Surprisingly long survival of premature conclusions about naked mole-rat biology

Naked mole-rats express many unusual traits for such a small rodent. Their morphology, social behaviour, physiology, and ageing have been well studied over the past half-century. Many early findings and speculations about this subterranean species persist in the literature, although some have been repeatedly questioned or refuted. While the popularity of this species as a natural-history curiosity, and oversimplified story-telling in science journalism, might have fuelled the perpetuation of such misconceptions, an accurate understanding of their biology is especially important for this new biomedical model organism. We review 28 of these persistent myths about naked mole-rat sensory abilities, ecophysiology, social behaviour, development and ageing, and where possible we explain how these misunderstandings came about.     

Unexpected hybridization patterns in Near Eastern terrapins (Mauremys caspica,M. rivulata) indicate ancient gene flow across the Fertile Crescent

Recent studies indicate that hybridization in animals occurs more frequently than previously thought and that it may play an important evolutionary role. Chelonians are capable of extensive hybridization, raising the question how chelonian species evolve and maintain genetic integrity despite hybridization. Here, we use two sister species with parapatric distribution, Mauremys caspica and M. rivulata, as our model. These taxa are estimated to have diverged some 5.3–7.0 million years ago. Using rangewide sampling and 13 unlinked polymorphic microsatellite markers, five nuclear loci and one mitochondrial gene, we show that hybridization is rare along the contact zone of the two species in Turkey. However, we discovered an unexpected hybrid swarm in the southern Levant that has been hitherto identified with M. rivulata. This hybrid swarm is separated from the inland species M. caspica by a 700‐km‐wide distribution gap corresponding to the Syrian Desert. Ecological palaeomodelling suggests that during more humid climatic episodes in the Last Glacial Maximum and mid‐Holocene, the current contact zone extended into the southern Levant, facilitating the establishment of the now isolated hybrid swarm. Our results support that there is not necessarily a general hybridization pattern in a given species couple and that the extent of gene flow may differ considerably in different parts of the distribution range. Moreover, our results highlight that studies on hybridization should not focus only on extant contact and hybrid zones, but should use rangewide sampling to detect signals of ancient hybridization that might otherwise be missed.     

Polymer nanostructures for bioapplications induced by laser treatment

Modification of polymer substrates can essentially change the properties of material and thereby it allows their usage in attractive fields of material research. Laser treatment can be successfully applied for change in physico-chemical surface properties and/or for selective change of surface morphology with pattern construction. Three major applications of laser induced structures were described, cytocompatibility control, application as anti-bacterial substrate and plasmonic-based detection system. The construction of a second generation antibacterials using the synergic effect of either nanopatterning of polymers by application of a laser or noble metals deposition and consequent modification of nanostructures was presented.     

Evaluation of the contact angle from molecular simulations

An alternative method for determination of the contact angle of droplets at a solid underlay from molecular simulations is proposed. The method is based on a recently developed general method of identification the surface molecules of a molecular system with the interface of an arbitrary shape and on a subsequent parametrisation of the surface of the droplet by a smooth function. The method has been verified first by considering two artificial systems with the exactly known contact angles and then by comparison with literature data for two realistic systems.     

Trophic-level differences in functional composition of the Nardus grassland vegetation

In this study, we examined floristic and functional composition of Nardus grassland of the highlands of NE Slovenia. The data-set included 55 relevés, 59 plant species, and 17 plant functional traits (PFT). The TWINSPAN classification resulted in two plant communities; calcifuge species (G1_oligotr) and another group of species characteristic of mesotrophic meadow (G2_mesotr). On the basis of selected PFT 11 out of 17 differ significantly between the groups. Group G1_oligotr had higher community-weighted mean trait values for chamaephytes (G1 = 0.09; G2 = 0.02), geophytes (G1 = 0.03; G2= 0.01), competitors (G1 = 0.43; G2 = 0.41) and plants that start flowering later (G1 = 142.84; G2 = 136.69). On the other side was G2_mesotr represented with more plants that are therophytes (G1 = 0.04; G2 = 0.09), creeping (G1 = 0.01; G2 = 0.12) and short-lived (G1 = 0.04; G2 = 0.11) and have longer flowering period (G1 = 3.24; G2 = 3.60). Differences may reflect the stronger effect of disturbance and eutrophication in G2_mesotr, probably due to intensification of grassland management (grazing) in the region. Our findings are significant in understanding the relative influence of environmental stress and disturbance within Nardus grasslands, and this may have important implications for their conservation management.     

