Multiple Limit Cycles in a Gause Type Predator–Prey Model with Holling Type III Functional Response and Allee Effect on Prey

This work aims to examine the global behavior of a Gause type predator–prey model considering two aspects: (i) the functional response is Holling type III and, (ii) the prey growth is affected by the Allee effect. We prove the origin of the system is an attractor equilibrium point for all parameter values. It has also been shown that it is the ω-limit of a wide set of trajectories of the system, due to the existence of a separatrix curve determined by the stable manifold of the equilibrium point (m,0), which is associated to the Allee effect on prey. When a weak Allee effect on the prey is assumed, an important result is obtained, involving the existence of two limit cycles surrounding a unique positive equilibrium point: the innermost cycle is unstable and the outermost stable. This property, not yet reported in models considering a sigmoid functional response, is an important aspect for ecologists to acknowledge as regards the kind of tristability shown here: (1) the origin; (2) an interior equilibrium; and (3) a limit cycle of large amplitude. These models have undoubtedly been rather sensitive to disturbances and require careful management in applied conservation and renewable resource contexts.     

Phylogeny, traits, environment, and space in cerrado plant communities at Emas National Park (Brazil)

Soil, drought, and fire are abiotic factors that may act as environmental filters in the cerrado, the Brazilian savanna. We used a framework to analyze environmental filtering in geographic and phylogenetic context, sampling woody species in one of the largest cerrado reserves. In 100 quadrats, we measured 10 functional traits on each woody individual. We also measured several soil variables, altitude and slope as a rough surrogate of water availability, interval between fires, and time since last fire. Almost all environmental variables were spatially auto-correlated. We found an overall trait clustering, but not an overall phylogenetic clustering. Nevertheless, we found a phylogenetic signal for some traits. Linking phylogeny, traits, environment, and space, we were able to detect a major dichotomy between two geomorphological units. The flat tableland was positively related with altitude, fire frequency, and nutrient-richer soil. Environmental filtering caused by water availability and fire lead to trait clustering, with smaller shrubs and trees that presented thicker barks, denser woods, sclerophyllous leaves, highlighted by the prevalance of Myrtaceae. The other geomorphological unit, hilly terrain, was positively related with slope, low fire frequency, and nutrient-poorer soil. Environmental filtering was caused especially by nutrient-poor soil that lead to trait clustering, assembling taller trees, with thinner barks, lighter woods, and compound, large, tender, nutrient-richer leaves, distributed across many lineages, including Fabaceae. Hence, the high environmental variability in space with different environmental filters assembled different combination of plant traits and lineages, increasing the overall diversity in cerrado.     

A phenomenological computational model of the evoked action potential fitted to human cochlear implant responses

There is a growing interest in biomedical engineering in developing procedures that provide accurate simulations of the neural response to electrical stimulus produced by implants. Moreover, recent research focuses on models that take into account individual patient characteristics.We present a phenomenological computational model that is customized with the patient’s data provided by the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) for simulating the neural response to electrical stimulus produced by the electrodes of cochlear implants (CIs). The model links the input currents of the electrodes to the simulated ECAP.Potentials and currents are calculated by solving the quasi-static approximation of the Maxwell equations with the finite element method (FEM). In ECAPs recording, an active electrode generates a current that elicits action potentials in the surrounding auditory nerve fibers (ANFs). The sum of these action potentials is registered by other nearby electrode. Our computational model emulates this phenomenon introducing a set of line current sources replacing the ANFs by a set of virtual neurons (VNs). To fit the ECAP amplitudes we assign a suitable weight to each VN related with the probability of an ANF to be excited. This probability is expressed by a cumulative beta distribution parameterized by two shape parameters that are calculated by means of a differential evolution algorithm (DE). Being the weights function of the current density, any change in the design of the CI affecting the current density produces changes in the weights and, therefore, in the simulated ECAP, which confers to our model a predictive capacity.The results of the validation with ECAP data from two patients are presented, achieving a satisfactory fit of the experimental data with those provided by the proposed computational model.     

