Physiologische und biochemische Beiträge zur Taxonomie der Gattung Chlorella

Zusammenfassung Es wurde die Verwendbarkeit von Glutaminsäure, Glutamin, Nicotinsäure, Nicotinsäureamid und Purin als Stickstoffquelle für die Kultur von 71 autotrophen Chlorella-Stämmen, die 8 Arten angehören, untersucht. Im Licht zeigen mit Glutaminsäure 63 und mit Glutamin 67 Stämme gutes Wachstum. Nicotinsäure wird dagegen nur von 1 Stamm, Nicotinsäureamid von 9 und Purin von 16 Stämmen verwertet. Die Verwendbarkeit der 5 geprüften organischen Stickstoffverbindungen als N-Quelle ist innerhalb der Gattung Chlorella als taxonomisches Merkmal zur Charakterisierung von Arten nicht geeignet. Lediglich die 7 Stämme von Chlorella kessleri unterscheiden sich durch gutes Wachstum mit Nicotinsäureamid von der sonst recht ähnlichen Chlorella luteoviridis sowie von den übrigen Arten.

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Physiological and biochemical contributions to the taxonomy of the genus Chlorella IV. Utilization of organic nitrogen compounds

Summary The utilization of glutamic acid, glutamine, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, and purine as sources of nitrogen for growth in the light of 71 autotrophic Chlorella strains belonging to 8 species was studied. Whereas 63 strains grow well with glutamic acid and 67 with glutamine, nicotinic acid is used by 1, nicotinamide by 9, and purine by 16 strains only. Utilization of the 5 organic nitrogen compounds tested cannot serve as a taxonomic character in the genus Chlorella. However, the 7 strains of Chlorella kessleri differ in their good growth with nicotinamide from the otherwise rather similar Chlorella luteoviridis and from the other species.

     

Zur Blütenmorphologie und Bestäubungsökologie vonVeratrum album subsp.lobelianum (Bernh.)Rchb.

Zusammenfassung BeiVeratrum album subsp.lobelianum (Bernh.)Rchb. wurden im Gebirge Krkonoe (Riesengebirge) Blütenbau, Blütedauer und Blühverlauf studiert; besondere Berücksichtigung fanden dabei Vorkommen von Zwitterblüten und eingeschlechtlichen Blüten, Bau des Nektariums, Art und Weise der Nektarsekretion, Funktionsdauer der Narbe und Absinken der Keimfähigkeit des Pollens während der Anthese.Die Blütedauer der Zwitterblüten läßt eine deutliche Abhängigkeit von der Höhe ü. d. M. erkennen.Die (im Gegensatz zuVeratrum nigrum L.) weniger ausgeprägte Dichogamie erlaubt nur, ein männliches und ein Zwitterstadium der Blüte zu unterscheiden.Künstliche Bestäubungsversuche zeigten, daßV. album subsp.lobelianum weitgehend selbstfertil ist.Als regelmäßige Blumenbesucher und hauptsächlichste Bestäuber vonV. album susp.lobelianum wurden im obgenannten Gebirge 15 Dipteren-Arten (der Besucherzahl nach vorherrschend Aasfliegen) festgestellt, die ausgiebig Nachbar- und Fremdbestäubung (Geitonogamie, Allogamie), weniger schon Selbstbestäubung (Autogamie) bewirken.Die experimentelle Analyse des Blumenbesuches dieser Fliegen-Arten im Freiland ergab, daß ihre Fernanlockung durch den spezifischen Duft erfolgt, wobei die optische Wirkung der Blüten (Farbe, Form, Glanz der Nektarschicht) entbehrlich erscheint. Veratrum album susp.lobelianum kann bis zu einem gewissen Grade als aasblumig und ihre Blüte als Täuschblume bezeichnet werden.     

