A worldwide correlation of lactase persistence phenotype and genotypes

Background  

The ability of adult humans to digest the milk sugar lactose - lactase persistence - is a dominant Mendelian trait that has been a subject of extensive genetic, medical and evolutionary research. Lactase persistence is common in people of European ancestry as well as some African, Middle Eastern and Southern Asian groups, but is rare or absent elsewhere in the world. The recent identification of independent nucleotide changes that are strongly associated with lactase persistence in different populations worldwide has led to the possibility of genetic tests for the trait. However, it is highly unlikely that all lactase persistence-associated variants are known. Using an extensive database of lactase persistence phenotype frequencies, together with information on how those data were collected and data on the frequencies of lactase persistence variants, we present a global summary of the extent to which current genetic knowledge can explain lactase persistence phenotype frequency.     

UV irradiation of poplar cells of Drosophila melanogaster embryos. V. A study of the meiotic recombination in females with chromosomes of different structure

Polar cells of female embryos heterozygous for the genetic markers st in ri were UV irradiated. The effect of UV irradiation on the meiotic recombination within the st-ri segment was analysed. In individuals that contained this chromosome segment in its normal position, UV increased the rate of meiotic recombination. If this segment were separated from the centromeric heterochromatin and translocated on the left arm of chromosome II, UV did not influence meiotic recombination to a significant extent. On the other hand, in non-irradiated controls the individuals containing the translocated segment showed an increased rate of recombination within the segment compared with individuals having the segment in its normal position.These results can be explained by Suzuki's hypothesis according to which a heterocatalytic activity of heterochromatin shows an antagonism to meiotic recombination. UV seems to interfere with this antagonism indirectly via induction of physiological damage.     

Fissure and mineral weathering impacts on heavy metal distribution in sludge-amended soil

The purpose of this study was to follow the distribution and migration of the metallic trace elements (MTE) zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in a sludge-amended soil, both at the metric scale of the bulk soil horizons and at the micrometric scale of mineral weathering microsites. In the soil scale approach, the MTE contents determined by ICP-AES and ICP-MS analyses in amended and control soil samples were compared through enrichment factor calculation to assess the extent to which spread MTE may have moved throughout the soil profile. In the mineral scale approach, the MTE were analysed on thin sections in specific weathering microsystems including (1) rock-forming minerals (amphiboles, biotites, plagioclases) and their specific weathering clay minerals; (2) weathering clayey plasma, which obliterates the original rock structure with newly-formed clay minerals; and (3) the fissural network with its clay minerals. The purpose of this mineralogical approach, using X-ray diffraction (XRD) for mineral identification and electron probe microanalyses (EPMA) for MTE analyses, was to determine where and at which concentrations spread MTE can concentrate within the soil and weathered rock. The chemical analyses of MTE in the bulk samples reveal strong Cd and Pb accumulation at the surface of the amended soil due to anthropic contamination. Cadmium undergoes a vertical migration in deeper soil horizons, whereas Zn and Pb do not show significative transfer within the amended soil. Accurate MTE analyses in weathering microsites indicate that, except in plagioclase microsites, (1) Zn and Cd accumulate in clay minerals from surface horizons and migrate downwards through the fissural system, and (2) Pb does not show any significant mobility throughout the amended soil. The MTE migration evidenced through the fissural system gives rise to two main environmental problems. Zn and Cd have the potential to move several meters deep along fissures in the soil profiles and may represent potential contaminants for unconfined aquifer. Secondly, because the plant root system grows preferentially along soil fissural pattern, it may adsorb MTE.     

