Clumped distribution patterns in goldenrod aphids: genetic and ecological mechanisms

Abstract.

• 1 The aphids Uroleucon tissoti and U.nigrotuberculatum both exhibit significantly aggregated distribution patterns across clumps of their common host plant Solidago altissima, the tall goldenrod. However, U.nigrotuberculatum is significantly more aggregated than is U.tissoti. We tested the hypothesis that goldenrod genotype-by-U.tissoti genotype interactions for aphid performance characters could partially account for this difference.
• 2 Only one of the characters we measured showed a significant genotype-bygenotype interaction; therefore it is unlikely that such interactions affect the distribution of U.tissoti across goldenrod stems.
• 3 In addition, we found that three environmental variables (genetic variation for resistance to herbivory, host plant morphology, and local host density) affect the degree of aggregation found in both U.tissoti and U.nigrotuberculatum populations.

     

Carbon Dioxide as the Initial Stimulus for Excystation of Eimeria tenella Oocysts*

SYNOPSIS. The stimulus necessary to initiate in vitro excystation of the chicken coccidium Eimeria tenella was provided by exposure of intact sporulated oocysts to an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. This stimulus produced a thinning and indentation at the micropylar region and oocysts became permeable to trypsin and bile. Sporozoites became active and began to escape from sporocysts into the oocyst cavity and then to the outside thru the altered micropyle after incubation in the enzyme-bile mixture. Activation of sporozoites when CO₂-pretreated oocysts were incubated in trypsin and bile, was used as the criterion to determine the number of oocysts responding to the initial stimulus. Thus, activation of sporozoites within intact oocysts was an indirect measurement of the number of oocysts stimulated during CO₂-pretreatment. Approximately 90% of the oocysts contained active sporozoites after 18 hr of pretreatment with carbon dioxide and 8 hr incubation in trypsin and bile at 38 or 41 C, respectively. Pretreatment of oocysts with air, N₂, O₂, or He resulted in 8% or less activation during incubation in trypsin and bile. Approximately 83% of the oocysts responded to the stimulus during 8 hr CO₂-pretreatment at 41 C, whereas at 38 C, 16 hr of pretreatment were required for a similar response. The stimulus did not elicit a response from oocysts held at 23 C during the pretreatment gasphase. No significant difference occurred in number of oocysts containing active sporozoites after sufficient CO₂-pretreatment for maximum stimulation of oocysts and incubation in trypsin and bile at 38 or 41 C.     

Floating meadow epiphyton: biological and chemical features of epiphytic material in an Amazon floodplain lake

SUMMARY. 1. Quantities and the chemical composition of epiphyton on the roots of floating aquatic macrophytes were measured in Lake Calado, an Amazon floodplain lake. Growth of epiphytic algae following physical disturbance and losses of epiphyton due to grazing and storms were investigated.
2. Deposition of silt from invading river water decreased chlorophyll and nutrient content (%C, %N, %P) of epiphyton during rising water. N:P ratios of epiphyton indicated that proximity to the river increased supplies of phosphorus. Attached algal biomass per unit root tissue was higher overall during the falling water period, when light was greater, storms less frequent, and new host plant tissue produced more slowly.
3. Epiphytic algal biomass at the margins of floating meadows exceeded that of the phytoplankton in the open water on a per unit area basis. Increases in attached algal chlorophyll ranged from two- to ten-fold over 1 week. Artificial denudation of roots was followed by rapid regrowth of attached algae, leading, after I week, to four-fold increases in chlorophyll over the pre-denuded state.
4. Wind-blown macrophytes experienced an episodic loss of 70% of epiphytic material in less than 1 h. Particulate material lost from roots grazed by snails included root tissue and contained significantly more carbon than material lost from ungrazed roots.     

