Temporal variability of stream bioassessments using benthic macroinvertebrates

1. When using benthic macroinvertebrate communities for bioassessment, temporal variation may influence judgement as to whether or not a site is degraded.
2. In a survey of sixteen reference and sixteen test sites in the upper Thames River catchment area (UTRCA) in south-western Ontario, Canada, consistent differences between summer and winter samples were found for taxon richness (increase; P = 0.06) and the Family Biotic Index (decrease; P = 0.11). A bioassessment based on these results would indicate better water quality in the same streams in winter relative to summer. No consistent pattern of seasonal difference was detected for Simpson's Diversity and Equitability, or percentage Dominant Taxon.
3. The Reference Condition Approach to bioassessment uses predictive modelling to explain variation in reference communities with the environmental conditions at these sites as predictors. The community at a test site is compared with that predicted by the model. Several predictive models were constructed using simple geographic and habitat characteristics (i.e. catchment area, distance to source, stream width, substrate and habitat diversity) as predictors. By including season of sampling in the models, we increased their predictive power and the ability of the bioassessment to detect degradation. The best results were achieved when separate predictive models were built for each sampling season.     

Regulation of rat liver pyruvate kinase. The effect of preincubation, pH, copper ions, fructose 1,6-diphosphate and dietary changes on enzyme activity

1. Preincubation of partially purified rat liver L-type pyruvate kinase at 25 degrees for 10min. causes a marked increase in co-operativity with respect to both the substrate, phosphoenolpyruvate, and the allosteric activator, fructose 1,6-diphosphate. 2. The results are consistent with the existence of two forms of liver L-type pyruvate kinase, designated forms L(A) and L(B). It is postulated that form L(A) has a low K(m) for phosphoenolpyruvate (about 0.1mm) and is not allosterically activated, whereas form L(B) is allosterically activated by fructose 1,6-diphosphate, exhibiting in the absence of the activator sigmoidal kinetics with half-maximal activity at about 1mm-phosphoenolpyruvate. In the presence of fructose 1,6-diphosphate, form L(B) gives Michaelis-Menten kinetics with K(m) less than 0.1mm. It is further postulated that preincubation converts form L(A) into form L(B). 3. The influence of pH on the preincubation effect was studied. 4. The inhibition of pyruvate kinase by Cu(2+) was studied in detail. Though phosphoenolpyruvate and fructose 1,6-diphosphate readily protect the enzyme against Cu(2+) inhibition, little evidence of significant reversal of the inhibition by these compounds could be found. 5. The effects of starvation, fructose feeding and preincubation on the pyruvate kinase activity of crude homogenates of various tissues of the rat were also studied.     

Influence of plant developmental stage on microbial community structure and activity in the rhizosphere of three field crops

Seasonal shifts in rhizosphere microbial populations were investigated to follow the influence of plant developmental stage. A field study of indigenous microbial rhizosphere communities was undertaken on pea (Pisum satvium var. quincy), wheat (Triticum aestivum var. pena wawa) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris var. amythyst). Rhizosphere community diversity and substrate utilization patterns were followed throughout a growing season, by culturing, rRNA gene density gradient gel electrophoresis and BIOLOG. Culturable bacterial and fungal rhizosphere community densities were stable in pea and wheat rhizospheres, with dynamic shifts observed in the sugar beet rhizosphere. Successional shifts in bacterial and fungal diversity as plants mature demonstrated that different plants select and define their own functional rhizosphere communities. Assessment of metabolic activity and resource utilization by bacterial community-level physiological profiling demonstrated greater similarities between different plant species rhizosphere communities at the same than at different developmental stages. Marked temporal shifts in diversity and relative activity were observed in rhizosphere bacterial communities with developmental stage for all plant species studied. Shifts in the diversity of fungal and bacterial communities were more pronounced in maturing pea and sugar beet plants. This detailed study demonstrates that plant species select for specialized microbial communities that change in response to plant growth and plant inputs.     