Procedural Metacognition and False Belief Understanding in 3- to 5-Year-Old Children

Some studies, so far limited in number, suggest the existence of procedural metacognition in young children, that is, the practical capacity to monitor and control one’s own cognitive activity in a given task. The link between procedural metacognition and false belief understanding is currently under theoretical discussion. If data with primates seem to indicate that procedural metacognition and false belief understanding are not related, no study in developmental psychology has investigated this relation in young children. The present paper aims, first, to supplement the findings concerning young children’s abilities to monitor and control their uncertainty (procedural metacognition) and, second, to explore the relation between procedural metacognition and false belief understanding. To examine this, 82 3- to 5-year-old children were presented with an opt-out task and with 3 false belief tasks. Results show that children can rely on procedural metacognition to evaluate their perceptual access to information, and that success in false belief tasks does not seem related to success in the task we used to evaluate procedural metacognition. These results are coherent with a procedural view of metacognition, and are discussed in the light of recent data from primatology and developmental psychology.     

Restricted expression of mitogen-induced high affinity IL-2 receptors in aging mice

Several lines of indirect evidence suggest that the number and/or affinity of IL-2R expressed by activated T lymphocytes declines with age and that this decline is implicated in the age-related proliferative impairment of Ag or mitogen-stimulated T cells. In an attempt to provide a direct demonstration of such a defect, various experimental approaches were used to analyze the expression of high and low affinity IL-2R as well as their functional properties in relation to age in purified populations of murine T lymphocytes. IL-2R were induced by Con A-activation which involves a transmembrane signaling mechanism or by exposure to phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu) which bypasses such a pathway. Consistent with the previously reported age-related defect in signal transduction, a major deficiency in the expression of high affinity IL-2R was observed in mitogen-activated cells derived from aged animals. As expected, PDBu-induction circumvented the transmembrane signaling defect and resulted in the restoration of a measurable amount of high affinity IL-2R expressed by cells from aged mice early after activation. The functional properties of the IL-2R expressed as a consequence of Con A or PDBu induction were investigated by assessing the proliferative response induced through the high affinity IL-2R as compared to that mediated by the beta-chain alone. Although Con A-induction resulted in a decreased expression of high affinity IL-2R by T lymphocytes derived from aged mice, the ability of these receptors as well as that of their beta-chain component to transmit a proliferative signal was identical in both age groups. In contrast, PDBu induced in both cell populations the expression of functionally aberrant IL-2R, unable to signal for proliferation unless excessively high concentrations of rIL-2 were available. The quantitative minimal estimate of the frequency of Con A-activated, IL-2-responsive cells showed a fourfold age-associated decrease, confirming the inability of a subpopulation of T lymphocytes from aged mice to express a sufficient density of high affinity IL-2R as a consequence of mitogenic activation.     

Decoding an olfactory mechanism of kin recognition and inbreeding avoidance in a primate

Background  

Like other vertebrates, primates recognize their relatives, primarily to minimize inbreeding, but also to facilitate nepotism. Although associative, social learning is typically credited for discrimination of familiar kin, discrimination of unfamiliar kin remains unexplained. As sex-biased dispersal in long-lived species cannot consistently prevent encounters between unfamiliar kin, inbreeding remains a threat and mechanisms to avoid it beg explanation. Using a molecular approach that combined analyses of biochemical and microsatellite markers in 17 female and 19 male ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), we describe odor-gene covariance to establish the feasibility of olfactory-mediated kin recognition.     

Forisome dispersion in Vicia faba is triggered by Ca2+ hotspots created by concerted action of diverse Ca2+ channels in sieve elements

Remote-controlled Ca²⁺ influx, elicited by electropotential waves, triggers local signaling cascades in sieve elements and companion cells along the phloem of Vicia faba plants. The stimulus strength seems to be communicated by the rate and duration of Ca²⁺ influx into sieve elements (SEs). The cooperative recruitment of Ca²⁺ channels results in a graded response of forisome culminating in full sieve-tube occlusion. Several lines of evidence are integrated into a model that links the mode and strength of the electropotential waves (EPWs) with forisome dispersion, mediated by transiently enhanced levels of local Ca²⁺ release dependent on both plasma membrane and ER Ca²⁺ channels.Key words: distant injury, electropotential wave, remote sieve tube occlusion, activity of sieve element Ca²⁺ channels, signal cascades, Ca²⁺ hotspots     

Ectodomain Shedding of Interleukin-2 Receptor β and Generation of an Intracellular Functional Fragment

