Strong coupling of plant and fungal community structure across western Amazonian rainforests

The Amazon basin harbors a diverse ecological community that has a critical role in the maintenance of the biosphere. Although plant and animal communities have received much attention, basic information is lacking for fungal or prokaryotic communities. This is despite the fact that recent ecological studies have suggested a prominent role for interactions with soil fungi in structuring the diversity and abundance of tropical rainforest trees. In this study, we characterize soil fungal communities across three major tropical forest types in the western Amazon basin (terra firme, seasonally flooded and white sand) using 454 pyrosequencing. Using these data, we examine the relationship between fungal diversity and tree species richness, and between fungal community composition and tree species composition, soil environment and spatial proximity. We find that the fungal community in these ecosystems is diverse, with high degrees of spatial variability related to forest type. We also find strong correlations between α- and β-diversity of soil fungi and trees. Both fungal and plant community β-diversity were also correlated with differences in environmental conditions. The correlation between plant and fungal richness was stronger in fungal lineages known for biotrophic strategies (for example, pathogens, mycorrhizas) compared with a lineage known primarily for saprotrophy (yeasts), suggesting that this coupling is, at least in part, due to direct plant–fungal interactions. These data provide a much-needed look at an understudied dimension of the biota in an important ecosystem and supports the hypothesis that fungal communities are involved in the regulation of tropical tree diversity.     

Covalent labelling of the Klenow fragment of DNA-polymerase I from E. coli

Incubation of the Klenow fragment of E. coli DNA polymerase I with [alpha-32P] dNTP (or NTP) results in the covalent radiolabelling of the enzyme, the bond being stable in acid (pH 2) and alkaline (pH 12) conditions and nucleophiles, such as beta-mercaptoethylamine, efficiently inhibiting the labelling. It is suggested that radiolabelling of the enzyme is the result of formation of chemically active products of the radiolysis of [alpha-32P]NTP (which are likely to be radicals). Non-radioactive NTP hinder the labelling, whereas Mg2+ and polynucleotide do not affect it. Cleavage of the enzyme by hydroxylamine and cyanogen bromide and analysis of gel-electrophoretic patterns of the cleavage products led to conclusion that 32P-label is located between Gly-544 and Met-647.     

Specificity of the effect of polyene phosphatidylcholine depending on the mode of administration and animal species]

The effects of polyene phosphatidylcholine (PPC) treatment at oral and intravenous administration to rats and rabbits in hypercholesterolemic diet were studied. No aorta damage was observed in either of rat groups. But fatty liver appeared, and it was the greatest in rats, who received cholesterol and PPC. The result may be attributed to adaptive protection of peripheral tissues due to high experiment duration (18 months) in the state of active reverse cholesterol transport (RChT). No antiatherogenic effect was noted in rabbits at PPC administration (170 mg/kg), while its intravenous injection (50 mg/kg) resulted in marked reduction of plasma cholesterol level, elevation of HDL cholesterol and decrease of the extent of aorta damage. The conclusion is drawn on the ppc high antiatherogenic effect predominantly at intravenous administration, and on advisability of its use in cases of RChT deficiencies, as its activator.     

The detection and nature of the labelling of F-actin using a phalloidin-colloidal gold marker]

On the basis of a conjugate of phalloidin-colloidal gold a marker has been obtained for electronmicroscopic identification and study of marking character of filament actins. Using this marker the filamentous form of actins from rabbit skeletal muscles and chicken gizzard was revealed. The marking characters of the two actins appeared to differ at the level of electron microscopy. A periodicity of the marker setting with a step of 105.4 +/- 1.7 nm on the rabbit F-actin was revealed. A possibility of differential evaluation of the filamentous and globular forms of the actins was shown when using the same marker in dot-blot analysis procedure with the sensitivity from 15 to 50 ng.     

Feather ornaments are dynamic traits in the Great Tit Parus major

In behavioural studies it has been common to quantify plumage colours or ornaments over a range of dates and link them to fitness characteristics without accounting for seasonal changes in these traits. Such changes are likely to be widespread among birds, yet we lack assessments of this variability within individuals. We studied both within‐ and between‐individual temporal changes in Great Tit Parus major ornaments, specifically the melanin‐based black breast stripe and the pigment‐free white cheek patch. During the non‐breeding season both ornaments varied. In juveniles and adult females, the area of the breast stripe first rose and then, from near the end of December, decreased. In adult males there was a linear decrease. In the cheek patch, the irregularity of the cheek borders showed either a linear (adults) or a non‐linear (juveniles) increase as the season progressed. In individuals repeatedly sampled during the same winter, the decrease in the size of the breast stripe was larger for males than females and there was an overall decrease in the regularity of the cheek borders. There was no relationship between the size of the breast stripe and the white cheek patch irregularities or the cheek patch area. These results imply that more attention should be paid to quantification, within individuals, of the components of expression of phenotypic traits. In addition, we suggest that further research should focus on explaining the causes and functions of ornament change.     

