Nematode-trapping fungi against parasitic cattle nematodes

Interactions between larvae of bovine gastrointestinal nematode parasites and nematode-trapping fungi, such as Arthrobotrys and Duddingtonia species and strains have been studied in Denmark. In this article J?rn Gr?nvold, Jens Wolstrup, Peter Nansen and Svend Aage Henriksen discuss how these fungi are able to grow, trap and kill parasitic nematode larvae, both on agar in the laboratory and in cattle faeces in the field.     

Differing organic Acid exudation pattern explains calcifuge and acidifuge behaviour of plants

Many vascular plant species are unable to colonize calcareous sites. Thus, the floristic composition of adjacent limestone and acid silicate soils differs greatly. The inability of calcifuge plants to establish in limestone sites seems related to a low capacity of such plants to solubilize and absorb Fe or phosphate from these soils. Until now, mechanisms regulating this differing ability of plants to colonize limestone sites have not been elucidated. We propose that contrasting exudation of low-molecular organic acids is a major mechanism involved and show that germinating seeds and young seedlings of limestone plants exude considerably more di- and tricarboxylic acids than calcifuges, which mainly exude monocarboxylic acids. The tricarboxylic citric acid is a powerful extractor of Fe, and the dicarboxylic oxalic acid a very effective extractor of phosphate from limestone soils. Monocarboxylic acids are very weak in these respects. The study is based on ten species from limestone soils and ten species from acid silicate soils.     

Novel,X-ray supported kinetic imaging of hidden-lifestyle arthropods

Dear Editor,There are several arthropods,which live and develop covertly in plant tissues.The plant tissues surrounding them provide them with shelter during their vulnerable developing stage or ensure overwintering as well as they can supply them with essential food for their ontogenetic development(McNaughton,1983).     

Optimization of α-ketoamide based p38 inhibitors through modifications to the region that binds to the allosteric site

We have optimized a novel series of potent p38 MAP kinase inhibitors based on an α-ketoamide scaffold through structure based design that due to their extended molecular architecture bind, in addition to the ATP site, to an allosteric pocket. In vitro ADME, in vivo PK and efficacy studies show these compounds to have drug-like characteristics and have resulted in the nomination of a development candidate which is currently in phase II clinical trials for the oral treatment of inflammatory conditions.     

Characterization of the lipid and protein contents of myelin bodies isolated from the renal cortex of gentamicin-treated rats.

Myelin bodies were isolated from the renal cortex of gentamicin-treated rats (100 mg/kg body weight, twice daily for 3 days, i.p.) employing an initial pelleting by differential centrifugation and subsequent flotation on a discontinuous sucrose gradient. These structures were found to contain almost twice as much protein as phospholipid and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of many different polypeptides. All the major phospholipids are present, although myelin bodies contain a considerably higher proportion of phosphatidylinositol, somewhat more phosphatidylcholine and considerably lower percentages of phosphatidylserine and sphingomyelin than do normal renal phospholipids. The fatty acids of myelin body phospholipids are highly saturated (67.3-87.9%) and a striking feature is the occurrence of relatively large amounts of 22:1, presumably erucic acid, especially in sphingomyelin. Myelin bodies contain small amounts of unesterified cholesterol, unesterified dolichol and coenzymes Q9 and Q10.     

Landscape effects on birds in urban woodlands: an analysis of 34 Swedish cities

Aim To compare bird abundances in woodlands along gradients from the city centre to the peri‐urban area. To evaluate the importance of the proportion of woodland within the city and in the peri‐urban landscape to forest bird communities breeding in urban woodlands. To test whether fragmentation effects on birds were linked to the type of peri‐urban matrix. Location A total of 34 Swedish cities with > 10,000 inhabitants in south‐central Sweden. The study area covered 105,000 km², in which 84% of the Swedish population of 9.1 million lives. Methods Repeated point count surveys were conducted in 2004 in a total of 474 woodlands. General linear models were used to test for possible differences in abundance along urban to peri‐urban gradients, and to regress bird abundances in local urban woodlands on: (1) total woodland cover in the city, (2) total woodland cover in the peri‐urban landscape, (3) the interaction between woodland cover in the city and in the peri‐urban area, (4) region, and (5) human density. Results More than 12,000 individuals of 100 forest bird species were recorded. Of the 34 most common species detected, 13 bird species had higher abundances in urban than in peri‐urban woodlands, and seven species showed the opposite trend. The bird community of urban woodlands was characterized by species associated with deciduous forests and tree nesters, whereas the bird community of peri‐urban woodlands was characterized by species associated with coniferous woodland and ground nesters. Twelve species were significantly linearly associated with the proportion of urban woodland and/or the proportion of peri‐urban woodland, and a further eight species were associated with the interaction between these two factors. Local breeding bird abundances of four species were significantly positively associated with the proportion of urban woodland only in farmland‐dominated landscapes. Main conclusions Fragmentation effects on some urban birds are linked to the type of peri‐urban matrix. In farmland landscapes, peri‐urban woodlands may have been too scarce to act as a source of bird immigrants to fragmented urban woodlands. To maintain populations of specialized forest birds within cities in landscapes dominated by agriculture, it is of paramount importance to conserve any remaining urban woodlands.     

Cytokine-induced inhibition of insulin release from mouse pancreatic beta-cells deficient in inducible nitric oxide synthase

Cytokines may participate in islet destruction during the development of type 1 diabetes. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and subsequent NO formation induced by IL-1 beta or (IL-1 beta + IFN-gamma) may impair islet function in rodent islets. Inhibition of iNOS or a deletion of the iNOS gene (iNOS -/- mice) protects against cytokine-induced beta-cell suppression, although cytokines might also induce NO-independent impairment. Presently, we exposed wild-type (wt, C57BL/6 x 129SvEv) and iNOS -/- islets to IL-1 beta (25 U/ml) and (IL-1 beta (25 U/ml) + IFN-gamma (1000 U/ml)) for 48 h. IL-1 beta and (IL-1 beta + IFN-gamma) induced a significant increase in NO formation in wt but not in iNOS -/- islets. Both IL-1 beta and (IL-1 beta + IFN-gamma) impaired glucose-stimulated insulin release and reduced the insulin content of wt islets, while (IL-1 beta + IFN-gamma) reduced glucose oxidation rates and cell viability. IL-1 beta exposure to iNOS -/- islets impaired glucose-stimulated insulin release, increased insulin accumulation and reduced the insulin content, without any increase in cell death. Exposure to (IL-1 beta + IFN-gamma) had no effect on iNOS -/- islets except reducing the insulin content. Our data suggest that IL-1 beta may inhibit glucose-stimulated insulin release by pathways that are not NO-dependent and not related to glucose metabolism or cell death.