DNA Synthesis in Chloroplasts: III. THE DNA GYRASE INHIBITORS NALIDIXIC ACID AND NOVOBIOCIN INHIBIT BOTH THYMIDINE INCORPORATION INTO DNA AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC OXYGEN EVOLUTION BY ISOLATED CHLOROPLASTS

The influence of two DNA gyrase inhibitors, nalidixic acid andnovobiocin, on DNA synthesis in isolated pea chloroplasts wasexamined. Novobiocin at 1–5 mol m^–3 markedly lowered[³H]thymidine incorporation into DNA (30–95% inhibition);while less effective, nalidixic acid at similar concentrationsalso diminished incorporation (25–35% inhibition). Theinhibition of chloroplast DNA (ctDNA) biosynthesis by nalidixicacid and novobiocin was confirmed by autoradiography and densitometry.These data are consistent with the view that chloroplasts containa DNA gyrase-like enzyme which is necessary for DNA replication.Despite this, interpretation of the results is not straightforward,as both nalidixic acid and novobiocin also inhibited photosyntheticactivity. Each substance (at millimolar levels) reduced ferricyanide-dependentO₂ evolution in isolated chloroplasts. However, at lower concentrations(0.05–0.3 mol m^–3) they slightly enhanced photosyntheticelectron flow; thus, these compounds may act as uncouplers ofphotophosphorylation as well as inhibitors of electron transport.Nalidixic acid and novobiocin at relatively low (0.1 mol m^–3)concentrations also strongly reduced CO₂-dependent O₂ evolution(an index of CO₂ photo-assimilation) in isolated plastids. Thus,caution must be exercised in assessing results from studiesin which nalidixic acid and novobiocin are used with whole plants,cells, protoplasts or isolated chloroplasts. Key words: Chloroplast, DNA replication, novobiocin, nalidixic acid, DNA gyrase     

THE EUKARYOTIC KINGDOMS

Abstract— Cladistic analysis of data from ultrastruetural and other cell biological studies indicates that neither the classical two kingdom nor the commonly accepted five kingdom classifications accurately represent the cellular diversity of eukaryotes. The resulting cladogram indicates instead that there are nine major groups of eukaryotes.     

Role of environmental and spatial processes in structuring anuran communities across a tropical rain forest

This study aimed to evaluate if anuran species distributions in riparian and non‐riparian areas are influenced by environmental factors (i.e. niche) and/or by spatial factors (i.e. dispersal). The environmental variables analysed were altitude, distance from the stream and leaf litter depth. Spatial factors were represented by the eigenvectors extracted from geographical coordinates by eigenfunction analysis. The study was conducted in 24 km² of terra‐firme forest in Central Amazonia, Manaus – Amazonas, Brazil. Between November 2008 and May 2009, three samples were taken from 41 plots, 21 plots being placed at non‐riparian areas and another 20 placed in riparian areas. We submitted the assemblage dataset to a partial redundancy analysis to evaluate the contributions of environmental and spatial variables (selected with a forward selection procedure). In addition, we tested if communities differ from riparian and non‐riparian areas using a db‐MANOVA. Species richness and species composition differed between riparian and non‐riparian plots. Some species were restricted to riparian areas. Altitude was the only significant variable (P = 0.005) explaining 21% of the total variance. When analysing the data from all plots using the partial redundancy analysis, 27% of the variance was explained by spatial and environmental variables. The environmental variables explained exclusively 4% of the variance in assemblage composition, and 13% was explained by environmental variables that were also structured in space (i.e. the shared fraction), while 10% was explained exclusively by spatial variables. In conclusion, our results showed differences between the assemblages of riparian and non‐riparian areas which can be explained by the distribution of anuran species along environmental gradients altitude and distance to streams, with little evidence of dispersal limitation.     

