The effects of pitfall trap diameter on ant species richness (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and species composition of the catch in a semi-arid eucalypt woodland

Abstract Ants play an important role in Australian biodiversity and environmental impact assessments, with pitfall-trapping being the principal sampling method. However, the relationship between trap diameter and ant species catch has not been investigated in the context of survey design. Using four different trap diameters, each at a density of one trap per 100 m2, the present study asks three questions: (i) given an equal number of traps, do traps with larger diameters catch more species than smaller-diameter traps?; (ii) do traps with small diameters bias against large or rare species?; (iii) for equal area of the trap mouth, do small but more numerous traps catch more species than fewer but large traps? A total of 84 species were sampled within the 1600 m2 study site, with numbers of species for trap diameters of: 18mm (46 species), 42mm (56 species), 86mm (62 species) and 135mm (64 species). At equal trap density, 18 mm traps caught significantly fewer species than larger traps. Traps of 86 mm and 135mm were no more efficient than 42mm traps. Only 86mm and 135mm traps caught all species > 10mm in length (6 species). For equal area of the trap mouth, small traps were more efficient than large traps. Differences in the catch of the different-sized traps were due primarily to different capture rates of the rare species (40 species): 18mm traps caught 25% of rare species, 42 mm caught 41%, 86 mm caught 44% and 135 mm caught 52%. The role of rare ant species in environmental impact studies is discussed.     

Alteration of the Ganglioside Composition of Skeletal Muscle in Murine Muscular Dystrophy

MUSCULAR dystrophy in the mouse is a hereditary disorder which is considered to be a primary myopathy^1–5. Reports that the reactions of the muscles of dystrophic mice to neostigmine and d-tubocurarine are similar to those of denervated muscle⁶, that about one-quarter of the fibres are functionally denervated⁷, that dystrophic muscle has fewer functional motor units and less motor nerve fibres than normal muscle⁸ and the transplantation studies of Salafsky⁹, suggest, however, that neural factors are important in this disease. We have reported that denervation of skeletal muscle results in an increase in the content of the major sialoglycolipid of skeletal muscle, N-acetylneuraminylgalactosylglucosylceramide, GM3 (named according to Svennerholm's ganglioside nomenclature)¹⁰. The increased level of GM3 was shown to result from de novo synthesis of this material. We therefore examined the ganglioside composition of skeletal muscle in hereditary mouse myopathy to look for an effect similar to that induced by denervation. Our data, however, indicate that the GM3 level is decreased in dystrophic muscle. The decrease is accompanied by an increase in the amounts of the higher ganglioside homologues.     

Exploring the causes of variation in phenology and morphology in Mediterranean geophytes: a genus-wide study of Cyclamen

The phenology and morphology of Mediterranean plants are constrained by drought in summer and cold temperatures in winter. In this study we examine how climatic factors and phylogenetic constraints have shaped variation in the phenology and morphology of 17 species of the genus Cyclamen cultivated in uniform garden conditions. We quantify the extent to which traits differ among subgenera and thus represent conserved traits within evolutionary lineages. We also explore whether leaf, flowering and seed-release phenology are correlated among species, and thus whether variation in flowering phenology results from selection on dispersal phenology. Our results show a significant influence of subgenus membership on leaf and flowering phenology but not on morphological traits or the timing of seed release. Among-species variation in foliage height, leaf size and seed mass (but not in floral traits) is correlated with chromosome number. Leaf traits show that species with a shorter vegetative period have a higher capacity for resource acquisition. Major phenological shifts, i.e. spring vs. autumn flowering and a decoupling of leaf and flower phenology in autumnal flowering species, thus occurred prior to the diversification of species in each subgenus and not as a response to selection on dispersal timing. Leaf and flowering phenology illustrate a gradient of strategies from autumn flowering in the absence of leaves (hysteranthous species) to spring flowering with fully developed foliage (synanthous species). In the former, flowering is uncoupled from resource acquisition by simultaneous photosynthesis, indicative that hysteranthy is a response to temporal unpredictability in the onset of rain after the summer drought. Our results support the idea that whereas leaf development is controlled primarily by moisture availability and secondarily by temperature, flowering is temperature dependent, above a minimum moisture threshold. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 145 , 469–484.     

