Trinucleotide microsatellite loci in the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria (Diptera: Scathophagidae)

We describe six polymorphic, trinucleotide microsatellite loci that were isolated from the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria (Diptera: Scathophagidae), a model system for examining the mechanisms behind sperm competition in species with internal fertilization. These microsatellites yielded between 3 and 11 alleles per locus in a sample of 20–48 dung flies collected from several sites in Cheshire, UK. Observed and expected heterozygosities varied between 0.195 and 0.900 and 0.335–0.842, respectively. These markers should allow us to investigate postcopulatory sexual selection processes in this fly much more fully than has been possible in the past.     

Vision in Drosophila: evidence for the involvement of retinula cells 1–6 in the orientation behaviour of Drosophila melanogaster

ABSTRACT. Orientation responses of wildtype red-eye, and mutant brown- and white-eye Drosophila melanogaster were studied in a circular arena. Freely walking flies ('closed-loop') were introduced into the arena and their orientations to a vertical black stripe of angular width 10> were recorded under different chromatic regimes. As has been reported previously, the accuracy of orientation and tropotactic responses were directly related to the extent of eye pigmentation. Orange-adaptation was found to have little effect on the accuracy of orientation, but blue-adaptation affected this orientation in all three phenotypes, with statistically significant diminutions in their responses. An electro-physiological study confirmed the inferred effect of blue-adaptation, namely that it causes a decreased sensitivity in retinula cells 1–6 by converting the visual pigment R480 to a stable metarhodopsin M580. It is concluded that these retinula cells are involved in orientation behaviour requiring a high degree of visual acuity in Drosophila.     

Management and Conservation Article

Abstract Despite increased knowledge about environmental toxins and changes in lead use (i.e., the mandated use of nonlead paint, gasoline, and shotgun pellets used for hunting waterfowl on federal lands), lead poisoning continues to occur in terrestrial birds. The degree of exposure and its demographic effect, however, continue to be described, emphasizing the growing concern over lead exposure. We examined 302 blood samples from common ravens (Corvus corax) scavenging on hunter-killed large ungulates and their offal piles to determine if lead rifle-bullet residuum was a point source for lead ingestion in ravens. We took blood samples during a 15-month period spanning 2 hunting seasons. Of the ravens tested during the hunting season, 47% exhibited elevated blood lead levels (≥ 10 μg/dL) whereas 2% tested during the nonhunting season exhibited elevated levels. Females had significantly higher blood lead levels than did males. Our results confirm that ravens are ingesting lead during the hunting season and are likely exposed to lead from rifle-shot big-game offal piles.     

Protein Synthesis in the Axes of Polyethylene Glycol-Treated Pea Seed and during Subsequent Germination

Germination of Alaska pea seeds is inhibited by –0.3 MPapolyethylene glycol but upon subsequent transfer to water, germinationis completed rapidly and radicle emergence occurs more quicklythan in water-imbibed seeds. Protein synthesis is reduced inthe axes of seeds imbibed on PEG but increases upon their returnto water, though not to the level exhibited by axes germinatedon water. Mobilization of proteins in the axes is retarded bytheir failure to complete germination on PEG, although somedoes occur. The quantitative reduction in protein synthesisresulting from incubation in osmoticum is not accompanied bymarked qualitative changes. The block to germination is notobviously associated with a restriction in synthesis of anyparticular protein or set of proteins; conversely, no ‘water-stress’proteins are synthesized in the presence of PEG. The synthesisof growth-specific proteins is prevented by PEG, but these increaseupon relief from the osmoconditioning treatments. These observationsdispute earlier claims for accelerated protein synthesis resultingfrom PEG treatments. Key words: Osmotic priming, Pisum sativum, germination, protein synthesis     

The action of tetrodotoxin on the cockroach, Periplaneta americana: a toxicological and neurophysiological study

ABSTRACT. Some sublethal effects of tetrodotoxin (TTX) on the cockroach were investigated using chronically implanted extracellular electrodes. Prostration and subsequent paralysis were correlated with blockage of peripheral nerves, the CNS being apparently unaffected at the dose employed. Over several days following treatment many cockroaches showed a reversal of the symptoms and finally recovered fully. This coincided with recovery of the blocked nerves. It is suggested that TTX can be used to distinguish pharmacologically the peripheral and central actions of drugs and insecticides. Furthermore, TTX treatment could also be useful in the analysis of the subcellular nature of the sodium channels in nerve membrane.     

Microbial biofilms and the preservation of the Ediacara biota

Laflamme, M., Schiffbauer, J.D., Narbonne, G.M., & Briggs, D.E.G. 2011: Microbial biofilms and the preservation of the Ediacara biota. Lethaia, Vol. 44, pp. 203–213. The terminal Neoproterozoic Ediacaran Period is typified by the Ediacara biota (ca. 579–542 Ma), which includes the first morphologically complex macroscopic organisms. Both the taphonomic setting that promoted the preservation of the soft‐bodied Ediacara biota in coarse‐grained sediments, and the influence of associated microbial coatings on this process, have generated debate. Specimens of Ediacaran discs (Aspidella) from the Fermeuse Formation of Newfoundland, Canada, were analysed using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and focused ion beam electron microscopy (FIB‐EM) to determine the relationship between the fossil specimens and the surrounding sediment. The presence of chemically distinct (Al–Mg–Fe–K‐ and to a lesser extent S‐rich), finer‐grained sediment (with organized iron sulphides) surrounding the upper and lower margins of the Ediacaran fossils is consistent with elemental analyses of well preserved bacterial biofilms from other localities. ESEM analyses reveal a contrast in the composition of the sediment bound within the discs, which contains a higher concentration of Al, Ca and K, and the purer Si‐rich sediment that forms the surrounding matrix. This suggests that the coarse grained sediment was incorporated into the organism during life. Ediacaran discs were likely surrounded by a bacterial biofilm or thin microbial mat composed primarily of extracellular polymeric substances (or exopolysaccharide) during life, which added structural stability to these frond holdfasts, and facilitated their fossilization. Microbially mediated preservation in Fermeuse‐style Ediacaran taphonomy provides an explanation for the dominance of Aspidella holdfasts in these settings, and suggests that preservation of Ediacaran fossils in the round may be much more prevalent than previously recognized. We suggest that the overwhelming dominance of circular to bulbous forms such as Aspidella in Ediacaran biotas around the world is a direct result of the interplay between microbial ecology and microbially mediated taphonomy. □Aspidella, Ediacaran preservation, environmental scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam electron microscopy, palaeoecology, taphonomic bias.