Stress-Induced Chloroplast Degradation in Arabidopsis Is Regulated via a Process Independent of Autophagy and Senescence-Associated Vacuoles

Two well-known pathways for the degradation of chloroplast proteins are via autophagy and senescence-associated vacuoles. Here, we describe a third pathway that was activated by senescence- and abiotic stress-induced expression of Arabidopsis thaliana CV (for chloroplast vesiculation). After targeting to the chloroplast, CV destabilized the chloroplast, inducing the formation of vesicles. CV-containing vesicles carrying stromal proteins, envelope membrane proteins, and thylakoid membrane proteins were released from the chloroplasts and mobilized to the vacuole for proteolysis. Overexpression of CV caused chloroplast degradation and premature leaf senescence, whereas silencing CV delayed chloroplast turnover and senescence induced by abiotic stress. Transgenic CV-silenced plants displayed enhanced tolerance to drought, salinity, and oxidative stress. Immunoprecipitation and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays demonstrated that CV interacted with photosystem II subunit PsbO1 in vivo through a C-terminal domain that is highly conserved in the plant kingdom. Collectively, our work indicated that CV plays a crucial role in stress-induced chloroplast disruption and mediates a third pathway for chloroplast degradation. From a biotechnological perspective, silencing of CV offers a suitable strategy for the generation of transgenic crops with increased tolerance to abiotic stress.     

Oviposition pattern of the predator Podisus nigrispinus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) under different temperatures

The daily reproductive rate of Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) fed with Alabama argillacea (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae was studied at constant temperatures of 20, 23, 25, 28, 30 and 33±0.2°C, relative humidity of 60±10% and photoperiod of L:D 14:10. Daily reproductive rate of P. nigripinus was affected by age of this predator. Each P. nigrispinus female laid 5.3 (20°C) to 19.9 eggs/day (28°C) which developed into 4.3–16.5 nymphs, respectively. Highest daily reproductive rate of P. nigrispinus was recorded at 28 and 30°C for 5–30-day-old females. This predator showed higher daily reproductive rate than its prey A. argillacea at 25°C. It was also able to reproduce at temperatures from 20 to 33°C with maximum daily reproductive rate between 25 and 30°C. These results are important for optimizing mass rearing of P. nigrispinus in the laboratory.     

Strongyloidiasis and Infective Dermatitis Alter Human T Lymphotropic Virus-1 Clonality in vivo

Human T-lymphotropic Virus-1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus that persists lifelong by driving clonal proliferation of infected T-cells. HTLV-1 causes a neuroinflammatory disease and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. Strongyloidiasis, a gastrointestinal infection by the helminth Strongyloides stercoralis, and Infective Dermatitis associated with HTLV-1 (IDH), appear to be risk factors for the development of HTLV-1 related diseases. We used high-throughput sequencing to map and quantify the insertion sites of the provirus in order to monitor the clonality of the HTLV-1-infected T-cell population (i.e. the number of distinct clones and abundance of each clone). A newly developed biodiversity estimator called “DivE” was used to estimate the total number of clones in the blood. We found that the major determinant of proviral load in all subjects without leukemia/lymphoma was the total number of HTLV-1-infected clones. Nevertheless, the significantly higher proviral load in patients with strongyloidiasis or IDH was due to an increase in the mean clone abundance, not to an increase in the number of infected clones. These patients appear to be less capable of restricting clone abundance than those with HTLV-1 alone. In patients co-infected with Strongyloides there was an increased degree of oligoclonal expansion and a higher rate of turnover (i.e. appearance and disappearance) of HTLV-1-infected clones. In Strongyloides co-infected patients and those with IDH, proliferation of the most abundant HTLV-1⁺ T-cell clones is independent of the genomic environment of the provirus, in sharp contrast to patients with HTLV-1 infection alone. This implies that new selection forces are driving oligoclonal proliferation in Strongyloides co-infection and IDH. We conclude that strongyloidiasis and IDH increase the risk of development of HTLV-1-associated diseases by increasing the rate of infection of new clones and the abundance of existing HTLV-1⁺ clones.     