Evaluating Human Risk from Exposure to Alkylated PAHs in an Aquatic System

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large class of organic chemicals typically found as mixtures in the aquatic environment from natural, petrogenic, and pyrogenic sources. People can be exposed to PAHs through ingestion or dermal contact with contaminated sediments or through ingestion of finfish and shellfish exposed to contaminated sediments. Although more than 100 PAHs have been identified, human exposure and risk are commonly evaluated for 18 individual PAHs. Other PAHs, such as alkylated PAHs, likely contribute to biological activity of environmental PAH mixtures; however, insufficient toxicity data are available to quantify their potential risk. This article presents an initial evaluation of the potential for human health risk from exposure to alkylated PAHs in sediment and fish. Individual alkylated PAHs have been observed to have potentially mutagenic, tumor-promoting, or carcinogenic activity. However, except for 1-and 2-methylnaphthalene, insufficient toxicity data are available to quantify toxicity or cancer risk from exposure to individual alkylated PAHs or mixtures of alkylated PAHs. This article describes a proposed strategy to better understand the potential human health risk from exposure to alkylated PAHs. Implementation of this strategy will contribute to evaluations of human exposure to complex PAH mixtures in the environment.     

A geographic mosaic of trophic interactions and selection: trees, aphids and birds

Genetic variation in plants is known to influence arthropod assemblages and species interactions. However, these influences may be contingent upon local environmental conditions. Here, we examine how plant genotype-based trophic interactions and patterns of natural selection change across environments. Studying the cottonwood tree, Populus angustifolia, the galling aphid, Pemphigus betae and its avian predators, we used three common gardens across an environmental gradient to examine the effects of plant genotype on gall abundance, gall size, aphid fecundity and predation rate on galls. Three patterns emerged: (i) plant genotype explained variation in gall abundance and predation, (ii) G×E explained variation in aphid fecundity, and environment explained variation in gall abundance and gall size, (iii) natural selection on gall size changed from directional to stabilizing across environments.     

Immobilization of enzymes in porous supports: Effects of support-enzyme solution contacting

Proteins have been immobilized in porous support particles held in a fixed-bed reactor through which protein solution is continuously circulated. Changing the recirculation flow rate alters the observed immobilization kinetics and the maximum enzyme loading which can be achieved for glucose oxidase and glucoamylase on carbodiimide-treated activated carbon and for glucoamylase immobilized on CNBr-Sepharose 4B. Direct microscopic examination of FITC-labelled protein in sectioned Sepharose particles and indirect activity-loading studies with activated carbon-enzyme conjugates all indicate that immobilized enzyme is increasingly localized near the outer surface of the support particles at larger recirculation flow rates. Restricted diffusion of enzymes may be implicated in this phenomenon. These contacting effects may be significant considerations in the scaleup of processes for protein impregnation in porous supports, since apparent activity and stability of the final preparation depend on internal protein distribution.     

Does saltwater flushing reduce viability of diapausing eggs in ship ballast sediment?

Flushing of ballast tanks with seawater has been proposed to reduce the risk of invasion associated with residual ballast in 'no ballast on board' ships. The efficacy of this procedure, however, has not been determined. Using diapausing eggs isolated from ballast sediments — as well as from Lake Erie sediment — this study investigated the impact of salinity (0, 8 and 35‰) and temperature (10, 20 and 30 °C) on the cumulative abundance and species richness of hatched zooplankton taxa. The rate and amount of hatching varied dramatically between sediments and across salinity–temperature regimes. Although exposure to saline water inhibited emergence of freshwater taxa during the exposure phase of all trials, mixed results were evident after diapausing eggs were returned to freshwater. The efficacy of salinity as a ballast treatment method was temperature dependent, although the direction of the effect was case-specific. Exposure of eggs to saline water was less effective at 10 and 30 °C than at 20 °C. Although flushing ballast tanks with open ocean water is expected to significantly reduce the number of active invertebrates living in residual ballast water (a potentially larger source of invaders), our results indicate that the most effective treatment conditions for reduction of diapausing egg viability is 8‰ salinity at 20 °C.     

