Development of black spruce growth forms at treeline

Most treeline populations in northeastern Canada are monospecific stands of black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.), a hardy, cold-tolerant species able to withstand harsh climatic conditions under different growth forms. In the forest tundra, black spruce thrives in protected areas and exhibits a normal arborescent growth form, but in exposed sites, upright stems are damaged above the snowpack by snow abrasion and wind. In this study, the development of damaged growth forms was examined in a moderately exposed habitat. Five developmental stages were identified and described using detailed stem analysis of 13 spruce trees. Four different types of damaged growth forms were identified according to variations in supra-nival (above snow) stem height and number. At the site scale, the age structure of supra-nival shoots, based on a larger sample of 256 stems, was unimodal, suggesting a synchronous development of the spruce stand in which 46% of the shoots were initiated during the 1960s and 1970s. Subfossil trunks on the ground were all depressed trees, indicating that the former vegetation was a krummholz, not a forest. This indicates the recent development of the small-tree stand above the snowpack, probably triggered by recent milder conditions associated with snowier winters in the last decades.     

TRF2 promotes,remodels and protects telomeric Holliday junctions

The ability of the telomeric DNA‐binding protein, TRF2, to stimulate t‐loop formation while preventing t‐loop deletion is believed to be crucial to maintain telomere integrity in mammals. However, little is known on the molecular mechanisms behind these properties of TRF2. In this report, we show that TRF2 greatly increases the rate of Holliday junction (HJ) formation and blocks the cleavage by various types of HJ resolving activities, including the newly identified human GEN1 protein. By using potassium permanganate probing and differential scanning calorimetry, we reveal that the basic domain of TRF2 induces structural changes to the junction. We propose that TRF2 contributes to t‐loop stabilisation by stimulating HJ formation and by preventing resolvase cleavage. These findings provide novel insights into the interplay between telomere protection and homologous recombination and suggest a general model in which TRF2 maintains telomere integrity by controlling the turnover of HJ at t‐loops and at regressed replication forks.     

Introgression of mitochondrial DNA among lineages in a hybridogenetic ant

We report a remarkable pattern of incongruence between nuclear and mitochondrial variations in a social insect, the desert ant Cataglyphis hispanica. This species reproduces by social hybridogenesis. In all populations, two distinct genetic lineages coexist; non-reproductive workers develop from hybrid crosses between the lineages, whereas reproductive offspring (males and new queens) are typically produced asexually by parthenogenesis. Genetic analyses based on nuclear markers revealed that the two lineages remain highly differentiated despite constant hybridization for worker production. Here, we show that, in contrast with nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) does not recover the two lineages as monophyletic. Rather, mitochondrial haplotypes cluster according to their geographical origin. We argue that this cytonuclear incongruence stems from introgression of mtDNA among lineages, and review the mechanisms likely to explain this pattern under social hybridogenesis.     

Association between Mindfulness and Weight Status in a General Population from the NutriNet-Santé Study

Background

Mindfulness is defined as non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. There is some evidence of the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in weight loss. However, this psychological concept has only been rarely explored in observational studies, and no study to date has examined the association between dispositional mindfulness and weight status in a large population-based sample.

Objective

We aimed to examine the relationship between mindfulness scores and weight status in a large sample of the adult general population in France.

Design and Methods

A total of 14,400 men and 49,228 women aged ≥18 y participating in the NutriNet-Santé study were included in this cross-sectional analysis. We collected mindfulness data using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire as well as self-reported weight and height. The association between weight status and dispositional mindfulness, as well as its subscales (observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging and non-reactivity), was assessed using multinomial logistic regression models adjusted for socio-demographic and lifestyle factors.

Results

Women with higher dispositional mindfulness scores were less likely to be overweight (excluding obesity) (OR quartile 4 vs. 1 = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.79-0.90) and obese (OR quartile 4 vs. 1 = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.65-0.78). In addition, overall, in this group, all subscales were inversely associated with weight status, with the strongest association found for the “observing” subscale. In men, higher mindfulness was associated only with lower odds of obesity (OR quartile 4 vs. 1 = 0.81 (0.69, 0.96)), and only the “observing” and “non-reactivity” subscales were significantly inversely associated with weight status.

Conclusion

Results support the interest of a shift in perspective that takes into account positive psychological and cognitive factors such as dispositional mindfulness in the investigation of obesity and its associated factors.     

Synaptic Efficacy as a Function of Ionotropic Receptor Distribution: A Computational Study

Glutamatergic synapses are the most prevalent functional elements of information processing in the brain. Changes in pre-synaptic activity and in the function of various post-synaptic elements contribute to generate a large variety of synaptic responses. Previous studies have explored postsynaptic factors responsible for regulating synaptic strength variations, but have given far less importance to synaptic geometry, and more specifically to the subcellular distribution of ionotropic receptors. We analyzed the functional effects resulting from changing the subsynaptic localization of ionotropic receptors by using a hippocampal synaptic computational framework. The present study was performed using the EONS (Elementary Objects of the Nervous System) synaptic modeling platform, which was specifically developed to explore the roles of subsynaptic elements as well as their interactions, and that of synaptic geometry. More specifically, we determined the effects of changing the localization of ionotropic receptors relative to the presynaptic glutamate release site, on synaptic efficacy and its variations following single pulse and paired-pulse stimulation protocols. The results indicate that changes in synaptic geometry do have consequences on synaptic efficacy and its dynamics.     

