NO signalling in cytokinin-induced programmed cell death

Cell death can be induced by cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) at high dosage in suspension-cultured Arabidopsis cells. Herein, we provide evidence that BA induces nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. A reduction in cell death can be observed when the cytokinin is supplemented with the NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO) or the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors: 2-aminoethyl-isothiourea (AET) and N^G.-monomethyl- l -arginine ( l -NMMA), which suggests that NO is produced via a NOS and is a signalling component of this form of programmed cell death. In BA-treated cells, mitochondrial functionality is altered via inhibition of respiration. This inhibition can be prevented by addition of either cPTIO or AET implying that NO acts at the mitochondrial level.     

Frugivorous and animalivorous bats (Microchiroptera): dental and cranial adaptations

The most derived fruit-eating bats have small canines, wide palates and molars with a distinctive labial rim. Paracone and metacone have moved from a dilambdodont position in the middle of the tooth to the labial side of the tooth where they form the labial cutting edge. Along with the well-developed and close fitting labial cutting edges of the premolars and canines, this cutting edge skirts nearly the entire perimeter of the palate. The labial rim of the lower teeth fit inside the labial rim of the upper teeth like two cookie cutters nesting one inside the other. Frugivores have a greater allocation of tooth area at the anterior end of the toothrow, while animalivorous species have more at the posterior end of the toothrow. The area occupied by canines of predators of struggling prey is greater than that for bats that eat non-struggling prey like fruit. In addition, frugivores have wider palates than long while many carnivores have longer palates than wide. Omnivores appear to have a more equal allocation of space to more kinds of teeth, particularly the incisors and non-molariform premolars, on the toothrow than do frugivores or animalivores. The mechanical nature of different food items is discussed and the suggestion made that describing foods in terms of their texture may be more important in tooth design than whether they are fruit or insect or vertebrate.     

Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellites from red coral grouper (Plectropomus maculatus)

The red coral grouper, Plectropomus maculatus, is a high value marine food fish species. We isolated the first set of 10 polymorphic microsatellites and examined their polymorphism in two related species: the Malabar grouper Epinephelus malabaricus and the brown‐marbled grouper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus. The average allele number of these 10 microsatellite DNA loci is 9.1/locus with a range of four to 17, whereas the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.18 to 0.94, averaging 0.76. Five of the 10 markers amplified polymorphic and specific products in E. malabaricus, whereas only four were amplified in E. fuscoguttatus. These microsatellites could be applicable to captive breeding and to the studies on genetic diversity and population structure of grouper wild stocks.