Trees tolerate an extreme heatwave via sustained transpirational cooling and increased leaf thermal tolerance

Heatwaves are likely to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change, which may impair tree function and forest C uptake. However, we have little information regarding the impact of extreme heatwaves on the physiological performance of large trees in the field. Here, we grew Eucalyptus parramattensis trees for 1 year with experimental warming (+3°C) in a field setting, until they were greater than 6 m tall. We withheld irrigation for 1 month to dry the surface soils and then implemented an extreme heatwave treatment of 4 consecutive days with air temperatures exceeding 43°C, while monitoring whole‐canopy exchange of CO₂ and H₂O, leaf temperatures, leaf thermal tolerance, and leaf and branch hydraulic status. The heatwave reduced midday canopy photosynthesis to near zero but transpiration persisted, maintaining canopy cooling. A standard photosynthetic model was unable to capture the observed decoupling between photosynthesis and transpiration at high temperatures, suggesting that climate models may underestimate a moderating feedback of vegetation on heatwave intensity. The heatwave also triggered a rapid increase in leaf thermal tolerance, such that leaf temperatures observed during the heatwave were maintained within the thermal limits of leaf function. All responses were equivalent for trees with a prior history of ambient and warmed (+3°C) temperatures, indicating that climate warming conferred no added tolerance of heatwaves expected in the future. This coordinated physiological response utilizing latent cooling and adjustment of thermal thresholds has implications for tree tolerance of future climate extremes as well as model predictions of future heatwave intensity at landscape and global scales.     

Daphnia magna microRNAs respond to nutritional stress and ageing but are not transgenerational

Maternal effects, where the performance of offspring is determined by the condition of their mother, are widespread and may in some cases be adaptive. The crustacean Daphnia magna shows strong maternal effects: offspring size at birth and other proxies for fitness are altered when their mothers are older or when mothers have experienced dietary restriction. The mechanisms for this transgenerational transmission of maternal experience are unknown, but could include changes in epigenetic patterning. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulators of gene expression that have been shown to play roles in intergenerational information transfer, and here, we test whether miRNAs are involved in D. magna maternal effects. We found that miRNAs were differentially expressed in mothers of different ages or nutritional state. We then examined miRNA expression in their eggs, their adult daughters and great granddaughters, which did not experience any treatments. The maternal (treatment) generation exhibited differential expression of miRNAs, as did their eggs, but this was reduced in adult daughters and lost by great granddaughters. Thus, miRNAs are a component of maternal provisioning, but do not appear to be the cause of transgenerational responses under these experimental conditions. MicroRNAs may act in tandem with egg provisioning (e.g., with carbohydrates or fats), and possibly other small RNAs or epigenetic modifications.     

Evolutionary temperature compensation of carbon fixation in marine phytoplankton

The efficiency of carbon sequestration by the biological pump could decline in the coming decades because respiration tends to increase more with temperature than photosynthesis. Despite these differences in the short‐term temperature sensitivities of photosynthesis and respiration, it remains unknown whether the long‐term impacts of global warming on metabolic rates of phytoplankton can be modulated by evolutionary adaptation. We found that respiration was consistently more temperature dependent than photosynthesis across 18 diverse marine phytoplankton, resulting in universal declines in the rate of carbon fixation with short‐term increases in temperature. Long‐term experimental evolution under high temperature reversed the short‐term stimulation of metabolic rates, resulting in increased rates of carbon fixation. Our findings suggest that thermal adaptation may therefore have an ameliorating impact on the efficiency of phytoplankton as primary mediators of the biological carbon pump.     

Phenotypic heterogeneity of Gross virus-induced thymic lymphomas in the rat: cellular origins and migratory properties

Neoplastic thymocytes from rat thymic lymphoma-leukemias induced by the rat-adapted Gross leukemia virus (RAGV) were analyzed for a variety of differentiation markers. The neoplasms from individual rats all expressed the antigenic phenotype MP+, W3/13+, Thy-1+, RT-1+, RT-7+, W3/25-. However, approximately two-thirds of the neoplasms were positive for the OX 8 antigen, and one-third were negative. The OX 8- neoplasms only involved the thymus, whereas approximately 40% of the OX 8+ neoplasms involved the spleen as well as the thymus. Virtually all OX 8+ and OX 8- neoplastic cells contained terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), and both OX 8+ and OX 8- lymphomas expressed the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-5' isozyme and the primary, but not the secondary, ADA isozyme. This enzymatic phenotype is characteristic of thymocyte precursors, but not thymocytes. Our results therefore indicate that RAGV-induced lymphomas arise from transformed prethymic TdT+ cells which contain the LDH-5' and the primary ADA isozymes. These preleukemic cells presumably migrate to the thymus where they express the RT-7 pan-T-cell antigen and, in some instances, the OX 8 antigen during the development of overt leukemia. The OX 8+ neoplasms, being more differentiated than their OX 8- counterparts, then migrate to peripheral lymphoid tissues.     

Determination of Effective Transport Coefficients for Bacterial Migration in Sand Columns

A well-characterized experimental system was designed to evaluate the effect of porous media on macroscopic transport coefficients which are used to characterize the migration of bacterial populations. Bacterial density profiles of Pseudomonas putida PRS2000 were determined in the presence and absence of a chemical attractant (3-chlorobenzoate) gradient within sand columns having a narrow distribution of particle diameters. These experimental profiles were compared with theoretical predictions to evaluate the macroscopic transport coefficients. The effective random motility coefficient, used to quantify migration due to a random process in a porous medium, decreased nearly 20-fold as grain size in the columns decreased from 800 to 80 (mu)m. The effective random motility coefficient (mu)(infeff) was related to the random motility coefficient (mu), measured in a bulk aqueous system, according to (mu)(infeff) = ((epsilon)/(tau))(mu) with porosity (epsilon) and tortuosity (tau). Over the times and distances examined in these experiments, bacterial density profiles were unaffected by the presence of an attractant gradient. Theoretical profiles with the aqueous phase value of the chemotactic sensitivity coefficient (used to quantify migration due to a directed process) were consistent with this result and suggested that any chemotactic effect on bacterial migration was below the detection limits of our assay.     