Plasma HIV-2 RNA According to CD4 Count Strata among HIV-2-Infected Adults in the IeDEA West Africa Collaboration

Background

Plasma HIV-1 RNA monitoring is one of the standard tests for the management of HIV-1 infection. While HIV-1 RNA can be quantified using several commercial tests, no test has been commercialized for HIV-2 RNA quantification. We studied the relationship between plasma HIV-2 viral load (VL) and CD4 count in West African patients who were either receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) or treatment-naïve.

Method

A cross sectional survey was conducted among HIV-2-infected individuals followed in three countries in West Africa from March to December 2012. All HIV-2 infected-patients who attended one of the participating clinics were proposed a plasma HIV-2 viral load measurement. HIV-2 RNA was quantified using the new ultrasensitive in-house real-time PCR assay with a detection threshold of 10 copies/ mL (cps/mL).

Results

A total of 351 HIV-2-infected individuals participated in this study, of whom 131 (37.3%) were treatment naïve and 220 (62.7%) had initiated ART. Among treatment-naïve patients, 60 (46.5%) had undetectable plasma HIV-2 viral load (<10 cps/mL), it was detectable between 10-100 cps/mL in 35.8%, between 100-1000 cps/mL in 11.7% and >1000 cps/mL in 6.0% of the patients. Most of the treatment-naïve patients (70.2%) had CD4-T cell count ≥500 cells/mm³ and 43 (46.7%) of these patients had a detectable VL (≥10 cps/mL). Among the 220 patients receiving ART, the median CD4-T cell count rose from 231 to 393 cells/mm³ (IQR [259-561]) after a median follow-up duration of 38 months and 145 (66.0%) patients had CD4-T cell count ≤ 500 cells/mm³ with a median viral load of 10 cps/mL (IQR [10-33]). Seventy five (34.0%) patients had CD4-T cell count ≥ 500 cells/mm³, among them 14 (18.7%) had a VL between 10-100 cps/mL and 2 (2.6%) had VL >100 cps/mL.

Conclusion

This study suggests that the combination of CD4-T cell count and ultrasensitive HIV-2 viral load quantification with a threshold of 10 cps/mL, could improve ART initiation among treatment naïve HIV-2-infected patients and the monitoring of ART response among patients receiving treatment.     

What Do Pneumocystis Organisms Tell Us about the Phylogeography of Their Hosts? The Case of the Woodmouse Apodemus sylvaticus in Continental Europe and Western Mediterranean Islands

Pneumocystis fungi represent a highly diversified biological group with numerous species, which display a strong host-specificity suggesting a long co-speciation process. In the present study, the presence and genetic diversity of Pneumocystis organisms was investigated in 203 lung samples from woodmice (Apodemus sylvaticus) collected on western continental Europe and Mediterranean islands. The presence of Pneumocystis DNA was assessed by nested PCR at both large and small mitochondrial subunit (mtLSU and mtSSU) rRNA loci. Direct sequencing of nested PCR products demonstrated a very high variability among woodmouse-derived Pneumocystis organisms with a total number of 30 distinct combined mtLSU and mtSSU sequence types. However, the genetic divergence among these sequence types was very low (up to 3.87%) and the presence of several Pneumocystis species within Apodemus sylvaticus was considered unlikely. The analysis of the genetic structure of woodmouse-derived Pneumocystis revealed two distinct groups. The first one comprised Pneumocystis from woodmice collected in continental Spain, France and Balearic islands. The second one included Pneumocystis from woodmice collected in continental Italy, Corsica and Sicily. These two genetic groups were in accordance with the two lineages currently described within the host species Apodemus sylvaticus. Pneumocystis organisms are emerging as powerful tools for phylogeographic studies in mammals.     

Independent Synchronized Control and Visualization of Interactions between Living Cells and Organisms

To investigate the early stages of cell-cell interactions occurring between living biological samples, imaging methods with appropriate spatiotemporal resolution are required. Among the techniques currently available, those based on optical trapping are promising. Methods to image trapped objects, however, in general suffer from a lack of three-dimensional resolution, due to technical constraints. Here, we have developed an original setup comprising two independent modules: holographic optical tweezers, which offer a versatile and precise way to move multiple objects simultaneously but independently, and a confocal microscope that provides fast three-dimensional image acquisition. The optical decoupling of these two modules through the same objective gives users the possibility to easily investigate very early steps in biological interactions. We illustrate the potential of this setup with an analysis of infection by the fungus Drechmeria coniospora of different developmental stages of Caenorhabditis elegans. This has allowed us to identify specific areas on the nematode’s surface where fungal spores adhere preferentially. We also quantified this adhesion process for different mutant nematode strains, and thereby derive insights into the host factors that mediate fungal spore adhesion.