A genomic walking method for screening sequence length polymorphism

We adapted a recently developed nonrestrictional, nonligational genome walking method, Universal Fast Walking (UFW), for detection of length polymorphism in the proximal promoter region of genes. We demonstrate its efficacy at discovering naturally occurring transposition into heat‐shock genes of wild Drosophila and show that it surmounts limitations of simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approaches. We further present modifications to the standard UFW protocol and provide some guidelines to improve specificity. Although the resultant banding pattern of a standard UFW can be regarded as a DNA fingerprint, many amplicons result from false priming and not real polymorphisms. We describe ways to distinguish between UFW amplicons and false priming products in a high‐throughput assay.     

Differential Staining Patterns of Heterochromatin in Man

QUINACRINE staining¹ can be used to distinguish between different heterochromatic segments in various organisms and Giemsa staining has been used to locate constitutive heterochromatin in human chromosomes². In using both these techniques on human chromosome preparations we have found certain specific staining properties of hetero-chromatic segments which suggest the existence of at least two different constitutive heterochromatins.     

Pathogenicity of Spiroplasma taiwanense for larval Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Helical replicative forms, but not the persistent non-replicative forms, of Spiroplasma taiwanense Abalain-Colloc et al. (isolated from the mosquito Anopheles sinensis Wiedemann in Taiwan) were shown to reduce significantly the survival of Aedes aegypti (L.) mosquito larvae reared in 10 ml of water with 0.3 ml of S.taiwanense suspensions added on days 0 and 3. The suspensions contained, respectively, helical forms at a concentration of 10(9) Colour Change Units (CCU)/ml and persistent forms at 10(6) CCU/ml. It is suggested that S.taiwanense, or toxins produced from it, are potentially useful for use in integrated mosquito control programmes.     

Quantitative biochronology of Devonian ammonoids from Morocco and proposals for a refined unitary association method

Monnet, C., Klug, C., Goudemand, N., De Baets, K. & Bucher, H. 2011: Quantitative biochronology of Devonian ammonoids from Morocco and proposals for a refined unitary association method. Lethaia, Vol. 44, pp. 469–489. Based on a rich dataset, the biostratigraphy of the late Emsian and the Eifelian (Early–Middle Devonian) ammonoids from the Moroccan Tafilalt is re‐evaluated. We processed this dataset (comprising 53 species from 15 sections) with the unitary association method (UAM), by means of the UA‐graph freeware. This led to the construction of a sequence of 17 UAs (maximal sets of actually or virtually coexisting taxa), which are grouped into 10 laterally reproducible association zones. This biostratigraphical subdivision of this interval is in some parts finer than the classically used empirical stratigraphical scheme and than a previous graphic correlation analysis. It enabled us to measure regional ammonoid diversity of this interval in detail. The UAM is a powerful biochronological method, which benefits from complementary tools to analyse conflicting inter‐taxon stratigraphical relationships inherent to complex biostratigraphical datasets. In cases of under‐constrained superpositional relationships between the taxa, the UAM can yield results, which are not parsimonious in terms of reconstructed virtual coexistences. We suggest several additions to complement the algorithmic steps of the method. The most important is the exhaustive or heuristic reconstruction of possible solutions resolving the observed biostratigraphical contradictions (conflicting inter‐taxon superpositional relationships and cycles between maximal cliques) and the selection among the solutions of the most‐parsimonious one(s) in terms of reconstructed virtual coexistences. Multiple equivalent results may then be processed with standard consensus techniques. Finally, the robustness of the results can be tested by bootstrapping methods to provide confidence estimates on the ranges and associations of studied taxa. □Ammonites, Anti‐Atlas, biostratigraphy, correlation, zonation, diversity.     

Stolidobranch ascidians from the tropical western Indian Ocean

Coastal ascidians collected over two centuries from Suez to Mozambique have been successively deposited in the MNHN and are now described and figured. Some of them were already known from the Indian Ocean, others are common to the Pacific, and some others are new species. Even though the present taxonomic work notably increases our knowledge of the tropical eastern African coast, it comprises so many miscellaneous collections from such distant points that it can only begin to suggest the diversity of ascidians there. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 135 , 65–120.     

Direct and indirect effects of predation on tadpole community structure in the Amazon rainforest

Abstract The relationship between the distribution of predators (fish, odonates and water beetles) and prey assemblages (amphibian larvae) was investigated in the tropical rainforest of central Amazonas, Brasil. The anuran community uses a variety of waterbodies for reproduction, ranging from streams and streamside ponds to isolated forest ponds. Predators in this system include fish in streams and streamside ponds, and invertebrates (primarily odonate naiads and beetles) in forest ponds. Tadpole species richness and assemblage structure were related to fish density and species richness. No relationships between tadpole assemblages and abiotic pond characteristics were detected. The presence offish explained much of the variation in both species composition and species richness within and among ponds. Some species of tadpole were consistently found to coexist with high densities of fish. Path analyses suggest that while fish have a strong direct effect on tadpole associations and species richness, they also have an indirect effect through invertebrate predators (odonate larvae and coleopteran beetles). Prey survival-strategies such as palatability and behaviour may explain how tadpole species composition is affected by predators at the community level. These findings suggest that the observed patterns of habitat use by larval anurans may be structured in response to the distribution of key predators (fish) in this system.     

Modelling of the Hydraulic Architecture of Root Systems: An Integrated Approach to Water Absorption--Distribution of Axial and Radial Conductances in Maize

The ‘Hydraulic Tree Model’ of the root system simulateswater uptake through root systems by coupling a root architecturemodel with laws for water flow into and along roots (Doussan,Pagès and Vercambre,Annals of Botany81: 213–223,1998). A detailed picture of water absorption in all roots comprisingthe root system is thus provided. Moreover, the influence ofdifferent distributions of radial and axial hydraulic conductancesin the root system on the patterns of water uptake can be analysed.Use of the model with Varney and Canny's data (1993) for flowalong maize roots demonstrated that a constant conductance inthe root system cannot reproduce the observed water flux profiles.Taking into account the existing data on hydraulic conductancesin maize roots, we fitted the distribution of conductances inthe root system to the observed flux data. The result is that,during root tissue maturation, the radial conductivity decreasesby one order of magnitude while the axial conductance increasesby about three orders of magnitude. Both types of conductanceexhibit abrupt changes in their evolution. Due to the conductancedistribution in the root system, appreciable water potentialgradients may develop in the roots, in both the branch rootsand main axes. An important point is that the conductance distributionin the branch roots described by the model should be relatedto the age of the tissue (and not the distance from the branchroot tip) and is therefore closely related to the developmentprocess. Thus for branch roots, which represent about 90% ofthe calculated total water uptake in 43-d-old maize, water absorptionwill depend on the opening of the metaxylem in the axes, andon the time dependent variation of the conductances in the branchroots.Copyright 1998 Annals of Botany Company Water; absorption; root system; architecture; model; hydraulic conductance;Zea maysL.