Spawning of coral reef invertebrates and a second spawning season for scleractinian corals in the central Red Sea

Recent coral spawning observations in the central Red Sea show that most scleractinian species release their gametes in the spring, with a majority of species spawning in April. There is, however, a lack of reproductive data for several other coral species, as well as a general lack of data for other invertebrates. Here, we document the detailed timing of spawning for 13 scleractinian coral species, one sea anemone, and six echinoderms from an inshore reef off the coast of Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, in the spring between April and June 2014. Furthermore, inferred from the presence of mature gametes, we report the month of spawning for three additional coral species in the spring. Seven scleractinian coral species were inferred to release their gametes in a second reproductive season, in the autumn, between September and November. This is the first report of a second spawning season in the Arabian region. Biannual spawning has so far been reported on the Great Barrier Reef, in Western Australia, in Indonesia, in Malaysia, in Palau, in Thailand, in Taiwan, and in Western Samoa.     

The Effect of VoorZorg,the Dutch Nurse-Family Partnership,on Child Maltreatment and Development: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Child maltreatment is a great public health concern that has long-term mental and physical health consequences and can result in death. We studied the effect of a nurse home visiting program on child maltreatment among young disadvantaged families in the Netherlands. This study is the first to investigate the effects of this program outside of the United States.

Methods

We conducted a single blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial that compared usual care with the nurse home visitation program, which began during pregnancy and continued until the children’s second birthdays, in 460 disadvantaged women who were pregnant for the first time and <26 years of age. The primary outcome was the existence of a report about the child from a child protecting services agency (CPS reports). Secondary outcome measures included home environment and child behavior.

Results

Two hundred twenty-three participants were assigned to the control group, and 237 were assigned to the intervention group. Three years after birth, 19% of the children in the control group had a CPS report. The 11 percent of children in the intervention group with CPS files was significantly lower (relative risk 0.91, p-value 0.04). At 24 months, the intervention group scored significantly better on the IT-HOME. At 24 months after birth, the children in the intervention group exhibited a significant improvement in internalizing behavior (relative risk 0.56, p-value 0.04) but no evidence of a difference from the control group in externalizing behavior (relative risk 0.71, p-value 0.12).

Conclusion

The number of CPS reports for the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Additionally, the long-term home environments were improved and internalizing behaviors of the children were lower in the intervention group.

Trial Registration

Dutch Trial Register NTR854     

Persistent high temperature and low precipitation reduce peat carbon accumulation

Extreme climate events are predicted to become more frequent and intense. Their ecological impacts, particularly on carbon cycling, can differ in relation to ecosystem sensitivity. Peatlands, being characterized by peat accumulation under waterlogged conditions, can be particularly sensitive to climate extremes if the climate event increases soil oxygenation. However, a mechanistic understanding of peatland responses to persistent climate extremes is still lacking, particularly in terms of aboveground–belowground feedback. Here, we present the results of a transplantation experiment of peat mesocosms from high to low altitude in order to simulate, during 3 years, a mean annual temperature c. 5 °C higher and a mean annual precipitation c. 60% lower. Specifically, we aim at understanding the intensity of changes for a set of biogeochemical processes and their feedback on carbon accumulation. In the transplanted mesocosms, plant productivity showed a species‐specific response depending on plant growth forms, with a significant decrease (c. 60%) in peat moss productivity. Soil respiration almost doubled and Q₁₀ halved in the transplanted mesocosms in combination with an increase in activity of soil enzymes. Spectroscopic characterization of peat chemistry in the transplanted mesocosms confirmed the deepening of soil oxygenation which, in turn, stimulated microbial decomposition. After 3 years, soil carbon stock increased only in the control mesocosms whereas a reduction in mean annual carbon accumulation of c. 30% was observed in the transplanted mesocosms. Based on the above information, a structural equation model was built to provide a mechanistic understanding of the causal connections between peat moisture, vegetation response, soil respiration and carbon accumulation. This study identifies, in the feedback between plant and microbial responses, the primary pathways explaining the reduction in carbon accumulation in response to recurring climate extremes in peat soils.     

Greatwall maintains mitosis through regulation of PP2A

Greatwall (GW) is a new kinase that has an important function in the activation and the maintenance of cyclin B–Cdc2 activity. Although the mechanism by which it induces this effect is unknown, it has been suggested that GW could maintain cyclin B–Cdc2 activity by regulating its activation loop. Using Xenopus egg extracts, we show that GW depletion promotes mitotic exit, even in the presence of a high cyclin B–Cdc2 activity by inducing dephosphorylation of mitotic substrates. These results indicate that GW does not maintain the mitotic state by regulating the cyclin B–Cdc2 activation loop but by regulating a phosphatase. This phosphatase is PP2A; we show that (1) PP2A binds GW, (2) the inhibition or the specific depletion of this phosphatase from mitotic extracts rescues the phenotype induced by GW inactivation and (3) the PP2A‐dependent dephosphorylation of cyclin B–Cdc2 substrates is increased in GW‐depleted Xenopus egg extracts. These results suggest that mitotic entry and maintenance is not only mediated by the activation of cyclin B–Cdc2 but also by the regulation of PP2A by GW.     

