Trends in lizard translocations in New Zealand between 1988 and 2013

There is growing concern about mitigation-driven translocations that move animals from anthropogenic threats at donor sites because of their failure rate and lack of application of scientific principles and best practice. We reviewed all known lizard translocations in New Zealand between 1988 and 2013 and identified 85 translocations of 30 lizard taxa to 46 release sites. Most translocations (62%) were motivated by conservation goals for the species or the release site, and one-third were mitigation-driven translocations, typically motivated by habitat loss due to development. Mitigation-driven translocations began in 2003, and since that time have equalled the number of conservation-motivated translocations. Conservation-motivated translocations usually released lizards on islands without mammalian predators, whereas mitigation-driven translocations usually relocated lizards to mainland sites with introduced predators. Long-term monitoring has been sparse and often rudimentary. Eight lizard translocations have recorded population growth, including one mitigation-driven translocation that was into a fenced reserve. Research on commonly used management techniques to mitigate human-related impacts is recommended to establish whether these techniques benefit lizards in the long term.     

Establishment of two dry monsoon forest tree species on a fire-protected monsoon forest-savanna boundary,Cobourg Peninsula,northern Australia

Abstract A numerical classification of presence-absence data of vascular plant species on a transect across a dry monsoon foresl-Eucalyptus savanna boundary at Cobourg Peninsula was used to define savanna, ecotone or monsoon forest communities. The boundary was protected from fire. After 4 years no Aglaia rufa seedlings had established in 24 permanent quadrats (1 × 4 m) in the savanna while three Diospyros maritima seedlings established in these savanna quadrats. The number of established A. rufa seedlings in 26 ecotone quadrats fell by 50% to one individual, the number of D. maritima seedlings increased by 43% to a total of seven individuals. After 3 months significantly more transplanted D. maritima seedlings had died in the savanna than the monsoon forest, but survival of A. rufa was high, and not significantly different, in both communities. Seedlings from both species did not have significantly greater survival in the monsoon forest compared to the savanna, 42 months after transplantation.     

Effect of 4-Amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid on Protein Synthesis

The effects of 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid (picloram) on protein synthesis in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. ‘Astro’) hypocotyl and hook tissues were studied. Picloram (10^-4M) was shown to have a stimulatory effect on ¹⁴C-1-DL-leucine uptake in hook but not hypocotyl tissues. Maximum leucine incorporation and maximum total protein concentration occurred in hook tissues treated with 10^-4M picloram. Inhibition of protein synthesis with cycloheximide (CH) and erythromycin (ERY) indicates that endogenous and picloram-stimulated protein synthesis is a function of the 80S cytoplasmic ribosomes rather than 70S chloroplast or mitochondria ribosomes.     

Cloning and gene map assignment of the Xiphophorus DNA ligase 1 gene

Fishes represent the stem vertebrate condition and have maintained several gene arrangements common to mammalian genomes throughout the 450 Myr of divergence from a common ancestor. One such syntenic arrangement includes the GPI-PEPD enzyme association on Xiphophorus linkage group IV and human chromosome 19. Previously we assigned the Xiphophorus homologue of the human ERCC2 gene to linkage group U5 in tight association with the CKM locus. CKM is also tightly linked to the ERCC2 locus on human chromosome 19, leading to speculation that human chromosome 19 may have arisen by fusion of two ancestral linkage groups which have been maintained in fishes. To investigate this hypothesis further, we isolated and sequenced Xiphophorus fish genomic regions exhibiting considerable sequence similarity to the human DNA ligase 1 amino acid sequence. Comparison of the fish DNA ligase sequence with those of other species suggests several modes of amino acid conservation in this gene. A 2.2-kb restriction fragment containing part of an X. maculatus DNA ligase 1 exon was used in backcross hybrid mapping with 12 enzyme or RFLP loci. Significant linkage was observed between the nucleoside phosphorylase (NP2) and the DNA ligase (LIG1) loci on Xiphophorus linkage group VI. This assignment suggests that the association of four DNA repair-related genes on human chromosome 19 may be the result of chance chromosomal rearrangements.      

Fatal Toxoplasmosis and Enteroepithelial Stages of Toxoplasma gondii in a Pallas Cat (Felis manul)1

Toxoplasma gondii was found in tissues of a six-year-old female Pallas cat (Felis manul) from the Milwaukee County Zoo. Toxoplasma gondii meronts (types D and E), gamonts, and oocysts were present in the epithelium of the small intestine. Numerous unsporulated oocysts were present in the intestinal lumen. The cat died of acute, overwhelming toxoplasmosis. Necrotic enteritis, multifocal necrotizing granulomatous hepatitis, and pneumonia were the prominent lesions.     

Do orthologous gene phylogenies really support tree-thinking?

Background  

Since Darwin's Origin of Species, reconstructing the Tree of Life has been a goal of evolutionists, and tree-thinking has become a major concept of evolutionary biology. Practically, building the Tree of Life has proven to be tedious. Too few morphological characters are useful for conducting conclusive phylogenetic analyses at the highest taxonomic level. Consequently, molecular sequences (genes, proteins, and genomes) likely constitute the only useful characters for constructing a phylogeny of all life. For this reason, tree-makers expect a lot from gene comparisons. The simultaneous study of the largest number of molecular markers possible is sometimes considered to be one of the best solutions in reconstructing the genealogy of organisms. This conclusion is a direct consequence of tree-thinking: if gene inheritance conforms to a tree-like model of evolution, sampling more of these molecules will provide enough phylogenetic signal to build the Tree of Life. The selection of congruent markers is thus a fundamental step in simultaneous analysis of many genes.