There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect

Armoured ground crickets Acanthoplus discoidalis (Bradyporidae) have an arsenal of defence mechanisms in response to attack. Males but not females can stridulate when attacked, while both sexes will bite and regurgitate upon provocation. They will also autohaemorrhage. Here we have quantified these responses, examining how individuals of both sexes respond to repeated simulated predatory attack from the side (grabbing the legs with forceps) or from above (grabbing the animal by the pronotum). We found different responses depending on the method of attack. When attack was directed from the side (at the legs) the crickets can bite their attacker and males stridulate intensely. About 62% of such attacks elicited an autohaemorrhage response, where the crickets squirt 13±22 mg of acrid-smelling haemolymph 43±63 mm from seams in the connective tissue between the trochanter and coxa of each leg and from under the pronotum. By contrast, animals attacked from above could not turn and bite their attacker, and stridulation was also reduced in males. About 86% of such attacks elicited an autohaemorrhage response with 19±19 mg of haemolymph projecting 10±30 mm from the body. Autohaemorrhaging is an effective form of chemical defence against bearded dragon lizards Pogona vitticeps (Agamidae) and Aca. discoidalis haemolymph applied to Gryllus bimaculatus nymphs (which have no such chemical defence) successfully saved them from predation by striped skinks Trachylepis punctatissima (Scincidae).     

Autophagic Elimination of Misfolded Procollagen Aggregates in the Endoplasmic Reticulum as a Means of Cell Protection

Type I collagen is a major component of the extracellular matrix, and mutations in the collagen gene cause several matrix-associated diseases. These mutant procollagens are misfolded and often aggregated in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Although the misfolded procollagens are potentially toxic to the cell, little is known about how they are eliminated from the ER. Here, we show that procollagen that can initially trimerize but then aggregates in the ER are eliminated by an autophagy-lysosome pathway, but not by the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway. Inhibition of autophagy by specific inhibitors or RNAi-mediated knockdown of an autophagy-related gene significantly stimulated accumulation of aggregated procollagen trimers in the ER, and activation of autophagy with rapamycin resulted in reduced amount of aggregates. In contrast, a mutant procollagen which has a compromised ability to form trimers was degraded by ERAD. Moreover, we found that autophagy plays an essential role in protecting cells against the toxicity of the ERAD-inefficient procollagen aggregates. The autophagic elimination of aggregated procollagen occurs independently of the ERAD system. These results indicate that autophagy is a final cell protection strategy deployed against ER-accumulated cytotoxic aggregates that are not able to be removed by ERAD.     

Disentangling stocking introgression and natural migration in brown trout: survival success and recruitment failure in populations with semi‐supportive breeding

1. Introgression into natural salmonid populations from stocked conspecifics has been widely studied. Outcomes vary from no effect even after decades of stocking, to population replacement after only a couple of generations. Potential introgression caused by semi‐supportive breeding (i.e. using a mixture of local strains as brood stock) is, however, less well studied. 2. We investigated population structure of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in a regulated alpine lake with three natural, environmentally contrasting tributaries used as spawning and rearing habitat. Massive semi‐supportive breeding of admixed local strains has been implemented for decades. Stocked trout represented c. 17% of the total lake population, and a substantial post‐release survival reflects a considerable potential for introgression. However, the mark‐recapture studies indicate no spawning runs of stocked fish. 3. Using 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci, we found natural straying and non‐native reproduction, especially among wild populations inhabiting environmentally unstable habitat. Retained genetic structure across tributaries indicated low reproductive success of wild‐born non‐natives. Moreover, the genetic structure among tributaries has probably not been influenced by semi‐supportive breeding, because of recruitment failure of stocked trout.     

Fungal community composition in neotropical rain forests: the influence of tree diversity and precipitation

Plant diversity is considered one factor structuring soil fungal communities because the diversity of compounds in leaf litter might determine the extent of resource heterogeneity for decomposer communities. Lowland tropical rain forests have the highest plant diversity per area of any biome. Since fungi are responsible for much of the decomposition occurring in forest soils, understanding the factors that structure fungi in tropical forests may provide valuable insight for predicting changes in global carbon and nitrogen fluxes. To test the role of plant diversity in shaping fungal community structure and function, soil (0-20?cm) and leaf litter (O horizons) were collected from six established 1-ha forest census plots across a natural plant diversity gradient on the Isthmus of Panama. We used 454 pyrosequencing and phospholipid fatty acid analysis to evaluate correlations between microbial community composition, precipitation, soil nutrients, and plant richness. In soil, the number of fungal taxa increased significantly with increasing mean annual precipitation, but not with plant richness. There were no correlations between fungal communities in leaf litter and plant diversity or precipitation, and fungal communities were found to be compositionally distinct between soil and leaf litter. To directly test for effects of plant species richness on fungal diversity and function, we experimentally re-created litter diversity gradients in litter bags with 1, 25, and 50 species of litter. After 6?months, we found a significant effect of litter diversity on decomposition rate between one and 25 species of leaf litter. However, fungal richness did not track plant species richness. Although studies in a broader range of sites is required, these results suggest that precipitation may be a more important factor than plant diversity or soil nutrient status in structuring tropical forest soil fungal communities.     

Comparison of Infection by W-type and R-type Isolates of the Eyespot Pathogen, Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides, in Relation to Host Species and Cultivar, Temperature and Watering Regime in Controlled Environments

Abstract The spore-germination fluid of Alternaria solani was examined for factors which are important in the early stages of infection and probably explain the selectivity of A. solani to tomato and potato as host plants. The following activities of the spore-germination fluid were found: 1. Host-selective toxicity at low concentrations. 2. Infection promotion and enhancement of A. solani infections on host plants when spore-germination fluid was added to the inoculum. 3. An induction of susceptibility which enabled a non-pathogenic A. alternata isolate to cause necrotic spots on the leaves of the host plants of A. solani when its inoculum contained spore-germination fluid of A. solani. Properties 1 and 2 seemed to, be attributed to alternaric acid. This phytotoxin was detectable in effective concentrations in the spore-germination fluid. A factor, responsible for the susceptibility-induction for A. alternata on the host plants of A. solani was characterized as a water-soluble fraction of the spore-germination fluid which was free of alternaric acid and not toxic.     

Capillary operators—II

This work continues with an examination of capillary exchange models as operators, namely the operatorsO _k andK _αk relating extravascular and intravascular concentration to input for the Krogh cylinder model of a single capillary, a model basic to many organ models. Fundamental algebraic and analytic properties are presented: the operators belong to a commutative Banach algebra; an addition theorem holdsK _αk +K _βk =K _α+β,k ; the operatorK _αk has an inverse;K _αk ^-1 , (as an operator on LebesgueL _p space or on the locally integrable functions); partial derivatives are given forK _αk [f](t) andO _k [f](t) (sensitivity functions); and inequalities are established for the derivatives. Dominance relations between model curves are inferred. Error bound formulas are presented forK andO as bounds on ‖K _αk f-K _βl f‖ _p and ‖O _k f-O _l f‖ _p for allL _p . Consequent limitations on relative errors are shown. The implications for operators on a finite time interval are deduced. This work supported in part by PHS Grant Nos HL-19153 (SCOR and Pulmonary Vascular Disease) and HL-19370 at Vanderbilt University Medical School.