Diversity of the understory vascular vegetation in 40 year-old and old-growth forest stands on Vancouver Island,British Columbia

Abstract. We studied plant diversity of the understory vascular vegetation in 40 yr-old plantations (immature stands) and old-growth forest stands on southwestern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Site-specific comparisons using several indices of species diversity were made between: (1) immature stands segregated according to the canopy cover and dominant canopy tree species; and (2) immature and old-growth stands. There were no significant differences (P < 0.05) among immature stands in species richness (S) and the Shannon-Wiener index (H′), in relation to the canopy cover or in S, H′ and evenness (E) in relation to the dominant canopy tree species. Using the same indices, the plant diversity varied with edaphic conditions (represented by five site associations) and time (represented by two developmental stages). At both stand- and site levels, plant diversity increased with increasing soil moisture, from slightly dry to moist sites, and with increasing plant-available soil nitrogen in both immature and old-growth stands; and the plant diversity of immature stands across the sites studied was considerably lower than in old-growth stands, regardless of site association. The indices of plant diversity, floristic similarity indices, and species turnover rates indicated that the immature stands had their plant diversity at a minimum, but a drastic loss of diversity expected in the stem exclusion stage had not materialized. We attributed decline in plant diversity to the absence of old-growth structural features in immature stands. Several measures to foster the stand-level diversity were proposed.     

Changes in cardiac electrophysiology,morphology, tissue biochemistry and vascular reactions in glutathione depleted animals

Human placental syncytiotrophoblast basal membrane plays an important role in transfer of nutrients from the mother to the growing fetus all throughout gestation. The membrane lipid composition together with the bilayer fluidity is found to be the major index in modulation of these transport processes. In the present study, the effects of changing lipid composition on the placental basal membrane fluidity and the modulating influence of the latter on membrane enzyme and transport functions with progress of gestation,were investigated. Steady-state fluorescence analysis using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5 hexatriene as the probe, indicated a decrease in fluorescence anisotropy of both labeled native membrane vesicles and liposomes prepared from lipids extracted from the basal membrane vesicles, signifying increased bilayer fluidity with progress of gestation. This in turn, was successfully correlated to the lowering of cholesterol content and enhanced phospholipid concentration with a steady decrease in cholesterol/phospholipid ratio during placental development. Enhanced Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activity and steady-state glucose uptake across basal membrane with gestational progress suggested modulation of membrane protein functions by the fluidity, which was further corroborated by the increased bilayer fluidity and enzyme activity in benzyl alcohol treated basal membrane in each gestational age group.     

Influence of training on the response to exercise of adrenocorticotropin and growth hormone plasma concentrations in human swimmers

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the response of adrenocorticotropin ([ACTH]) and growth hormone ([GH]) concentrations to a typical aerobic swimming set during a training season. Nine top-level male endurance swimmers (age range 17–23 years) were tested during three training sessions occurring 6, 12 and 18 weeks after the beginning of the season. During each session, after a standard warm-up, the swimmers performed a training set of 15 × 200-m freestyle, with 20 s of rest between repetitions, at a predetermined individual speed. Blood samples were collected before warm-up and at the end of the training set. A few days before each session, the individual swimming velocity corresponding to the 4 mmol · l⁻¹ blood lactate concentration (v ₄) was assessed as a standard of aerobic performance. Aerobic training affected v ₄ levels, which were highest 18 weeks after the beginning of the season; at the same time, while [ACTH] response was attenuated, [GH] response was enhanced. These results could be considered as adaptations to the exercise intensity. In our training programme, these adaptations seemed to have occurred between the 12th and 18th weeks of the training season. Accepted: 21 April 1998     

Effects of retinoic acid on the development of liver fibrosis produced by carbon tetrachloride in mice

The role of retinoic acid (RA) in liver fibrogenesis was previously studied in cultured hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). RA suppresses the expression of alpha2(I) collagen by means of the activities of specific nuclear receptors RARalpha, RXRbeta and their coregulators. In this study, the effects of RA in fibrogenesis were examined in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver fibrosis in mice. Mice were treated with CCl4 or RA and CCl4, along side control groups, for 12weeks. RA reduced the amount of histologically detectable fibrosis produced by CCl4. This was accompanied by a attenuation of the CCl4 induced increase in alpha2(I) collagen mRNA and a lower (2-fold versus 3-fold) increase in liver hydroxyproline. Furthermore, RA reduced the levels of 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) protein adducts and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reactive substance (TBARS) in the liver, which are formed as results of oxidative stress induced by CCl4 treatment. These in vivo findings support our previous in vitro studies in cultured HSC of the inhibitory effect of RA on type I collagen expression. The data also provide evidence that RA reduces CCl4 induced oxidative stress in liver, suggesting that the anti-fibrotic role of RA is not limited to the inhibition of type I collagen expression.     

