Plant traits and wood fates across the globe: rotted,burned, or consumed?

Wood represents the defining feature of forest systems, and often the carbon in woody debris has a long residence time. Globally, coarse dead wood contains 36–72 Pg C, and understanding what controls the fate of this C is important for predicting C cycle responses to global change. The fate of a piece of wood may include one or more of the following: microbial decomposition, combustion, consumption by insects, and physical degradation. The probability of each fate is a function of both the abiotic environment and the wood traits of the species. The wood produced by different species varies substantially in chemical, micro- and macro-morphological traits; many of these characteristics of living species have 'afterlife' effects on the fate and turnover rate of dead wood. The colonization of dead wood by microbes and their activity depends on a large suite of wood chemical and anatomical traits, as well as whole-plant traits such as stem-diameter distributions. Fire consumption is driven by a slightly narrower range of traits with little dependence on wood anatomy. Wood turnover due to insects mainly depends on wood density and secondary chemistry. Physical degradation is a relatively minor loss pathway for most systems, which depends on wood chemistry and environmental conditions. We conclude that information about the traits of woody plants could be extremely useful for modeling and predicting rates of wood turnover across ecosystems. We demonstrate how this trait-based approach is currently limited by oversimplified treatment of dead wood pools in several leading global C models and by a lack of quantitative empirical data linking woody plant traits with the probability and rate of each turnover pathway. Explicitly including plant traits and woody debris pools in global vegetation climate models would improve predictions of wood turnover and its feedback to climate.     

RAPID DETECTION OF GERMINATING BACILLUS CEREUS CELLS USING FLUORESCENT IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION

Methods for the specific detection of Bacillus spores are needed in many situations such as the recognition of food poisoning. This study presents an experimental design in order to find the best combination of germination conditions leading to a rapid and detectable fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) signal from Bacillus cereus spores present in pure cultures and milk samples.
B. cereus ATCC 14579 and HER 1414 were incubated in 20 different growth media by using a combination of various germinants such as sugars, amino acids and dipicolinic acid. Also, three different germination factors were tested: incubation temperature, inoculum concentration and a heat shock treatment. Permeabilization procedure and hybridization time were optimized on the best germination condition found. B. cereus -specific FISH probes were validated under the optimized condition and in detection of spiked B. cereus spores in 1% ultra heat-treated milk samples. FISH-labeled cells were detected by using flow cytometry, and the results were confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. The optimal condition allows the detection of B. cereus spores in less than 2 h. Overall, a ninefold reduction in total time for detection was achieved when comparing with previous works. Therefore, the permeabilization and hybridization optimizations mentioned in this study are major improvements for the detection time of B. cereus spores.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

By using the optimized conditions of germination/outgrowth, permeabilization and hybridization, the detection of 10³ cfu/mL of Bacillus cereus spores using fluorescent in situ hybridization is possible within 2 h in milk sample.     

Reduced early growing season freezing resistance in alpine treeline plants under elevated atmospheric CO2

The frequency of freezing events during the early growing season and the vulnerability to freezing of plants in European high‐altitude environments could increase under future atmospheric and climate change. We tested early growing season freezing sensitivity in 10 species, from four plant functional types (PFTs) spanning three plant growth forms (PGFs), from a long‐term in situ CO₂ enrichment (566 vs. 370 ppm) and 2‐year soil warming (+4 K) experiment at treeline in the Swiss Alps (Stillberg, Davos). By additionally tracking plant phenology, we distinguished indirect phenology‐driven CO₂ and warming effects from direct physiology‐related effects on freezing sensitivity. The freezing damage threshold (lethal temperature 50) under ambient conditions of the 10 treeline species spanned from ?6.7±0.3 °C (Larix decidua) to ?9.9±0.6 °C (Vaccinium gaultherioides). PFT, but not PGF, explained a significant amount of this interspecific variation. Long‐term exposure to elevated CO₂ led to greater freezing sensitivity in multiple species but did not influence phenology, implying that physiological changes caused by CO₂ enrichment were responsible for the effect. The elevated CO₂ effect on freezing resistance was significant in leaves of Larix, Vaccinium myrtillus, and Gentiana punctata and marginally significant in leaves of Homogyne alpina and Avenella flexuosa. No significant CO₂ effect was found in new shoots of Empetrum hermaphroditum or in leaves of Pinus uncinata, Leontodon helveticus, Melampyrum pratense, and V. gaultherioides. Soil warming led to advanced leaf expansion and reduced freezing resistance in V. myrtillus only, whereas Avenella showed greater freezing resistance when exposed to warming. No effect of soil warming was found in any of the other species. Effects of elevated CO₂ and soil warming on freezing sensitivity were not consistent within PFTs or PGFs, suggesting that any future shifts in plant community composition due to increased damage from freezing events will likely occur at the individual species level.     

