Cell-specific mechanisms and systemic signalling as emerging themes in light acclimation of C3 plants

Chloroplasts perform essential signalling functions in light acclimation and various stress responses in plants. Research on chloroplast signalling has provided fundamental information concerning the diversity of cellular responses to changing environmental conditions. Evidence has also accumulated indicating that different cell types possess specialized roles in regulation of leaf development and stress acclimation when challenged by environmental cues. Leaf veins are flanked by a layer of elongated chloroplast-containing bundle sheath cells, which due to their central position hold the potential to control the flux of information inside the leaves. Indeed, a specific role for bundle sheath cells in plant acclimation to various light regimes is currently emerging. Moreover, perception of light stress initiates systemic signals that spread through the vasculature to confer stress resistance in non-exposed parts of the plant. Such long-distance signalling functions are related to unique characteristics of reactive oxygen species and their detoxification in bundle sheath cells. Novel techniques for analysis of distinct tissue types, together with Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with vasculature-specific phenotypes, have proven instrumental in dissection of structural hierarchy among regulatory processes in leaves. This review emphasizes the current knowledge concerning the role of vascular bundle sheath cells in light-dependent acclimation processes of C3 plants.     

Significant differences in outcrossing rate,self‐incompatibility,and inbreeding depression between two widely hybridizing species of Geum

Geum urbanum and Geum rivale are two widely hybridizing perennial herbs. Estimation of the breeding systems of these taxa using nuclear microsatellite markers scored in mother–progeny arrays demonstrated that, in pure populations, G. urbanum is predominantly selfing (outcrossing rate, t = 0.058 to 0.177), whereas G. rivale is predominantly outcrossing (t = 0.686–0.775). Theory suggests that hybridization between inbreeding and outcrossing species can potentially generate novel inbreeding lineages. However, the establishment of such lineages may be restricted either by self‐incompatibility loci or deleterious recessive alleles derived from the outcrossing parent. To assess the likelihood that hybridization between G. urbanum and G. rivale will generate novel inbreeding lineages, self‐incompatibility and inbreeding depression were investigated in the two taxa. Seed set in the absence of pollinators, and after controlled self‐ and cross‐pollination, was measured to study self‐incompatibility. Inbreeding depression was measured by estimating the relative fitness of offspring from controlled self‐and cross‐pollinations. Geum urbanum was fully self‐compatible [self‐compatibility index (SCI) = 1] and bagged flowers showed full seed set. By contrast, only 3% of bagged flowers set seed in G. rivale and controlled self‐pollinations showed a 60–80% reduction in seed set compared to controlled outcross pollinations (SCI = 0.28). There was no evidence for inbreeding depression in G. urbanum, although significant, albeit low levels of inbreeding depression were detected in one of two G. rivale populations (δ = 0.33). The implication of these results is that if genetic material from G. rivale was incorporated into a hybrid with a selfing morphology, the establishment of this selfing lineage could be compromised by self‐incompatibility and inbreeding depression. The wider implications of these results for evolution in hybrid swarms between G. urbanum and G. rivale are discussed. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101 , 977–990.     

Separation of net ecosystem exchange into assimilation and respiration using a light response curve approach: critical issues and global evaluation

The measured net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO₂ between the ecosystem and the atmosphere reflects the balance between gross CO₂ assimilation [gross primary production (GPP)] and ecosystem respiration (R_eco). For understanding the mechanistic responses of ecosystem processes to environmental change it is important to separate these two flux components. Two approaches are conventionally used: (1) respiration measurements made at night are extrapolated to the daytime or (2) light–response curves are fit to daytime NEE measurements and respiration is estimated from the intercept of the ordinate, which avoids the use of potentially problematic nighttime data. We demonstrate that this approach is subject to biases if the effect of vapor pressure deficit (VPD) modifying the light response is not included. We introduce an algorithm for NEE partitioning that uses a hyperbolic light response curve fit to daytime NEE, modified to account for the temperature sensitivity of respiration and the VPD limitation of photosynthesis. Including the VPD dependency strongly improved the model's ability to reproduce the asymmetric diurnal cycle during periods with high VPD, and enhances the reliability of R_eco estimates given that the reduction of GPP by VPD may be otherwise incorrectly attributed to higher R_eco. Results from this improved algorithm are compared against estimates based on the conventional nighttime approach. The comparison demonstrates that the uncertainty arising from systematic errors dominates the overall uncertainty of annual sums (median absolute deviation of GPP: 47 g C m^?2 yr^?1), while errors arising from the random error (median absolute deviation: ～2 g C m^?2 yr^?1) are negligible. Despite site‐specific differences between the methods, overall patterns remain robust, adding confidence to statistical studies based on the FLUXNET database. In particular, we show that the strong correlation between GPP and R_eco is not spurious but holds true when quasi‐independent, i.e. daytime and nighttime based estimates are compared.     

