Biochemical and Cytological Evidence for an Overabundance of Mucocysts in the bcd Pattern Mutant of Tetrahymena thermophila

ABSTRACT. Three acidic proteins (42 kD, 43 kD and 50 kD) were present in unusually high concentrations in cortical preparations of the Tetrahymena pattern mutant broadened cortical domains (bcd). Antisera to the 42-kD and 50-kD proteins bound to discharging mucocysts and food vacuole contents in both wild-type and mutant cells. Subsequent analysis revealed that bcd mutant cell pellicles possess five times more "docked" mucocysts than their wild-type counterparts.     

A revision of the genus Naroma (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

A key is given to the four species of Naroma now recognised. The species are redescribed and their distribution is listed. The early stages of N.varipes and N.signifera are described by D.G.Sevastopulo.     

Hemispheric‐scale patterns of climate‐related shifts in planktonic diatoms from North American and European lakes

A synthesis of over 200 diatom‐based paleolimnological records from nonacidified/nonenriched lakes reveals remarkably similar taxon‐specific shifts across the Northern Hemisphere since the 19th century. Our data indicate that these diatom shifts occurred in conjunction with changes in freshwater habitat structure and quality, which, in turn, we link to hemispheric warming trends. Significant increases in the relative abundances of planktonic Cyclotella taxa (P<0.01) were concurrent with sharp declines in both heavily silicified Aulacoseira taxa (P<0.01) and benthic Fragilaria taxa (P<0.01). We demonstrate that this trend is not limited to Arctic and alpine environments, but that lakes at temperate latitudes are now showing similar ecological changes. As expected, the onset of biological responses to warming occurred significantly earlier (P<0.05) in climatically sensitive Arctic regions (median age=ad 1870) compared with temperate regions (median age=ad 1970). In a detailed paleolimnological case study, we report strong relationships (P<0.005) between sedimentary diatom data from Whitefish Bay, Lake of the Woods (Ontario, Canada), and long‐term changes in air temperature and ice‐out records. Other potential environmental factors, such as atmospheric nitrogen deposition, could not explain our observations. These data provide clear evidence that unparalleled warming over the last few decades resulted in substantial increases in the length of the ice‐free period that, similar to 19th century changes in high‐latitude lakes, likely triggered a reorganization of diatom community composition. We show that many nonacidified, nutrient‐poor, freshwater ecosystems throughout the Northern Hemisphere have crossed important climatically induced ecological thresholds. These findings are worrisome, as the ecological changes that we report at both mid‐ and high‐latitude sites have occurred with increases in mean annual air temperature that are less than half of what is projected for these regions over the next half century.     

Effects of experimental drought on soil respiration and radiocarbon efflux from a temperate forest soil

Soil moisture affects microbial decay of SOM and rhizosphere respiration (RR) in temperate forest soils, but isolating the response of soil respiration (SR) to summer drought and subsequent wetting is difficult because moisture changes are often confounded with temperature variation. We distinguished between temperature and moisture effects by simulation of prolonged soil droughts in a mixed deciduous forest at the Harvard Forest, Massachusetts. Roofs constructed over triplicate 5 × 5 m² plots excluded throughfall water during the summers of 2001 (168 mm) and 2002 (344 mm), while adjacent control plots received ambient throughfall and the same natural temperature regime. In 2003, throughfall was not excluded to assess the response of SR under natural weather conditions after two prolonged summer droughts. Throughfall exclusion significantly decreased mean SR rate by 53 mg C m^?2 h^?1 over 84 days in 2001, and by 68 mg C m^?2 h^?1 over 126 days in 2002, representing 10–30% of annual SR in this forest and 35–75% of annual net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of C. The differences in SR were best explained by differences in gravimetric water content in the Oi horizon (r²=0.69) and the Oe/Oa horizon (r²=0.60). Volumetric water content of the A horizon was not significantly affected by throughfall exclusion. The radiocarbon signature of soil CO₂ efflux and of CO₂ respired during incubations of O horizon, A horizon and living roots allowed partitioning of SR into contributions from young C substrate (including RR) and from decomposition of older SOM. RR (root respiration and microbial respiration of young substrates in the rhizosphere) made up 43–71% of the total C respired in the control plots and 41–80% in the exclusion plots, and tended to increase with drought. An exception to this trend was an interesting increase in CO₂ efflux of radiocarbon‐rich substrates during a period of abundant growth of mushrooms. Our results suggest that prolonged summer droughts decrease primarily heterotrophic respiration in the O horizon, which could cause increases in the storage of soil organic carbon in this forest. However, the C stored during two summers of simulated drought was only partly released as increased respiration during the following summer of natural throughfall. We do not know if this soil C sink during drought is transient or long lasting. In any case, differential decomposition of the O horizon caused by interannual variation of precipitation probably contributes significantly to observed interannual variation of NEE in temperate forests.     

Integrating evidence-based treatments for common mental disorders in routine primary care: feasibility and acceptability of the MANAS intervention in Goa,India

Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, pose a major public health burden in developing countries. Although these disorders are thought to be best managed in primary care settings, there is a dearth of evidence about how this can be achieved in low resource settings. The MANAS project is an attempt to integrate an evidence based package of treatments into routine public and private primary care settings in Goa, India. Before initiating the trial, we carried out extensive preparatory work, over a period of 15 months, to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the planned intervention. This paper describes the systematic development and evaluation of the intervention through this preparatory phase. The preparatory stage, which was implemented in three phases, utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to inform our understanding of the potential problems and possible solutions in implementing the trial and led to critical modifications of the original intervention plan. Investing in systematic formative work prior to conducting expensive trials of the effectiveness of complex interventions is a useful exercise which potentially improves the likelihood of a positive result of such trials.     

