Broadening the spectrum of photosynthesis in the grass,Alloteropsis semialata

This article comments on: Evolutionary implications of C₃–C₄ intermediates in the grass Alloteropsis semialata     

Localized Hotspots Drive Continental Geography of Abnormal Amphibians on U.S. Wildlife Refuges

Amphibians with missing, misshapen, and extra limbs have garnered public and scientific attention for two decades, yet the extent of the phenomenon remains poorly understood. Despite progress in identifying the causes of abnormalities in some regions, a lack of knowledge about their broader spatial distribution and temporal dynamics has hindered efforts to understand their implications for amphibian population declines and environmental quality. To address this data gap, we conducted a nationwide, 10-year assessment of 62,947 amphibians on U.S. National Wildlife Refuges. Analysis of a core dataset of 48,081 individuals revealed that consistent with expected background frequencies, an average of 2% were abnormal, but abnormalities exhibited marked spatial variation with a maximum prevalence of 40%. Variance partitioning analysis demonstrated that factors associated with space (rather than species or year sampled) captured 97% of the variation in abnormalities, and the amount of partitioned variance decreased with increasing spatial scale (from site to refuge to region). Consistent with this, abnormalities occurred in local to regional hotspots, clustering at scales of tens to hundreds of kilometers. We detected such hotspot clusters of high-abnormality sites in the Mississippi River Valley, California, and Alaska. Abnormality frequency was more variable within than outside of hotspot clusters. This is consistent with dynamic phenomena such as disturbance or natural enemies (pathogens or predators), whereas similarity of abnormality frequencies at scales of tens to hundreds of kilometers suggests involvement of factors that are spatially consistent at a regional scale. Our characterization of the spatial and temporal variation inherent in continent-wide amphibian abnormalities demonstrates the disproportionate contribution of local factors in predicting hotspots, and the episodic nature of their occurrence.     

Heterogeneity of the Glyoxylate-Condensing Enzymes.

Wegener, Warner S. (Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pa.), Henry C. Reeves, and Samuel J. Ajl. Heterogeneity of the glyoxylate-condensing enzymes. J. Bacteriol. 90:594-598. 1965.-Evidence is presented that the enzymatic condensations of glyoxylate with acetyl-CoA (malate synthase), propionyl-CoA (alpha-hydroxyglutarate synthase), butyryl-CoA (beta-ethylmalate synthase), and valeryl-CoA (beta-n-propylmalate synthase) are catalyzed by different enzymes. The possibility that these activities resulted from a single enzyme possessing a broad fatty acid acyl-CoA substrate specificity was ruled out. The latter was suggested by the fact that cells grown on a number of short-chain fatty acids exhibited all the above activities. The conclusion that these reactions are catalyzed by different enzymes is based on the following considerations: (i) the enzymes can be differentially inactivated by heat; (ii) under various growth conditions, where all the condensing enzymes are present, their respective activities do not show a constant ratio, as would be expected if they were catalyzed by a single enzyme; and (iii) under appropriate growth conditions, one or more of these enzymes has been shown to be present to the exclusion of others.     

The positions of 12 simple sequence repeat markers relative to reference loci on mouse Chromosome 16

The genetic map positions of 12 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers spanning mouse Chromosome (Chr) 16 were determined relative to reference markers on that chromosome. Interval mapping data were obtained with a panel of DNAs from two intersubspecific backcrosses. All but one of the markers were typed by use of nonradioactive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products analyzed on agarose gels. The marker order was determined to be Prm-1, D16Mit9, Igl-1, D16Mit29, D16Mit1/D16Mit2, Smst, D16Mit4, D16Mit11, Gap43, D16Mit14, D16Mit30, D16Mit5, Pit-1, D16Mit27, D16H21S16 (formerly D21S16h), D16Mit19, App, D16Mit7, Sod-1. Two of these markers mapped to the known human Chr 21 (HSA21)/Chr 16 conserved linkage group. Nine additional SSR markers could not be typed because they were not polymorophic (four markers), did not amplify MOLD/Rk DNA (three markers), or failed to give PCR products under a range of conditions (two markers). A subset of the most robust SSRs provide a useful marker set for the analysis of previously unmapped crosses.     

