Individual and group characteristics affecting nest building in sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus L. 1758)

Nest building relates to reproductive effort, sexual selection, intersexual conflict and cooperation and may be linked to individual phenotype and interindividual interactions. In particular, larger individuals having more energy reserves are expected to build more, larger nests, without having to trade intrasexual competition for cooperative nest building. Capture–mark–recapture and nest survey of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus L. 1758) were combined to assess the relationship between individuals and nesting activity on a spawning ground, throughout a breeding season, during which 202 nests were observed and 114 individuals were captured. On average, males and females stayed 8.33 ± 1.02 and 3.57 ± 1.04 days on the spawning ground, visited 2.26 ± 1.72 and 1.67 ± 1.17 nests and encountered 2.33 ± 2.13 mates for males and 2.29 ± 1.32 mates for females, respectively, and the number of mates encountered increased with the number of nests visited. Body size had no effect on the duration of presence on spawning ground, number of nests visited, number of individuals per nest and sex ratio on nest or nest volume. Bigger nests were found at the end of the season and were not necessarily built by more individuals. This work brings insights on the mating system and cooperative nest building in sea lamprey and may inform managers who want to estimate sea lamprey populations via nest surveys.     

Growth-enhanced salmon modify stream ecosystem functioning

Use of fast-growing domesticated and/or genetically modified strains of fish is becoming increasingly common in aquaculture, increasing the likelihood of deliberate or accidental introductions into the wild. To date, their ecological impacts on ecosystems remain to be quantified. Here, using a controlled phenotype manipulation by implanting growth hormone in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), we found that growth-enhanced fish display changes in several phenotypic traits known to be important for ecosystem functioning, such as habitat use, morphology and excretion rate. Furthermore, these phenotypic changes were associated with significant impacts on the invertebrate community and key stream ecosystem functions such as primary production and leaf-litter decomposition. These findings provide novel evidence that introductions of growth-enhanced fish into the wild can affect the functioning of natural ecosystems and represent a form of intraspecific invasion. Consequently, environmental impact assessments of growth-enhanced organisms need to explicitly consider ecosystem-level effects.     

The SSV-Seq 2.0 PCR-Free Method Improves the Sequencing of Adeno-Associated Viral Vector Genomes Containing GC-Rich Regions and Homopolymers

Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV) are efficient engineered tools for delivering genetic material into host cells. The commercialization of AAV-based drugs must be accompanied by the development of appropriate quality control (QC) assays. Given the potential risk of co-transfer of oncogenic or immunogenic sequences with therapeutic vectors, accurate methods to assess the level of residual DNA in AAV vector stocks are particularly important. An assay based on high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to identify and quantify DNA species in recombinant AAV batches is developed. Here, it is shown that PCR amplification of regions that have a local GC content >90% and include successive mononucleotide stretches, such as the CAG promoter, can introduce bias during DNA library preparation, leading to drops in sequencing coverage. To circumvent this problem, SSV-Seq 2.0, a PCR-free protocol for sequencing AAV vector genomes containing such sequences, is developed. The PCR-free protocol improves the evenness of the rAAV genome coverage and consequently leads to a more accurate relative quantification of residual DNA. HTS-based assays provide a more comprehensive assessment of DNA impurities and AAV vector genome integrity than conventional QC tests based on real-time PCR and are useful methods to improve the safety and efficacy of these viral vectors.     

Post-Glacial Climate–Fire Interactions Control Tree Composition of Mesic Temperate Forests in Eastern North America

Stand-scale gap-phase dynamics is generally viewed as the main driver of development in mesic deciduous forests of the temperate biome. Soil charcoal of temperate forests in eastern North America are unnoticed in most surveys, thus explaining why fire is undervalued as a driver of forest succession. The extent to which gap-phase, fire, or other processes are responsible for the regeneration and maintenance of mesic deciduous forests is unknown because paleoecological evidence is lacking. We tested the fire-driven succession hypothesis on the development of this major forest type. Based on charcoal ¹⁴C dates of two sites, 44 and 55 fires occurred since early Holocene, with a mean interval of 170 to 215 years. The vegetation of both sites followed comparable post-glacial trajectories consisting of three distinct periods. Conifers dominated the two first periods during 5200–6000 years and were replaced by hardwoods–conifers over the last 3500 years. The first period was represented by boreal conifers, whereas the second period, dominated by white pine (Pinus strobus) forests, persisted during 3000–4300 years. The third period marked the development of hardwood (sugar maple, Acer saccharum) forests. Fires occurred continuously on the sites since early Holocene likely under dry conditions during the conifer periods and cooler and moister conditions during the hardwood–conifer period. Recurrent fires appear with climate as key drivers of the long-term dynamics of several temperate forests in eastern North America. Similar studies on other temperate forests should be pursued to test the hypothesis of climate–fire interactions influencing tree composition change.

