Improved Isolation of SlaA and SlaB S-layer proteins in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

The Sulfolobus acidocaldarius S-layer is composed of two main proteins: SlaA, which forms the ordered structure of the S-layer matrix, and SlaB, which supports and anchors the S-layer into the tetraether lipid membrane. While SlaA has previously been purified by exploiting its thermotolerance and high resistance to detergents, SlaB has resisted isolation, particularly from the cell membrane. Removal of proteins other than those of the S-layer is especially difficult if large batch-scale culture volumes are unavailable. Here, we describe a benchtop-scale protocol for the purification of SlaA from S. acidocaldarius, enabling isolation of SlaB using size exclusion chromatography (gel filtration). Using this protocol, we were able to identify for the first time tetraether lipids strongly attached to SlaB via heat- and detergent-resistant interactions.

     

Nest box revealed habitat preferences of arboreal mammals in box‐ironbark forest

Habitat preferences need to be understood if species are to be adequately managed or conserved. Habitat preferences are presumed to reflect requirements for food, shelter and breeding, as well as interactions with predators and competitors. However, one or more of these requirements may dominate. Tree‐cavity‐dependent wildlife species are one example where shelter or breeding site requirements may dominate. We installed 120 nest boxes across 40 sites to target the vulnerable Brush‐tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) and the non‐threatened Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps). The provision of shelter sites where few of quality are available may enable better resolution of habitat preferences. Over three years, we observed the Brush‐tailed Phascogale at 17 sites, whereas the Sugar Glider was observed at 39 sites. We tested four broad hypotheses (H1–H4) relating to habitat that may influence occupancy by these species. There was no influence of hollow (cavity) abundance (H1) on either species suggesting our nest boxes had satisfied their shelter requirements. There was no influence of habitat structure (canopy and tree proximity) (H2) immediately around the nest box trees. We found no influence of distance to the forest edge (H3). Variables at and away from the nest box site that appear to reflect foraging substrates (H4) were influential on the Brush‐tailed Phascogale. Sugar Glider occupancy was only influenced by a single variable at the nest box site. The lack of influence of any other variables is consistent with the very high occupancy observed, suggesting most of the forest habitat is suitable when shelter sites are available. We found no evidence that the Sugar Glider reduced site use by the Brush‐tailed Phascogale.     

Evolutionary temperature compensation of carbon fixation in marine phytoplankton

The efficiency of carbon sequestration by the biological pump could decline in the coming decades because respiration tends to increase more with temperature than photosynthesis. Despite these differences in the short‐term temperature sensitivities of photosynthesis and respiration, it remains unknown whether the long‐term impacts of global warming on metabolic rates of phytoplankton can be modulated by evolutionary adaptation. We found that respiration was consistently more temperature dependent than photosynthesis across 18 diverse marine phytoplankton, resulting in universal declines in the rate of carbon fixation with short‐term increases in temperature. Long‐term experimental evolution under high temperature reversed the short‐term stimulation of metabolic rates, resulting in increased rates of carbon fixation. Our findings suggest that thermal adaptation may therefore have an ameliorating impact on the efficiency of phytoplankton as primary mediators of the biological carbon pump.     

Alpine grassland plants grow earlier and faster but biomass remains unchanged over 35 years of climate change

Satellite data indicate significant advancement in alpine spring phenology over decades of climate warming, but corresponding field evidence is scarce. It is also unknown whether this advancement results from an earlier shift of phenological events, or enhancement of plant growth under unchanged phenological pattern. By analyzing a 35‐year dataset of seasonal biomass dynamics of a Tibetan alpine grassland, we show that climate change promoted both earlier phenology and faster growth, without changing annual biomass production. Biomass production increased in spring due to a warming‐induced earlier onset of plant growth, but decreased in autumn due mainly to increased water stress. Plants grew faster but the fast‐growing period shortened during the mid‐growing season. These findings provide the first in situ evidence of long‐term changes in growth patterns in alpine grassland plant communities, and suggest that earlier phenology and faster growth will jointly contribute to plant growth in a warming climate.     

