Proline dehydrogenase is a positive regulator of cell death in different kingdoms

Proline dehydrogenase (ProDH) catalyzes the flavin-dependent oxidation of Pro into Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C). This is the first of the two enzymatic reactions that convert proline (Pro) into glutamic acid (Glu). The P5C thus produced is non-enzymatically transformed into glutamate semialdehyde (GSA), which acts as a substrate of P5C dehydrogenase (P5CDH) to generate Glu. Activation of ProDH can generate different effects depending on the behavior of other enzymes of this metabolism. Under different conditions it can generate toxic levels of P5C, alter the cellular redox homeostasis and even produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). Recent studies indicate that in Arabidopsis, the enzyme potentiates the oxidative burst and cell death associated to the Hypersensitive Responses (HR). Interestingly, activation of ProDH can also produce harmful effects in other organisms, suggesting that the enzyme may play a conserved role in the control of cell death.Key words: proline, proline dehydrogenase, cell death, hypersensitive response (HR), reactive oxygen species (ROS)     

Roadside Reclamation Outside the Revegetation Season: Management Options under Schedule Pressure

Roadside reclamation involves standard revegetation practices that often fail under the adverse conditions imposed by subordination to the infrastructure construction schedule. We experimentally tested for seed and microsite limitations on roadslopes by assessing the effects of seed addition and habitat suitability upon plant cover and species richness. The relative contributions of topsoil seed bank, seed rain, and hydroseeding with standard or native seed mixtures were analyzed in relation to soil texture, fertility, and stability. In order to increase applicability, this research was fitted into the actual construction design and schedule of a highway in central Spain, which resulted in topsoil of varying quality, steep roadcuts and embankments (34°), and out‐of‐season hydroseedings. During the first 2 years following roadslope construction, there was an uneven but sustained increase in plant cover and species richness. Topsoil spread on embankments led to greater plant cover in a shorter time and to lower sedimentation rates at slope bases. The topsoil seed bank was extremely poor. Hydroseeding invariably failed, regardless of seed mixture and roadslope type. The seed rain provided seven times more seeds than hydroseedings, and was correlated with the distance to vegetation patches. Recruitment, however, was limited by microsite suitability, as the initial soil content in nitrate, total nitrogen, and organic matter explained up to 80% of variation in plant cover. In conclusion, when revegetation was performed outside the optimal season due to schedule constraints, measures aimed at overcoming microsite limitation were more cost‐effective and enhanced roadside carrying capacity for local species.     

No population genetic structure in a widespread aquatic songbird from the Neotropics

Neotropical lowland organisms often show marked population genetic structure, suggesting restricted migration among populations. However, most phylogeographic studies have focused on species inhabiting humid forest interior. Little attention has been devoted to the study of species with ecologies conducive to dispersal, such as those of more open and variable environments associated with watercourses. Using mtDNA sequences, we examined patterns of genetic variation in a widely distributed Neotropical songbird of aquatic environments, the Yellow-hooded Blackbird (Icteridae, Chrysomus icterocephalus). In contrast to many forest species, Yellow-hooded Blackbirds showed no detectable genetic structure across their range, which includes lowland populations on both sides of the Andes, much of northeastern South America, Amazonia, as well as a phenotypically distinct highland population in Colombia. A coalescent-based analysis of the species indicated that its effective population size has increased considerably, suggesting a range expansion. Our results support the hypothesis that species occurring in open habitats and tracking temporally dynamic environments should show increased dispersal propensities (hence gene flow) relative to species from closed and more stable environments. The phenotypic and behavioral variation among populations of our study species appears to have arisen recently and perhaps in the face of gene flow.     

Effects of food availability on reproductive output,offspring quality and reproductive efficiency in the apple snail <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pomacea canaliculata</Emphasis>

Phenotypic plasticity in life history traits favors the establishment of invaders and may magnify their ecological impacts. Pomacea canaliculata, the only freshwater snail listed among the 100 worst invaders worldwide, is able to complete its life cycle within a wide range of conditions, a capacity attributed to its life history plasticity. Using snails from their native range in Argentina we investigated the changes in fecundity, egg mass traits, offspring quality, and efficiency of food conversion into eggs in response to different levels of food availability throughout different life stages. Pre-maturity mortality was not affected by chronic reductions of up to 80% in food availability. Females fed ad libitum demonstrated no significant reproductive output differences when mated with males raised at different food availability levels. For females, the number and total weight of eggs and the size of egg masses decreased at high levels of food deprivation. Their efficiency of conversion into eggs of the food ingested during the reproductive period increased with deprivation, as did the survival time of their offspring. In contrast, the egg mass laying rate and the individual egg weight did not differ under different food availability regimes. Reductions in food availability have been suggested as a control method but our results indicate that fecundity would be lessened only at deprivation levels higher than 50% and would be partially compensated by an increase in hatchling survival.     

