In search of the best local habitat drivers for saproxylic beetle diversity in temperate deciduous forests

Deadwood-associated species are increasingly targeted in forest biodiversity conservation. In order to improve structural biodiversity indicators and sustainable management guidelines, we need to elucidate ecological and anthropogenic drivers of saproxylic diversity. Herein we aim to disentangle the effects of local habitat attributes which presumably drive saproxylic beetle communities in temperate lowland deciduous forests. We collected data on saproxylic beetles in 104 oak and 49 beech stands in seven French lowland forests and used deadwood, microhabitat and stand features (large trees, openness) as predictor variables to describe local forest conditions. Deadwood diversity and stand openness were consistent key habitat features for species richness and composition in deciduous forests. Large downed deadwood volume was a significant predictor of beetle species richness in oak forests only. In addition, the density of cavity- and fungus-bearing trees had weak but significant effects. We recommend that forest managers favor the local diversification of deadwood types, especially the number of combinations of deadwood positions and tree species, the retention of large downed deadwood and microhabitat-bearing trees in order to maximize the saproxylic beetle diversity at the stand scale in deciduous forests. To improve our understanding of deadwood-biodiversity relationships, further research should be based on targeted surveys on species-microhabitat relationships and should investigate the role of landscape-scale deadwood resources and of historical gaps in continuity of key features availability at the local scale.     

A novel series of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 negative allosteric modulators based on a 4,5,6,7-tetrahydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine core

A series of potent non-acetylinic negative allosteric modulators of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu5 NAMs) was developed starting from HTS screening hit 1. Potency was improved via iterative SAR, and physicochemical properties were optimized to deliver orally bioavailable compounds acceptable for in vivo testing. A lead molecule from the series demonstrated dose-dependent activity in the second phase of the rat formalin test from 30 mg/kg, and a preliminary PK/PD relationship was established.     

Physiological variables determined under laboratory conditions may explain the bloom of Aphanizomenon ovalisporum in Lake Kinneret

Response of Aphanizomenon ovalisporum to certain environmental parameters was studied to gain a better understanding of the conditions which may have stimulated its autumnal bloom in Lake Kinneret. Optimal temperature for A. ovalisporum growth was 26–30?°C, resulting in growth rates of 0.2–0.3?day^?1, similar to those observed in the lake. Maximal rate of CO₂ fixation (assimilation numbers of 6–8?μg?C?μg^?1?Chl?h^?1) was obtained at low irradiances (I _k of 40–100?μmol?photons?m^?2?s^?1), 200?μM Pi and low N:Pi ratios. Growth was strongly affected by phosphorus availability, reaching a maximum at Pi concentrations above 40?μM. The high demand for phosphorus was indicated by an increase in alkaline phosphatase activity. The relative abundance of Pi in the cells increased by 4-fold in Pi-rich compared with Pi-limited cultures. Uptake of Pi was faster in Pi-depleted compared with Pi-sufficient cells. Maximal photosynthetic rates and K_1/2(HCO₃ ^?) were 140–220?μmol?O₂?mg^?1?Chl?h^?1 and 10–24?μM, respectively. At pH 7.0 the K _1/2(CO₂) was 2.2 and fell to 0.04?μM at pH 9.0. These data indicated that A. ovalisporum is a HCO₃ ^? user, and can explain its high photosynthetic rates during the bloom, under high pH and low dissolved CO₂ conditions. Na⁺ concentrations of about 5?mM were essential for A. ovalisporum growth at high pH approaching values in the lake.     

Evaluation of the attachment strength of individuals of Asterina gibbosa (Asteroidea,Echinodermata) during the perimetamorphic period

Abstract

A turbulent channel flow apparatus was used to determine the adhesion strength of the three perimetamorphic stages of the asteroid Asterina gibbosa, i.e. the brachiolaria larvae, the metamorphic individuals and the juveniles. The mean critical wall shear stresses (wall shear stress required to dislodge 50% of the attached individuals) necessary to detach larvae attached by the brachiolar arms (1.2 Pa) and juveniles attached by the tube feet (7.1 Pa) were one order of magnitude lower than the stress required to dislodge metamorphic individuals attached by the adhesive disc (41 Pa). This variability in adhesion strength reflects differences in the functioning of the adhesive organs for these different life stages of sea stars. Brachiolar arms and tube feet function as temporary adhesion organs, allowing repetitive cycles of attachment to and detachment from the substratum, whereas the adhesive disc is used only once, at the onset of metamorphosis, and is responsible for the strong attachment of the metamorphic individual, which can be described as permanent adhesion. The results confirm that the turbulent water channel apparatus is a powerful tool to investigate the adhesion mechanisms of minute organisms.     