Tongues, tentacles and trunks: the biomechanics of movement in muscular-hydrostats

Muscular-hydrostats, muscular organs which lack typical systems of skeletal support, include the tongues of mammals and lizards, the arms and tentacles of cephalopod molluscs and the trunks of elephants. In this paper the means by which such organs produce elongation, shortening, bending and torsion are discussed. The most important biomechanical feature of muscular-hydrostats is that their volume is constant, so that any decrease in one dimension will cause a compensatory increase in at least one other dimension. Elongation of a muscular-hydrostat is produced by contraction of transverse, circular or radial muscles which decrease the cross-section. Shortening is produced by contraction of longitudinal muscles. The relation between length and width of a constant volume structure allows amplification of muscle force or displacement in muscular-hydrostats and other hydrostatic systems. Bending requires simultaneous contraction of longitudinal and antagonistic circular, transverse or radial muscles. In bending, one muscle mass acts as an effector of movement while the alternate muscle mass provides support for that movement. Torsion is produced by contraction of muscles which wrap the muscular-hydrostat in a helical fashion.     

Fine-layer depth relationships of lakewater chemistry, planktonic algae and photosynthetic bacteria in meromictic Lake Fidler, Tasmania

SUMMARY.

• 1 Use of a multi-column thin-layer pneumatic sampler and modified analytic procedures has enabled resolutions of chemical and biological strata at 2.5 or 5.0 cm depth intervals. Examination of meromictic Lake Fidler, Tasmania, indicates the presence of a thin, intense stratum of bacteriochlorohyll d in the upper monimolimnion, associated with a discrete stratum of Chlorobium cf. limicola at the microaerobic interface between the oxygenated and sulphide-rich zones.
• 2 Algae included small populations of Chlorophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Cryptophyceae. Bacteria included microaerophils and obligate anaerobes, pigmented and colourless, in well-defined strata in the upper monimolimnion. A population of the microcrustacean Calamoecia tasmanica tasmanica was present in the mixolimnion. Chaoborus larvae were concentrated within the Chlorobium layer.
• 3 The chemical profile of Lake Fidler was stable, with a chemocline constant in position relative to the lake bottom. The surface water levels rose and fell through a distance of 1m in conjunction with heavy rainfall in the rainforest, and with river level variation, but had no measurable effect on the absolute position of the chemocline. Marked heterogeneity of dissolved substances at depths in the vicinity of bacteria suggested endogenous influence on pH and gelbstoff (‘gilvin’ in Australia).
• 4 Downwelling light attenuation was influenced primarily by gelbstoff (‘gilvin’) in the mixolimnion, with only red light (peak at 700 nm) measurable below 2 m. Light was absorbed mainly by Chlorobium in the monimolimnion, and was unmeasurable deeper than 3 m.
• 5 The absorption spectrum of the bacteriochlorophyll d in vivo, with a maximum absorbance at 721 nm, corresponds with the available downwelling light penetrating the mixolimnion to the Chlorobium layer.

     

The complementary effects of plant resistance and the choice of sowing and harvest times in reducing carrot fly (Psila rosae) damage to carrots

The benefits of combining a partially-resistant carrot cultivar with different sowing and lifting dates to reduce carrot fly, Psila rosae, damage were investigated at Wellesbourne in 1983 and 1984-85. The partially-resistant cv. Sytan was less damaged and supported fewer insects than the susceptible cv. Danvers on all lifting dates. The estimated reduction of carrot fly larvae on Sytan compared with Danvers ranged from 33 to 95%. Nine combinations of sowing and lifting dates provided more than 75% marketable roots of Sytan compared with only three combinations of dates for Danvers. An early June sowing of both cultivars provided roots of a marketable size with the least attack. More than 90% of Sytan roots were still marketable in December and fewer insects were produced by the end of the season on these roots than on those sown earlier. In addition, sowing in June decreased the number of pupae produced on cv. Danvers by 10 times compared with earlier sowings. Combining partial resistance with specific sowing and lifting times enabled satisfactory yields of marketable carrots to be obtained in a field infested by high populations of carrot fly.     

Punctuated stasis and collateral evolution in the Devonian lineage of Monograptus hercynicus

The changes in the sicula of Early Devonian monograptid graptolite populations show a pattern that is described as punctuated stasis: two longer periods of stasis separated by a transitional population of shorter duration between them. The pattern differs from punctuated equilibrium in that anagenesis is involved rather than cladogenesis. The pattern has been observed in several widely separated areas (Nevada, Thuringia, Poland, Ural Mountains) and is an example of collateral evolution in graptolites. In this case, the collateral morphologic change occurs relatively rapidly in a large, globally distributed taxon. The study permits accurate correlation of the horizon of appearance of Monograptus hercynicus Pemer in the upper delta Zone (conodont zonation) of late Lochkovian age (Devonian) on a global scale. The partial integration of these two biostratigraphies constrains correlations between the shelly, shallow-water biofacies and the deeper graptolitic biofacies. The pattern of punctuated stasis has been discovered in Lower Devonian strata of central Nevada, where 22 horizons in sequence were sampled. Statistical analyses were performed on 13 characters encompassing measurements of the sicula, thecae, and rhabdosome. Most of these characters do not exhibit sustained trends or punctuated changes. However, sicular width exhibits an abrupt increase over a short stratigraphic interval and is used to classify members of the group into four quantitatively defined morphotypes. This natural perturbation in the pattern of change is used to divide the lineage into paleospecies. This makes the segments of the lineage easy to identify and imparts stability to the classification and precision in biostratigraphy. The variation studies enable the ranges of the morphotypes to be used to further subdivide the stratigraphic record of the late Lochkovian. □ Graptolites, Devonian, Lochkovian, evolution, punctuated stasis, biostratigraphy, MONOGRAPTUS, phylogeny.