The relationships of Heberdenia bahamensis and H. penduliflora (Myrsinaceae)

A morphological and anatomical investigation is presented of the two species of Heberdenia, H. bahamensis (Macaronesia) and H. penduliflora (Mexico). A cladistic analysis including 27 taxa of the Myrsinaceae and using Jacquinia (Theophrastaceae) and Manilkara (Sapotaceae) as outgroup was performed to provide a hypothesis of the relationships of the two species of Heberdenia. It was concluded that H. bahamensis and H. penduliflora are not more closely related to each other than either is to many other species of the Myrsinaceae, and that they should not be referred to the same genus. Heberdenia bahamensis appears to be most closely related to the Old World genera Pleiomeris, Embelia , and Grenacheria , whereas H. penduliflora is nested within Ardisia s. L , possibly being most closely related to the segregate genus Gentlea. It is suggested that H. penduliflora is probably best referred to a genus of its own.     

Mesozooplankton community structure changes in the Mfolozi–Msunduzi estuarine system,South Africa,during contrasting river flow conditions

The Mfolozi–Msunduzi estuarine system is subject to periodic dry and wet cycles, with subsequent changes in the abiotic and biotic characteristics of the system. The aim of the current study was to compare its mesozooplankton composition during relatively dry and wet periods. Mesozooplankton samples were collected between 2007 and 2010 in both the Mfolozi and the Msunduzi, covering a dry period between 2007 and 2008 and a period of relatively high freshwater inputs during 2009 and 2010. High flows during the wet period reduced the densities of most of the dominant estuarine mesozooplankton taxa in the Mfolozi Estuary, such as estuarine calanoids Pseudodiaptomus stuhlmanni (Poppe & Mrázek, 1895) and Acartiella natalensis (Connell & Grindley, 1974). The Msunduzi Estuary functioned as a reservoir from which recolonisation by estuarine taxa would quickly take place after the Mfolozi was scoured by floodwaters. Densities of dominant meroplankton taxa, such as zoeae of the crab Paratylodiplax blephariskios and Macrobrachium spp., were not noticeably different in the Mfolozi–Msunduzi system between the low- and high-flow periods.     

Carbon impacts of direct land use change in semiarid woodlands converted to biofuel plantations in India and Brazil

We present an analysis of direct land use change (dLUC) resulting from the conversion of semiarid woodlands in Brazil and India to Jatropha curcas, a perennial biofuel crop. The sites examined include prosopis woodlands, managed for woodfuel production under periodic coppicing, in southern India, and unmanaged caatinga woodlands in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The jatropha plantations under consideration include pruned and unpruned stands and ranged from 2 to 4 years of age. Stocks of carbon in aboveground (AG) pools, including woody biomass, coarse debris, leaf litter, and herbaceous matter, as well as soil organic carbon (SOC) were evaluated. The jatropha plantations store 8–10 tons of carbon per hectare (t C ha^?1) in AG biomass and litter when managed with regular pruning in both India and Brazil. Unpruned trees, only examined in Brazil, store less biomass (and carbon), accumulating just 3 t C ha^?1 in AG pools. The two woodlands that were replaced with jatropha show substantial differences in carbon pools: prosopis contains ～11 t C ha^?1 in AG stocks of carbon, which was very close to the jatropha stand which replaced it. In contrast, caatinga stores ～35 t C ha^?1 in AG biomass. Moreover, no change in SOC was detected in land that was converted from Prosopis to jatropha. As a result, there is no detectable change in AG carbon stocks at the sites in South India where jatropha replaced prosopis woodlands. In contrast, large losses of AG carbon were detected in Central Brazil where jatropha replaced native caatinga woodlands. These losses represent a carbon debt that would take 10–20 years to repay.     

Hes1 Increases the Invasion Ability of Colorectal Cancer Cells via the STAT3-MMP14 Pathway

The Notch pathway contributes to self-renewal of tumor-initiating cell and inhibition of normal colonic epithelial cell differentiation. Deregulated expression of Notch1 and Jagged1 is observed in colorectal cancer. Hairy/enhancer of split (HES) family, the most characterized targets of Notch, involved in the development of many cancers. In this study, we explored the role of Hes1 in the tumorigenesis of colorectal cancer. Knocking down Hes1 induced CRC cell senescence and decreased the invasion ability, whereas over-expression of Hes1 increased STAT3 phosphorylation activity and up-regulated MMP14 protein level. We further explored the expression of Hes1 in human colorectal cancer and found high Hes1 mRNA expression is associated with poor prognosis in CRC patients. These findings suggest that Hes1 regulates the invasion ability through the STAT3-MMP14 pathway in CRC cells and high Hes1 expression is a predictor of poor prognosis of CRC.     

The phylogeography of European Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) based on RFLP analysis of the NDl/16sRNA region of the mtDNA

The diversity and distribution of mtDNA haplotypes in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) from 13 river systems across the species' European range was investigated. Salmon were screened by agarose electrophoresis for variation in a 1400 base pair fragment spanning the ND-1 and 16SrRNA genes. The fragment was amplified by PCR and digested using the restriction endonucleases Avail, Dral, Haelll, Hinfl and Rsal. Nine haplotypes were identified and resolved by parsimony analysis into two major clades. Clade I was ubiquitous and predominated in all samples while Clade II was restricted to eight out of 94 individuals in two of the 13 rivers. The first clade shows two sublineages whose frequency distribution is strongly associated with geography. One sublineage dominated in river systems draining into the Baltic sea and in Iceland, and the other in the river systems elsewhere in Europe. No geographical patterns were apparent within these regions but haplotype frequencies among samples, both within and outside the Baltic region, were significantly heterogeneous. Approximately 8% of haplotype frequency variation occurred among samples, 44% between Baltic and non-Baltic samples and 48% within samples. Baltic samples had a significantly lower haplotype and nucleotide diversity than non-Baltic samples. Current and historical factors potentially responsible for the observed levels and distribution of the haplotype variation are discussed.