Proton extrusion in seed coats of Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Abstract. The present investigations were designed to identify proton pumps in seed coats of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Vacated seed-coat halves were exposed to bathing solutions with indicators for proton pump action and the pH changes in the media were measured. Fusicoccin increased the rate of proton extrusion from the seed coats. Orthovanadate and abscisic acid retarded the proton extrusion evoked by fusicoccin. Abolition of the proton extrusion by parachloromercuriphenylsulphonic acid was partially reversed by diethioerythritol. The extrusion was stimulated by high osmolarities (100 mol m⁻³ sorbitol), potassium ions (100 mol m⁻³ KCI) and light. Old seed coats reacted more rapidly to fusicoccin treatments than young ones. Proton pumping in seed coats and cotyledons showed differential responses to fusicoccin, K⁺ and sucrose. In contrast to seed coats, medium acidification by cotyledons was prohibited by addition of sucrose. The significance of proton pumps for photosynthate transfer in vivo is discussed.     

Three‐dimensional flight tracking shows how a visual target alters tsetse fly responses to human breath in a wind tunnel

Tsetse flies Glossina spp. (Diptera; Glossinidae) are blood‐feeding vectors of disease that are attracted to vertebrate hosts by odours and visual cues. Studies on how tsetse flies approach visual devices are of fundamental interest because they can help in the development of more efficient control tools. The responses of a forest tsetse fly species Glossina brevipalpis (Newstead) to human breath are tested in a wind tunnel in the presence or absence of a blue sphere as a visual target. The flight responses are video recorded with two motion‐sensitive cameras and characterized in three dimensions. Although flies make meandering upwind flights predominantly in the horizontal plane in the plume of breath alone, upwind flights are highly directed at the visual target presented in the plume of breath. Flies responding to the visual target fly from take‐off within stricter flight limits at lower ground speeds and with a significantly lower variance in flight trajectories in the horizontal plane. Once at the target, flies fly in loops principally in the horizontal plane within 40 cm of the blue sphere before descending in spirals beneath it. Successful field traps designed for G. brevipalpis take into account the strong horizontal component in local search behaviour by this species at objects. The results suggest that trapping devices should also take into account the propensity of G. brevipalpis to descend to the lower parts of visual targets.     

Chromalveolates and the Evolution of Plastids by Secondary Endosymbiosis1

ABSTRACT. The establishment of a new plastid organelle by secondary endosymbiosis represents a series of events of massive complexity, and yet we know it has taken place multiple times because both green and red algae have been taken up by other eukaryotic lineages. Exactly how many times these events have succeeded, however, has been a matter of debate that significantly impacts how we view plastid evolution, protein targeting, and eukaryotic relationships. On the green side it is now largely accepted that two independent events led to plastids of euglenids and chlorarachniophytes. How many times red algae have been taken up is less clear, because there are many more lineages with red alga‐derived plastids (cryptomonads, haptophytes, heterokonts, dinoflagellates and apicomplexa) and the relationships between these lineages are less clear. Ten years ago, Cavalier‐Smith proposed that these plastids were all derived from a single endosymbiosis, an idea that was dubbed the chromalveolate hypothesis. No one observation has yet supported the chromalveolate hypothesis as a whole, but molecular data from plastid‐encoded and plastid‐targeted proteins have provided strong support for several components of the overall hypothesis, and evidence for cryptic plastids and new photosynthetic lineages (e.g. Chromera) have transformed our view of plastid distribution within the group. Collectively, these data are most easily reconciled with a single origin of the chromalveolate plastids, although the phylogeny of chromalveolate host lineages (and potentially Rhizaria) remain to be reconciled with this plastid data.     

Development of the macro-invertebrate fauna of Cow Green reservoir (Upper Teesdale) in the first five years of its existence

SUMMARY. The development of marginal (shore-line), sub-littoral (3–6 m) and profundal (15–18 m) fauna was followed using timed collections in shallow water and artificial substrata in deeper regions. The reservoir started filling in July 1970 and was close to top water level in the autumn of that year. Samples in the marginal zone contained drowned terrestrial organisms and some Cladocera (Chydoridae) in February 1971 but by October, Chironomidae and Oligochaeta became abundant and micro-crustaceans (copepods and cladocerans) formed about 98% of the total catch. Peak densities of micro-crustaceans in the marginal zone were reached in the summer of 1971, but chironomids and oligochaetes were most abundant in the second year after filling. The numbers of marginal zone animals were greatest at the most sheltered site, and lowest at a site on the windward shore. At a stream mouth the rheophilic fauna present in April 1971 was replaced with limnophilic organisms (Chironomidae and Tubificidae) by September 1971. In the sub-littoral, Hydra, Enchytraeidae, Orthocladiinae Tanytarsini and oribatoid mites were the most abundant taxa, whereas Naididae, Hirudinea, Ostracoda, Gammarus pulex, Chironomini and Pisidium spp. were numerous in the profundal zone. Total faunal numbers and biomass were greatest in the profundal zone in all years. The highest annual mean estimate of biomass in the sub-littoral was 3.07 g (wet wt)m^?2 in the second year after filling, thereafter both numbers and biomass fell. In the profundal the maximum biomass (about 29 gm^?2) was observed in the third and fourth years after filling. An estimate of total standing crop of benthic organisms below the drawdown limit, made in July 1974, gave a figure of about 43 tonnes, wet weight. Biomass estimates at Cow Green were compared with those in eighteen other reservoirs and were found to be high especially in relation to those from other upland areas.     

The mesolophe, a new lophophore type for chonetacean brachiopods

Rachebaeuf, P. R. & Copper, P. 1990 10 15: The mesolophe, a new lophophore type for chonetacean brachiopods. Lethaia , Val. 23, pp. 341–346. Oslo. ISSN 0024–1164.
Following a summary of previous lophophore reconstructions for the chonetaceans, we describe an unusual pyritized structure within the calcite infill of an exceptionally preserved shell of Archeochonetes primigenius (Twenhofel) from the Late Ordovician (Ashgill) of Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada. The brachial valve interior of most Lower Devonian to Permian chonetaceans shows the development of three depressed deepened areas (gutters) in the valve floor. The disposition of these gutters coincides remarkably with the shape of the pyritized structure, which we postulate as a new type of lophophore, the mesolophe. ▭ Brachiopoda, Chonetacea, functional morphology, lophophore .     

Direct Transmission of a Hemoflagellate,Cryptobia salmositica (Kinetoplastida: Bodonina) Between Rainbow Trout Under Laboratory Conditions1

Transmission of Cryptobia salmositica occurred when infected and uninfected rainbow trout were held in the same tank. In tanks where infected and uninfected fish were allowed to mix freely, 67–80% of the uninfected fish acquired detectable infections by the 27th week. None of the control fish in another tank was infected. In another tank where the infected and uninfected fish were separated by a wire screen, 9 of 20 uninfected fish acquired detectable infections by the 22nd week. This is the first demonstration of direct transmission of a hemoflagellate via the water medium in aquatic vertebrates. Cryptobia salmositica was found in the mucus on the body surface of 9 of 10 fish examined 6 weeks after infection. These parasites were infective and some of them were morphologically similar to those in the blood or peritoneal fluid. It is suggested that the vascular species of Cryptobia were originally ectoparasitic on fishes and that these ectoparasitic species were descended from the free-living Procryptobia.