The beach‐spawning California grunion Leuresthes tenuis eats and digests conspecific eggs

Apparent egg cannibalism was investigated in the beach‐spawning California grunion Leuresthes tenuis. Three hypotheses were tested to determine whether L. tenuis regularly consumes and efficiently digests conspecific eggs. First, examination of the gut contents of adults collected at four spawning sites over two seasons showed that the intestines of most fish from all the sites (57–87%, n ≥ 30, each site) contained L. tenuis eggs. The two other hypotheses focused on digestion of the eggs. First, the force required to crush cannibalized eggs was significantly less than that for uncannibalized eggs (fertilized or unfertilized), indicating that ingestion weakens the egg chorions. Second, conspecific eggs fed to fish held in the laboratory visibly degraded as they passed through the gut. The eggs lost c. half of their protein content and about two‐thirds of their lipid content as they passed from proximal to distal regions of the gut, indicating that digestion occurred. Digestive enzyme activities of the gut further confirmed that L. tenuis can break down the contents of ingested eggs. Trypsin activity decreased and aminopeptidase activity increased posteriorly along the gut, whereas amylase and lipase activities exhibited less clear patterns by gut region. As far as is known, this study is the first to show that L. tenuis is an egg cannibal.     

The Role of Folate Transport in Antifolate Drug Action in Trypanosoma brucei

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize mechanisms of resistance to antifolate drugs in African trypanosomes. Genome-wide RNAi library screens were undertaken in bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei exposed to the antifolates methotrexate and raltitrexed. In conjunction with drug susceptibility and folate transport studies, RNAi knockdown was used to validate the functions of the putative folate transporters. The transport kinetics of folate and methotrexate were further characterized in whole cells. RNA interference target sequencing experiments identified a tandem array of genes encoding a folate transporter family, TbFT1–3, as major contributors to antifolate drug uptake. RNAi knockdown of TbFT1–3 substantially reduced folate transport into trypanosomes and reduced the parasite''s susceptibly to the classical antifolates methotrexate and raltitrexed. In contrast, knockdown of TbFT1–3 increased susceptibly to the non-classical antifolates pyrimethamine and nolatrexed. Both folate and methotrexate transport were inhibited by classical antifolates but not by non-classical antifolates or biopterin. Thus, TbFT1–3 mediates the uptake of folate and classical antifolates in trypanosomes, and TbFT1–3 loss-of-function is a mechanism of antifolate drug resistance.     

Eco-efficiency indicator framework implemented in the metallurgical industry: part 2—a case study from the copper industry

Purpose

Sustainability differentiation has become an important issue for companies throughout the value chain. There is thus a need for detailed and credible analyses, which show the current status and point out where improvements can be done and how. The study describes how a comprehensive product-centric eco-efficiency indicator framework can be used to evaluate, benchmark, and communicate the sustainability of a copper production value chain. The indicator framework, together with the suggested data collection and simulation methods, aims at evaluating the whole system, while still enabling a focus on scopes of different width. The status of the environment, current production technologies, location-specific and process-specific issues all play a role in achieving sustainable development.

Methods

Copper cathode production from copper ore was chosen to exemplify the developed framework. Data sets from a simulation tool were used when available and LCI databases and LCA software were utilized for the remaining steps. The value chain is analyzed and the benchmark for each indicator built according to the new Gaia Refiner indicator framework. This method enables analysis of specific production steps with a higher degree of accuracy.

Results and discussion

The case study shows how some important environmental sustainability issues in copper production can be analyzed and benchmarked within a product group. Benchmark data is collected and used in the analysis for the selected system scope. Data availability is still an issue and the example shows which areas require more information in this context so that products and value chains can be benchmarked in the future on a more consistent basis. The energy mix, chemical use, and land use contribute to potential environmental sustainability risks within the product benchmarking group, while emissions control shows competitive environmental sustainability advantages for the case study.

Conclusions

The methodology is shown to work well in highlighting the sustainability advantages and risks of value chains in copper production with the selected system scope in a visual manner through the Sustainability Indicator “Flower.” The importance of a baseline is clear. The effect of the metal ore grade on the results shows that the scalability of the analysis system is very important. Scaling the system scope up will show the differences in varying value chains and scaling the system scope down will show efficiency differences between more similar value chains, thus visualizing where innovation has the biggest impact.

     

Cerebral metabolic response to submaximal exercise.

We studied cerebral oxygenation and metabolism during submaximal cycling in 12 subjects. At two work rates, middle cerebral artery blood velocity increased from 62 +/- 3 to 63 +/- 3 and 70 +/- 5 cm/s as did cerebral oxygenation determined by near-infrared spectroscopy. Oxyhemoglobin increased by 10 +/- 3 and 25 +/- 3 micromol/l (P < 0. 01), and there was no significant change in brain norepinephrine spillover. The arterial-to-internal-jugular-venous (a-v) difference for O(2) decreased at low-intensity exercise (from 3.1 +/- 0.1 to 2. 9 +/- 0.1 mmol/l; P < 0.05) and recovered at moderate exercise (to 3. 3 +/- 0.1 mmol/l). The profile for glucose was similar: its a-v difference tended to decrease at low-intensity exercise (from 0.55 +/- 0.05 to 0.50 +/- 0.02 mmol/l) and increased during moderate exercise (to 0.64 +/- 0.04 mmol/l; P < 0.05). Thus the molar ratio (a-v difference, O(2) to glucose) did not change significantly. However, when the a-v difference for lactate (0.02 +/- 0.03 to 0.18 +/- 0.04 mmol/l) was taken into account, the O(2)-to-carbohydrate ratio decreased (from 6.1 +/- 0.4 to 4.7 +/- 0.3; P < 0.05). The enhanced cerebral oxygenation suggests that, during exercise, cerebral blood flow increases in excess of the O(2) demand. Yet it seems that during exercise not all carbohydrate taken up by the brain is oxidized, as brain lactate metabolism appears to lower the balance of O(2)-to-carbohydrate uptake.     