Phosphorus alleviation of nitrogen‐suppressed methane sink in global grasslands

Grassland ecosystems account for more than 10% of the global CH₄ sink in soils. A 4‐year field experiment found that addition of P alone did not affect CH₄ uptake and experimental addition of N alone significantly suppressed CH₄ uptake, whereas concurrent N and P additions suppressed CH₄ uptake to a lesser degree. A meta‐analysis including 382 data points in global grasslands corroborated these findings. Global extrapolation with an empirical modelling approach estimated that contemporary N addition suppresses CH₄ sink in global grassland by 11.4% and concurrent N and P deposition alleviates this suppression to 5.8%. The P alleviation of N‐suppressed CH₄ sink is primarily attributed to substrate competition, defined as the competition between ammonium and CH₄ for the methane mono‐oxygenase enzyme. The N and P impacts on CH₄ uptake indicate that projected increases in N and P depositions might substantially affect CH₄ uptake and alter the global CH₄ cycle.     

Testing for deterministic succession in metazoan parasite communities of marine fish

Parasite communities are similar to free‐living communities; decay of similarity over geographic distance, theory of island biogeography, species–area relationships and nestedness have been documented in both communities. Ecological succession has been studied in free‐living communities but has rarely been examined in parasite communities. We use seriation with replication to test the hypothesis that succession of parasite community structure is deterministic, thus developing throughout consecutive changes along the fish ontogeny, via a seriated pattern. 12 306 marine fishes (95 species) were studied. In 40 species, a seriated pattern was detected; 25 had a tendency towards a seriated pattern, and for 31 species, succession was at random. Age‐classes for each host species explained deterministic successional patterns for whole parasite communities and ectoparasites. Richness and number of age‐classes explained this pattern for endoparasites. Seriated successional pattern was evident for parasite communities of long‐lived marine fish, indicating that parasite communities follow sequential changes over time, like many free‐living communities.     

Leaf size of woody dicots predicts ecosystem primary productivity

A key challenge in ecology is to understand the relationships between organismal traits and ecosystem processes. Here, with a novel dataset of leaf length and width for 10 480 woody dicots in China and 2374 in North America, we show that the variation in community mean leaf size is highly correlated with the variation in climate and ecosystem primary productivity, independent of plant life form. These relationships likely reflect how natural selection modifies leaf size across varying climates in conjunction with how climate influences canopy total leaf area. We find that the leaf size?primary productivity functions based on the Chinese dataset can predict productivity in North America and vice‐versa. In addition to advancing understanding of the relationship between a climate‐driven trait and ecosystem functioning, our findings suggest that leaf size can also be a promising tool in palaeoecology for scaling from fossil leaves to palaeo‐primary productivity of woody ecosystems.     

Surprising low diversity of the plant pathogen Phytophthora in Amazonian forests

The genus Phytophthora represents a group of plant pathogens with broad global distribution. The majority of them cause the collar and root-rot of diverse plant species. Little is known about Phytophthora communities in forest ecosystems, especially in the Neotropical forests where natural enemies could maintain the huge plant diversity via negative density dependence. We characterized the diversity of soil-borne Phytophthora communities in the North French Guiana rainforest and investigated how they are structured by host identity and environmental factors. In this little-explored habitat, 250 soil cores were sampled from 10 plots hosting 10 different plant families across three forest environments (Terra Firme, Seasonally Flooded and White Sand). Phytophthora diversity was studied using a baiting approach and metabarcoding (High-Throughput Sequencing) on environmental DNA extracted from both soil samples and baiting-leaves. These three approaches revealed very similar communities, characterized by an unexpected low diversity of Phytophthora species, with the dominance of two cryptic species close to Phytophthora heveae. As expected, the Phytophthora community composition of the French Guiana rainforest was significantly impacted by the host plant family and environment. However, these plant pathogen communities are very small and are dominated by generalist species, questioning their potential roles as drivers of plant diversity in these Amazonian forests.