Evolution of ecospace occupancy by Mesozoic marine tetrapods

Ecology and morphology are different, and yet in comparative studies of fossil vertebrates the two are often conflated. The macroevolution of Mesozoic marine tetrapods has been explored in terms of morphological disparity, but less commonly using ecological‐functional categories. Here we use ecospace modelling to quantify ecological disparity across all Mesozoic marine tetrapods. We document the explosive radiation of marine tetrapod groups in the Triassic and their rapid attainment of high ecological disparity. Late Triassic extinctions led to a marked decline in ecological disparity, and the recovery of ecospace and ecological disparity was sluggish in the Early Jurassic. High levels of ecological disparity were again achieved by the Late Jurassic and maintained during the Cretaceous, when the ecospace became saturated by the Late Cretaceous. Sauropterygians, turtles and ichthyosauromorphs were the largest contributors to ecological disparity. Throughout the Mesozoic, we find that established groups remained ecologically conservative and did not explore occupied or vacant niches. Several parts of the ecospace remained vacant for long spans of time. Newly evolved, radiating taxa almost exclusively explored unoccupied ecospace, suggesting that abiotic releases are needed to empty niches and initiate diversification. In the balance of evolutionary drivers in Mesozoic marine tetrapods, abiotic factors were key to initiating diversification events, but biotic factors dominated the subsequent generation of ecological diversity.     

Winter ecology of house mice and the prospects for their eradication from Steeple Jason (Falkland Islands)

Invasive house mice Mus musculus are known to impact on seabird, invertebrate and plant communities on temperate and subantarctic islands, particularly where they are the sole rodent species. Steeple Jason, in the Falkland Islands, is an island which supports globally important seabird populations as well as introduced mice. To evaluate the prospects for mouse eradication, we investigated mouse ecology and undertook bait uptake trials on Steeple Jason in late winter. Mice were present in all habitats but were most abundant in tussac Poa flabellata where they occurred at 20–35 mice ha^?1. From 58 mature perforate females, 16 % were pregnant, with litters of 4–8 pups. The first lactating female was caught at the end of August, suggesting that breeding had recently begun. Bait trials replicating an aerial eradication were undertaken on two trapping grids of 7.7 and 6.8 ha, with non-toxic pellets containing the biomarker pyranine spread at 7.5–7.7 kg ha^?1. All 447 mice captured after baiting had consumed bait. The relatively low winter density, distribution and biology of house mice on Steeple Jason are similar to those observed before other successful mice eradications, and the study indicated 100 % bait acceptance. Before an eradication attempt, we suggest investigating whether breeding ceases completely earlier in the winter and urge careful consideration of non-target species.     

Circulating Dendritic Cells Isolated from Healthy Seropositive Donors Are Sites of Human Cytomegalovirus Reactivation In Vivo

Primary infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is generally asymptomatic in healthy individuals and results in a lifelong infection of the host. In contrast, in immunosuppressed transplant recipients and late-stage AIDS patients, HCMV infection and reactivation can result in severe disease or death. In vivo, latency is established in bone marrow CD34⁺ progenitor cells with reactivation linked with their differentiation to macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). However, previous analyses have relied on ex vivo differentiation of myeloid progenitor cells to DCs in culture. Here, we now report on the isolation and analysis of circulating blood myeloid DCs, resulting from natural differentiation in vivo, from healthy HCMV-seropositive carriers. We show that these in vivo-differentiated circulating DCs are fully permissive for HCMV and exhibit a phenotype similar to that of monocyte-derived DCs routinely used for in vitro studies of HCMV. Importantly, we also show that these DCs from healthy HCMV-seropositive donors carry HCMV genomes and, significantly, are typically positive for viral immediate-early (IE) gene expression, in contrast to circulating monocytes, which carry genomes with an absence of IE expression. Finally, we show that HCMV reactivation from these circulating DCs is enhanced by inflammatory stimuli. Overall, these data argue that the differentiation in vivo of myeloid progenitors to circulating DCs promotes the reactivation of HCMV lytic gene expression in healthy individuals, thereby providing valuable confirmation of studies performed using in vitro generation of DCs from myeloid precursors to study HCMV reactivation.     

HIV coreceptors,cell tropism and inhibition by chemokine receptor ligands

HIV is a persistent virus that survives and replicates despite an onslaught by the host's immune system. A strategy for cell entry, requiring the use of two receptors, has evolved that may help evade neutralizing antibodies. HIV and SIV usually require both CD4 and a seven transmembrane (7TM) coreceptor for infection. At least eleven different 7TM coreceptors have been identified that confer HIV and/ or SIV entry. For HIV-1, the major coreceptors are CCR5 and CXCR4, while the role of other coreceptors for replication and cell tropism in vivo is currently unclear. Polymorphisms in the CCR5 gene that reduce CCR5 expression levels, protect against disease progression, suggesting that drugs targeted to CCR5 could be effective. Such therapies however will not work if HIV simply adapts to use alternative coreceptors. In the light of these themes, this review will discuss the following topics: (i) the coreceptors used by primary HIV-1 and HIV-2 viruses, (ii) the properties and coreceptors of HIV-2 strains that infect cells without CD4, (iii) the role of coreceptors in HIV cell tropism and particularly macrophage infection and (iv) the properties of chemokine receptor ligands that block HIV infection.