Heat stress reduces the contribution of diazotrophs to coral holobiont nitrogen cycling

Efficient nutrient cycling in the coral-algal symbiosis requires constant but limited nitrogen availability. Coral-associated diazotrophs, i.e., prokaryotes capable of fixing dinitrogen, may thus support productivity in a stable coral-algal symbiosis but could contribute to its breakdown when overstimulated. However, the effects of environmental conditions on diazotroph communities and their interaction with other members of the coral holobiont remain poorly understood. Here we assessed the effects of heat stress on diazotroph diversity and their contribution to holobiont nutrient cycling in the reef-building coral Stylophora pistillata from the central Red Sea. In a stable symbiotic state, we found that nitrogen fixation by coral-associated diazotrophs constitutes a source of nitrogen to the algal symbionts. Heat stress caused an increase in nitrogen fixation concomitant with a change in diazotroph communities. Yet, this additional fixed nitrogen was not assimilated by the coral tissue or the algal symbionts. We conclude that although diazotrophs may support coral holobiont functioning under low nitrogen availability, altered nutrient cycling during heat stress abates the dependence of the coral host and its algal symbionts on diazotroph-derived nitrogen. Consequently, the role of nitrogen fixation in the coral holobiont is strongly dependent on its nutritional status and varies dynamically with environmental conditions.Subject terms: Microbial ecology, Climate-change ecology     

Increased methyl esterification of altered aspartyl residues in erythrocyte membrane proteins in response to oxidative stress.

Protein-L-isoaspartate (D-aspartate) O-methyltransferase (PCMT; EC 2. 1.1.77) catalyses the methyl esterification of the free alpha-carboxyl group of abnormal L-isoaspartyl residues, which occur spontaneously in protein and peptide substrates as a consequence of molecular ageing. The biological function of this transmethylation reaction is related to the repair or degradation of age-damaged proteins. Methyl ester formation in erythrocyte membrane proteins has also been used as a marker reaction to tag these abnormal residues and to monitor their increase associated with erythrocyte ageing diseases, such as hereditary spherocytosis, or cell stress (thermal or osmotic) conditions. The study shows that levels of L-isoaspartyl residues rise in membrane proteins of human erythrocytes exposed to oxidative stress, induced by t-butyl hydroperoxide or H2O2. The increase in malondialdehyde content confirmed that the cell membrane is a primary target of oxidative alterations. A parallel rise in the methaemoglobin content indicates that proteins are heavily affected by the molecular alterations induced by oxidative treatments in erythrocytes. Antioxidants largely prevented the increase in membrane protein methylation, underscoring the specificity of the effect. Conversely, we found that PCMT activity, consistent with its repair function, remained remarkably stable under oxidative conditions, while damaged membrane protein substrates increased significantly. The latter include ankyrin, band 4.1 and 4.2, and the integral membrane protein band 3 (the anion exchanger). The main target was found to be particularly protein 4.1, a crucial element in the maintenance of membrane-cytoskeleton network stability. We conclude that the increased formation/exposure of L-isoaspartyl residues is one of the major structural alterations occurring in erythrocyte membrane proteins as a result of an oxidative stress event. In the light of these and previous findings, the occurrence of isoaspartyl sites in membrane proteins as a key event in erythrocyte spleen conditioning and hemocatheresis is proposed.     

Life habit and ontogeny of the unusual arcid bivalve Ambrogia mytiloides (Brocchi, 1814)

The unusual Plio-Pleistocene arcid Ambrogia mytiloides (Brocchi, 1814) has a large, elongate, smooth and streamlined shell. On the basis of these characters and the occurrence of moderate shell torsion, the mode of life of this species was formerly thought to be semi-infaunal endobyssate, obliquely oriented like the twisted arcid Trisidos. The discovery of shells in life position suggests that this species lived in a subvertical position. Rather than a recliner, this arcid was then a sticker, whose stability was provided by the byssus, which also was used to aid the bivalve in burrowing, and by its large size. The morphology of juvenile valves, smaller than 4 mm, suggests an epibyssate mode of life in its early growth stages. Ambrogia represents a remarkable pathway in the secondary return of arcids to soft bottoms: with this genus, they reached their deepest burrowing level. However, this strategy was not very successful, probably because of evolutionary constraints on the Arcoida.     

Reduced production of superoxide (02(-)] in peritoneal macrophages of the rat submitted to acute alcoholic intoxication

Acute ethanol administration by intragastric tube caused an impairment of the superoxide anion production by rat peritoneal macrophages as compared to controls. Since the oxidative-dependent microbicidal system plays a crucial role, at cellular level, in the host defence mechanisms, this work may explain, at last in part, the reduced resistence of alcoholics to infections.