Das Verhalten von Ameisenarbeiterinnen gegenüber der Königin nach vorangegangener weisellosigkeit

Zusammenfassung Arbeiterinnen vonMyrmica ruginodis Nyl. werden im weisellosen Zustand fertil. Sie legen aber keine Eier, wenn sie mehr als 3 Larven je Arbeiterin zu versorgen haben (Mamsch, 1965). Arbeiterinnengruppen wurden mit und ohne Larven von der Königin abgetrennt. In den eierlegenden Gruppen wurde die erneut zugesetzte eigene Königin entweder nicht beachtet oder angegriffen. In den Gruppen, in denen die Arbeiterinnen durch Larvenpflege unfruchtbar blieben, wurde die Königin intensiv beleckt und in das engere Nest eingetragen. Isolierte eierlegende Arbeitergruppen zeigten im Gegensatz zu Arbeiterinnen mit inaktiven Ovarien keine Tendenz, sich mit der Königingruppe zu vereinigen. Das veränderte Verhalten der Arbeiterinnen gegenüber der Königin ist demnach nicht vom Zeitraum der Weisellosigkeit abhängig. Es wurde nur bei eierlegenden Arbeiterinnen beobachtet.

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Summary Workers ofMyrmica ruginodis Nyl. start laying eggs after being separated from their queen. No deposition of eggs occurs in groups in which each worker has to feed 3 or more larvae (Mamsch, 1965). Worker groups rearing larvae and those without brood were separated from the queen.When the queen was put again into an egg-laying worker group, either no attention was paid to her or she was attacked. In groups of workers sterile due to rearing larvae the queen was licked intensively and carried into the nest cavity. Fertile worker groups showed no tendency to join the queen group. The change in the workers' behaviour does not depend on the time of the separation from the queen. It only occurs in groups of fertile workers.

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Résumé Des ouvrières deMyrmica ruginodis Nyl. deviennent fertiles après avoir été séparées de la reine. Mais elles ne pondent pas d'ufs, si elles ont chacune trois larves ou plus à nourrir (Mamsch, 1965). Des groupes d'ouvrières, d'une part avec larves et d'autre part sans, ont été séparés de la reine. Les groupes d'ouvrières pondeuses n'attachaient pas d'attention à la reine replacée dans le nid ou encore l'attaquaient. Dans les groupes où les ouvrières étaient restées infertiles à cause du nourrissement du couvain, la reine était léchée d'une façon intensive et portée à l'intérieur du nid. A l'opposé des ouvrières stériles, les groupes d'ouvrières pondeuses isolées ne montraient aucune tendance à joindre le groupe de la reine. Le changement du comportement des ouvrières ne dépend donc pas de la durée de l'état orphelin; il n'est observé que chez les ouvrières pondeuses.

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Herrn Prof. Dr.K. Gösswald, zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Binding characteristics and cross-reactivity of three different antilipid A monoclonal antibodies

A detailed characterization of binding specificity and cross-reactivity of three antilipid A murine mAb was performed. Binding characteristics of these three mAb were investigated against Ag (ReLPS, lipid A, derivatives of lipid A) in solid phase (ELISA) and in fluid phase (C consumption, inhibition studies), and upon incorporation in membranes (E: passive hemolysis assay, and liposomes: inhibition studies). Cross-reactivity with heterologous Ag was investigated in ELISA (LPS, Gram-negative bacteria) and immunoblot experiments (LPS). The binding specificity of mAb 26-5 (IgG2b), raised against synthetic lipid A, was located in the hydrophilic region of biphospholipid A and was also exposed after membrane incorporation of lipid A or after preincubation of lipid A with polymyxin B (PMX). mAb 26-20 (IgM), also raised against synthetic lipid A, showed binding specificity for the hydrophobic region of lipid A: no binding to membrane-associated lipid A could be demonstrated, and binding in ELISA could be blocked very efficiently by PMX. The reaction pattern of mAb 8-2 (IgM), raised against the heat-killed Re mutant of Salmonella typhimurium, was in part similar to that of mAb 26-20. However, inhibition of binding with PMX was less efficient and a high specificity for ReLPS, also after membrane incorporation of this Ag, was demonstrated. In contrast to mAb 26-5 and 26-20, mAb 8-2 showed extensive cross-reactivity with heterologous LPS preparations and heat-killed as well as live Gram-negative bacteria. It is concluded that each of the three mAb binds to a different antigenic epitope in lipid A and that exposure of those epitopes for antibody binding is restricted in a differential manner, depending on mode of Ag presentation. The here defined reaction patterns provide a basis for the interpretation of potential inhibitory effects on in vitro and in vivo biologic (and toxic) activities of endotoxins and Gram-negative bacteria.     