Pyrimidine Salvage Pathways In Toxoplasma Gondii

ABSTRACT. Pyrimidine salvage enzyme activities in cell-free extracts of Toxoplasma gondii were assayed in order to determine which of these enzyme activities are present in these parasites. Enzyme activities that were detected included phosphoribosyltransferase activity towards uracil (but not cytosine or thymine), nucleoside phosphorylase activity towards uridine, deoxyuridine and thymidine (but not cytidine or deoxycytidine), deaminase activity towards cytidine and deoxycytidine (but not cytosine, cytidine 5'-monophosphate or deoxycytidine 5'-monophosphate), and nucleoside 5'-monophosphate phosphohydrolase activity towards all nucleotides tested. No nucleoside kinase or phosphotransferase activity was detected, indicating that T. gondii lack the ability to directly phosphorylate nucleosides. Toxoplasma gondii appear to have a single non-specific uridine phosphorylase enzyme which can catalyze the reversible phosphorolysis of uridine, deoxyuridine and thymidine, and a single cytidine deaminase activity which can deaminate both cytidine and deoxycytidine. These results indicate that pyrimidine salvage in T. gondii probably occurs via the following reactions: cytidine and deoxycytidine are deaminated by cytidine deaminase to uridine and deoxyuridine, respectively; uridine and deoxyuridine are cleaved to uracil by uridine phosphorylase; and uracil is metabolized to uridine 5'-monophosphate by uracil phosphoribosyltransferase. Thus, uridine 5'-monophosphate is the end-product of both de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis and pyrimidine salvage in T. gondii.     

Half-life of tRNA Containing N6(Δ2-isopentenyl)adenosine in Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4963

tRNA containing N⁶-(Δ²-isopentenyl)adenosine may be precursors for the plant hormone cytokinin. To discriminate between tRNA containing and not containing cytokinin nucleotides, double labelling experiments were made by the use of [2¹⁴C]-mevalonic acid and [³H-methyl]-methionine. At a generation cycle of 2 h for Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4963, the half-lives of tRNA labelled with [³H-methyl]-methionine and [2-¹⁴C]-mevalonic acid are similar, namely 3 h. Isopentenylation of tRNA could be measured to be maximally 1:10.     

Avian Nest Box Selection and Nest Success in Burned and Unburned Southwestern Riparian Forest

ABSTRACT Riparian forest communities in the southwestern United States were historically structured by a disturbance regime of annual flooding. In recent decades, however, frequency of flooding has decreased and frequency of wildfires has increased. Riparian forests provide important breeding habitat for a large variety of bird species, and the effects of this altered disturbance regime on birds and their breeding habitat is largely unknown. To evaluate effects of high-intensity spring and summer wildfire on the quality of breeding bird habitat in the Middle Rio Grande valley, we measured vegetation structure and composition, avian nest use, and nest success at 4 unburned plots and 4 wildfire plots over a 3-year period. We measured avian nest use and success at nest boxes located in unburned riparian forest plots and plots recently burned by wildfire. Recent wildfire plots (<7 yr after fire) had a much different vegetation structure than unburned plots; an older (>7 yr after fire) wildfire plot more closely resembled its paired unburned plot than did recently burned plots. Ash-throated flycatchers (Myiarchus cinerascens) and Bewick's wrens (Thryomanes bewickii; hereafter, flycatchers and wrens, respectively) used nest boxes in most of the plots. A model selection procedure applied to logistic regressions showed that frequency of nest box use by flycatchers was positively associated with wildfire, although flycatchers used boxes in unburned plots as well. Wrens showed a preferential use of nest boxes that were in unburned sites and in close proximity to vegetative cover. Growth rates, feeding rates, and fledging mass of flycatchers were similar in wildfire and unburned plots. Growth rates for wrens were slower in wildfire plots, while feeding rates and fledging mass were similar. Nest predation varied between years, was higher for flycatchers than for wrens, and was not directly influenced by wildfire. Model selection showed that predation increased with grass cover, an indicator of forest openness, and decreased with distance to habitat edge. Recovery of dense vegetation appears important in maintaining populations of Bewick's wrens, whereas ash-throated flycatchers were less sensitive to vegetative structure and composition of postfire succession. Postfire management that maintains nest sites in large forest strips would enhance nesting density and success of these cavity-nesting birds in riparian zones.