In Situ Detection of Novel Bacterial Endosymbionts of Acanthamoeba spp. Phylogenetically Related to Members of the Order Rickettsiales

Acanthamoebae are ubiquitous soil and water bactivores which may serve as amplification vehicles for a variety of pathogenic facultative bacteria and as hosts to other, presently uncultured bacterial endosymbionts. The spectrum of uncultured endosymbionts includes gram-negative rods and gram-variable cocci, the latter recently shown to be members of the Chlamydiales. We report here the isolation from corneal scrapings of two Acanthamoeba strains that harbor gram-negative rod endosymbionts that could not be cultured by standard techniques. These bacteria were phylogenetically characterized following amplification and sequencing of the near-full-length 16S rRNA gene. We used two fluorescently labelled oligonucleotide probes targeting signature regions within the retrieved sequences to detect these organisms in situ. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that they displayed 99.6% sequence similarity and formed an independent and well-separated lineage within the Rickettsiales branch of the alpha subdivision of the Proteobacteria. Nearest relatives included members of the genus Rickettsia, with sequence similarities of approximately 85 to 86%, suggesting that these symbionts are representatives of a new genus and, perhaps, family. Distance matrix, parsimony, and maximum-likelihood tree-generating methods all consistently supported deep branching of the 16S rDNA sequences within the Rickettsiales. The oligonucleotide probes displayed at least three mismatches to all other available 16S rDNA sequences, and they both readily permitted the unambiguous detection of rod-shaped bacteria within intact acanthamoebae by confocal laser-scanning microscopy. Considering the long-standing relationship of most Rickettsiales with arthropods, the finding of a related lineage of endosymbionts in protozoan hosts was unexpected and may have implications for the preadaptation and/or recruitment of rickettsia-like bacteria to metazoan hosts.     

Decreased capacity of recombinant 45/47-kDa molecules (Apa) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to stimulate T lymphocyte responses related to changes in their mannosylation pattern.

The Apa molecules secreted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, or BCG have been identified as major immunodominant antigens. Mass spectrometry analysis indicated similar mannosylation, a complete pattern from 1 up to 9 hexose residues/mole of protein, of the native species from the 3 reference strains. The recombinant antigen expressed in M. smegmatis revealed a different mannosylation pattern: species containing 7 to 9 sugar residues/mole of protein were in the highest proportion, whereas species bearing a low number of sugar residues were almost absent. The 45/47-kDa recombinant antigen expressed in E. coli was devoid of sugar residues. The proteins purified from M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, or BCG have a high capacity to elicit in vivo potent delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions and to stimulate in vitro sensitized T lymphocytes of guinea pigs immunized with living BCG. The recombinant Apa expressed in Mycobacterium smegmatis was 4-fold less potent in vivo in the DTH assay and 10-fold less active in vitro to stimulate sensitized T lymphocytes than the native proteins. The recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli was nearly unable to elicit DTH reactions in vivo or to stimulate T lymphocytes in vitro. Thus the observed biological effects were related to the extent of glycosylation of the antigen.     

Analyzing NEXRAD doppler radar images to assess nightly dispersal patterns and population trends in Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis)

Operators of early weather-surveillance radars often observedechoes on their displays that did not behave like weather pattern,including expanding ring-like shapes they called angels. Theseechoes were caused by high-flying insects, migrating birds,and large colonies of bats emerging from roosts to feed. Modernweather-surveillance radar stations in the United States (NEXt-generationRADar or NEXRAD) provide detailed images that clearly show eveningbat emergences from large colonies. These images can be usedto investigate the flight behavior of groups of bats and populationtrends in large colonies of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadaridabrasiliensis) in south-central Texas which are clearly imagedby local NEXRAD radar stations. In this study, we used radarreflectivity data from the New Braunfels, Texas NEXRAD stationto examine relative colony size, direction of movement, speedof dispersion, and altitude gradients of bats from these coloniesfollowing evening emergence. Base reflectivity clear-air-modeLevel-II images were geo-referenced and compiled in a GIS alongwith locations of colonies and features on the landscape. Temporalsequences of images were filtered for the activity of bats,and from this, the relative size of bat colonies, and the speedand heading of bat emergences were calculated. Our results indicatecyclical changes in colony size from year to year and that initialheadings taken by bats during emergence flights are highly directional.We found that NEXRAD data can be an effective tool for monitoringthe nightly behavior and seasonal changes in these large colonies.Understanding the distribution of a large regional bat populationon a landscape scale has important implications for agriculturalpest management and conservation efforts.