Adhesion of bacteria to epithelial cell surfaces within the reticulo-rumen of cattle.

Blocks of tissue were removed from various locations in the bovine digestive tract and fixed and processed for transmission and scanning electron microscopy by techniques that retained adherent bacteria. The distribution of bacteria on the surface of epithelial cells was examined by scanning electron microscopy. This showed intermittent colonization of the epithelia with the formation of occasional microcolonies of morphologically similar bacterial cells. Transmission electron microscopy of ruthenium red-stained material showed the presence of both the glycocalyx of the bovine epithelial cells and fibrous carbohydrate coats surrounding adherent bacteria. The carbohydrate coats appeared to mediate the attachment of bacteria to the epithelium, to food particles, and to each other so that microcolonies were formed. Careful examination of the bacterial colonization of keratinized cells in the process of being sloughed from the surface of the stratified squamous epithelium of the rumen showed that these dead cells were digested by adherent bacteria of a limited number of morphological types. The spatial relationship of this mixed, adherent, microbial population to living and dead epithelial cells and to food particles indicates that digestive processes of some importance may be accomplished by this stationary component of the microbial flora of the digestive tract.     

DETECTING CRYPTIC INDIRECT GENETIC EFFECTS

Indirect genetic effects (IGEs) occur when genes expressed in one individual alter the phenotype of an interacting partner. IGEs can dramatically affect the expression and evolution of social traits. However, the interacting phenotype(s) through which they are transmitted are often unknown, or cryptic, and their detection would enhance our ability to accurately predict evolutionary change. To illustrate this challenge and possible solutions to it, we assayed male leg‐tapping behavior using inbred lines of Drosophila melanogaster paired with a common focal male strain. The expression of tapping in focal males was dependent on the genotype of their interacting partner, but this strong IGE was cryptic. Using a multiple‐regression approach, we identified male startle response as a candidate interacting phenotype: the longer it took interacting males to settle after being startled, the less focal males tapped them. A genome‐wide association analysis identified approximately a dozen candidate protein‐coding genes potentially underlying the IGE, of which the most significant was slowpoke. Our methodological framework provides information about candidate phenotypes and candidate single‐nucleotide polymorphisms that underpin a strong yet cryptic IGE. We discuss how this approach can facilitate the detection of cryptic IGEs contributing to unusual evolutionary dynamics in other study systems.     

Introduced ungulate herbivore alters soil processes after fire

Ungulate herbivory can have profound effects on ecosystem processes by altering organic inputs of leaves and roots as well as changing soil physical and chemical properties. These effects may be especially important when the herbivore is an introduced species. Utilizing large mammal exclosures to prevent access by introduced elk at multiple sites along a fire chronosequence, we examined the effects of elk herbivory and fire on soil microbial activity and nutrient availability. Using time since fire as a co-variate and herbivore exclosures, paired with areas outside of the exclosures, we hypothesized that reductions in plant biomass due to herbivory would reduce organic inputs to soils and impact soil microbial activities and nutrient storage. We found three major patterns: (1) when elk were excluded, surface mineral soils had higher soil organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), microbial N pools, and increased extra-cellular enzyme activity of a C-acquiring enzyme across a gradient of time since fire. (2) When introduced elk are present, the activity of some extracellular enzymes as well as NO₃ ⁻ availability are enhanced in the soil but the post-fire patterns described above with respect to nutrient accrual over time are delayed. (3) Herbivory by an introduced ungulate upsets the trajectory of ecosystem “recovery” after wildfire and delays soil C and N dynamics by an estimated 14.5–21 years, respectively. These results suggest that introduced, browsing herbivores significantly decelerate ecosystem processes but herbivory by exotics may also result in unpredictability in specific soil responses.