Hypochlorous acid-induced heme degradation from lactoperoxidase as a novel mechanism of free iron release and tissue injury in inflammatory diseases

Lactoperoxidase (LPO) is the major consumer of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) in the airways through its ability to oxidize thiocyanate (SCN(-)) to produce hypothiocyanous acid, an antimicrobial agent. In nasal inflammatory diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, both LPO and myeloperoxidase (MPO), another mammalian peroxidase secreted by neutrophils, are known to co-localize. The aim of this study was to assess the interaction of LPO and hypochlorous acid (HOCl), the final product of MPO. Our rapid kinetic measurements revealed that HOCl binds rapidly and reversibly to LPO-Fe(III) to form the LPO-Fe(III)-OCl complex, which in turn decayed irreversibly to LPO Compound II through the formation of Compound I. The decay rate constant of Compound II decreased with increasing HOCl concentration with an inflection point at 100 μM HOCl, after which the decay rate increased. This point of inflection is the critical concentration of HOCl beyond which HOCl switches its role, from mediating destabilization of LPO Compound II to LPO heme destruction. Lactoperoxidase heme destruction was associated with protein aggregation, free iron release, and formation of a number of fluorescent heme degradation products. Similar results were obtained when LPO-Fe(II)-O(2), Compound III, was exposed to HOCl. Heme destruction can be partially or completely prevented in the presence of SCN(-). On the basis of the present results we concluded that a complex bi-directional relationship exists between LPO activity and HOCl levels at sites of inflammation; LPO serve as a catalytic sink for HOCl, while HOCl serves to modulate LPO catalytic activity, bioavailability, and function.     

Amazonian Anthrosols Support Similar Microbial Communities that Differ Distinctly from Those Extant in Adjacent, Unmodified Soils of the Same Mineralogy

We compared the microbial community composition in soils from the Brazilian Amazon with two contrasting histories; anthrosols and their adjacent non-anthrosol soils of the same mineralogy. The anthrosols, also known as the Amazonian Dark Earths or terra preta, were managed by the indigenous pre-Colombian Indians between 500 and 8,700 years before present and are characterized by unusually high cation exchange capacity, phosphorus (P), and calcium (Ca) contents, and soil carbon pools that contain a high proportion of incompletely combusted biomass as biochar or black carbon (BC). We sampled paired anthrosol and unmodified soils from four locations in the Manaus, Brazil, region that differed in their current land use and soil type. Community DNA was extracted from sampled soils and characterized by use of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. DNA bands of interest from Bacteria and Archaea DGGE gels were cloned and sequenced. In cluster analyses of the DNA fingerprints, microbial communities from the anthrosols grouped together regardless of current land use or soil type and were distinct from those in their respective, paired adjacent soils. For the Archaea, the anthrosol communities diverged from the adjacent soils by over 90%. A greater overall richness was observed for Bacteria sequences as compared with those of the Archaea. Most of the sequences obtained were novel and matched those in databases at less than 98% similarity. Several sequences obtained only from the anthrosols grouped at 93% similarity with the Verrucomicrobia, a genus commonly found in rice paddies in the tropics. Sequences closely related to Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria sp. were recovered only from adjacent soil samples. Sequences related to Pseudomonas, Acidobacteria, and Flexibacter sp. were recovered from both anthrosols and adjacent soils. The strong similarities among the microbial communities present in the anthrosols for both the Bacteria and Archaea suggests that the microbial community composition in these soils is controlled more strongly by their historical soil management than by soil type or current land use. The anthrosols had consistently higher concentrations of incompletely combusted organic black carbon material (BC), higher soil pH, and higher concentrations of P and Ca compared to their respective adjacent soils. Such characteristics may help to explain the longevity and distinctiveness of the anthrosols in the Amazonian landscape and guide us in recreating soils with sustained high fertility in otherwise nutrient-poor soils in modern times.