The benefit to some minnows of spawning in the nests of other species

Synopsis Fishes that act as nest associates spawn simultaneously with nest-building hosts and then abandon their eggs. The proposed benefit for this behavior is increased brood survivorship, arising from the physical environment provided by the nest or the parental care provided by the host. Field and enclosure experiments indicated that associates benefit from the parental care provided by the host, and not from the physical environment provided by the nests of hosts. This information, along with the effect of nest association on host reproductive success, is necessary before the nature of this nesting symbiosis can be characterized.     

How does the G protein,Gi2, transduce mitogenic signals?

Serpentine receptors coupled to the heterotrimeric G protein, G_i2, are capable of stimulating DNA synthesis in a variety of cell types. A common feature of the G_i2-coupled stimulation of DNA synthesis is the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). The regulation of MAPK activation by the G_i2-coupled thrombin and acetylcholine muscarinic M₂ receptors occurs by a sequential activation of a network of protein kinases. The MAPK kinase (MEK) which phosphorylates and activates MAPK is also activated by phosphorylation. MEK is phosphorylated and activated by either Raf or MEK kinase (MEKK). Thus, Raf and MEKK converge at MEK to regulate MAPK. G_i2-coupled receptors are capable of activating MEK and MAPK by Raf-dependent and Raf-independent mechanisms. Pertussis toxin catalyzed ADP-ribosylation of α_i2 inhibits both the Raf-dependent and-independent pathways activated by G_i2-coupled receptors. The Raf-dependent pathway involves Ras activation, while the Raf-independent activation of MEK and MAPK does not involve Ras. The Raf-independent activation of MEK and MAPK most likely involves the activation of MEKK. The vertebrate MEKK is homologous to the Ste11 and Byr2 protein kinases in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, respectively. The yeast Ste11 and Byr2 protein kinases are involved in signal transduction cascades initiated by pheromone receptors having a 7 membrane spanning serpentine structure coupled to G proteins. MEKK appears to be conserved in the regulation of G protein-coupled signal pathways in yeast and vertebrates. Raf represents a divergence in vertebrates from the yeast pheromone-responsive protein kinase system. Defining MEKK and Raf as a divergence in the MAPK regulatory network provides a mechanism for differential regulation of this system by G_i2-coupled receptors as well as other receptor systems, including the tyrosine kinases.     

Age-Dependent Impairment of Mitochondrial Function in Primate Brain

Abstract: It has been hypothesized that some of the functional impairments associated with aging are the result of increasing oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA that produces defects in oxidative phosphorylation. To test this hypothesis, we examined the enzymes that catalyze oxidative phosphorylation in crude mitochondrial preparations from frontoparietal cortex of 20 rhesus monkeys (5-34 years old). Samples were assayed for complex I, complex II-III, complex IV, complex V, and citrate synthase activities. When enzyme activities were corrected for citrate synthase activities (to account for variable degrees of mitochondrial enrichment), linear regression analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation of the activities of complex I (p < 0.002) and complex IV (p < 0.03) with age but no significant change in complex II-III or complex V activities. Relative to animals 6.9 ± 0.9 years old (n = 7), the citrate synthase-corrected activity of complex I was reduced by 17% in animals 22.5 ± 0.9 years old (n = 6) (p < 0.05) and by 22% in animals 30.7 ± 0.9 years old (n = 7) (p < 0.01). Similar age-related reductions in the activities of complexes I and IV were obtained when enzyme activities were corrected for complex II-III activity. These findings show an age-associated progressive impairment of mitochondrial complex I and complex IV activities in cerebral cortices of primates.     

A NEW METHOD OF POLARIZATION MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS : I. Scanning with a Birefringence Detection System