First record of a belemnite preserved with beaks,arms and ink sac from the Nusplingen Lithographic Limestone (Kimmeridgian,SW Germany)

Klug, C., Schweigert, G., Fuchs, D. & Dietl, G. 2009: First record of a belemnite preserved with beaks, arms and ink sac from the Nusplingen Lithographic Limestone (Kimmeridgian, SW Germany). Lethaia, 10.1111/j.1502‐3931.2009.00203.x A recent discovery of an unusually preserved belemnite from Nusplingen comprises the extraordinarily rare remains of beaks and nearly in situ arm hooks, as well as the ink sac and an incomplete phragmocone. So far, Hibolithes semisulcatus ( Münster, 1830 ) is the only belemnite known from the Nusplingen Lithographic Limestone (Upper Jurassic, Late Kimmeridgian, Beckeri Zone, Ulmense Subzone; SW Germany) that has the same phragmocone shape and size, and thus we assign the new specimen to this taxon. The rostrum was probably lost due to a lethal predation attempt in which the prey was killed but not entirely eaten. For the first time a specimen reveals details of the belemnite beak morphology, which we compare with the beaks of other Jurassic coleoids. This specimen presently represents the only known rostrum‐bearing belemnite of post‐Toarcian age with preserved non‐mineralized body parts. With the new discovery, Nusplingen now represents the only locality which has yielded complete beak apparatuses from all major Jurassic cephalopod groups. □Beaks, Belemnitida, Coleoidea, Germany, Late Jurassic, morphology, taphonomy.     

Earliest ontogeny of Early Palaeozoic Craniiformea: implications for brachiopod phylogeny

Popov, L.E., Bassett, M.G., Holmer, L.E., Skovsted, C.B. & Zuykov, M.A. 2010: Earliest ontogeny of Early Palaeozoic Craniiformea: implications for brachiopod phylogeny. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 323–333. Well preserved specimens of the Early Palaeozoic craniiform brachiopods Orthisocrania and Craniops retain clear evidence of a lecithotrophic larval stage, indicating the loss of planktotrophy early in their phylogeny. The size of the earliest mineralized dorsal shell was <100 μm across, and the well preserved shell structure in these fossil craniiforms allows their earliest ontogeny to be compared directly with that of living Novocrania, in which the first mineralized dorsal shell (metamorphic shell) is secreted only after settlement of the lecithotrophic larvae. Immediately outside this earliest shell (early post‐metamorphic or brephic shell) and in the rest of the dorsal valve the primary layer in both fossil and living craniiforms has characteristic radially arranged laths, which are invariably lacking in the earliest dorsal shell. The ventral valve of the fossil specimens commonly preserves traces of an early attachment scar (cicatrix), which is equal in size to the dorsal metamorphic shell, and the brephic post‐metamorphic ventral valve also has a primary shell with radially arranged laths. However, a primary shell with radial laths is completely lacking in the ventral valve of living Novocrania, indicating that heterochrony may have been involved in the origin of the encrusting mode of life in living craniids; the entire ventral valve of Recent craniids (with the possible exception of Neoancistrocrania) may correspond to the earliest attachment scar of some fossil taxa such as Orthisocrania. It is also probable that the unique absence of an inner mantle lobe as well as the absence of lobate cells in Novocrania could be the result of heterochronic changes. The dorsal valve of both fossil and living craniiforms has a marked outer growth ring, around 500 μm across, marking the transition to the adult, and a significant change in regime of shell secretion. The earliest craniiform attachment is considered to be homologous to the unique attachment structures described recently in polytoechioids (e.g. Antigonambonites) and other members of the strophomenate clade. However, unlike the craniiforms, polytoechioids and strophomenates all have planktotrophic larvae, and planktotrophy is most probably a plesiomorphic character for all Brachiopoda. □Brachiopoda, Craniiformea, Early Palaeozoic, ontogeny, phylogeny.     

