Infrared thermography ofArum lily inflorescences

The infrared radiation emitted from the surface of inflorescences of 12 aroid species was monitored with an infrared camera, capable of 0.1°C resolution, and the data were converted to temperature values by means of temperature reference standards. Images representing surface temperatures were obtained forAmorphophallus bulbifer Blume,A. campanulatus Blume,A. forbesii Engl. et Gehrm.,A. rivieri Dur.,Philodendron selloum Koch,Monstera deliciosa Liebm.,Dracunculus vulgaris Schott,Arum italicum Mill.,A. dioscoridis Sibth.,A. creticum Boiss et Heldr.,Caladium sp., andRemusatia vivipara Schott. These images were different among species with respect to temperature, duration of detectable heat development, and organ type (male and female flowers, spathe and appendix) found to be thermogenic. All these species, however, exhibited three common characteristics: 1) production of heat by the male flowers; 2) pollen-shedding immediately after heat production had ceased; and 3) when male flowers were some distance away from female flowers along the spadix, heat was not detected in female flowers. Heat emission was associated with the alternative, cyanide-insensitive pathway that was fully operative.     

Trophic state and water turn-over time in six choked coastal lagoons in Brazil

Comparison of total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a concentration, nutrient loading, and water turn-over time in six shallow choked lagoons along the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, established that water turn-over time is related to the trophic state of the lagoons with additional anthropogenic nutrient loading affecting this relationship. Turnover time was calculated as a flushing half-life from rainfall, evaporation, runoff, and tidal exchange data, and trophic state was calculated from the quantity and quality of dissolved inorganic nutrients, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a standing stock. Flushing half-life of the lagoons ranged between 1 and 27 days, annual phosphorus areal loading from 3 to 18 mg m^–2d^–1, and chlorophyll-a standing stock from 6 to 160 mg M^–2     

Bridging the membrane lipid divide: bacteria of the FCB group superphylum have the potential to synthesize archaeal ether lipids

Archaea synthesize membranes of isoprenoid lipids that are ether-linked to glycerol-1-phosphate (G1P), while Bacteria/Eukarya produce membranes consisting of fatty acids ester-bound to glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P). This dichotomy in membrane lipid composition (i.e., the ‘lipid divide’) is believed to have arisen after the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA). A leading hypothesis is that LUCA possessed a heterochiral ‘mixed archaeal/bacterial membrane’. However, no natural microbial representatives supporting this scenario have been shown to exist today. Here, we demonstrate that bacteria of the Fibrobacteres–Chlorobi–Bacteroidetes (FCB) group superphylum encode a putative archaeal pathway for ether-bound isoprenoid membrane lipids in addition to the bacterial fatty acid membrane pathway. Key genes were expressed in the environment and their recombinant expression in Escherichia coli resulted in the formation of a ‘mixed archaeal/bacterial membrane’. Genomic evidence and biochemical assays suggest that the archaeal-like lipids of members of the FCB group could possess either a G1P or G3P stereochemistry. Our results support the existence of ‘mixed membranes’ in natural environments and their stability over a long period in evolutionary history, thereby bridging a once-thought fundamental divide in biology.Subject terms: Water microbiology, Cellular microbiology, Molecular evolution, Metagenomics