     

Arabidopsis ERG28 Tethers the Sterol C4-Demethylation Complex to Prevent Accumulation of a Biosynthetic Intermediate That Interferes with Polar Auxin Transport

Sterols are vital for cellular functions and eukaryotic development because of their essential role as membrane constituents. Sterol biosynthetic intermediates (SBIs) represent a potential reservoir of signaling molecules in mammals and fungi, but little is known about their functions in plants. SBIs are derived from the sterol C4-demethylation enzyme complex that is tethered to the membrane by Ergosterol biosynthetic protein28 (ERG28). Here, using nonlethal loss-of-function strategies focused on Arabidopsis thaliana ERG28, we found that the previously undetected SBI 4-carboxy-4-methyl-24-methylenecycloartanol (CMMC) inhibits polar auxin transport (PAT), a key mechanism by which the phytohormone auxin regulates several aspects of plant growth, including development and responses to environmental factors. The induced accumulation of CMMC in Arabidopsis erg28 plants was associated with diagnostic hallmarks of altered PAT, including the differentiation of pin-like inflorescence, loss of apical dominance, leaf fusion, and reduced root growth. PAT inhibition by CMMC occurs in a brassinosteroid-independent manner. The data presented show that ERG28 is required for PAT in plants. Furthermore, it is accumulation of an atypical SBI that may act to negatively regulate PAT in plants. Hence, the sterol pathway offers further prospects for mining new target molecules that could regulate plant development.     

Ubiquinol and a Coenzyme Q Reducing System Protect Platelet Mitochondrial Function of Transfusional Buffy Coats from Oxidative Stress

The conditions under which Coenzyme Q (CoQ) may protect platelet mitochondrial function of transfusional buffy coats from aging and from induced oxidative stress were investigated. The Pasteur effect, i.e. the enhancement of lactate production after inhibition of mitochondrial respiratory chain, was exploited as a marker of mitochondrial function as it allows to calculate the ratio of mitochondrial ATP to glycolytic ATP. Reduced CoQ 10 improves platelet mitochondrial function of transfusional buffy coats and protects the cells from induced oxidative stress. Oxidized CoQ is usually less effective, despite the presence, shown for the first time in this study, of quinone reductase activities in the platelet plasma membranes. The addition of a CoQ reducing system to platelets is effective in enhancing the protection of platelet mitochondrial function from the oxidative stress. The results support on one hand a possibility of protection of mitochondrial function in aging by exogenous CoQ intake, on the other a possible application in protection of transfusional buffy coats from storage conditions and oxidative deterioration.     

Prognostic impact of coronary microcirculation abnormalities in systemic sclerosis: a prospective study to evaluate the role of non-invasive tests

Introduction

Microcirculation dysfunction is a typical feature of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and represents the earliest abnormality of primary myocardial involvement. We assessed coronary microcirculation status by combining two functional tests in SSc patients and estimating its impact on disease outcome.

Methods

Forty-one SSc patients, asymptomatic for coronary artery disease, were tested for coronary flow velocity reserve (CFR) by transthoracic-echo-Doppler with adenosine infusion (A-TTE) and for left ventricular wall motion abnormalities (WMA) by dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). Myocardial multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) enabled the presence of epicardial stenosis, which could interfere with the accuracy of the tests, to be excluded. Patient survival rate was assessed over a 6.7- ± 3.5-year follow-up.

Results

Nineteen out of 41 (46%) SSc patients had a reduced CFR (≤2.5) and in 16/41 (39%) a WMA was observed during DSE. Furthermore, 13/41 (32%) patients showed pathological CFR and WMA. An inverse correlation between wall motion score index (WMSI) during DSE and CFR value (r = -0.57, P <0.0001) was observed; in addition, CFR was significantly reduced (2.21 ± 0.38) in patients with WMA as compared to those without (2.94 ± 0.60) (P <0.0001). In 12 patients with abnormal DSE, MDCT was used to exclude macrovasculopathy. During a 6.7- ± 3.5-year follow-up seven patients with abnormal coronary functional tests died of disease-related causes, compared to only one patient with normal tests.

Conclusions

A-TTE and DSE tests are useful tools to detect non-invasively pre-clinical microcirculation abnormalities in SSc patients; moreover, abnormal CFR and WMA might be related to a worse disease outcome suggesting a prognostic value of these tests, similar to other myocardial diseases.     

Occurrence of species of the genus Pityophthorus Eichhoff (Coleoptera,Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in?the?province of Quebec,Canada

Twig beetles in the genus Pityophthorus Eichhoff, 1864 include more than 300 species worldwide, with maximum diversity in tropical and subtropical regions. To date, approximately 50 species of Pityophthorus have been recorded in Canada, and these species are associated mainly with coniferous trees. Since 1981, no comprehensive study on this difficult taxonomic group has been conducted in Quebec, Canada, most likely due to their limited significance as forest pests. Based on data gathered from five years of field sampling in conifer seed orchards and compiled from various entomological collections, the distribution of Pityophthorus species in Quebec is presented. Approximately 291 new localities were recorded for the Pityophthorus species. Five species-group taxa, namely Pityophthorus puberulus (LeConte, 1868), Pityophthorus pulchellus pulchellus Eichhoff, 1869, Pityophthorus pulicarius (Zimmermann, 1868), Pityophthorus nitidus Swaine, 1917,and Pityophthorus cariniceps LeConte&Horn, 1876 were the most widespread. In contrast, Pityophthorus consimilis LeConte, 1878, Pityophthorus intextus Swaine, 1917, Pityophthorus dentifrons Blackman, 1922, Pityophthorus ramiperda Swaine, 1917, and Pityophthorus concavus Blackman, 1928 display a notably limited distribution. In addition, the first distribution records of Pityophthorus intextus and Pityophthorus biovalis Blackman, 1922 are furnished, and the subspecies Pityophthorus murrayanae murrayanae Blackman, 1922is reported from Quebec for the second time. Moreover, distribution maps are provided for all Pityophthorus species recorded in the province of Quebec.