Involvement of the betaTrCP in the ubiquitination and stability of the HIV-1 Vpu protein

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Vpu protein binds to the CD4 receptor and targets it to the proteasome for degradation. This process requires the recruitment of human betaTrCP, a component of the Skp1-Cullin-F box (SCF) ubiquitin ligase complex, that interacts with phosphorylated Vpu molecules. Vpu, unlike other ligands of betaTrCP, has never been reported to be degraded. We provide evidence that Vpu, itself, is ubiquitinated and targeted for degradation by the proteasome. We demonstrate that the mutant Vpu2.6, which cannot interact with betaTrCP, is stable and, unlike wild-type Vpu, is not polyubiquitinated. These results suggest that betaTrCP is involved in Vpu polyubiquitination.     

Microbial community structure in hadal sediments: high similarity along trench axes and strong changes along redox gradients

Hadal trench sediments are hotspots of biogeochemical activity in the deep sea, but the biogeochemical and ecological factors that shape benthic hadal microbial communities remain unknown. Here, we sampled ten hadal sites from two trench regions with a vertical resolution of down to 1 cm. We sequenced 16S rRNA gene amplicons using universal and archaea-specific primer sets and compared the results to biogeochemical parameters. Despite bathymetric and depositional heterogeneity we found a high similarity of microbial communities within each of the two trench axes, while composition at the phylum level varied strongly with sediment depth in conjunction with the redox stratification into oxic, nitrogenous, and ferruginous zones. As a result, communities of a given sediment horizon were more similar to each other across a distance of hundreds of kilometers within each trench, than to those of adjacent horizons from the same sites separated only by centimeters. Total organic carbon content statistically only explained a small part of the variation within and between trenches, and did not explain the community differences observed between the hadal and adjacent shallower sites. Anaerobic taxa increased in abundance at the top of the ferruginous zone, seeded by organisms deposited at the sediment surface and surviving burial through the upper redox zones. While an influence of other potential factors such as geographic isolation, hydrostatic pressure, and non-steady state depositional regimes could not be discerned, redox stratification and diagenesis appear to be the main selective forces that structure community composition in hadal sediments.Subject terms: Water microbiology, Microbial ecology, Microbiome, Biogeochemistry, Biogeochemistry     

Glutathione peroxidase‐like enzymes cover five distinct cell compartments and membrane surfaces in Arabidopsis thaliana

Glutathione peroxidase‐like enzymes (GPXLs) constitute a family of eight peroxidases in Arabidopsis thaliana. In contrast to the eponymous selenocysteine glutathione peroxidases in mammalian cells that use glutathione as electron donor, GPXLs rely on cysteine instead of selenocysteine for activity and depend on the thioredoxin system for reduction. Although plant GPXLs have been implicated in important agronomic traits such as drought tolerance, photooxidative tolerance and immune responses, there remain major ambiguities regarding their subcellular localization. Because their site of action is a prerequisite for an understanding of their function, we investigated the localization of all eight GPXLs in stable Arabidopsis lines expressing N‐terminal and C‐terminal fusions with redox‐sensitive green fluorescent protein 2 (roGFP2) using confocal microscopy. GPXL1 and GPXL7 were found in plastids, while GPXL2 and GPXL8 are cytosolic nuclear. The N‐terminal target peptide of GPXL6 is sufficient to direct roGFP2 into mitochondria. Interestingly, GPXL3, GPXL4 and GPXL5 all appear to be membrane bound. GPXL3 was found exclusively in the secretory pathway where it is anchored by a single N‐terminal transmembrane domain. GPXL4 and GPXL5 are anchored to the plasma membrane. Presence of an N‐terminal myristoylation motif and genetic disruption of membrane association through targeted mutagenesis point to myristoylation as essential for membrane localization.     

Control of Cell Proliferation,Organ Growth,and DNA Damage Response Operate Independently of Dephosphorylation of the Arabidopsis Cdk1 Homolog CDKA;1

Entry into mitosis is universally controlled by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). A key regulatory event in metazoans and fission yeast is CDK activation by the removal of inhibitory phosphate groups in the ATP binding pocket catalyzed by Cdc25 phosphatases. In contrast with other multicellular organisms, we show here that in the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana, cell cycle control does not depend on sudden changes in the phosphorylation pattern of the PSTAIRE-containing Cdk1 homolog CDKA;1. Consistently, we found that neither mutants in a previously identified CDC25 candidate gene nor plants in which it is overexpressed display cell cycle defects. Inhibitory phosphorylation of CDKs is also the key event in metazoans to arrest cell cycle progression upon DNA damage. However, we show here that the DNA damage checkpoint in Arabidopsis can also operate independently of the phosphorylation of CDKA;1. These observations reveal a surprising degree of divergence in the circuitry of highly conserved core cell cycle regulators in multicellular organisms. Based on biomathematical simulations, we propose a plant-specific model of how progression through the cell cycle could be wired in Arabidopsis.