Evidence of early evolution of Australidelphia (Metatheria,Mammalia) in South America: phylogenetic relationships of the metatherians from the Late Palaeocene of Itaboraí (Brazil) based on teeth and petrosal bones

New metatherian petrosal bones from the mid to Late Palaeocene of Itaboraí, belonging to three morphotypes (VI, VII, and VII), are formally described and compared to fossil and extant taxa known by their auditory region. An attempt at assigning petrosal types to tooth‐based taxa from Itaboraí was made by combining parsimony and morphometric methods. The first large scale phylogenetic analysis of the Itaboraían metatherians, involving basicranial and dental characters in a larger number of taxa, is provided here and is at the basis of a systematic revision of the metatherians from Itaboraí. The combination of morphometric and cladistic analyses helps in understanding the affinities between the petrosals and the tooth‐based taxa. The metatherians from Itaboraí were taxonomically diverse, belonging to each of the most important radiations in marsupial evolutionary history (Didelphimorphia, Paucituberculata, Eometatheria). The inclusion of Palaeocene taxa in the crown group Marsupialia and above all in the Eometatheria radiation points to an early emergence of these clades in South America and corroborates the main molecular hypotheses. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 159 , 746–784.     

The effectiveness of child and adolescent psychiatric treatments in a naturalistic outpatient setting

Data concerning the effectiveness of naturalistic treatments (treatment-as-usual) in child and adolescent psychiatric (CAP) services are scarce. The purpose of this prospective observational study was to examine the effectiveness of CAP treatments in a naturalistic outpatient setting. Three hundred six patients (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, n=94; conduct disorder, CD, n=57; anxiety disorder, AD, n=53; depressive disorder, DD, n=38; other diagnostic categories, n=64), from nine child and adolescent psychiatric practices in Germany, were evaluated. Treatment effects were compared between patients who received frequent treatment and patients who only participated in diagnostics and short interventions. Since randomization was not feasible, propensity score analysis methods were used. Regarding the total sample, no significant treatment effects were found. However, a subgroup analysis of the four most frequent disorders (ADHD, CD, AD, DD) showed small to moderate treatment effects in patients with ADHD and AD. In CD and DD subgroups, no significant treatment effects could be found. “Real-world” CAP outpatient treatment seems to produce significant effects for ADHD and AD, but not for CD and DD. Compared to efficacy studies, our results show that naturalistic treatment might be better than expected.     

Mercury‐associated DNA hypomethylation in polar bear brains via the LUminometric Methylation Assay: a sensitive method to study epigenetics in wildlife

In this paper we describe a novel approach that may shed light on the genomic DNA methylation of organisms with non‐resolved genomes. The LUminometric Methylation Assay (LUMA) is permissive for genomic DNA methylation studies of any genome as it relies on the use of methyl‐sensitive and ‐insensitive restriction enzymes followed by polymerase extension via Pyrosequencing technology. Here, LUMA was used to characterize genomic DNA methylation in the lower brain stem region from 47 polar bears subsistence hunted in central East Greenland between 1999 and 2001. In these samples, average genomic DNA methylation was 57.9% ± 6.69 (SD; range was 42.0 to 72.4%). When genomic DNA methylation was related to brain mercury (Hg) exposure levels, an inverse association was seen between these two variables for the entire study population (P for trend = 0.17). After dichotomizing animals by gender and controlling for age, a negative trend was seen amongst male animals (P for trend = 0.07) but no associations were found in female bears. Such sexually dimorphic responses have been found in other toxicological studies. Our results show that genomic DNA methylation can be quantitatively studied in a highly reproducible manner in tissue samples from a wild organism with a non‐resolved genome. As such, LUMA holds great promise as a novel method to explore consequential questions across the ecological sciences that may require an epigenetic understanding.