Preference for plants damaged by conspecific larvae in ovipositing cabbage root flies: influence of stimuli from leaf surface and roots

In laboratory dual-choice assays females of the cabbage root fly, Delia radicum, prefer for oviposition plants with roots damaged by conspecific larvae to undamaged controls. Cauliflower and kale plants were inoculated with root fly eggs (25 per plant) and the hatching larvae were allowed to feed on the roots for various periods of time (1–17 days). After 4 (cauliflower) or 5 (kale) days of larval feeding the oviposition preference was most pronounced and flies laid between 64% and 68% of their eggs near plants with damaged roots. Later, with increasing damage but fewer surviving, and thus actively feeding, larvae, the magnitude of the preference declined. The preference for plants already damaged by conspecific larvae may contribute to the previously observed aggregated distribution of D. radicum eggs in Brassica crop fields.Further experiments revealed that the sensory cues inducing this oviposition preference originate from the complex consisting of the damaged roots, the surrounding substrate (soil) and associated microbes, rather than from the aerial plant parts. In choice assays using the root-substrate complex of damaged and control plants (aerial parts removed), the observed preference for damaged roots was similar to that found for the entire plant but was more pronounced. The damaged roots alone, compared to control roots, received up to 72% (cauliflower) and 75% (kale) of the eggs. By contrast, surrogate leaves sprayed with methanolic leaf surface extracts from the most preferred plants which had been damaged were not discriminated from surrogate leaved sprayed with extracts of the respective control plants. Analysis of glucosinolate levels in methanolic leaf surface extracts revealed that root damage resulted in enhanced concentrations of indole-glucosinolates on the leaf surface in kale but not in cauliflower. Although indole-glucosinolates are oviposition stimulants for the cabbage root fly, the induced changes were apparently too small to influence oviposition behaviour.     

Algorithm independent properties of RNA secondary structure predictions

Algorithms predicting RNA secondary structures based on different folding criteria – minimum free energies (mfe), kinetic folding (kin), maximum matching (mm) – and different parameter sets are studied systematically. Two base pairing alphabets were used: the binary GC and the natural four-letter AUGC alphabet. Computed structures and free energies depend strongly on both the algorithm and the parameter set. Statistical properties, such as mean number of base pairs, mean numbers of stacks, mean loop sizes, etc., are much less sensitive to the choice of parameter set and even of algorithm. Some features of RNA secondary structures, such as structure correlation functions, shape space covering and neutral networks, seem to depend only on the base pairing logic (GC or AUGC alphabet). Received: 16 May 1996 / Accepted: 10 July 1996     

Substrate-dependent transport of the NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase into isolated plastids.

The key regulatory enzyme of chlorophyll biosynthesis in higher plants, the light-dependent NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR), is a nuclear-encoded plastid protein. Its post-translational transport into plastids is determined by its substrate. The precursor of POR (pPOR) is taken up and processed to mature size by plastids only in the presence of protochlorophyllide (Pchlide). In etioplasts, the endogenous level of Pchlide saturates the demands for pPOR translocation. During the light-induced transformation of etioplasts into chloroplasts, the Pchlide concentration declined drastically, and isolated chloroplasts rapidly lost the ability to import the precursor enzyme. The chloroplasts' import capacity for the pPOR, however, was restored when their intraplastidic level of Pchlide was raised by incubating the organelles in the dark with delta-aminolevulinic acid, a common precursor of tetrapyrroles. Additional evidence for the involvement of intraplastidic Pchlide in regulating the transport of pPOR into plastids was provided by experiments in which barley seedlings were grown under light/dark cycles. The intraplastidic Pchlide concentration in these plants underwent a diurnal fluctuation, with a minimum at the end of the day and a maximum at the end of the night period. Chloroplasts isolated at the end of the night translocated pPOR, whereas those isolated at the end of the day did not. Our results imply that the Pchlide-dependent transport of the pPOR into plastids might be part of a novel regulatory circuit by which greening plants fine tune both the enzyme and pigment levels, thereby avoiding the wasteful degradation of the imported pPOR as well as photodestruction of free Pchlide.     

