Contrasting mortality in young freshwater leeches and triclads

A guild of leeches and triclads coexist and are the most numerous invertebrate predators on the stony shores of productive British lakes. Populations of all species are food-limited. Mortality of recruited young is considerably higher in leech than in triclad populations, and this paper investigates reasons for this. In particular, the feeding success of young leeches and triclads in relation to prey species, prey size, prey condition (alive or crushed), spatial heterogeneity (with or without the presence of stones or gravel), and the presence or absence of other young or adults predators (leeches or triclads) of the same or different species are investigated in the laboratory. Feeding success by young leeches and triclads on crushed prey without the presence of stones was high, but declined dramatically in leeches but not triclads when stones were present. Young leeches and triclads were inept at capturing live prey, of a small or large size, with the exception of soft-bodied prey such as oligochaetes. Feeding success by young predators on live prey was not increased by the presence of other young predators of the same or different species. With only a few exceptions, the presence of adult leeches, and to a much lesser extent adult triclads, increased the feeding success, growth and survival of young leeches and triclads. It is concluded that the high mortality of young leeches, compared to triclads, in field populations is due to their inability to locate damaged food in an environment with spatial heterogeneity due to a poorly developed chemosensory system. High and low levels of juvenile morality are accompanied by high and low reproductive rates in leech and triclad populations, respectively. It is unusual for a food limited population to have a high level of recruitment, but it is speculated that the characteristically high reproductive output in parasitic leeches, from which predaceous leeches are derived or have affinities, has been retained to counterbalance high juvenile mortality rates.     

Membrane adenosine triphosphatase activities in rat pancreas

The membrane ATPase activities present in rat pancreas were studied to investigate the possible role of ATPase enzymes in HCO3(-) secretion in the pancreas. It was found that all the HCO3(-)-sensitive (anion-sensitive) ATPase activity was accountable as pancreatic mitochondrial ATPase, thus supporting the view that a distinct plasma membrane 'bicarbonate-ATPase' is not involved in HCO3(-) secretion in pancreas. A remarkably high Mg+- and CA2+-requiring ATPase activity (30 mumol ATP hydrolysed/min per mg) was found in the plasma membrane fraction (rho = 1.10-1.13). This activity has been characterized in some detail. It is inhibited by p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine, an affinity label analogue of ATP and the analogue appears to label covalently a protein of Mr approximately 35 000. The (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity did not form a 'phosphorylated-intermediate' and was vanadate-insensitive. These and other tests have served to demonstrate that the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity is different in properties from (Na+ + K+)-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase, (H+ + K+)-ATPase or mitochondrial H+-ATPase. Apart from the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase of plasma membrane and mitochondrial ATPase, the only other membrane ATPase activities noted were (Na+ + K+)-ATPase, which occurred in the same fractions as the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-AtPase at rho = 1.10-1.13 and was of surprisingly low activity, and an ATPase activity in light membrane fractions (rho - 1.08-1.09) derived from zymogen granule membranes. At this time, therefore, there is no obvious candidate for an ATPase activity at the luminal surface of pancreatic cells which is directly involved in ion transport, but the results presented here direct attention to the high activity (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase in the plasma membrane fraction.     

The osmoprotectant proline betaine is a major substrate for the binding-protein-dependent transport system ProU of Escherichia coli K-12

The ProP and ProU transport systems of Escherichia coli mediate the uptake of several osmoprotectants including glycine betaine. Here we report that both ProP and ProU are involved in the transport of the potent osmoprotectant proline betaine. A set of isogenic E. coli strains carrying deletions in either the proP or proU loci was constructed. The growth properties of these mutants in high osmolarity minimal media containing 1 mM proline betaine demonstrated that the osmoprotective effect of this compound was dependent on either an intact ProP or ProU uptake system. Proline betaine competes with glycine betaine for binding to the proU-encoded periplasmic substrate binding protein (ProX) and we estimate a K_D of 5.2 μM for proline betaine binding. This value is similar to the binding constant of the ProX protein determined previously for the binding of glycine betaine (K_D of 1.4 μM). Our results thus demonstrate that the binding-protein-dependent ProU transport system of E. coli mediates the efficient uptake of the osmoprotectants glycine betaine and proline betaine.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Limnocalanus macrurus</Emphasis> in the Kara Sea (Arctic Ocean): an opportunistic copepod as evident from distribution and lipid patterns