Entrapment of β-galactosidase in polyvinylalcohol hydrogel

β-Galactosidase isolated from Aspergillus oryzae was immobilized in lens-shaped polyvinylalcohol capsules (with activity 25 U g⁻¹) giving 32% of its original activity. Immobilization did not change the pH optimum (4.5) of lactose hydrolysis. The relative enzyme activity during product inhibition testing was, in average, 10% higher for immobilized enzyme. No decrease of activity was observed after 35 repeated batch runs and during 530 h of continuous hydrolysis of lactose (10%, w/v) at 45°C. The immobilized enzyme was stable for 14 months without any change of activity during the storage at 4°C and pH 4.5.     

Long-termed changes in ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in a field treated by organic fertilizers

In 2001–2006, ground beetles were pitfall-trapped in a temperate lowland area of South Slovakia in an experimental field divided in five plots fertilized by four different doses of manure or biosludge (25 t stable manure ha⁻¹, 50 t biosludge ha⁻¹, 50 t stable manure ha⁻¹, 100 t biosludge ha⁻¹ and without fertilization). The field was subsequently sown by spring barley, sugar beat, maize, sunflower, sugar beat and maize. The ground beetle assemblage consisted of 31 species, but only five species predominated: Pseudoophonus rufipes representing 82.6% of individuals and five species (Poecilus cupreus, Carabus scheidleri, Calathus fuscipes, Trechus quadristriatus, Pterostichus melanarius, Anchomenus dorsalis, Dolichus halensis) representing together 14.5% of individuals. Pseudophonus rufipes represented 81.7% of dry biomass and three species (Carabus scheidleri, Poecilus cupreus Pterostichus melanarius) 15.9% of biomass. There was no significant influence of organic fertilizing on assemblage structure. During the investigation, the number of individuals and their biomass increased in all plots until 2003 and than dropped to the starting values. The culmination of 2003 was preceded by a warmer and more humid season in 2002. After a cold and dry season of 2003 abundance decreased approximately to starting values. Simultaneously, the local maxima and minima of occurrence of ground beetles in individual plots shifted independently on the doses of organic material. At the same time, number of occurring species slightly decreased. The observed changes obviously represent part of long-termed fluctuations in wider surroundings.     

A chromosomal genomics approach to assess and validate the desi and kabuli draft chickpea genome assemblies

With the expansion of next‐generation sequencing technology and advanced bioinformatics, there has been a rapid growth of genome sequencing projects. However, while this technology enables the rapid and cost‐effective assembly of draft genomes, the quality of these assemblies usually falls short of gold standard genome assemblies produced using the more traditional BAC by BAC and Sanger sequencing approaches. Assembly validation is often performed by the physical anchoring of genetically mapped markers, but this is prone to errors and the resolution is usually low, especially towards centromeric regions where recombination is limited. New approaches are required to validate reference genome assemblies. The ability to isolate individual chromosomes combined with next‐generation sequencing permits the validation of genome assemblies at the chromosome level. We demonstrate this approach by the assessment of the recently published chickpea kabuli and desi genomes. While previous genetic analysis suggests that these genomes should be very similar, a comparison of their chromosome sizes and published assemblies highlights significant differences. Our chromosomal genomics analysis highlights short defined regions that appear to have been misassembled in the kabuli genome and identifies large‐scale misassembly in the draft desi genome. The integration of chromosomal genomics tools within genome sequencing projects has the potential to significantly improve the construction and validation of genome assemblies. The approach could be applied both for new genome assemblies as well as published assemblies, and complements currently applied genome assembly strategies.