Unveiling Distribution Patterns of Freshwater Phytoplankton by a Next Generation Sequencing Based Approach

The recognition and discrimination of phytoplankton species is one of the foundations of freshwater biodiversity research and environmental monitoring. This step is frequently a bottleneck in the analytical chain from sampling to data analysis and subsequent environmental status evaluation. Here we present phytoplankton diversity data from 49 lakes including three seasonal surveys assessed by next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S ribosomal RNA chloroplast and cyanobacterial gene amplicons and also compare part of these datasets with identification based on morphology. Direct comparison of NGS to microscopic data from three time-series showed that NGS was able to capture the seasonality in phytoplankton succession as observed by microscopy. Still, the PCR-based approach was only semi-quantitative, and detailed NGS and microscopy taxa lists had only low taxonomic correspondence. This is probably due to, both, methodological constraints and current discrepancies in taxonomic frameworks. Discrepancies included Euglenophyta and Heterokonta that were scarce in the NGS but frequently detected by microscopy and Cyanobacteria that were in general more abundant and classified with high resolution by NGS. A deep-branching taxonomically unclassified cluster was frequently detected by NGS but could not be linked to any group identified by microscopy. NGS derived phytoplankton composition differed significantly among lakes with different trophic status, showing that our approach can resolve phytoplankton communities at a level relevant for ecosystem management. The high reproducibility and potential for standardization and parallelization makes our NGS approach an excellent candidate for simultaneous monitoring of prokaryotic and eukaryotic phytoplankton in inland waters.     

Middle Ear Cavity Morphology Is Consistent with an Aquatic Origin for Testudines

The position of testudines in vertebrate phylogeny is being re-evaluated. At present, testudine morphological and molecular data conflict when reconstructing phylogenetic relationships. Complicating matters, the ecological niche of stem testudines is ambiguous. To understand how turtles have evolved to hear in different environments, we examined middle ear morphology and scaling in most extant families, as well as some extinct species, using 3-dimensional reconstructions from micro magnetic resonance (MR) and submillimeter computed tomography (CT) scans. All families of testudines exhibited a similar shape of the bony structure of the middle ear cavity, with the tympanic disk located on the rostrolateral edge of the cavity. Sea Turtles have additional soft tissue that fills the middle ear cavity to varying degrees. When the middle ear cavity is modeled as an air-filled sphere of the same volume resonating in an underwater sound field, the calculated resonances for the volumes of the middle ear cavities largely fell within testudine hearing ranges. Although there were some differences in morphology, there were no statistically significant differences in the scaling of the volume of the bony middle ear cavity with head size among groups when categorized by phylogeny and ecology. Because the cavity is predicted to resonate underwater within the testudine hearing range, the data support the hypothesis of an aquatic origin for testudines, and function of the middle ear cavity in underwater sound detection.     

Functional Enhancement of AT1R Potency in the Presence of the TPαR Is Revealed by a Comprehensive 7TM Receptor Co-Expression Screen

Background

Functional cross-talk between seven transmembrane (7TM) receptors can dramatically alter their pharmacological properties, both in vitro and in vivo. This represents an opportunity for the development of novel therapeutics that potentially target more specific biological effects while causing fewer adverse events. Although several studies convincingly have established the existence of 7TM receptor cross-talk, little is known about the frequencey and biological significance of this phenomenon.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To evaluate the extent of synergism in 7TM receptor signaling, we took a comprehensive approach and co-expressed 123 different 7TM receptors together with the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) and analyzed how each receptor affected the angiotensin II (AngII) response. To monitor the effect we used integrative receptor activation/signaling assay called Receptor Selection and Amplification Technology (R-SAT). In this screen the thromboxane A2α receptor (TPαR) was the only receptor which significantly enhanced the AngII-mediated response. The TPαR-mediated enhancement of AngII signaling was significantly reduced when a signaling deficient receptor mutant (TPαR R130V) was co-expressed instead of the wild-type TPαR, and was completely blocked both by TPαR antagonists and COX inhibitors inhibiting formation of thromboxane A₂ (TXA₂).

Conclusions/Significance

We found a functional enhancement of AT1R only when co-expressed with TPαR, but not with 122 other 7TM receptors. In addition, the TPαR must be functionally active, indicating the AT1R enhancement is mediated by a paracrine mechanism. Since we only found one receptor enhancing AT1R potency, our results suggest that functional augmentation through 7TM receptor cross-talk is a rare event that may require specific conditions to occur.     

EVOLUTION OF SPRINT SPEED IN AFRICAN SAVANNAH HERBIVORES IN RELATION TO PREDATION

Predator–prey arms races are widely speculated to underlie fast speed in terrestrial mammals. However, due to lack of empirical testing, both the specificity of any evolutionary coupling between particular predator and prey species, and the relevance of alternative food‐based hypotheses of speed evolution, remain obscure. Here I examine the ecological links between the sprint speed of African savannah herbivores, their vulnerability to predators, and their diet. I show that sprint speed is strongly predicted by the vulnerability of prey to their main predators; however, the direction of the link depends on the hunting style of the predator. Speed increases with vulnerability to pursuit predators, whereas vulnerability to ambush predators is associated with particularly slow speed. These findings suggest that differential vulnerability to specific predators can indeed drive interspecific variation in speed within prey communities, but that predator hunting style influences the intensity and consistency with which selection on speed is coupled between particular species.     