Telomere Profiling: Toward Glioblastoma Personalized Medicine

Despite a standard of care combining surgery, radiotherapy (RT), and temozolomide chemotherapy, the average overall survival (OS) of glioblastoma patients is only 15 months, and even far lower when the patient cannot benefit from this combination. Therefore, there is a strong need for new treatments, such as new irradiation techniques. Against this background, carbon ion hadrontherapy, a new kind of irradiation, leads to a greater biological response of the tumor, while minimizing adverse effects on healthy tissues in comparison with RT. As carbon ion hadrontherapy is restricted to RT-resistant patients, photon irradiation resistance biomarkers are needed. Long telomeres and high telomerase activity have been widely associated with photon radioresistance in other cancers. Moreover, telomere protection, telomere function, and telomere length (TL) also depend on the shelterin protein complex (TRF1, TRF2, TPP1, POT1, TIN2, and hRAP1). We thus decided to evaluate an enlarged telomeric status (TL, telomerase catalytic subunit, and the shelterin component expression level) as a potential radioresistance biomarker in vitro using cellular models and ex vivo using patient tumor biopsies. In addition, nothing was known about the role of telomeres in carbon ion response. We thus evaluated telomeric status after both types of irradiation. We report here a significant correlation between TL and the basal POT1 expression level and photon radioresistance, in vitro, and a significant increase in the OS of patients with long telomeres or a high POT1 level, in vivo. POT1 expression was predictive of patient response irrespective of the TL. Strikingly, these correlations were lost, in vitro, when considering carbon irradiation. We thus propose (1) a model of the implications of telomeric damage in the cell response to both types of irradiation and (2) assessment of the POT1 expression level and TL using patient tumor biopsies to identify radioresistant patients who could benefit from carbon hadrontherapy.     

A Two-Hybrid-Receptor Assay Demonstrates Heteromer Formation as Switch-On for Plant Immune Receptors

Receptor kinases sense extracellular signals and trigger intracellular signaling and physiological responses. However, how does signal binding to the extracellular domain activate the cytoplasmic kinase domain? Activation of the plant immunoreceptor Flagellin sensing2 (FLS2) by its bacterial ligand flagellin or the peptide-epitope flg22 coincides with rapid complex formation with a second receptor kinase termed brassinosteroid receptor1 associated kinase1 (BAK1). Here, we show that the receptor pair of FLS2 and BAK1 is also functional when the roles of the complex partners are reversed by swapping their cytosolic domains. This reciprocal constellation prevents interference by redundant partners that can partially substitute for BAK1 and demonstrates that formation of the heteromeric complex is the molecular switch for transmembrane signaling. A similar approach with swaps between the Elongation factor-Tu receptor and BAK1 also resulted in a functional receptor/coreceptor pair, suggesting that a “two-hybrid-receptor assay” is of more general use for studying heteromeric receptor complexes.Cell surface receptors are chemical sensors, often with an exquisite specificity and sensitivity, which detect extracellular signals and initiate corresponding intracellular response programs. Many of these receptors are transmembrane proteins with an extracellular ligand-binding domain and an intracellular protein kinase domain. Higher plants, such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), have several hundred genes encoding receptor like kinases (Shiu and Bleecker, 2001; Shiu and Li, 2004). How are these receptor like kinases activated by their ligands, and how do they initiate a subsequent intracellular signaling cascade? In our work, we used the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase (LRR-RK) Flagellin sensing2 (FLS2), which specifically detects bacterial flagellin or its peptide epitope flg22 at subnanomolar concentrations (Gomez-Gomez and Boller, 2000; Gómez-Gómez et al., 2001; Chinchilla et al., 2006). FLS2 undergoes heteromeric complex formation with brassinosteroid receptor1 associated kinase1 (BAK1) within seconds after application of the flagellin-derived peptide ligand flg22 (Chinchilla et al., 2007; Heese et al., 2007; Schulze et al., 2010). Thus, BAK1 might act as a coreceptor of FLS2. However, as previously observed (Chinchilla et al., 2007; Roux et al., 2011), FLS2 is still functional in the absence of BAK1, although with a reduced efficiency. This raises the question whether the ligand-induced heteromeric complex has merely an enhancing effect or whether association with BAK1 or a functional substitute acts as the essential switch-on for transmembrane signaling of FLS2. BAK1 is one of the five members that form the somatic embryogenesis receptor kinase (SERK) family (Albrecht et al., 2008), and other members of this family might partially substitute for BAK1 (Roux et al., 2011). However, a rigorous genetic approach to delineate the role of these potential substitutes is not feasible because triple mutants (serk1 serk3 serk4) and quadruple mutants (serk1 serk2 serk3 serk4) exhibit severe general phenotypes of dwarfing or even lethality at the early embryo stage (He et al., 2007; Gou et al., 2012) that might be due to the important role of SERKs in plant developmental processes (Li et al., 2002; Nam and Li, 2002).To address the role of the heteromeric complex with BAK1 in the absence of other interfering SERKs, we took a two-hybrid-receptor approach based on the premise that the apoplastic and cytoplasmic domains of FLS2 and BAK1 function in a modular manner. A heteromeric complex might thus also form and function when the roles of FLS2 and BAK1 are reversed by reciprocal swapping of their cytoplasmic protein kinase domains (Fig. 1A, schematic view).Open in a separate windowFigure 1.Heteromeric complex formation of FLS with BAK1 switches on flagellin-dependent transmembrane signaling. A, Model for the flg22-dependent heteromeric receptor complex. Schematic representation of FLS2 (blue), BAK1 (red), and the chimeric receptor constructs Ftm-B and Btm-F. Ftm-B comprises the extracellular and the transmembrane domains of FLS2 (blue) and the cytoplasmic domain of BAK1 (red). The receptor chimera Btm-F represents the reciprocal construct with the cytoplasmic part of BAK1 replaced by that of FLS2. The cytoplasmic domain of FLS2 was C-terminally tagged with a GFP. B and C, Functional comparison of native FLS2 and BAK1 (B) with the two hybrid receptors Ftm-B and Btm-F (C). The experiments show luciferase activity in Arabidopsis fls2 bak1-4 double mutant protoplasts cotransformed with pFRK1::Luciferase as a reporter and the receptor constructs indicated. At 0 h (dashed line) protoplasts were treated with 100 nm of flg22 (black diamonds) or 100 nm of the inactive analog flg22^Atum (white circles). Light emission of the protoplasts was measured with a luminometer. Values represent averages and sds of three replicates. Data shown are representative for at least three independent repetitions of the experiments with all constructs. D and E, Dose-response relationship for flg22-dependent induction of pFRK1::Luciferase in protoplasts expressing the receptor constructs indicated. Values represent increase in luciferase activity after 5 h of treatment as percentage of the increase observed with FLS2 plus BAK1 treated with saturating doses of greater than or equal to 10 nm flg22. Comparison of (half-maximal stimulation values in D and E shows that cells coexpressing Ftm-B plus Btm-F responded at least as sensitive to flg22 as cells coexpressing FLS2 plus BAK1. A combination of Ftm-B with the kinase dead version Btm-F_KD was not functional, even when treated with 1,000 nm flg22. LU, Light units.     