Polymorphic microsatellite loci in the ponerine ant,Hypoponera opacior (Hymenoptera,Formicidae)

The ant genus Hypoponera, with its high diversity of alternative reproductive tactics, is of particular interest in studies on sexual selection. In the species Hypoponera opacior, winged and wingless males and queens co‐occur and molecular markers are essential to study the reproductive success of these sexual tactics. Primers were developed for five polymorphic microsatellite loci isolated from H. opacior. Their variability was tested on 34 colonies from a population in the United States. Nine to 21 alleles per locus were found with observed heterozygosities between 0.1 and 0.7. A significantly positive F_IS value suggests inbreeding in this ant with predominant intracolonial matings.     

Intraspecific range dynamics and niche evolution in Candidula land snail species

The range dynamics of a species can either be governed by the spatial tracing of the fundamental environmental niche or by adaptation that allows to occupy new niches. Therefore, the investigation of spatial variation in the realized environmental niche is central to the understanding of species range limit dynamics. However, the study of intraspecific niche variation has been neglected in most phylogeographical studies. We studied the spatial distribution of the realized environmental niche in three land snail species of the genus Candidula , integrating phylogeographical methods, morphometrics, and spatial biodiversity informatics . The phylogeographical analyses showed significant range expansions in all species. These expansions were accompanied in Candidula gigaxii by a shift in the realized environmental niche, the species Candidula unifasciata followed its ancestral niche during expansion while the climate changed in the area of origin and Candidula rugosiuscula tracked the ancestral environmental conditions. The significant niche shifts were associated with potentially adaptive changes of shell morphology. We propose our presented approach as a practicable framework to test hypotheses on intraspecific niche evolution. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 90 , 303–317.     

Forceps size and immune function in the earwig Forficula auricularia L.

Females of many species select their mates on the basis of the size or intensity of sexual ornaments, and it has been suggested that these provide reliable signals of a male's ability to resist parasites and pathogens. European earwigs, Forficula auricularia , are sexually dimorphic in forceps shape and length. Male forceps are used as weapons in male contests for access to females, but recent findings suggest that females also choose males on the basis of their forceps length. In the present study, we tested the hypotheses that in the European earwig, F. auricularia , the size of forceps is correlated with immune function and that immune function differs between the sexes. We found that encapsulation rate was not correlated with the length of forceps in either sex, but was negatively correlated with body size. By contrast, lytic activity of the haemolymph increased with overall body size in both sexes but, in females, lytic activity increased with relative forceps length whereas, in males, it decreased with relative forceps length. After accounting for effects of body size, there was no remaining significant correlation in females but the negative correlation in males remained. Furthermore, we found that males had higher encapsulation rate and higher lytic activity than females, suggesting that males have stronger immune defence. The results of the study indicate that the size of forceps in male earwigs does not reliably reflect male immune defence.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 90 , 509–516.     

Modelling the role of agriculture for the 20th century global terrestrial carbon balance

