Effects of ethanol and other alkanols on passive proton influx in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Ethanol, isopropanol, propanol and butanol enhanced the passive influx of protons into deenergized cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The influx followed first-order kinetics with a rate constant that increased exponentially with the alkanol concentration. The exponential enhancement constants increased with the lipid solubility of the alkanols, which indicated hydrophobic membrane regions as the target sites. While the enhancement constants were independent of pH over the range tested (3.3–5.0), the rate constants decreased linearly with increasing extracellular proton concentration, indicating the presence of an additional surface barrier against proton penetration, the effectiveness of which increased with protonation. The alkanols affected the acidification curves of energized yeast suspensions in such a way that the final pH values were linear functions of the alkanol concentrations. These results were consistent with a balance between active and passive proton movements at the final pH, the exponential enhancement constants calculated from the slopes being nearly identical with those obtained with deenergized cells. It was concluded that passive proton influx contributes to the kinetics of acidification in S. cerevisiae and that uncoupling contributes to the overall kinetics of alkanol-inhibited secondary active transport across the yeast plasma membrane.     

Double cortical control acting upon activities of intralaminar thalamic cells

We report the effects exerted by the cortex upon the intralaminar thalamic nucleic, as revealed by reversible blockade of the cortex with spreading depression in awake rats. Extracellular recordings of spontaneous activity were made simultaneously at thalamic and cortical sites. The effect of peripheral receptive field stimulation was to decrease activity of intralaminar thalamic cells. Cortical recordings revealed the cortical regions affected by spreading depression. Two type of cells were identified depending on the changes in their sensorial responses during the cortical spreading depression propagation. The first exhibited a tonic facilitating cortical control when the cortical spreading depression was located at A 8.0 to A 10.0. The second type exhibited a disappearance of the sensorial responses when cortical spreading depression was located at A 4.0 to A 8.0 and also displayed the tonic facilitating control. This indicates that two different identified cortical regions influenced the thalamic activity.     

Effect of flurbiprofen and acetylsalicylic acid on the ultrastructure of blood platelets

Flurbiprofene or acetylsalicylic acid did not change the structure of inactivated platelets. With flurbiprofene 50% aggregation inhibition was obtained at 10(-6) to 10(-5) M concentrations. To obtain the same result with acetylsalicylic acid, 10(-4) to 10(-3) M concentrations were necessary. With both agents, shape change was inhibited. The platelets in the small aggregates did not have the normal stretched dumb-bell shape but remained globulous and emitted a broad pseudopode containing normally-repolymerized microtubules.     

Application paléoécologique de la méthode d'analyse factorielle en composantes principales: interprétation des microfaunes de foraminifères planctoniques quaternaires en méditerranée. II. Étude des espèces de méditerranée orientale

The principal component analysis method is applied to the study of associations of different Pleistocene and Holocene planktonic Foraminifera in five cores from the eastern Mediterranean. Comparison of the fossil foraminiferal distribution with the distribution of living species leads to grouping of the fossil microfauna on the basis of paleoecological controls. Factor 1 is interpreted as representing thermal control. We recognize as warm-water species Globigerinoides trilobus, Globigerinoides trilobus sacculifer, Orbulina universa, Globigerinella siphonifera, Globigerinoides ruber. Cold-water species are Globigerina pachyderma, Globorotalia scitula, Globigerina quinqueloba, Globigerinita glutinata. Species considered to be of intermediate character are Globigerina bulloides, Globorotalia inflata and Globorotalia truncatulinoides. Factor 2 also leads to the grouping of these last species and may reflect the contributing influence of productivity phenomena. A quadratic liaison interpreted as the “Guttman effect” relates factors 1 and 2. Factor 3 introduces complications resulting from apparently sporadic, irregular events affecting the distribution of certain species, notably Globoratalia inflata, Globorotalia truncatulinoides and Globigerina dutertrei.     

Fire affects the taxonomic and functional composition of soil microbial communities,with cascading effects on grassland ecosystem functioning

Fire is a crucial event regulating the structure and functioning of many ecosystems. Yet few studies have focused on how fire affects taxonomic and functional diversities of soil microbial communities, along with changes in plant communities and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics. Here, we analyze these effects in a grassland ecosystem 9 months after an experimental fire at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment site in California, USA. Fire altered soil microbial communities considerably, with community assembly process analysis showing that environmental selection pressure was higher in burned sites. However, a small subset of highly connected taxa was able to withstand the disturbance. In addition, fire decreased the relative abundances of most functional genes associated with C degradation and N cycling, implicating a slowdown of microbial processes linked to soil C and N dynamics. In contrast, fire stimulated above‐ and belowground plant growth, likely enhancing plant–microbe competition for soil inorganic N, which was reduced by a factor of about 2. To synthesize those findings, we performed structural equation modeling, which showed that plants but not microbial communities were responsible for significantly higher soil respiration rates in burned sites. Together, our results demonstrate that fire ‘reboots’ the grassland ecosystem by differentially regulating plant and soil microbial communities, leading to significant changes in soil C and N dynamics.