Prey diversity and selectivity of the African fish eagle: data from a roost in northern Kenya

A total of 1872 bones from a fish eagle roost at Lake Turkana, Kenya was identified and analysed to provide data on fish eagle prey and diet. The approach of this study complements field observation studies in that it provides a long‐term analysis and quantification of the diet, rather than short qualitative observations. The study found that, at least where fish is relatively abundant, fish eagles are both selective and opportunistic: selective in taking preferred fish in much greater proportions than natural availability, and also in avoiding unwanted fish regardless of abundance, but opportunistic in taking certain other species in proportion to their availability. They also show considerable selection in size and habitat preferences of prey. Non‐fish prey forms a considerable proportion of the diet, and probably represents both opportunistic hunting, possibly when conditions for fishing are poor, and killing of other predators robbing fish eagle nests.
As well as describing and quantifying the fish eagle diet at Lake Turkana, data from this study suggest that further study is needed to quantify the impact of fish eagle predation on Clarias lazera , a rare, but valuable species to the Lake Turkana fishery. The study of bird roost prey remains also provides baseline data for studies of fossil microfaunal accumulations. Scatters of bones under fish eagle roosts are common in eastern Africa, and undoubtedly contribute to many of the fossil bone accumulations recovered. One of us (DM) has noted that the taxonomic and skeletal composition of the Koobi Fora roost bears a great resemblance to some of the clusters she is analysing from Olduvai Gorge. Further similar studies will provide additional data on bird roost accumulations.     

The Ultrastructure of Chaenea teres and an Analysis of the Phylogeny of the Haptorid Ciliates

Chaenea teres has typical haptorid ultrastructure. The somatic monokinetid has two transverse microtubular ribbons, an overlapping postciliary microtubular ribbon, and a laterally directed kinetodesmal fiber. The evered cytopharynx forms a dome at the apical end of the cell. The base of the dome is surrounded by oral dikinetids. The left, anterior kinetosome of the oral pair is not ciliated and has a transverse microtubular ribbon, a nematodesmata and a single postciliary microtubule. The right, posterior kinetosome is ciliated and has only postciliary microtubules. The kinetosomes at the anterior ends of the somatic kinetics are close together and their transverse microtubules and nematodesmata contribute to the support of the cytopharynx. The transverse microtubules of these oralized somatic kinetosomes, together with those from the oral dikinetids, line the cytopharynx. Accessory or bulge microtubules arise perpendicular to the transverse microtubules. A dorsal brush of three kineties of clavate cilia is found on the cell surface just posterior to the oral region. Mucocysts and a single type of toxicyst are present. The toxicysts are confined to the oral region. There are multiple ovoid macronuclei that stain weakly. Micronuclei were not observed. Cladistic analysis indicates the Chaenea may be most closely related to Fuscheria and Acropisthium. The cladistic analysis also suggests that existing taxonomies of the subclass Haptoria need to be revised. We propose some modifications to Foissner & Foissner's classification that include transferring Helicoprorodon, Actinobolina, the buetschiliids, and the balantidiids to the order Haptorida and recognizing the close relationship between pleurostomes and spathidiids.     

Devonian monospecific assemblages: new insights into the ecology of reduced-oxygen depositional settings

Low-diversity fossil assemblages interpreted as representing dysaerobic communities are common in the Phanerozoic rock record, and those composed of a single species have particular utility for recognizing the lowest bottom-water oxygen levels. An unusually high-diversity of clades including three rhynchonelliform, two linguliform, and one bivalve species occur in monospecific assemblages within Middle and Upper Devonian black shales of New York State. These six taxa are interpreted to be adapted to extremely reduced bottom-water oxygen levels as inferred from detailed sedimentological data and their repeated monospecific occurrence; however these groups represent two distinct ecologies. Three of these taxa are restricted to sediments deposited under the lowest dysaerobic conditions, while the other three taxa, unlike other fossils characteristic of reduced-oxygen levels, also occur in and are even dominant in high-diversity assemblages. The rhynchonellid brachiopod Eumetabolotoechia multicostata is the most abundant taxon within these units and has a remarkable ecological range as dominant from the lowest dysaerobic zone to near-normal marine oxygen levels. These Devonian groups, when present in monospecific assemblages, have utility for characterizing the lowest dysaerobic zone where trace fossil assemblages, most commonly used to describe these low-oxygen depositional settings, are absent or poorly developed.