Limnocalanus macrurus is an important member of the zooplankton communities of the Siberian shelf seas. During the cruise, Boris Petrov 1999, in August/September to the southern Kara Sea and the Ob and Yenisej estuaries, its abundance and vertical distribution were investigated. In adults, salinity tolerance, egg production, feeding and lipid composition were studied. L. macrurus occurred in water with salinities ranging from 1.7 to >33 without clear preference, as revealed from salinity-tolerance experiments. The dominance of adults and their high wax-ester content, as well as the lack of egg production and feeding activity, suggest that the population was in the pre-overwintering condition. Wax esters allow L. macrurus to survive long starvation periods and to reproduce in times of little food availability, but through its potential carnivory, it should be able to replenish its diet by preying on other zooplankton. Morphology and swimming behaviour of L. macrurus resemble the omnivorous copepod Metridia longa, which, however, is mainly found in the open ocean. The overall lipid composition and the mode of lipid storage also point to an omnivorous feeding behaviour. However, the high proportion of the marker fatty acid 16:1(n-7) suggests that L. macrurus strongly exploited the existent phytoplankton bloom, consisting mainly of diatoms. A striking characteristic of its lipids is the high level of the 20:1(n-7) fatty alcohol in addition to the 18:1(n-7) fatty acid and alcohol. It is the first copepod species known to produce such high amounts of 20:1(n-7) alcohol. Since this alcohol and the corresponding fatty acid are not abundant in any prey, this long-chain monounsaturated wax-ester moiety has to be produced de novo. Owing to these particular lipid characteristics in its distribution, feeding, and life-cycle strategy, L. macrurus can be described as a very versatile and opportunistic copepod.     

Isolation and partial amino acid sequencing of the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from three species of orchid

Small subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) have been purified from 3 species of orchid in the genus Cymbidium by gel filtration followed by preparative sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and electroelution. The samples were subjected to amino acid composition analysis and partial N-terminal amino acid sequencing. The sequencing data clearly confirm that one of the species examined is the hybrid offspring of a cross between the other two.     

The role of oxygen radicals in dye-mediated photodynamic effects in Escherichia coli B

Photosensitive dyes representative of the thiazines, xanthenes, acridines, and phenazines mediated phototoxicity in Escherichia coli B. The observed phototoxicity was sensitizer-, light-, and oxygen-dependent and is therefore a photodynamic effect. Hydroxyl radical scavengers conferred protection against the photodynamic action of all of the representative dyes. The extent of protection was dependent on the concentration of scavenger and on the in vitro reactivity of the scavenger with the hydroxyl radical. Exogenous superoxide dismutase and catalase partially protected the cells against the dye-mediated phototoxicity, and prior induction of intracellular superoxide dismutase and catalase by growth in glucose minimal medium containing manganese and paraquat substantially protected E. coli B against the photodynamic action of all of the dyes examined. Combinations of protective treatments against the phototoxicity of all four classes of dyes, including superoxide dismutase and catalase preinduction and addition of extracellular superoxide dismutase and catalase or the addition of hydroxyl radical scavengers, provided nearly complete protection against the oxygen-dependent component of dye-mediated lethality. E. coli B grown in glucose minimal medium containing manganese and photosensitive dyes induced manganese superoxide dismutase. The extent of induction was correlated with the dyes' ability to photooxidize NADH in vitro. Thus, oxygen radicals are primarily responsible for the oxygen-dependent toxicity of the photosensitive dyes examined, and one adaptive response of E. coli B to a dye-mediated oxidative threat is to induce superoxide dismutase.     

The influence of native populations’ genetic history on the reconstruction of invasion routes: the case of a highly invasive aquatic species

Biological Invasions - Insufficient data on the origins of the first introduced propagule and the initial stages of invasion complicate the reconstruction of a species’ invasion history....