Intraspecific killing among Leopards (Panthera pardus) in Iran (Mammalia: Felidae)

Intraspecific aggression is one of the most common causes of death in leopards. Here, we report four cases of intraspecific killing amongst Persian Leopards (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Iran. A young male leopard was found on 7 June 2008 which, according to camera trap images, had been killed by an adult male over a Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) kill, with trauma to his neck in Dorfak No-Hunting Area. A young female that had been fitted with a satellite GPS collar on 6 December 2015 in Tandoureh National Park died on 29 January 2016 at a site where an Urial Sheep (Ovis orientalis) ram had been freshly killed. Necropsy results, footprints at the scene of death and camera trap footage all supported the deduction that the animal was killed by a larger female leopard at the kill site. On 13 January 2017, a young, partially eaten female leopard was found with double puncture on the side of her throat. Finally, a rehabilitated adult female fitted with a satellite GPS collar found on 19 December 2017 with a double puncture on her head with several trauma and haemorrhages on her back. These instances seem to be the first documented reports of intraspecific killing among free-ranging leopards in Asia.     

Cyclin D2 ArrestsXenopusEarly Embryonic Cell Cycles

Xenopuscyclin D2 mRNA is a member of the class of maternal RNAs. It is rare and stable during early embryonic development. To investigate the potential role of cyclin D2 during early embryonic cell cycles, cyclin D2 was injected into one blastomere of a two-cell embryo. This injection induced a cell cycle arrest in the injected blastomere. To analyze more precisely the mechanism of this arrest, we took advantage of cycling egg extracts that recapitulate major events of the cell cycle when supplemented with demembranated sperm heads. WhenXenopuscyclin D2 is added to egg extracts, the first round of DNA replication occurs as in control extracts. However,Xenopuscyclin D2 blocks subsequent rounds of DNA replication and the oscillations of histone H1 kinase activity associated with cdc2 kinase, indicating that the cell cycle is arrested after the first S-phase. The block induced byXenopuscyclin D2 is not due to a lack of the mitotic cyclin B2 that accumulates normally. RadiolabeledXenopuscyclin D2 enters nuclei after completion of the first S-phase and remains stable over the entire period of the arrest. These features suggest thatXenopuscyclin D2 could play an original role during early development, controlling the G2-phase and/or the G2/M transition.     

Competitive strategies of soft corals (Coelenterata: Octocorallia). II. Variable defensive responses and susceptibility to scleractinian corals

Interactions involving competition for space between several species of alcyonacean and scleractinian corals were assessed experimentally on Britomart Reef, central region of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Colonies of three soft coral species, Sarcophyton ehrenbergi Marenzeller, Nephthea brassica Kukenthal, and Capnella lacertiliensis Macfayden Forskal (Coelenterata:Alcyonacea) were relocated within stands of two scleractinian corals, Parités andrewsi Vaughan (= P. cylindrica Dana) and Pavona cactus Förskal (Coelenterata:Scleractinia). Undisturbed scleractinian and relocated alcyonacean controls were also monitored.Alcyonacean corals induced necrosis of tissue in scleractinian corals. Necrosis was significantly more pronounced when colonies were in contact but was also observed in the absence of contact, implicating the presence of active allelopathic agents. Scleractinian coral species varied in their susceptibility to the ill effects of alcyonaceans, with Pontes andrewsi being more susceptible than Pavona cactus. Of the soft corals, Nephthea caused the highest degree of mortality in the two scleractinian corals examined and Sarcophyton the least. Some soft corals appear to retain their toxins while others release them, implying a combination of anti-predatory and anti-competitor roles for the secondary metabolites. Scleractinian corals were often overgrown by soft corals.Both species of scleractinian corals were found to cause approximately equal amounts of tissue necrosis in alcyonaceans. These effects were more pronounced when colonies were in direct contact. The necrotic effects among alcyonacean corals were species-specific. Alcyonaceans also overgrew scleractinian corals and secreted a protective polysaccharide layer in areas proximal to scleractinians. Secretion of this layer was stimulated differentially by the two scleractinian species and also varied in frequency of occurrence among the alcyonaceans.High levels of tissue necrosis were observed in both groups of organisms within 3 wk of initiation of the experiment. Necrosis increased with time in the scleractinian corals and decreased in the alcyonaceans. The development of a protective polysaccharide layer in the alcyonaceans increased with time.     

Genetic Diversity of African and Worldwide Strains of Ralstonia solanacearum as Determined by PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis of the hrp Gene Region

The genetic diversity among a worldwide collection of 120 strains of Ralstonia solanacearum was assessed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of amplified fragments from the hrp gene region. Five amplified fragments appeared to be specific to R. solanacearum. Fifteen different profiles were identified among the 120 bacterial strains, and a hierarchical cluster analysis distributed them into eight clusters. Each cluster included strains belonging to a single biovar, except for strains of biovars 3 and 4, which could not be separated. However, the biovar 1 strains showed rather extensive diversity since they were distributed into five clusters whereas the biovar 2 and the biovar 3 and 4 strains were gathered into one and two clusters, respectively. PCR-RFLP analysis of the hrp gene region confirmed the results of previous studies which split the species into an “Americanum” division including biovar 1 and 2 strains and an “Asiaticum” division including biovar 3 and 4 strains. However, the present study showed that most of the biovar 1 strains, originating from African countries (Reunion Island, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Angola) and being included in a separate cluster, belong to the “Asiaticum” rather than to the “Americanum” division. These African strains could thus have evolved separately from other biovar 1 strains originating from the Americas.     