Insect attraction to synthetic herbivore‐induced plant volatile‐treated field crops

• 1 Plants produce natural enemy‐attracting semiochemicals known as herbivore‐induced plant volatiles (HIPV) in response to herbivore damage. Deployment of synthetic HIPV in crops could enhance the biological control of pests. To test this, six HIPV [methyl salicylate (MeSA), methyl anthranilate (MeA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), benzaldehyde (Be), cis‐3‐hexenyl acetate (HA), cis‐hexen‐1‐ol (He)] in three concentrations (0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% v/v) mixed with a vegetable oil adjuvant, Synertrol® (Organic Crop Protectants Pty Ltd, Australia), were sprayed onto winegrape, broccoli and sweet corn plants.
• 2 The relative abundance of insects within treated plots was assessed with non‐attracting, transparent sticky traps at varying time intervals up to 22 days after spraying.
• 3 In the vineyard experiment, Trichogrammatidae responded to Be and MeA (0.5%) and Be (1.0%); Encyrtidae and Bethylidae responded to MeA (1.0%); Scelionidae responded to all compounds at 1.0% and 2.0%; and predatory insects responded to MeA. In sweet corn, parasitoids as a group and Encyrtidae responded to MeA (0.5%); Braconidae responded to all compounds at 0.5% and Synertrol‐only; thrips responded to all compounds at 0.5% and 1.0%; while all parasitoids responded to all compounds at 0.5% and 1.0% and Synertrol‐only. In broccoli, parasitoids as a group and Scelionidae responded to Be, HA, He and Synertrol‐only; Trichogrammatidae responded to Be (0.5%), He (0.5% and 1.0%), MeJA (1.0%) and MeSA (0.5%); and thrips responded to all compounds at to 0.5% and 1.0%.
• 4 Significant attraction of insects occurred up to 6 days after the HIPV application, suggesting that plants may have been induced to produce endogenous volatiles that attracted insects over an extended period.
• 5 The results obtained are discussed in relation to the potential utility of synthetic HIPV to enhance the biological control of pests.

     

Will krill fare well under Southern Ocean acidification?

Antarctic krill embryos and larvae were experimentally exposed to 380 (control), 1000 and 2000 µatm pCO₂ in order to assess the possible impact of ocean acidification on early development of krill. No significant effects were detected on embryonic development or larval behaviour at 1000 µatm pCO₂; however, at 2000 µatm pCO₂ development was disrupted before gastrulation in 90 per cent of embryos, and no larvae hatched successfully. Our model projections demonstrated that Southern Ocean sea water pCO₂ could rise up to 1400 µatm in krill''s depth range under the IPCC IS92a scenario by the year 2100 (atmospheric pCO₂ 788 µatm). These results point out the urgent need for understanding the pCO₂-response relationship for krill developmental and later stages, in order to predict the possible fate of this key species in the Southern Ocean.     

Cranial growth and variation in edmontosaurs (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae): implications for latest Cretaceous megaherbivore diversity in North America

The well-sampled Late Cretaceous fossil record of North America remains the only high-resolution dataset for evaluating patterns of dinosaur diversity leading up to the terminal Cretaceous extinction event. Hadrosaurine hadrosaurids (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) closely related to Edmontosaurus are among the most common megaherbivores in latest Campanian and Maastrichtian deposits of western North America. However, interpretations of edmontosaur species richness and biostratigraphy have been in constant flux for almost three decades, although the clade is generally thought to have undergone a radiation in the late Maastrichtian. We address the issue of edmontosaur diversity for the first time using rigorous morphometric analyses of virtually all known complete edmontosaur skulls. Results suggest only two valid species, Edmontosaurus regalis from the late Campanian, and E. annectens from the late Maastrichtian, with previously named taxa, including the controversial Anatotitan copei, erected on hypothesized transitional morphologies associated with ontogenetic size increase and allometric growth. A revision of North American hadrosaurid taxa suggests a decrease in both hadrosaurid diversity and disparity from the early to late Maastrichtian, a pattern likely also present in ceratopsid dinosaurs. A decline in the disparity of dominant megaherbivores in the latest Maastrichtian interval supports the hypothesis that dinosaur diversity decreased immediately preceding the end Cretaceous extinction event.     

Immune response in cervical dysplasia induced by human papillomavirus: the influence of human immunodeficiency virus-1 co-infection -- review

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) has become an important risk factor for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the development of HPV associated lesions in the female genital tract. HIV-1 may also increase the oncogenicity of high risk HPV types and the activation of low risk types. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention declared invasive cervical cancer an acquired immunodeficiency virus (AIDS) defining illness in HIV positive women. Furthermore, cervical cancer happens to be the second most common female cancer worldwide. The host's local immune response plays a critical factor in controlling these conditions, as well as in changes in the number of professional antigen-presenting cells, cytokine, and MHC molecules expression. Also, the production of cytokines may determine which arm of the immune response will be stimulated and may influence the magnitude of immune protection. Although there are many studies describing the inflammatory response in HPV infection, few data are available to demonstrate the influence of the HIV infection and several questions regarding the cervical immune response are still unknown. In this review we present a brief account of the current understanding of HIV/HPV co-infection, emphasizing cervical immune response.