In order to better assess the role of agriculture within the global climate‐vegetation system, we present a model of the managed planetary land surface, Lund–Potsdam–Jena managed Land (LPJmL), which simulates biophysical and biogeochemical processes as well as productivity and yield of the most important crops worldwide, using a concept of crop functional types (CFTs). Based on the LPJ‐Dynamic Global Vegetation Model, LPJmL simulates the transient changes in carbon and water cycles due to land use, the specific phenology and seasonal CO₂ fluxes of agricultural‐dominated areas, and the production of crops and grazing land. It uses 13 CFTs (11 arable crops and two managed grass types), with specific parameterizations of phenology connected to leaf area development. Carbon is allocated daily towards four carbon pools, one being the yield‐bearing storage organs. Management (irrigation, treatment of residues, intercropping) can be considered in order to capture their effect on productivity, on soil organic carbon and on carbon extracted from the ecosystem. For transient simulations for the 20th century, a global historical land use data set was developed, providing the annual cover fraction of the 13 CFTs, rain‐fed and/or irrigated, within 0.5° grid cells for the period 1901–2000, using published data on land use, crop distributions and irrigated areas. Several key results are compared with observations. The simulated spatial distribution of sowing dates for temperate cereals is comparable with the reported crop calendars. The simulated seasonal canopy development agrees better with satellite observations when actual cropland distribution is taken into account. Simulated yields for temperate cereals and maize compare well with FAO statistics. Monthly carbon fluxes measured at three agricultural sites also compare well with simulations. Global simulations indicate a ∼24% (respectively ∼10%) reduction in global vegetation (respectively soil) carbon due to agriculture, and 6–9 Pg C of yearly harvested biomass in the 1990s. In contrast to simulations of the potential natural vegetation showing the land biosphere to be an increasing carbon sink during the 20th century, LPJmL simulates a net carbon source until the 1970s (due to land use), and a small sink (mostly due to changing climate and CO₂) after 1970. This is comparable with earlier LPJ simulations using a more simple land use scheme, and within the uncertainty range of estimates in the 1980s and 1990s. The fluxes attributed to land use change compare well with Houghton's estimates on the land use related fluxes until the 1970s, but then they begin to diverge, probably due to the different rates of deforestation considered. The simulated impacts of agriculture on the global water cycle for the 1990s are∼5% (respectively∼20%) reduction in transpiration (respectively interception), and∼44% increase in evaporation. Global runoff, which includes a simple irrigation scheme, is practically not affected.     

A NEW SPECIES OF BRITTLESTAR (OPHIUROIDEA, ECHINODERMATA) FROM THE HUNSRÜCK SLATE (LOWER EMSIAN, LOWER DEVONIAN) OF GERMANY

Abstract:  Lapworthura lehmanni , a new species of ophiuroid, is described from four specimens from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate of Germany. It is the only known ophiuroid in the Hunsrück Slate with paired but unfused ambulacrals, and it exhibits unique rows of spine-bearing dorsal arm ossicles. The genus Lapworthura Gregory was previously known only from the Ordovician of Scotland and the Silurian of England and Australia.     

Fossil record of cladoceran and algal responses to fishery management practices

1. We hypothesized that the fishery management practices of toxaphene application and trout stocking would affect non-target organisms in lakes. Because these practices were rarely monitored in the past, cladoceran and algal assemblages were quantified in sediment cores from two lakes treated 30+ years ago to determine the long-term response of organisms near the base of the food chain. 2. Chydorids were remarkably resistant over the short term (a few years) in both the oligotrophic and eutrophic lakes despite toxaphene treatments that extirpated native fish and other invertebrates. In the oligotrophic lake (Annette Lake), six chydorid taxa were less abundant in the years following treatment, although no loss of species richness was detected. In the eutrophic lake (Chatwin Lake), the dominant Chydorus cf. sphaericus declined coincident with toxaphene treatment, but longer-term declines of all taxa were probably related to food web or other changes rather than to toxaphene toxicity. Cause and effect coupling was complicated by the fact that many chydorids were present at low concentrations in some pretreatment samples. 3. The algal communities (as fossil pigments) responded to treatment differently in the two lakes. In the oligotrophic lake, planktonic diatoms, dinoflagellates and chlorophytes were replaced as dominants by deep-water or benthic blooming cryptophytes, chrysophytes and cyanobacteria. This shift occurred along with increases in large daphnids and the ‘grazing indicator’, pheophorbide a. While both lakes appear to have had enhanced pigment preservation following treatment, the eutrophic lake encountered few long-term changes in its fossil pigment assemblage. Redundancy analysis estimated that the presence or absence of stocked trout explained much of the variation in the algal assemblages, particularly in the oligotrophic lake. 4. Toxaphene remained elevated in profundal sediments from these lakes 30 and 35 years after treatment.