Amplification of the Inflammatory Cellular Redox State by Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Immunosuppressive Tat and gp160 Proteins

In the course of our studies on oxidative stress as a component of pathological processes in humans, we showed that microintrusion into cells with microcapillary and ultramicroelectrochemical detection could mimic many types of mechanical intrusion leading to an instant (0.1 s) and high (some femtomoles) burst release of H₂O₂. Specific inhibitors of NADPH enzymes seem to support the assumption that this enzyme is one of the main targets of our experiments. Also, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp160 inhibits the cooperative response of uninfected T cells as well as Tat protein release by infected cells does. In this study, we analyzed in real time, lymphocyte per lymphocyte, the T-cell response following activation in relation to the redox state. We showed that the immunosuppressive effects of HIV-1 Tat and gp160 proteins and oxidative stress are correlated, since the native but not the inactivated Tat and gp160 proteins inhibit the cellular immune response and enhance oxidative stress. These results are consistent with a role of the membrane NADPH oxidase in the cellular response to immune activation.     

1-Thiazol-2-yl-N-3-methyl-1H-pyrozole-5-carboxylic acid derivatives as antitumor agents

A class of substituted 1-thiazol-2-yl-N-3-methyl-1H-pyrozole-5-carboxylic acid derivatives was found to have potent anti-proliferative activity against a broad range of tumor cell lines. A compound from this class (14) was profiled across a broad panel of hematologic and solid tumor cancer cell lines demonstrating cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 interphase and has potent anti-proliferative activity against a distinct and select set of cancer cell types with no observed effects on normal human cells. An example is the selective inhibition of human B-cell lymphoma cell line (BJAB). Compound 14 was orally bioavailable and tolerated well in mice. Synthesis and structure activity relationships (SAR) in this series of compounds are discussed.     

Native predators living in invaded areas: responses of terrestrial amphibian species to an Argentine ant invasion

Predator–prey interactions play a key role in the success and impacts of invasive species. However, the effects of invasive preys on native predators have been poorly studied. Here, we first reviewed hypotheses describing potential relationships between native predators and invasive preys. Second, we examined how an invasive prey, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), affected a native terrestrial amphibian community. In the field, we looked at the structure of the amphibian community in invaded versus uninvaded areas and characterized amphibian trophic ecology. The amphibian community sampled seemed to show a species-dependent response in abundance to invasion: adults of the natterjack toad (Bufo calamita), the species demonstrating the highest degree of ant specialization, were less abundant in invaded areas. Although available ant biomass was significantly greater in invaded than in uninvaded areas (only Argentine ants occurred in the former), amphibians consumed relatively fewer ants in invaded areas. In the lab, we quantified amphibian consumption of Argentine ants versus native ants and assessed whether consumption patterns could have been influenced by prior exposure to the invader. The lab experiments corroborated the field results: amphibians preferred native ants over Argentine ants, and prior exposure did not influence consumption. Differences in preference explained why amphibians consumed fewer Argentine ants in spite of their greater relative availability; they might also explain why the most ant-specialized amphibians seemed to avoid invaded areas. Our results suggest the importance to account for predator feeding capacities and dietary ranges to understand the effects of invasive species at higher trophic levels.     

Factors shaping community assemblages and species co‐occurrence of different trophic levels

Species assemblages are the results of various processes, including dispersion and habitat filtering. Disentangling the effects of these different processes is challenging for statistical analysis, especially when biotic interactions should be considered. In this study, we used plants (producers) and leafhoppers (phytophagous) as model organisms, and we investigated the relative importance of abiotic versus biotic factors that shape community assemblages, and we infer on their biotic interactions by applying three‐step statistical analysis. We applied a novel statistical analysis, that is, multiblock Redundancy Analysis (mbRA, step 1) and showed that 51.8% and 54.1% of the overall variation in plant and leafhopper assemblages are, respectively, explained by the two multiblock models. The most important blocks of variables to explain the variations in plant and leafhopper assemblages were local topography and biotic factors. Variation partitioning analysis (step 2) showed that pure abiotic filtering and pure biotic processes were relatively less important than their combinations, suggesting that biotic relationships are strongly structured by abiotic conditions. Pairwise co‐occurrence analysis (step 3) on generalist leafhoppers and the most common plants identified 40 segregated species pairs (mainly between plant species) and 16 aggregated pairs (mainly between leafhopper species). Pairwise analysis on specialist leafhoppers and potential host plants clearly revealed aggregated patterns. Plant segregation suggests heterogeneous resource availability and competitive interactions, while leafhopper aggregation suggests host feeding differentiation at the local level, different feeding microhabitats on host plants, and similar environmental requirements of the species. Using the novel mbRA, we disentangle for the first time the relative importance of more than five distinct groups of variables shaping local species communities. We highlighted the important role of abiotic processes mediated by bottom‐up effects of plants on leafhopper communities. Our results revealed that in‐field structure diversification and trophic interactions are the main factors causing the co‐occurrence patterns observed.