A new method of polarized light analysis is described in which a highly sensitive electronic detector specific for birefringence is used to identify the crystalline axes of an object and then measure its phase retardation due to birefringence. The microscopic system employed in the method consists of an electronic birefringence detection system (BDS), a microscope with strain-free lenses, and a driven stage for passing the specimen at appropriate velocities across the image of an aperture placed at the field stop and imaged in the specimen plane by the condenser. The detector registers retardations directly as voltage at a constant deflection sensitivity of ca. 1.1 v per angstrom unit over a range of 120 angstrom units. The basal rms noise level is 0.002 A for a spot 36 µ in diameter formed by a 95 x, N. A. 1.25 objective pair, and increases in proportion to the reciprocal of the diameter of the scanning spot. The increase in noise with high resolution scanning can be offset by increasing the instrumental time constant, which is adjustable in decades between 0.004 and 0.4 seconds. A number of difficult problems in high extinction polarization microscopy are avoided by the use of modulated light and a rapid electronic detector. For example: (a) The measured distribution of birefringence is unaffected by the usual diffraction anomaly; therefore polarization rectifiers are not required. (b) The detector is selective for birefringence, so that there is no problem in separating contrast due to different optical properties (e.g. dichroism, light scattering). (c) The speed and sensitivity are both increased by between one and two orders of magnitude over that attainable by visual or photographic methods, thereby rendering a vast number of weakly birefringent, light-scattering, and motile objects readily analyzable for the first time with polarized light.     

GENETICS OF STERILITY IN HYBRIDS BETWEEN TWO SUBSPECIES OF DROSOPHILA

Hybrids between D. pseudoobscura bogotana and D. pseudoobscura pseudoobscura are fertile except for males produced in one of the two reciprocal crosses. As there is no premating isolation between these subspecies, nonreciprocal male sterility represents the first step in speciation. Genetic analysis reveals two causes of hybrid F₁ sterility: a maternal effect and incompatibilities between chromosomes within males. The maternal effect appears to play the greatest role in hybrid sterility. The X chromosome has the largest effect on fertility of any chromosome, a ubiquitous result in analyses of hybrid sterility and inviability in Drosophila. This effect is entirely attributable to a region comprising less than 30% of the X chromosome. These results are compared to those from a similar study of D. pseudoobscura-D. persimilis hybrids, an older and more reproductively isolated species pair in the same lineage. Such comparisons may allow one to identify the genetic changes characterizing the early versus late stages of speciation.     

Isolation, characterization, and cross-species utility of microsatellites in yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis).

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis is an ecologically and economically important conifer of the north Pacific coastal forests. To aid in studies of clonal structure and genetic differentiation of this and related species, we isolated and characterized microsatellites from C. nootkatensis. A microsatellite-enriched library yielded 75 repeat-containing sequences for which primer pairs were designed. Only five showed reliable amplification and polymorphism, with an average of 13.7 alleles/locus and a mean expected heterozygosity of 0.592. In progeny tests with four families, few null alleles were directly detected and loci segregated according to Mendelian expectations. However, in one primer pair, high heterozygote deficiency was observed, suggesting the presence of a null allele. The ability of primer pairs to cross amplify was tested on 18 species of the Cupressaceae sensu lato; three primer pairs yielded polymorphic loci in Cupressus and Juniperus species, but not in other Chamaecyparis species. This also supports recent findings of a closer affinity of C. nootkatensis with Cupressus over other Chamaecyparis species.     

Soft-tissue accumulation of lead in the blue tilapia,Oreochromis aureus (steindachner), and the modifying effects of cadmium and mercury

The interaction of mercury and cadmium with lead was investigated by exposingOreochromis aureus to two heavy metals simulataneously. The chronic accumulation prolife of lead was determined by analyzing the liver, brain, gill filaments, intestine, caudal muscle, spleen, trunk kidney, and gonads following exposure to lead alone and in mixtures with mercury and cadmium. Nominal exposure concentrations of lead were 0.05, 0.10, 0.50, and 1.00 mg/L. Mixtures of lead (0.50 or 0.05 mg/L) with cadmium (0.05 mg/L) and lead (0.50 or 0.05 mg/L) with mercury (0.05 mg/L) were also used. Following 140 d of exposure to lead, the highest concentrations of lead consistently accumulated in the trunk kidney. The concentration of lead in the kidney was decreased by coexposure to mercury or cadmium, but increased in the muscle and liver. Under all exposure regimes, the median concentration of lead in the muscle exceeded safety levels recommended for human consumption. In a food fish, such asO. aureus, a knowledge of toxic metal accumulation patterns is of great importance.     

Age-dependent models of population growth

P. H. Leslie (1945, Biometrika, 33, 183–212) (and others) introduced vector-matrix growth difference equations to model populations in which birth and death rates are age-dependent. We develop differential versions of these equations in both the unrestricted growth and logistic cases. We find that the vector logistic equations (difference and differential) are explicitly solvable in terms of solutions of the unrestricted equations, even when vital rates vary with time. These explicit solution formulas make it easy to determine the behavior of solutions as time goes on.