Aging of the dopaminergic system and motor behavior in mice intoxicated with the parkinsonian toxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine

J. Neurochem. (2012) 122, 1032-1046. ABSTRACT: 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intoxication of mice is a standard model of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, it does not reproduce functionally PD. Given the occurrence of PD during aging, symptoms might only be detected in MPTP-intoxicated mice after aging. To address this, mice injected with MPTP at 2.5?months were followed up to a maximum age of 21?months. There was no loss of dopamine cells with aging in control mice; moreover, the initial post-MPTP intoxication decrease in dopamine cell was no longer significant at 21?months. With aging, striatal dopamine level remained constant, but concentrations of the dopamine metabolites dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) were markedly reduced in both groups. There was also a late impairment of fine motor skills. After MPTP intoxication, hyperactivity was immediately detected and it became greater than in control mice from 14?months of age; fine motor skills were also more impaired; both these symptoms were correlated with striatal dopamine, DOPAC and HVA concentrations. In bothgroups, neither motor symptoms nor dopamine changes worsened with age. These findings do not support the notion that PD develops with age in mice after MPTP intoxication and that the motor deficits seen are because of an aging process.     

Dispersal and alternative breeding site fidelity strategies in an amphibian

Dispersal (i.e. movement from a natal or breeding site to another breeding site) is a central process in ecology and evolution as it affects the eco‐evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured populations. Dispersal evolution is regulated by the balance between costs and benefits, which is influenced by the individual phenotype (i.e. phenotype‐dependent dispersal) and environmental factors (i.e. condition‐dependent dispersal). Even though these processes have been extensively studied in species with simple life cycles, our knowledge about these mechanisms in organisms displaying complex life cycles remains fragmentary. In fact, little is specifically known about how the interplay between individual and environmental factors may lead to alternative dispersal strategies that, in turn, lead to the coexistence of contrasted site fidelity phenotypes. In this paper, we examined breeding dispersal in a pond‐breeding amphibian, the great crested newt Triturus cristatus, within usual walking distances for a newt. We took advantage of recent developments in multi‐event capture–recapture models and used capture–recapture data (946 newts marked) collected in a spatially structured population occupying a large pond network (73 ponds). We showed a high rate of breeding site infidelity (i.e. pond use) and the coexistence of two dispersal phenotypes, namely, a highly pond faithful phenotype and a dispersing phenotype. Individuals that were site faithful at time t – 1 were therefore more likely to remain site faithful at time t. Our results also demonstrated that the probability that individuals belong to one or the other dispersal phenotypes depended on environmental and individual factors. In particular, we highlighted the existence of a dispersal syndrome implying a covariation pattern among dispersal behavior, body size, and survival. Our work opens new research prospects in the evolution of dispersal in organisms displaying complex life cycles and raises interesting questions about the evolutionary pathways that contribute to the diversification of movement strategies in the wild.     

Semi-targeted metabolomic approaches to validate potential markers of health for micronutrients: analytical perspectives

Recommended dietary allowances for micronutrients fluctuate noticeably within European Union countries. The Network of Excellence EURRECA (EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned) aims at harmonising micronutrient intake recommendations through population groups. The lack of proper markers of status for some micronutrients limits progress in this area: metabolomics could help identifying such new markers. We developed an original metabolomic strategy in order to monitor the largest fraction of a list of >270 metabolites known to be influenced by the micronutrients of interest. To improve the coverage of these metabolites in plasma, a multi platform approach was performed using both liquid and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. A sample preparation protocol based on a three-step plasma fractionation has been set up, using both liquid and solid phase extractions. Four fractions were obtained containing respectively polar metabolites, neutral lipids, free fatty acids and polar lipids. Recoveries were determined using spiked plasma samples, and the advantages and drawbacks of the fractionation method compared to a commonly used single preparation step method were investigated in terms of metabolites detection and robustness. Fractionation improved coverage of the endogenous metabolome more than twice in terms of extracted features, allowing to identify 90?metabolites.     

G-quadruplex structure of the C. elegans telomeric repeat: a two tetrads basket type conformation stabilized by a non-canonical C–T base-pair

The Caenorhabditis elegans model has greatly contributed to the understanding of the role of G-quadruplexes in genomic instability. The GGCTTA repeats of the C. elegans telomeres resemble the GGGTTA repeats of the human telomeres. However, the comparison of telomeric sequences (Homo sapiens, Tetrahymena, Oxytricha, Bombyx mori and Giardia) revealed that small changes in these repeats can drastically change the topology of the folded G-quadruplex. In the present work we determined the structure adopted by the C. elegans telomeric sequence d[GG(CTTAGG)₃]. The investigated C. elegans telomeric sequence is shown to fold into an intramolecular two G-tetrads basket type G-quadruplex structure that includes a C–T base pair in the diagonal loop. This work sheds light on the telomeric structure of the widely used C. elegans animal model.     

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