Lion,Ungulate, and Visitor Reactions to Playbacks of Lion Roars at Zoo Atlanta

Felids in captivity are often inactive and elusive in zoos, leading to a frustrating visitor experience. Eight roars were recorded from an adult male lion and played back over speakers as auditory enrichment to benefit the lions while simultaneously enhancing the zoo visitor experience. In addition, ungulates in an adjacent exhibit were observed to ensure that the novel location and increased frequency of roars did not lead to a stress or fear response. The male lion in this study roared more in the playback phase than in the baseline phases while not increasing any behaviors that would indicate compromised welfare. In addition, zoo visitors remained at the lion exhibit longer during playback. The nearby ungulates never exhibited any reactions stronger than orienting to playbacks, identical to their reactions to live roars. Therefore, naturalistic playbacks of lion roars are a potential form of auditory enrichment that leads to more instances of live lion roars and enhances the visitor experience without increasing the stress levels of nearby ungulates or the lion themselves, who might interpret the roar as that of an intruder.     

Characterization of Indoor Environmental Quality in Primary Schools in Maia: A Portuguese Case Study

Scientific evidence associates indoor environment pollutants with respiratory effects (asthma and allergies), and children constitute one of most sensitive groups. Indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools may indeed be a significant health factor for children, with effects on school attendance and performance. Our aim was to characterize IAQ of classrooms in Maia County (north of Portugal) for which there was no information available. The study was conducted in 21 of the 40 primary schools, selected by stratified random sampling. Depending on the dimension, one or two classrooms were tested at each school. Walkthrough surveys of school grounds, buildings, and individual classrooms were done. Continuous measurements were taken of temperature, relative humidity, airborne respirable particles, total volatile organic compounds, and carbon dioxide, whereas bioaerosols were counted on Plate Count Agar during regular school activities. The indoor arithmetic mean for PM₁₀, CO₂, TCOV, and bioaerosol concentrations were 0.14 mg/m³, 999 ppm, 0.41 mg/m³, and 4140 UCF/m³, respectively. The values of PM₁₀ and CO₂ were close to their acceptable maximum values, but bioaerosols were much higher. This study supports previous studies conducted in school environments and emphasizes the need for proactive indoor air quality audits in school buildings.     

Production of phosphatidylinositol 5‐phosphate via PIKfyve and MTMR3 regulates cell migration

Although phosphatidylinositol 5‐phosphate (PtdIns5P) is present in many cell types and its biogenesis is increased by diverse stimuli, its precise cellular function remains elusive. Here we show that PtdIns5P levels increase when cells are stimulated to move and we find PtdIns5P to promote cell migration in tissue culture and in a Drosophila in vivo model. First, class III phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, which produces PtdIns3P, was shown to be involved in migration of fibroblasts. In a cell migration screen for proteins containing PtdIns3P‐binding motifs, we identified the phosphoinositide 5‐kinase PIKfyve and the phosphoinositide 3‐phosphatase MTMR3, which together constitute a phosphoinositide loop that produces PtdIns5P via PtdIns(3,5)P₂. The ability of PtdIns5P to stimulate cell migration was demonstrated directly with exogenous PtdIns5P and a PtdIns5P‐producing bacterial enzyme. Thus, the identified phosphoinositide loop defines a new role for PtdIns5P in cell migration.     

Contrasting phylogenetic patterns of anther smuts (Pucciniomycotina: Microbotryum) reflect phylogenetic patterns of their caryophyllaceous hosts

Anther smuts in the genus Microbotryum often show very high host specificity toward their caryophyllaceous hosts, but some of the larger host groups such as Dianthus are crucially undersampled for these parasites so that the question of host specificity cannot be answered conclusively. In this study we sequenced the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of members of the Microbotryum dianthorum species complex as well as their Dianthus hosts. We compared phylogenetic trees of these parasites including sequences of anther smuts from other Caryophyllaceae, mainly Silene, with phylogenies of Caryophyllaceae that are known to harbor anther smuts. Additionally we tested whether observed patterns in parasites are due to shared ancestry or if geographic separation is a factor that should be taken into consideration in delimitating species. Parasites on Dianthus showed mainly an arbitrary distribution on Dianthus hosts, whereas parasites on other Caryophyllaceae formed well-supported monophyletic clades that corresponded to restricted host groups. The same pattern was observed in the Caryophyllaceae studied: morphologically described Dianthus species did not correspond well with monophyletic clades based on molecular data, whereas other Caryophyllaceae mainly did. We suggest that these different patterns primarily result from different breeding systems and speciation times between different host groups as well as difficulties in species delimitations in the genus Dianthus.     

No evidence for rapid evolution of seed dispersal ability in range edge populations of the invasive species Senecio madagascariensis

Theory suggests that range edge populations of invading plants and animals may experience runaway selection for increased dispersal ability. This theory has been supported by field data for cane toads in Australia, and for Senecio inaequidens in Europe. In this study, we asked whether range edge populations of Senecio madagascariensis (Asteraceae), an invasive plant in eastern Australia, displayed higher dispersal ability that did populations from the established range. We measured 1363 diaspores from 33 populations. There was no significant difference in dispersal potential between populations from the range edge, and those from the established range (P = 0.19). We also used a glasshouse study to determine whether the range edge populations differed from populations in the established range in three critical life history traits: germination success, plant size and time to first reproduction. The only significant difference was for higher germination in range edge populations. The null result for dispersal ability is excellent news for land managers, as this is the first published evidence that selection for ever‐increasing dispersal rates is not ubiquitous in invading populations.     

Remodeling and spacing factor 1 (RSF1) deposits centromere proteins at DNA double-strand breaks to promote non-homologous end-joining

The cellular response to ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in native chromatin requires a tight coordination between the activities of DNA repair machineries and factors that modulate chromatin structure. SMARCA5 is an ATPase of the SNF2 family of chromatin remodeling factors that has recently been implicated in the DSB response. It forms distinct chromatin remodeling complexes with several non-canonical subunits, including the remodeling and spacing factor 1 (RSF1) protein. Despite the fact that RSF1 is often overexpressed in tumors and linked to tumorigenesis and genome instability, its role in the DSB response remains largely unclear. Here we show that RSF1 accumulates at DSB sites and protects human cells against IR-induced DSBs by promoting repair of these lesions through homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). Although SMARCA5 regulates the RNF168-dependent ubiquitin response that targets BRCA1 to DSBs, we found RSF1 to be dispensable for this process. Conversely, we found that RSF1 facilitates the assembly of centromere proteins CENP-S and CENP-X at sites of DNA damage, while SMARCA5 was not required for these events. Mechanistically, we uncovered that CENP-S and CENP-X, upon their incorporation by RSF1, promote assembly of the NHEJ factor XRCC4 at damaged chromatin. In contrast, CENP-S and CENP-X were dispensable for HR, suggesting that RSF1 regulates HR independently of these centromere proteins. Our findings reveal distinct functions of RSF1 in the 2 major pathways of DSB repair and explain how RSF1, through the loading of centromere proteins and XRCC4 at DSBs, promotes repair by non-homologous end-joining.