How to Make a Beetle Out of Wood: Multi-Elemental Stoichiometry of Wood Decay,Xylophagy and Fungivory

The majority of terrestrial biomass is wood, but the elemental composition of its potential consumers, xylophages, differs hugely from that of wood. This causes a severe nutritional imbalance. We studied the stoichiometric relationships of 11 elements (C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Na) in three species of pine-xylem-feeding insects, Stictoleptura rubra, Arhopalus rusticus (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) and Chalcophora mariana (Coleoptera, Buprestidae), to elucidate their mechanisms of tissue growth and to match their life histories to their dietary constraints. These beetles do not differ from other Coleoptera in their absolute elemental compositions, which are approximately 1000 (N), 100 (P, Cu) and 50 (K, Na) times higher than in dead but undecayed pine wood. This discrepancy diminishes along the wood decay gradient, but the elemental concentrations remain higher by an order of magnitude in beetles than in highly decayed wood. Numerical simulation of the life history of S. rubra shows that feeding on nutrient-poor undecayed wood would extend its development time to implausible values, whereas feeding on highly decomposed wood (heavily infected with fungi) would barely balance its nutritional budget during the long development period of this species. The changes in stoichiometry indicate that the relative change in the nutrient levels in decaying wood cannot be attributed solely to carbon loss resulting from decomposer respiration: the action of fungi substantially enriches the decaying wood with nutritional elements imported from the outside of the system, making it a suitable food for wood-eating invertebrates.     

Clinical significance of platelet alloantibodies detected in immunofluorescence test (neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia and post-transfusion purpura)

Three cases of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia and one patient with post-transfusion purpura could be diagnosed only by introducing the platelet immunofluorescence test. Thrombocytopenia was caused by anti-PlA1 platelet alloantibodies detected neither in the agglutination nor by the complement fixation test.     

Hypermodified nucleoside carboxyl group as a target site for specific tRNA modification

The free carboxyl group of hypermodified nucleosides N6-methyl-N6-(threoninocarbonyl)adenosine (mt6A37) and 3-(3-amino-3-carboxypropyl)uridine (acp3U20:1) in tRNAmMet (yellow lupine), and N6-(threoninocarbonyl)adenosine (t6A37) in tRNAiMet (yellow lupine) can be converted quantitatively and under very mild conditions into the respective anilides in a reaction with aniline and a water-soluble carbodiimide. The tRNA reactions proceed with rates very similar to that reported previously for t6A nucleoside. Detailed analysis of the products of tRNA modification with [3H]aniline on tRNA (chromatography on BD-DEAE-cellulose), oligonucleotide (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) and nucleoside (HPLC on Aminex A6) levels clearly indicates that only the hypermodified nucleoside residues undergo the reaction. The site of modification is confirmed for mono-modified (at mt6A37) and bis-modified (at mt6A37 and acp3U20:1) tRNAmMet, and for mono-modified (at t6A37) tRNAiMet by sequence analysis using 5'end 32P-labeled tRNAs. The modification procedure seems to be universally applicable for all hypermodified nucleosides bearing a free carboxyl group and for different amine reagents designed for the studies on tRNA function.     

Über das Restitutionsvermögen der Rhabdocoelen

Ohne Zusammenfassung Mit 2 Textabbildungen.     

Localized intravascular coagulation in the mesenteric region

Coagulation and fibrinolysis were measured in the portal and peripheral circulation in 15 rabbits after ligation of the superior mesenteric artery. It was found that the local coagulation syndrome in the mesenteric region can be recognized by tests in blood samples taken from the peripheral circulation area.