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) regulates different functions of various lymphoid cell subsets. These are mediated by its binding to the IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) composed of three subunits (IL2-Rα, -β, and -γ_c). IL-2Rβ is responsible for the activation of several signaling pathways. Ectodomain shedding of membrane receptors is thought to be an important mechanism for down-regulation of cell surface receptor abundance but is also emerging as a mechanism that cell membrane-associated molecules require for proper action in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that IL-2Rβ is cleaved in cell lines of different origin, including T cells, generating an intracellular 37-kDa fragment (37βic) that comprises the full intracellular C-terminal and transmembrane domains. Ectodomain shedding of IL-2Rβ decreases in a mutant deleted of the juxtamembrane region, where cleavage is predicted to occur, and is inhibited by tissue inhibitor of metalloproteases-3. 37βic is tyrosine-phosphorylated and associates with STAT-5, a canonic signal transducer of IL-2R. Finally, lymphoid cell transfection with a truncated form of IL-2Rβ mimicking 37βic increases their proliferation. These data indicate that IL-2Rβ is subject to ectodomain shedding generating an intracellular fragment biologically functional, because (i) it is phosphorylated, (ii) it associates with STAT5A, and (iii) it increases cell proliferation.     

I-R hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Use of in situ hybridization to show the association of I factor DNA with induced sex-linked recessive lethals.

The purpose of this paper is the genetic visualization by in situ hybridization of 130 sex-linked recessive lethals plus a non-lethal induced by I-R dysgenesis. This collection of lethals involves inducer strains which differ in the position of the I elements on the X chromosomes. The I-R interaction was strong. Our previous results have shown that about 30% of the induced recessive lethals are associated with cytologically visible chromosomal rearrangements. (1) The rearrangements induced by I-R-type hybrid dysgenesis often exhibit homology with the I factor at the level of one or both junction points, depending on the types of chromosome rearrangements. These results suggest that the chromosome rearrangements arise directly from the transposition of I elements. However, the breakpoints of some types of cytologically non-visible deficiencies and of 2 small cytologically visible deficiencies do not present detectable homology with the I factor. (2) The majority of rearrangements do not involve the I elements already present on the paternal X chromosome. (3) The hybridization signal distributions on the X chromosome are not uniform. They present peaks of various heights which may correspond to specific anchoring areas of copies of I in the course of integration. (4) The data presented here agree with the literature with respect to the mean number of copies of I per X chromosome and to the excess of copies of I at locus 1A. Two rearrangement formation mechanisms are envisaged: crossing-over and 'target' exchanges.     

Costs of compensation: effect of early life conditions and reproduction on flight performance in zebra finches

Conditions experienced in early life have been shown to affect the development or programming of physiological processes. While animals may recover from earlier periods of adversity, this process can carry long-term costs. Such long-term effects are likely to be most evident when individuals are placed in demanding situations that require high performance. Escape flight speed in passerine birds is crucial to predator evasion and requires very rapid take-off. Here, we examine whether the ability to maintain escape flight performance during the immediate post-breeding period is influenced by conditions in early life. We manipulated the early life conditions experienced by zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) by rearing them on either low or high quality food through the growth period, or by changing conditions halfway through the nestling period, moving from high to low or vice versa. While there was no difference amongst the treatment groups in body size attained by adulthood, amongst the birds that experienced low quality food, the body size of those that were switched to a high quality diet halfway through the nestling growth period recovered faster than those that had low quality food until fledging. We found no differences amongst the dietary groups in flight performance at adulthood prior to breeding, and all groups showed a decline in average escape flight performance over the breeding period. However, the magnitude of the post-breeding decline in flight performance for a given level of reproductive output was significantly greater for those females that had experienced a switch from a low to a high quality diet during the nestling phase. These results suggest that this diet-induced rapid recovery of body size, which may have immediate competitive advantages, nonetheless carries locomotory costs in later life manifest in the capacity to sustain the high performance escape response during the post-reproductive recovery phase.