Anthocyanins from red onion,Allium cepa,with novel aglycone

Four anthocyanins with the same novel 4-substituted aglycone, carboxypyranocyanidin, have been isolated from acidified, methanolic extracts of the edible scales as well as from the dry outer scales of red onion, Allium cepa L. The structures of 1 and 2 were identified as the 3-O-beta-glucopyranoside and 3-O-(6"-O-malonyl-beta-glucopyranoside) of 5-carboxypyranocyanidin, respectively. This aglycone, 5-carboxy-2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,8-dihydroxy-pyrano[4,3,2-de]-1-benzopyrylium, is with exception of the substitution pattern on the phenyl ring similar to carboxypyranomalvidin (vitisidin A) recently isolated from red wines. In addition to 1 and 2, two analogues of 2 methylated at the terminal carboxyl group of the acyl moiety (3) or at the aglycone carboxyl (4), respectively, were also identified. These latter compounds are most probably formed by esterification of 2 with the solvent (acidified methanol) during the isolation process. The structures were elucidated by 2D NMR spectroscopy and LC-MS.     

Glutamatergic neurotransmission in the synapsin I and II double knock-out mouse

The synaptic vesicle-associated synapsin proteins may participate in synaptic transmission, but their exact functional role(s) here remain(s) uncertain. We here briefly describe the important characteristics of the synapsin proteins, and review recent studies on transgenic mice devoid of the gene products encoded by the synapsin I and II genes, where both neurochemical, cell biological and electrophysiological methods have been employed. We present evidence for synapsin effects on both neurotransmitter synthesis and homeostasis, as well as on synaptic vesicle development and functions. Moreover, we describe physiological analyses of excitatory glutamatergic hippocampal synapses where a novel synapsin-dependent delayed response enhancement (DRE) phase occurs, and demonstrate the postnatal developmental patterns of both frequency facilitations and DRE responses. Finally, we report synapsin I and II effects in distinct excitatory glutamatergic synapses in the hippocampus, and indicate that synapsin-dependent modulations of synaptic function may use distinct presynaptic response patterns in order to induce different classes of presynaptic plasticity.     

Combining pathway analysis with flux balance analysis for the comprehensive study of metabolic systems

The elucidation of organism-scale metabolic networks necessitates the development of integrative methods to analyze and interpret the systemic properties of cellular metabolism. A shift in emphasis from single metabolic reactions to systemically defined pathways is one consequence of such an integrative analysis of metabolic systems. The constraints of systemic stoichiometry, and limited thermodynamics have led to the definition of the flux space within the context of convex analysis. The flux space of the metabolic system, containing all allowable flux distributions, is constrained to a convex polyhedral cone in a high-dimensional space. From metabolic pathway analysis, the edges of the high-dimensional flux cone are vectors that correspond to systemically defined "extreme pathways" spanning the capabilities of the system. The addition of maximum flux capacities of individual metabolic reactions serves to further constrain the flux space and has led to the development of flux balance analysis using linear optimization to calculate optimal flux distributions. Here we provide the precise theoretical connections between pathway analysis and flux balance analysis allowing for their combined application to study integrated metabolic function. Shifts in metabolic behavior are calculated using linear optimization and are then interpreted using the extreme pathways to demonstrate the concept of pathway utilization. Changes to the reaction network, such as the removal of a reaction, can lead to the generation of suboptimal phenotypes that can be directly attributed to the loss of pathway function and capabilities. Optimal growth phenotypes are calculated as a function of environmental variables, such as the availability of substrate and oxygen, leading to the definition of phenotypic phase planes. It is illustrated how optimality properties of the computed flux distributions can be interpreted in terms of the extreme pathways. Together these developments are applied to an example network and to core metabolism of Escherichia coli demonstrating the connections between the extreme pathways, optimal flux distributions, and phenotypic phase planes. The consequences of changing environmental and internal conditions of the network are examined for growth on glucose and succinate in the face of a variety of gene deletions. The convergence of the calculation of optimal phenotypes through linear programming and the definition of extreme pathways establishes a different perspective for the understanding of how a defined metabolic network is best used under different environmental and internal conditions or, in other words, a pathway basis for the interpretation of the metabolic reaction norm.     

Simple models combining competition,defence and resource availability have broad implications in pelagic microbial food webs

In food webs, interactions between competition and defence control the partitioning of limiting resources. As a result, simple models of these interactions contain links between biogeochemistry, diversity, food web structure and ecosystem function. Working at hierarchical levels, these mechanisms also produce self‐similarity and therefore suggest how complexity can be generated from repeated application of simple underlying principles. Reviewing theoretical and experimental literature relevant to the marine photic zone, we argue that there is a wide spectrum of phenomena, including single cell activity of prokaryotes, microbial biodiversity at different levels of resolution, ecosystem functioning, regional biogeochemical features and evolution at different timescales; that all can be understood as variations over a common principle, summarised in what has been termed the ‘Killing‐the‐Winner’ (KtW) motif. Considering food webs as assemblages of such motifs may thus allow for a more integrated approach to aquatic microbial ecology.     