外源亚精胺和精胺对NaHCO3胁迫下南蛇藤抗氧化系统的影响

研究了叶面喷施亚精胺和精胺对NaHCO₃胁迫下南蛇藤叶片抗氧化系统的影响.结果表明：外源亚精胺和精胺处理使NaHCO₃胁迫下南蛇藤叶片O₂^-·产生速率、H₂O₂、丙二醛(MDA)含量和电解质外渗率显著降低(P<0.05).亚精胺处理明显提高了盐胁迫下超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、过氧化物酶(POD)和抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(APX)等抗氧化酶的活性,以及还原型谷胱甘肽(GSH)、类胡萝卜素(CAR)和脯氨酸(Pro)等抗氧化剂的含量,但对还原型抗坏血酸(AsA)含量没有作用;精胺处理明显提高NaHCO₃胁迫下POD和APX的活性以及GSH、CAR和Pro的含量,但对SOD和AsA含量影响不显著,甚至引起CAT活性明显降低.亚精胺和精胺处理明显改善了NaHCO₃胁迫下南蛇藤的生长.外源亚精胺和精胺可以改善NaHCO₃胁迫下南蛇藤叶片的膜保护功能,减少叶片中活性氧的积累,从而提高南蛇藤对NaHCO₃胁迫的抗性.     

Artificial intelligence in pest insect monitoring

Abstract Global problems of hunger and malnutrition induced us to introduce a new tool for semi‐automated pest insect identification and monitoring: an artificial neural network system. Multilayer perceptrons, an artificial intelligence method, seem to be efficient for this purpose. We evaluated 101 European economically important thrips (Thysanoptera) species: extrapolation of the verification test data indicated 95% reliability at least for some taxa analysed. Mainly quantitative morphometric characters, such as head, clavus, wing, ovipositor length and width, formed the input variable computation set in a Trajan neural network simulator. The technique may be combined with digital image analysis.     

Antibodies designed as effective cancer vaccines

Antigen/antibody complexes can efficiently target antigen presenting cells to allow stimulation of the cellular immune response. Due to the difficulty of manufacture and their inherent instability complexes have proved inefficient cancer vaccines. However, anti-idiotypic antibodies mimicking antigens have been shown to stimulate both antibody and T cell responses. The latter are due to T cell mimotopes expressed within the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of antibodies that are efficiently presented to dendritic cells in vivo. Based on this observation we have designed a DNA vaccine platform called ImmunoBody™, where cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and helper T cell epitopes replace CDR regions within the framework of a human IgG1 antibody. The ImmunoBody™ expression system has a number of design features which allow for rapid production of a wide range of vaccines. The CDR regions of the heavy and light chain have been engineered to contain unique restriction endonuclease sites, which can be easily opened, and oligonucleotides encoding the T cell epitopes inserted. The variable and constant regions of the ImmunoBody™ are also flanked by restriction sites, which permit easy exchange of other IgG subtypes. Here we show a range of T cell epitopes can be inserted into the ImmunoBody™ vector and upon immunization these T cell epitopes are efficiently processed and presented to stimulate high frequency helper and CTL responses capable of anti-tumor activity.Key words: DNA vaccines, cancer vaccines, melanoma, CTL, helper T cells     

New observations and reinterpretation on the enigmatic taxon Colombitherium (?Pyrotheria,Mammalia) from Colombia

Abstract: The controversial taxon Colombitherium tolimense (Mammalia) (probably Late Eocene in age) from Colombia, although known for nearly 40 years, still bears much mystery. Aside from the problematic ordinal attribution of the holotype and only specimen, its determination as an upper or lower jaw remains a highly debated issue. New observations include the presence of a contact facet on the distal face of the most posterior tooth, which indicates that the fragmentary jaw preserves three premolars and two molars; the M3, unpreserved but present, being most probably reduced. This new interpretation completely fits the morphology of the teeth. Furthermore, the shape of these latter and the deeper wear encompassed by their lingual part relative to the labial one is typical of upper dentition. This is in agreement with the internal curving of the roots of the anterior premolars and with several other arguments that lead interpreting the holotype of C. tolimense as a maxillary bearing P2‐M2. This new interpretation deepens the morphological gap between Colombitherium and other pyrotherians (except Proticia) and challenges further its referral to Pyrotheria. The peculiar morphology of Colombitherium relative to other pyrotherians is indeed striking. In fact, Colombitherium has nothing in common with pyrotherians but bilophodont cheek teeth, a feature largely widespread in placental mammals. It is here referred to ?Pyrotheria until additional evidence of its relationships is known. Associated with the putative removal of Proticia from Pyrotheria as argued by some authors, the hypothetical removal of Colombitherium from the order would adjust the widely accepted assumption that the pyrotherian bilophodont cheek teeth originated from bunodont cheek teeth. It would also make an origin from lophodont forms plausible. This in turn would have critical relevance, especially to the hypothesis that pyrotherians are notoungulates.