Convergent designs for electrogenesis and electroreception

New- and old-world tropical electric fish lack a common electrical ancestor, suggesting that the mechanisms of signal generation and recognition evolved independently in the two groups. Recent research on convergent designs for electrogenesis and electroreception has focused on the structure of electric organs, the neural circuitry controlling the pacemaker driving the electric organ, and the neural circuitry underlying time coding of electric waveforms.     

Between cheap and costly signals: the evolution of partially honest communication

Costly signalling theory has become a common explanation for honest communication when interests conflict. In this paper, we provide an alternative explanation for partially honest communication that does not require significant signal costs. We show that this alternative is at least as plausible as traditional costly signalling, and we suggest a number of experiments that might be used to distinguish the two theories.     

Developmental phenotypic plasticity: Where ecology and evolution meet molecular biology

The plastic response of phenotypic traits to environmental change is a common research focus in several disciplines - from ecology and evolutionary biology to physiology and molecular genetics. The use of model systems such as the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana has facilitated a dialogue between developmental biologists asking how plasticity is controlled (proximate causes) and organismal biologists asking why plasticity exists (ultimate causes). Researchers studying ultimate causes and consequences are increasingly compelled to reject simplistic, ‘black box’ models, while those studying proximate causes and mechanisms are increasingly obliged to subject their interpretations to ecological ‘reality checks.’ We review the successful multidisciplinary efforts to understand the phytochrome-mediated shade-avoidance and light-seeking responses of flowering plants as a pertinent example of convergence between evolutionary and molecular biology. In this example, the two-way exchange between reductionist and holist camps has been essential to rapid and sustained progress. This should serve as a model for future collaborative efforts towards understanding the responses of organisms to their constantly changing environments.     

β-Amyloid (Aβ) Oligomers Impair Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor Retrograde Trafficking by Down-regulating Ubiquitin C-terminal Hydrolase,UCH-L1

We previously found that BDNF-dependent retrograde trafficking is impaired in AD transgenic mouse neurons. Utilizing a novel microfluidic culture chamber, we demonstrate that Aβ oligomers compromise BDNF-mediated retrograde transport by impairing endosomal vesicle velocities, resulting in impaired downstream signaling driven by BDNF/TrkB, including ERK5 activation, and CREB-dependent gene regulation. Our data suggest that a key mechanism mediating the deficit involves ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), a deubiquitinating enzyme that functions to regulate cellular ubiquitin. Aβ-induced deficits in BDNF trafficking and signaling are mimicked by LDN (an inhibitor of UCH-L1) and can be reversed by increasing cellular UCH-L1 levels, demonstrated here using a transducible TAT-UCH-L1 strategy. Finally, our data reveal that UCH-L1 mRNA levels are decreased in the hippocampi of AD brains. Taken together, our data implicate that UCH-L1 is important for regulating neurotrophin receptor sorting to signaling endosomes and supporting retrograde transport. Further, our results support the idea that in AD, Aβ may down-regulate UCH-L1 in the AD brain, which in turn impairs BDNF/TrkB-mediated retrograde signaling, compromising synaptic plasticity and neuronal survival.     

Determinants of expression variability

The amount of tissue-specific expression variability (EV) across individuals is an essential characteristic of a gene and believed to have evolved, in part, under functional constraints. However, the determinants and functional implications of EV are only beginning to be investigated. Our analyses based on multiple expression profiles in 41 primary human tissues show that a gene’s EV is significantly correlated with a number of features pertaining to the genomic, epigenomic, regulatory, polymorphic, functional, structural and network characteristics of the gene. We found that (i) EV of a gene is encoded, in part, by its genomic context and is further influenced by the epigenome; (ii) strong promoters induce less variable expression; (iii) less variable gene loci evolve under purifying selection against copy number polymorphisms; (iv) genes that encode inherently disordered or highly interacting proteins exhibit lower variability; and (v) genes with less variable expression are enriched for house-keeping functions, while genes with highly variable expression tend to function in development and extra-cellular response and are associated with human diseases. Thus, our analysis reveals a number of potential mediators as well as functional and evolutionary correlates of EV, and provides new insights into the inherent variability in eukaryotic gene expression.     

Lysine-derived cross-links in the egg shell membrane

Egg shell membrane protein contains significant quantities of the lysine-derived aldehyde, allysine, and its aldol condensation product. NaB³H₄ reduction followed by alkaline hydrolysis of purified protein revealed that there were six residues/1000 of both allysine and the reduced aldol while only traces of desmosine and isodesmosine were detected. The amino acid composition of the membrane protein did not resemble that of mammalian elastin.     

Body size increase in insular rodent populations: a role for predators?

Insular mammalian populations living in areas of small size are often characterized by a drastic change in body mass compared to related continental populations or species. Generally, small mammals (less than 100 g) evolve into giant forms while large mammals (up to 100 g) evolve into dwarf forms. These changes, coupled with changes in other life, behavioural, physiological or demographic traits are referred to generally as the insular syndrome. We tested in this study the relative contribution of three factors — area of island, numbers of competitor species and number of predator species — to changes in body size of the woodmouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Our results, based on a comparative analysis using the phylogenetic independent contrasts method, indicate that the increase in body size is related both to the decrease of island size and to the lower number of predator species. A decrease of competitor species does not seem to have an important effect.     

An Experimental Study of Predator Recognition in Great Tit Fledglings

Studies of naturally predator-naïve adult birds (finches on predator-free islands) and birds experimentally hand reared in isolation from predators indicate that birds can recognise predators innately; that is, birds show anti-predator behaviour without former experience of predators. To reduce predation risk efficiently during the vulnerable fledgling period, we would predict an innate response to be fully developed when the chicks leave the nest. However, 30-day-old naïve great tit fledglings ( Parus major ) did not respond differently to a model of a perched predator than to a similarly sized model of a non-predator. Although chicks showed distress responses such as warning calls and freezing behaviour, they did not differentiate between the stimuli. In contrast, wild-caught first-year birds (4 mo old) and adults responded differentially to the two stimuli. Lack of recognition of a perched predator might be one explanation for the high mortality rate found in newly fledged great tits. Our results imply that parental care is not only important for food provisioning, but also to reduce predation risk during the time when fledglings are most vulnerable.