Spores and soil from six sides: interdisciplinarity and the environmental biology of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)

Environmentally transmitted diseases are comparatively poorly understood and managed, and their ecology is particularly understudied. Here we identify challenges of studying environmental transmission and persistence with a six‐sided interdisciplinary review of the biology of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). Anthrax is a zoonotic disease capable of maintaining infectious spore banks in soil for decades (or even potentially centuries), and the mechanisms of its environmental persistence have been the topic of significant research and controversy. Where anthrax is endemic, it plays an important ecological role, shaping the dynamics of entire herbivore communities. The complex eco‐epidemiology of anthrax, and the mysterious biology of Bacillus anthracis during its environmental stage, have necessitated an interdisciplinary approach to pathogen research. Here, we illustrate different disciplinary perspectives through key advances made by researchers working in Etosha National Park, a long‐term ecological research site in Namibia that has exemplified the complexities of the enzootic process of anthrax over decades of surveillance. In Etosha, the role of scavengers and alternative routes (waterborne transmission and flies) has proved unimportant relative to the long‐term persistence of anthrax spores in soil and their infection of herbivore hosts. Carcass deposition facilitates green‐ups of vegetation to attract herbivores, potentially facilitated by the role of anthrax spores in the rhizosphere. The underlying seasonal pattern of vegetation, and herbivores' immune and behavioural responses to anthrax risk, interact to produce regular ‘anthrax seasons’ that appear to be a stable feature of the Etosha ecosystem. Through the lens of microbiologists, geneticists, immunologists, ecologists, epidemiologists, and clinicians, we discuss how anthrax dynamics are shaped at the smallest scale by population genetics and interactions within the bacterial communities up to the broadest scales of ecosystem structure. We illustrate the benefits and challenges of this interdisciplinary approach to disease ecology, and suggest ways anthrax might offer insights into the biology of other important pathogens. Bacillus anthracis, and the more recently emerged Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, share key features with other environmentally transmitted pathogens, including several zoonoses and panzootics of special interest for global health and conservation efforts. Understanding the dynamics of anthrax, and developing interdisciplinary research programs that explore environmental persistence, is a critical step forward for understanding these emerging threats.     

The influence of rapid temperature changes on the activity of Chorthippus albomarginatus de geer (Acrididae, Orthoptera)

The effect of rapid temperature changes on the activity of Ch. albomarginatus was investigated. The results showed the necessity of distinguishing between the activity that the animal shows after a longer time at the test temperature and the activity which takes place immediately following the temperature change. The activity of the animal should therefore be considered as a function of both the time and temperature factors. This connection between activity, temperature and time is illustrated schematically in a partially hypothetical diagram (Fig. 9). This diagram shows that the observations that increased temperature leads to increased activity and the fact that Acrididae can sit still and bask at relatively high temperatures may be only apparently opposing.A special activity minimum is demonstrated and its possible relation to the general orientation habits of the grasshopper in its specific milieu is pointed out.It has been shown that the test animals react to a temperature difference of 1 degree at 40°–41°.

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Zusammenfassung Die Wirkung rascher Temperaturänderungen auf die Aktivität von Chorthippus albomarginatus wurde untersucht. Die Ergebnisse erwiesen die Notwendigkeit, zwischen der Aktivität zu unterscheiden, die das Tier nach einer längeren Zeit bei der Prüftemperatur zeigt, und der Aktivität, die unmittelbar nach der Temperaturänderung eintritt. Die Aktivität des Tieres muß deshalb als eine Funktion sowohl der Zeit wie des Temperaturfaktors betrachtet werden. Die Beziehungen zwischen Aktivität, Temperatur und Zeit werden mit einem teilweise hypothetischen Diagramm schematisch dargestellt (Fig. 9). Das Diagramm erweist die nur scheinbare Gegensätzlichkeit der Beobachtungen, daß erhöhte Temperatur zu verstärkter Aktivität führt, und der Tatsache, daß Feldheuschrecken bei relativ hohen Temperaturen still sitzen und sich sonnen können.Es wird ein spezifisches Aktivitätsminimum nachgewiesen und seine mögliche Beziehung zum allgemeinen Orientierungsverhalten der Feldheuschrecken in ihrer spezifischen Umgebung erwogen.Es wurde nachgewiesen daß Versuchstiere bei 40° bis 41° auf einen Temperaturunterschied von einem Grad reagieren.

     

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is associated with elevated phosphorus limitation of lake zooplankton

Here, we present data that for the first time suggests that the effects of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on nutrient limitation extend into the food web. We used a novel and sensitive assay for an enzyme that is over‐expressed in animals growing under dietary phosphorus (P) deficiency (alkaline phosphatase activity, APA) to assess the nutritional status of major crustacean zooplankton taxa in lakes across a gradient of atmospheric N deposition in Norway. Lakes receiving high N deposition had suspended organic matter (seston) with significantly elevated carbon:P and N:P ratios, indicative of amplified phytoplankton P limitation. This P limitation appeared to be transferred up the food chain, as the cosmopolitan seston‐feeding zooplankton taxa Daphnia and Holopedium had significantly increased APA. These results indicate that N deposition can impair the efficiency of trophic interactions by accentuating stoichiometric food quality constraints in lake food webs.