Contrasting distributions of bacteriophages and eukaryotic viruses from contaminated coastal sediments

Viruses are ubiquitous, abundant and play an important role in all ecosystems. Here, we advance understanding of coastal sediment viruses by exploring links in the composition and abundance of sediment viromes to environmental stressors and sediment bacterial communities. We collected sediment from contaminated and reference sites in Sydney Harbour and used metagenomics to analyse viral community composition. The proportion of phages at contaminated sites was significantly greater than phages at reference sites, whereas eukaryotic viruses were relatively more abundant at reference sites. We observed shifts in viral and bacterial composition between contaminated and reference sites of a similar magnitude. Models based on sediment characteristics revealed that total organic carbon in the sediments explained most of the environmental stress-related variation in the viral dataset. Our results suggest that the presence of anthropogenic contaminants in coastal sediments could be influencing viral community composition with potential consequences for associated hosts and the environment.     

Isoenzymatic analysis of some freshwater Anabaena strains from Southern Italy

Seven freshwater Anabaena sp. strains have been examined for esterase, malate dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase and aldolase isozyme patterns. The morphological differences among them did not allow a sure understanding of their relationships, whereas a phylogenetic analysis of the esterase and malate dehydrogenase patterns led to a single fully resolved tree. A phenetic analysis on the same data set resulted in the same pattern of relationships. Successive cultures of the same strains did not show identical band phenotypes, but nevertheless the phenetic and phylogenetic relationships among the various strains did not change.     

Use of Tetrazolium Salts for Electron Transport Studies in Meningopneumonitis III. Separation and Examination of Large and Small Particles

Purified suspensions of meningopneumonitis can be separated on potassium tartrate gradient into populations which are 80 to 90% large particles and those which are 90% small particles. Examination of the tetrazole reduction of both particle types indicates that the small particle has associated with it all of the enzymatic activity of the preparation; it also has associated with it most of the infectivity as well.     

A multi-approach study to reveal eel life-history traits in an obstructed catchment before dam removal

Hydrobiologia - River fragmentation is expected to impact not only movement patterns and distribution of eels within catchment, but also their life-history traits. Here, we used otolith...     

Modelling the damage costs of invasive alien species

Biological Invasions - The rate of biological invasions is growing unprecedentedly, threatening ecological and socioeconomic systems worldwide. Quantitative understandings of invasion temporal...     

Design and development of a series of borocycles as selective,covalent kallikrein 5 inhibitors

The connection between Netherton syndrome and overactivation of epidermal/dermal proteases, particularly Kallikrein 5 (KLK5) has been well established and it is expected that a KLK5 inhibitor would improve the dermal barrier and also reduce the pain and itch that afflict Netherton syndrome patients. One of the challenges of covalent protease inhibitors has been achieving selectivity over closely related targets. In this paper we describe the use of structural insight to design and develop a selective and highly potent reversibly covalent KLK5 inhibitor from an initial weakly binding fragment.     

No gains for bigger brains: Functional and neuroanatomical consequences of relative brain size in a parasitic wasp

Heritable genetic variation in relative brain size can underlie the relationship between brain performance and the relative size of the brain. We used bidirectional artificial selection to study the consequences of genetic variation in relative brain size on brain morphology, cognition and longevity in Nasonia vitripennis parasitoid wasps. Our results show a robust change in relative brain size after 26 generations of selection and six generations of relaxation. Total average neuropil volume of the brain was 16% larger in wasps selected for relatively large brains than in wasps selected for relatively small brains, whereas the body length of the large‐brained wasps was smaller. Furthermore, the relative volume of the antennal lobes was larger in wasps with relatively large brains. Relative brain size did not influence olfactory memory retention, whereas wasps that were selected for larger relative brain size had a shorter longevity, which was even further reduced after a learning experience. These effects of genetic variation on neuropil composition and memory retention are different from previously described effects of phenotypic plasticity in absolute brain size. In conclusion, having relatively large brains may be costly for N. vitripennis, whereas no cognitive benefits were recorded.