Biogeography and macroecology of phorid flies that attack fire ants in south-eastern Brazil and Argentina

Aim Saevissima group fire ants, Solenopsis richteri and S. invicta, have become serious pests when introduced from Argentina and Brazil to other continents. In South America, Solenopsis are distributed across a great variety of habitats and climates. In North America, S. invicta, introduced free of phorids, now ranges from coast to coast in the south. Success in introducing particular Pseudacteon as agents for the biological control of fire ants has varied across climatic zones. We aimed at assembling all the information about fire ant phorids from Argentina and Brazil, to estimate their richness and geographical ranges, to perform a climatic analysis for these distributions, to define groups and climate‐based communities, and to test and elucidate Rapoport's biogeographical rule. Location Argentina and Brazil (South America). Methods From field and museum collections and historical records, we developed a database of fire ant‐specific phorids throughout their known geographical range. A total of 123 sites with values for 15 climatic variables were mapped between 10° and 38° SL and between 35° and 65° C WL for the presence/absence of phorids. We calculated species richness across all sites combined, and for each phytogeographical region, using rarefaction curves, and ICE and Mmean estimators. We calculated mid‐latitudinal points, geographical ranges and areas for each species. The correlation between mid‐latitudinal point and ranges/areas was tested against a null model generated from the randomization of the raw distributional data. We used several types of multivariate analyses to distinguish groups of phorids by phytogeographical regions, hosts and climate, to find gradients of climate throughout the studied area, to define phorid communities in terms of their relationships with gradients of climate, and to test a mechanism for Rapoport's rule. Results Richness estimations using ICE and Mmean estimators were similar or higher than the observed values depending on the phytogeographical region. Cluster multivariate analyses based on climatic, phytogeographic and host data revealed distinct groupings of Pseudacton. The ‘cerrado’ group was confined to tropical savanna areas. A more ‘widespread’ group included ‘Chaco’ and ‘Maritime’ subgroups defined by their respective association with extreme temperatures or precipitation. Ordination multivariate analyses showed (1) two climatic gradients throughout the study area: one of temperature and the other of precipitation, and (2) that climatic variables significantly explained the observed assemblages of phorids. Positive and negative signs of the eigenvalues from the main axes of a canonical correspondence analysis allowed us to define eight communities whose geographical distribution resembled that of phytogeographical regions. We found a significant and positive correlation between geographical areas and mid latitudinal points, and furthermore, the Mantel test based on climatic variables suggested a mechanism for Rapoport's rule applying in the case of Pseudacteon. Main conclusions Pseudacteon species with greater mid‐latitudinal points occupy broader geographical areas and confront more stressful environmental conditions. Because the composition of Pseudacteon communities is largely determined by climatic variables, the correspondence between climates at sites of origin vs. sites of release should be an important consideration in choosing specific phorids for biocontrol efforts.     

The role of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GapA-1) in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Neisseria meningitidis</Emphasis> adherence to human cells

Background  

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GAPDHs) are cytoplasmic glycolytic enzymes, which although lacking identifiable secretion signals, have also been found localized to the surface of several bacteria (and some eukaryotic organisms); where in some cases they have been shown to contribute to the colonization and invasion of host tissues. Neisseria meningitidis is an obligate human nasopharyngeal commensal which can cause life-threatening infections including septicaemia and meningitis. N. meningitidis has two genes, gapA-1 and gapA-2, encoding GAPDH enzymes. GapA-1 has previously been shown to be up-regulated on bacterial contact with host epithelial cells and is accessible to antibodies on the surface of capsule-permeabilized meningococcal cells. The aims of this study were: 1) to determine whether GapA-1 was expressed across different strains of N. meningitidis; 2) to determine whether GapA-1 surface accessibility to antibodies was dependant on the presence of capsule; 3) to determine whether GapA-1 can influence the interaction of meningococci and host cells, particularly in the key stages of adhesion and invasion.     

Phorid parasitoids affect foraging activity of Solenopsis richteri under different availability of food in Argentina

1. In Argentina, six species of Pseudacteon parasitoids (Phoridae) attack Solenopsis richteri, one of the two species of South American fire ant that are exotic pests in North America. 2. The presence of these Pseudacteon species significantly reduces the number of ants at food resources in the field, as well as foraging activity generally. 3. Some Pseudacteon not only attack ants walking on trails or at feeding sites, but also at mound entrances, inhibiting workers from leaving to forage. 4. The average size of foraging ants (which prescribes their suitability as hosts) decreased in the presence of phorids. 5. The number of attacking phorids was correlated positively with the number of ants walking towards the food on the trail before the attack. 6. Solenopsis richteri workers responded to manipulations of food size and presence or absence of parasitoids in a risk-adjusting way, i.e. although more foragers were recruited to larger food items, attacking phorids reduced ant foraging activity by the same factor regardless of the size of the food offered. 7. The data suggest that S. richteri colonies juggle the needs to harvest food efficiently, reduce competition, and avoid excess risks from parasitoids in complex ways.     

The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the shark Mustelus manazo: evaluating rooting contradictions to living bony vertebrates

A remarkable example of a misleading mitochondrial protein tree is presented, involving ray-finned fishes, coelacanths, lungfishes, and tetrapods, with sea lampreys as an outgroup. In previous molecular phylogenetic studies on the origin of tetrapods, ray-finned fishes have been assumed as an outgroup to the tetrapod/lungfish/coelacanth clade, an assumption supported by morphological evidence. Standard methods of molecular phylogenetics applied to the protein-encoding genes of mitochondria, however, give a bizarre tree in which lamprey groups with lungfish and, therefore, ray-finned fishes are not the outgroup to a tetrapod/lungfish/coelacanth clade. All of the dozens of published phylogenetic methods, including every possible modification to maximum likelihood known to us (such as inclusion of site heterogeneity and exclusion of potentially misleading hydrophobic amino acids), fail to place the ray-finned fishes in a biologically acceptable position. A likely cause of this failure may be the use of an inappropriate outgroup. Accordingly, we have determined the complete mitochondrial DNA sequence from the shark, Mustelus manazo, which we have used as an alternative and more proximal outgroup than the lamprey. Using sharks as the outgroup, lungfish appear to be the closest living relative of tetrapods, although the possibility of a lungfish/coelacanth clade being the sister group of tetrapods cannot be excluded.      

The relationship between the L1 and L2 domains of the insulin and epidermal growth factor receptors and leucine-rich repeat modules

Background  

Leucine-rich repeats are one of the more common modules found in proteins. The leucine-rich repeat consensus motif is LxxLxLxxNxLxxLxxLxxLxx- where the first 11–12 residues are highly conserved and the remainder of the repeat can vary in size Leucine-rich repeat proteins have been subdivided into seven subfamilies, none of which include members of the epidermal growth factor receptor or insulin receptor families despite the similarity between the 3D structure of the L domains of the type I insulin-like growth factor receptor and some leucine-rich repeat proteins.