How a simple adaptive foraging strategy can lead to emergent home ranges and increased food intake

Animals often alternate between searching for food locally and moving over larger distances depending on the amount of food they find. This ability to switch between movement modes can have large implications on the fate of individuals and populations, and a mechanism that allows animals to find the optimal balance between alternative movement strategies is therefore selectively advantageous. Recent theory suggests that animals are capable of switching movement mode depending on heterogeneities in the landscape, and that different modes may predominate at different temporal scales. Here we develop a conceptual model that enables animals to use either an area‐concentrated food search behavior or undirected random movements. The model builds on the animals’ ability to remember the profitability and location of previously visited areas. In contrast to classical optimal foraging models, our model does not assume food to be distributed in large, well‐defined patches, and our focus is on animal movement rather than on how animals choose between foraging patches with known locations and value. After parameterizing the fine‐scale movements to resemble those of the harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena we investigate whether the model is capable of producing emergent home ranges and use pattern‐oriented modeling to evaluate whether it can reproduce the large‐scale movement patterns observed for porpoises in nature. Finally we investigate whether the model enables animals to forage optimally. We found that the model was indeed able to produce either stable home ranges or movement patterns that resembled those of real porpoises. It enabled animals to maximize their food intake when fine‐tuning the memory parameters that controlled the relative contribution of area concentrated and random movements.     

Contrasting effects of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa on the growth and physiology of two green algae,Oocystis marsonii and Scenedesmus obliquus,revealed by flow cytometry

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Clustered DNA damage induces pan-nuclear H2AX phosphorylation mediated by ATM and DNA–PK

DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) are considered as the most deleterious DNA lesions, and their repair is further complicated by increasing damage complexity. However, the molecular effects of clustered lesions are yet not fully understood. As the locally restricted phosphorylation of H2AX to form γH2AX is a key step in facilitating efficient DSB repair, we investigated this process after localized induction of clustered damage by ionizing radiation. We show that in addition to foci at damaged sites, H2AX is also phosphorylated in undamaged chromatin over the whole-cell nucleus in human and rodent cells, but this is not related to apoptosis. This pan-nuclear γH2AX is mediated by the kinases ataxia telangiectasia mutated and DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA–PK) that also phosphorylate H2AX at DSBs. The pan-nuclear response is dependent on the amount of DNA damage and is transient even under conditions of impaired DSB repair. Using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), we found that MDC1, but not 53BP1, binds to the nuclear-wide γH2AX. Consequently, the accumulation of MDC1 at DSBs is reduced. Altogether, we show that a transient dose-dependent activation of the kinases occurring on complex DNA lesions leads to their nuclear-wide distribution and H2AX phosphorylation, yet without eliciting a full pan-nuclear DNA damage response.     

Lewis-base copper(I) formates: Synthesis, reaction chemistry, structural characterization and their use as spin-coating precursors for copper deposition

Consecutive synthesis methodologies for the preparation of a series of copper(I) formates [L_mCuO₂CH] (L = ⁿBu₃P: 4a, m = 1; 4b, m = 2; 5, L = [Ti](CCSiMe₃)₂, m = 1, [Ti] = (η⁵-C₅H₄SiMe₃)₂Ti) and [L_mCuO₂CH·HO₂CR] (L = ⁿBu₃P: 7a, m = 1, R = H; 7b, m = 2, R = H; 7c, m = 2, R = Me; 7d, m = 2, R = CF₃; 7e, m = 2, R = Ph. L = (^cC₆H₁₁)₃P, R = H: 8a, m = 2; 8b, m = 3. L = (CF₃CH₂O)₃P, R = H: 9a, m = 2; 9b, m = 3. L = (CH₃CH₂O)₃P, R = H: 10a, m = 2; 10b, m = 3. L = [Ti](CCSiMe₃)₂; m = 1: 11a, R = H; 11b, R = Ph) is reported using [CuO₂CH] (1) and L (2a, L = ⁿBu₃P; 2b, L (^cC₆H₁₁)₃P; 2c, L = (CF₃CH₂O)₃P; 2d, L = (CH₃CH₂O)₃P; 3, L = [Ti](CCSiMe₃)₂) as key starting materials. Addition of formic acid (6a) or carboxylic acid HO₂CR (6b, R = Me; 6c, R = CF₃; 6d, R = Ph) to the afore itemized copper(I) formates 4 and 5 gave metal-organic or organometallic 7-11. The molecular structures of 8a and 11a in the solid state are reported showing a threefold coordinated copper(I) ion, setup by either two coordinatively-bonded phosphorus atoms and one formate oxygen atom (8a) or two π-bonded alkyne ligands and one oxygen atom (11a). A formic acid molecule is additionally hydrogen-bonded to the CuO₂CH moiety. The use of 7b as suitable precursor for the deposition of copper onto TiN-coated oxidized silicon wafers by the spin-coating process below 300 °C is described. Complex 7b offers an appropriate transformation behavior into metal phase by an elimination-decarboxylation mechanism. The morphology of the copper films strongly depends on the annealing conditions. A closed grain network densified by a post-treatment is obtained (8 °C min⁻¹, N₂/H₂ carrier gas). Hydrogen post-anneal to 420 °C after film deposition gave a copper film showing resistivities from 2.5 to 3.7 μΩ cm. This precursor was also used for gap-filling processes.