis showed that this increase occurs after the larval stage. In contrast, the abundance of O. montium and Leptographium species (G. clavigera, L. longiclavatum) did not change significantly through the MPB life cycle. From these results, the only fungus showing a significant increase in relative abundance has not been formally described and has been largely ignored by other MPB studies. Although our results were from only one site, in previous studies we have shown that the fungi described were all present in at least ten sites in British Columbia. We suggest that the role of Ceratocystiopsis sp.1 in the MPB system should be explored, particularly its potential as a source of nutrients for teneral adults.     

Comparison of dose distribution in IMRT and RapidArc technique in prostate radiotherapy

AimThe aim was to provide a dosimetric comparison between IMRT and RapidArc treatment plans with RPI index with simultaneous comparison of the treatment delivery time.BackgroundIMRT and RapidArc provide highly conformal dose distribution with good sparing of normal tissues. However, a complex spatial dosimetry of IMRT and RapidArc plans hampers the evaluation and comparison between plans calculated for the two modalities. RPI was used in this paper for treatment plan comparisons. The duration of the therapeutic session in RapidArc is reported to be shorter in comparison to therapeutic time of the other dynamic techniques. For this reasons, total treatment delivery time in both techniques was compared and discussed.Materials and methods15 patients with prostate carcinoma were randomly selected for the analysis. Two competitive treatment plans using respectively the IMRT and RapidArc techniques were computed for each patient in Eclipse planning system v. 8.6.15. RPIwin^® application was used for RPI calculations for each treatment plan.Additionally, total treatment time was compared between IMRT and RapidArc plans. Total treatment time was a sum of monitor units (MU) for each treated field.ResultsThe mean values of the RPI indices were insignificantly higher for IMRT plans in comparison to rotational therapy. Comparison of the mean numbers of monitor units confirmed that the use of rotational technique instead of conventional static field IMRT can significantly reduce the treatment time.ConclusionAnalysis presented in this paper, demonstrated that RapidArc can compete with the IMRT technique in the field of treatment plan dosimetry reducing the time required for dose delivery.     

Modulating effect of cerulein on benzodiazepine receptors

Subcutaneous administration of caerulein (100-500 micrograms/kg) significantly reduced the development of picrotoxin (8 mg/kg) seizures in male mice. The same doses of caerulein inhibited 3H-flunitrazepam binding in in vivo experiments. Proglumide, an antagonist of cholecystokinin receptors, in low dose (5 mg/kg) potentiated the effects of caerulein (100 micrograms/kg), whereas the administration of proglumide in high dose (25 mg/kg) reduced the action of caerulein on 3H-flunitrazepam binding and picrotoxin seizures. Caerulein (5-1000 nM) decreased 3H-flunitrazepam binding in in vitro experiments only after supplementation of the binding medium with 120 mM NaCl and 5mM KCl. The results suggest the possible interaction of caerulein with chloride ionophor. It seems probable that the direct interaction of caerulein with chloride ionophor in involved in the inhibitory effect of caerulein on picrotoxin seizures and 3H-flunitrazepam binding.     

Purification and properties of thyrotrophin releasing hormone (TRH)-containing particles from the rat hypothalamus

The subcellular distribution of the TRH-like immunoreactivity in the rat hypothalamus and brain was studied. In differential centrifugation, the 900 g for 10 min supernatant (S1) of the hypothalamus or brain contained 61--79% of the total TRH. At 11,000 g for 20 min, 51--73% of the TRH in S1 was sedimented. When the hypothalamic S1 was fractioned under non-equilibrium conditions at 25 degrees C, two populations of TRH-containing particles were observed in several types of continuous linear density gradients. Metrizamide and sucrose gradients affected TRH-assay. TRH-particles were very light in Percol-gradients. Isotonic dextran 40,000-sucrose gradients gave the most reproducible results. In these gradients, the large TRH-particles (35%) equilibrated at 1.055--1.060 kg/l and the small ones (23%) at 1.041--1.047 kg/l. Working at 4 degrees C decreased the amount of large TRH-particles. The apparently larger particles contained cytoplasmic and mitochondrial enzymes and were sensitive to hypoosmotic shock like synaptosomes. Electron micrographs confirmed that these particles were synaptosomes. The true nature of the small particles remained unclear but morphologically a part of them were also synaptosomes. Treatment of the animals with reserpine (10 mg/kg i.p., 24 h), with 6-hydroxydopamine (100 microgram/rat i.c.v.) or with 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (200 microgram/rat i.c.v.) did not affect significantly TRH-recovery or distribution in the hypothalamus.     

Functional outline of the epidemic process

The present study has shown that on the level of the parasitic system the epidemic process is a biological system, wherein the host population serves as the internal regulator, the mechanism of transmission serves as the external regulator and the parasite population, as the regulated object. The biological regulating mechanisms of the epidemic process have fundamental differences in the groups of infectious with various mechanisms of transmission, and the specific nature of the mechanism of transmission determines the peculiar features of the biological mechanism which governs the self-regulation of the epidemic process. In contrast, on a higher level of the organization of the epidemic process, i. e. on the level of the socio-ecological system, the epidemic process is a biosocial system, wherein the human society serves as the regulator, the parasitic system serves as the regulated object and the mechanism of transmission plays the role of the filter which determines the scope of social factors, most important in the regulation of the epidemic process in a given infection. The spontaneous regulation of the epidemic process is the freed forward channel from the regulator to the regulated object, and the controlled regulation is the feedback channel.     

Inhibition of RNA synthesis in yeast protoplasts by a peptide factor from Tetrahymena cells

Protoplasts of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, grown on a rich nutrient medium, were treated with a peptide factor isolated from cultures of the protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis. The peptide factor is known to inhibit RNA synthesis in Tetrahymena. It has now been shown that the peptide factor also inhibits RNA synthesis in yeast protoplasts without affecting protein synthesis.     

Structure of Cu2(indomethacin)4 and the reaction with superoxide in aprotic systems

The copper complex of indomethacin (1-(p-chlorobenzoyl)-5-methoxy-2-methyl-indole acetate), a common anti-inflammatory drug, was prepared and characterized. Crystal structure determination revealed the dimeric form of the 1:2 complex, namely Cu₂(indomethacin)₄ · L₂, in the unit cell. Suprisingly, the copper-copper distance (263 pm) was very close to metallic copper (256 pm). The two coordination sites in the copper-copper axis can be readily replaced by superoxide. An intriguing similarity to Cu₂(acetate)₄ was seen.Due to the lipophilic nature of the indomethacin ligand, this copper complex reacted with superoxide in aprotic solvents. The superoxide dismutating activity was successfully demonstrated in Me₂SO/water and acetonitrile/water mixtures using the nitro-blue tetrazolium assay and pulse radiolysis. The second-order rate constant of 6 · 10⁹ M^?1 · s^?1 in strictly aqueous systems dropped only slightly to 1.1 · 10⁹ M^?1 · s^?1 when aprotic solvents were used. This is the fastest rate constant ever observed for a copper-dependent dismutation of superoxide. The KO₂-induced lipid peroxidation in both erythrocytes and liver microsomes was suppressed by 70% in the presence of 1 · 10^?10 mol · ml^?1 of Cu₂(indomethacin)₄. The inhibitory action dropped to 25% when Cu₂Zn₂superoxide dismutase was employed. The formation of copper · indomethacin in rat serum after administration of indomethacin was shown in vitro and in vivo.