Whole-genome scan, in a complex disease, using 11,245 single-nucleotide polymorphisms: comparison with microsatellites

Despite the theoretical evidence of the utility of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for linkage analysis, no whole-genome scans of a complex disease have yet been published to directly compare SNPs with microsatellites. Here, we describe a whole-genome screen of 157 families with multiple cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), performed using 11,245 genomewide SNPs. The results were compared with those from a 10-cM microsatellite scan in the same cohort. The SNP analysis detected HLA*DRB1, the major RA susceptibility locus (P=.00004), with a linkage interval of 31 cM, compared with a 50-cM linkage interval detected by the microsatellite scan. In addition, four loci were detected at a nominal significance level (P<.05) in the SNP linkage analysis; these were not observed in the microsatellite scan. We demonstrate that variation in information content was the main factor contributing to observed differences in the two scans, with the SNPs providing significantly higher information content than the microsatellites. Reducing the number of SNPs in the marker set to 3,300 (1-cM spacing) caused several loci to drop below nominal significance levels, suggesting that decreases in information content can have significant effects on linkage results. In contrast, differences in maps employed in the analysis, the low detectable rate of genotyping error, and the presence of moderate linkage disequilibrium between markers did not significantly affect the results. We have demonstrated the utility of a dense SNP map for performing linkage analysis in a late-age-at-onset disease, where DNA from parents is not always available. The high SNP density allows loci to be defined more precisely and provides a partial scaffold for association studies, substantially reducing the resource requirement for gene-mapping studies.     

Utilization of endoscopic inoculation in a mouse model of intrauterine infection-induced preterm birth: role of interleukin 1beta

A novel murine model of intrauterine infection/inflammation-induced preterm birth based on direct endoscopic intracervical inoculation is described. Using this model, we investigated infection-induced premature pregnancy loss in normal and interleukin (IL) 1beta-deficient mice. Seventy-four CD-1, HS, C57BL/6J wild type (IL-1beta+/+), and C57BL/6J IL-1beta-deficient (IL-1beta-/-) mice were inoculated intracervically using a micro-endoscope, at a time corresponding to 70% of average gestation. Intracervical injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or Escherichia coli reliably induced premature birth: 100% of mice intracervically injected with LPS and 92% of mice with a positive endometrial E. coli culture delivered prematurely within 36 h after inoculation. No losses were observed in mice inoculated with saline. Pregnancy loss was associated with increased uterine tissue cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression and uterine content of IL-1beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and IL-6, as well as elevation of nuclear factor-kappaB activity in uterine tissues. Although IL-1beta-/- mice exhibited decreased uterine cytokine production in response to bacteria and LPS, IL-1beta deficiency did not affect the rate of pregnancy loss. This model using direct intracervical bacterial or LPS inoculation is useful for studying preterm pregnancy loss in genetically altered mice in order to develop novel interventions for infection-associated preterm labor.     

Description of a new species of Phylloscopus warbler from Vietnam and Laos

A new species of Phylloscopus warbler, which we name Phylloscopus calciatilis Limestone Leaf Warbler, is described from central and northern Vietnam and central and northern Laos; it probably also breeds in southernmost China. In morphology, the new species is very similar to Sulphur-breasted Warbler Phylloscopus ricketti , but it is smaller with a proportionately larger bill and rounder wing. Its song and calls are diagnostic. Based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, the new species is most closely related to P. ricketti and Yellow-vented Warbler Phylloscopus cantator , and it is inferred to be sister to the latter. The mitochondrial divergences between these three species are at the low end of the variation found in other species of Phylloscopus and Seicercus warblers, but greater than in other taxa generally treated as subspecies. Possible introgressive hybridization between the new species and P. ricketti is discussed, but more data are needed to establish whether it does occur and, if it does, to what extent. The new species appears to have a restricted breeding range in limestone karst environments, where it is locally common and therefore not under any immediate threat. In view of the recognition of the new species, all previous records of P. ricketti sensu lato need to be re-evaluated.     

Alternative splicing generates a secreted form of N-CAM in muscle and brain

A number of different membrane associated isoforms of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) have previously been identified. Here the structure of a novel secreted isoform of N-CAM is established by analysis of a cDNA corresponding to an N-CAM mRNA from human skeletal muscle. The mRNA incorporates a novel sequence block into the extracellular domain, which introduces an in-frame stop codon and thus prematurely terminates the coding sequence, generating a truncated N-CAM polypeptide. Analysis of genomic clones indicates that the inserted sequence is present as a discrete exon within the human N-CAM gene, and Northern analysis shows it to be associated specifically with a 5.2 kb mRNA species from skeletal muscle and brain. Stable transfectants expressing the secreted isoform accumulate it in the cytoplasm and release it to the culture medium. In contrast, cells transfected with cDNA encoding lipid-tailed N-CAM express it predominantly at the cell surface. The existence of a secreted isoform may further expand the spectrum of N-CAM function beyond its known involvement in intercellular adhesion to extracellular matrix interactions.