The gene fimU affects expression of Salmonella typhimurium type 1 fimbriae and is related to the Escherichia coli tRNA gene argU

The gene fimU, located on a recombinant plasmid carrying the Salmonella typhimurium type 1 fimbrial gene cluster is closely related to the Escherichia coli tRNA gene argU. The fimU gene complements an E. coli argU mutant that is a P2 lysogen, thereby allowing the phage P4 to grow in this strain but preventing the growth of phage lambda. In addition, fimU was shown to be involved in fimbrial expression since transformants of the E. coli argU mutant could produce fimbriae only in the presence of fimU but not in its absence, whereas in an E. coli argU ⁺ strain fimbriation did not require the fimU gene.     

HomeRange: A global database of mammalian home ranges

Motivation

Home range is a common measure of use of space by animals because it provides ecological information that is useful for conservation applications. In macroecological studies, values are typically aggregated to species means to examine general patterns of use of space by animals. However, this ignores the environmental context in which the home range was estimated and does not account for intraspecific variation in home range size. In addition, the focus of macroecological studies on home ranges has historically been biased towards terrestrial mammals. The use of aggregated numbers and the terrestrial focus limit our ability to examine home-range patterns across different environments, their variation in time and variation between different levels of organization. Here, we introduce HomeRange, a global database with 75,611 home-range values across 960 different species of mammals, including terrestrial, aquatic and aerial species.

Main types of variables contained

The dataset contains estimates of home ranges of mammals, species names, methodological information on data collection, method of home-range estimation, period of data collection, study coordinates and name of location, in addition to species traits derived from the studies, such as body mass, life stage, reproductive status and locomotor habit.

Spatial location and grain

The collected data are distributed globally. Across studies, the spatial accuracy varies, with the coarsest resolution being 1°.

Time period and grain

The data represent information published between 1939 and 2022. Across studies, the temporal accuracy varies; some studies report start and end dates specific to the day, whereas for other studies only the month or year is reported.

Major taxa and level of measurement

Mammalian species from 24 of the 27 different taxonomic orders. Home-range estimates range from individual-level values to population-level averages.

Software format

Data are supplied as a comma-delimited text file (.csv) and can be loaded directly into R using the “HomeRange” R package ( https://github.com/SHoeks/HomeRange ).     

Über schlauchförmige Ausstülpungen an der Zellmembran der Makrogametocyten von Eimeria perforans

Summary The surface of the gametocytes and gametes of Eimeria perforans reveals tube-like extrusions which have not been discovered so far in coccidia. These slender tubes are 650 Å in width and at least 1,3 in length. Probably they represent resorbing organelles. The tubes occur only at the surface of older female gametocytes and gametes and have not been observed in merozoites, schizonts, microgametocytes and male gametes. In transversal sections the tubes look like vesicles and are bordered by a membrane the layers of which are not sharply defined. The interior of the tubes seems to be empty after electron microscope observations. In longitudinal sections the membrane of the tubes is striated. The repeating unit of the dark and light bands amounts to about 165 Å. This appearance cannot be explained so far.

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Für beratende Hilfe sind wir Herrn Prof. Dr. R. Danneel und Herrn Prof. Dr. K. E. Wohlfarth-Bottermann zu Dank verpflichtet, für technische Unterstützung Fräulein cand. rer. nat. B. Volkmann. Herrn Dr. D. Spiecker von der Forschungsstelle für Jagdkunde und Wildschadenverhütung, Beuel, danken wir für die Durchführung der Infektionen. Die Mittel für die Untersuchungen stellte uns die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft zur Verfügung.