Update of the spectrum of GJB2 gene mutations in Tunisian families with autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss

Hearing loss is the most frequent sensory disorder. It affects 3 in 1000 newborns. It is genetically heterogeneous with 60 causally-related genes identified to date. Mutations in GJB2 gene account for half of all cases of non-syndromic deafness. The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of GJB2 allele variants in Tunisia. In this study, we screened 138 patients with congenital hearing loss belonging to 131 families originating from different parts of Tunisia for mutations in GJB2 gene. GJB2 mutations were found in 39% of families (51/131). The most common mutation was c.35delG accounting for 35% of all cases (46/131). The second most frequent mutation was p.E47X present in 3.8% of families. Four identified mutations in our cohort have not been reported in Tunisia; p.V37I, c.235delC, p.G130A and the splice site mutation IVS1+1G>A (0.76%). These previously described mutations were detected only in families originating from Northern and not from other geographical regions in Tunisia. In conclusion we have confirmed the high frequency of c.35delG in Tunisia which represents 85.4% of all GJB2 mutant alleles. We have also extended the mutational spectrum of GJB2 gene in Tunisia and revealed a more pronounced allelic heterogeneity in the North compared to the rest of the country.     

Optimization of Campylobacter growth conditions for further identification by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)

Growth conditions – including growth medium and incubation temperature – may influence the identification of Campylobacter by MALDI-TOF MS.     

Centrioles in flies: The exception to the rule?

Centrioles and basal bodies are MT based structures that present a highly conserved ninefold symmetry. Centrioles can be found at the core of the centrosome where they participate in PCM recruitment and organization, contributing to cytoplasmic MT nucleation. Basal bodies are normally located closely to the plasma membrane where they are responsible for axoneme assembly to form structures such as cilia or flagella. While it is well accepted that these organelles have important roles in cell and tissue organization, their contribution to certain phases of animal development is still not entirely established. Here we review the role of centrosomes and cilia in Drosophila melanogaster and briefly discuss the implications of these findings to other model organisms.     

Maize adaptation to temperate climate: relationship between population structure and polymorphism in the Dwarf8 gene

To investigate the genetic basis of maize adaptation to temperate climate, collections of 375 inbred lines and 275 landraces, representative of American and European diversity, were evaluated for flowering time under short- and long-day conditions. The inbred line collection was genotyped for 55 genomewide simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Comparison of inbred line population structure with that of landraces, as determined with 24 SSR loci, underlined strong effects of both historical and modern selection on population structure and a clear relationship with geographical origins. The late tropical groups and the early "Northern Flint" group from the northern United States and northern Europe exhibited different flowering times. Both collections were genotyped for a 6-bp insertion/deletion in the Dwarf8 (D8idp) gene, previously reported to be potentially involved in flowering time variation in a 102 American inbred panel. Among-group D8idp differentiation was much higher than that for any SSR marker, suggesting diversifying selection. Correcting for population structure, D8idp was associated with flowering time under long-day conditions, the deletion allele showing an average earlier flowering of 29 degree days for inbreds and 145 degree days for landraces. Additionally, the deletion allele occurred at a high frequency (>80%) in Northern Flint while being almost absent (<5%) in tropical materials. Altogether, these results indicate that Dwarf8 could be involved in maize climatic adaptation through diversifying selection for flowering time.