Oil for Fish: An Energy Return on Investment Analysis of Selected European Union Fishing Fleets

World food production has increased substantially in the past century, thanks mostly to the increase in the use of oil as input in the production processes. This growing use of fossil fuels has negative effects, both on the environment and the production costs. Fishing is a fuel consuming food production activity, and its energy efficiency performance has worsened over time. World‐wide fisheries are also suffering from overexploitation, which contributes to the poor efficiency performance, adding more pressure and criticism on this economic activity. In this paper we analyzed the energy efficiency performance of more than 20,000 European Union (EU) fishing vessels for the period 2002–2008, using the edible energy return on investment (EROI) indicator. The vessels analyzed, grouped in 49 different fleets, represented 25% of the vessels and 33% of the landings of the EU fishing sector. These EU fishing fleets’ average EROI for 2008 was 0.11, which translates to an energy content of the fuel burned that is 9 times greater than the edible energy content of the catch. Hence, the significance of this study arises from the use of time‐series data on a relevant part of the EU fleet that showed stable or even slight improvements on the EROI over time. Moreover, results showed that the energy efficiency of the different fleets varied significantly (from 0.02 to 1.12), mainly depending on the fishing gear and the vessel length. The performance of the most efficient fleets, such as large pelagic trawlers and seiners, was comparable to many agricultural production activities. The plausible drivers behind these trends are further considered.     

Visual stimuli that elicit appetitive behaviors in three morphologically distinct species of praying mantis

We assessed the differences in appetitive responses to visual stimuli by three species of praying mantis (Insecta: Mantodea), Tenodera aridifolia sinensis, Mantis religiosa, and Cilnia humeralis. Tethered, adult females watched computer generated stimuli (erratically moving disks or linearly moving rectangles) that varied along predetermined parameters. Three responses were scored: tracking, approaching, and striking. Threshold stimulus size (diameter) for tracking and striking at disks ranged from 3.5 deg (C. humeralis) to 7.8 deg (M. religiosa), and from 3.3 deg (C. humeralis) to 11.7 deg (M. religiosa), respectively. Unlike the other species which struck at disks as large as 44 deg, T. a. sinensis displayed a preference for 14 deg disks. Disks moving at 143 deg/s were preferred by all species. M. religiosa exhibited the most approaching behavior, and with T. a. sinensis distinguished between rectangular stimuli moving parallel versus perpendicular to their long axes. C. humeralis did not make this distinction. Stimulus sizes that elicited the target behaviors were not related to mantis size. However, differences in compound eye morphology may be related to species differences: C. humeralis’ eyes are farthest apart, and it has an apparently narrower binocular visual field which may affect retinal inputs to movement-sensitive visual interneurons.     

Childhood and Young Adult Overweight/Obesity and Incidence of Depression in the SUN Project

This study included 11,825 participants of a Spanish dynamic prospective cohort based on former students from University of Navarra, registered professionals from some Spanish provinces, and university graduates from other associations, followed‐up for 6.1 years. We aimed to assess the association between childhood or young adult overweight/obesity and the risk of depression. Participants were asked to select which of nine figures most closely represented their body shape at ages 5 and 20 years. Childhood and young adult overweight/obesity was defined as those cases in which participants reported body shape corresponding to the figures 6–9 (more obese categories) at age 5 or 20, respectively. A subject was classified as incident case of depression if he/she was initially free of depression and reported physician‐made diagnosis of depression and/or the use of antidepressant medication in at least one of biannual follow‐up questionnaires. The association between childhood and young adult overweight/obesity and incidence of depression was estimated by multiple‐adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Overweight/obesity at age 5 years predicted an increased risk for adult depression (HR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.06–2.12), and a stronger association was observed at age 20 years ((HR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.22–4.08), (subjects younger than 30 years at recruitment were excluded from this last analysis)). Childhood or young adult overweight/obesity was associated with elevated risk of adult depression. These results, if causal and confirmed in other prospective studies, support treating childhood and young adult overweight/obesity as part of comprehensive adult depression prevention efforts.     

Regulation by forskolin of octopamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase from brain of the dipterous Ceratitis capitata

Forskolin, a diterpene that exerts several pharmacological effects, activates adenylate cyclase in brain and in some other mammalian tissues. Properties of forskolin activation of adenylate cyclase from central nervous system of the dipterous Ceratitis capitata are described. The interaction of forskolin with the insect adenylate cyclase system was studied by evaluating its effect on metal-ATP kinetics, protection against thermal inactivation, membrane fluidity and enzyme modulation by fluoride, guanine nucleotides, octopamine, and ADP-ribosylation by cholera toxin. The diterpene stimulated basal enzyme activity both in membranes and Triton X-100-solubilized preparations, apparently devoid of functional regulatory unit, this effect being rapidly reversed by washing the membranes. An increase of Vmax accounts for the activation of soluble and membrane adenylate cyclase preparations by forskolin, whereas the affinity of the enzyme for the substrate was not affected. Forskolin apparently protects the membrane enzyme from thermal inactivation, and at concentrations that promote the enzyme activity the diterpene does not alter membrane microviscosity. Forskolin does not appear to alter the sensitivity of insect adenylate cyclase to sodium fluoride, guanine nucleotide, or regulatory subunit ADP ribosylated by cholera toxin, the combined effect of these factors with the diterpene resulting in a nearly additive enzymatic activation. However, forskolin blocks the octopamine stimulatory input. Results obtained with the insect adenylate cyclase system are discussed and compared to what is known about mammalian systems to propose a mechanism of enzyme activation by forskolin.     

Stabilization of the Escherichia coli elongation factor Tu-GTP-aminoacyl-tRNA complex

The effect of ammonium sulfate on the Escherichia coli elongation factor Tu-GTP-aminoacyl-tRNA complex has been studied. The half-lives of 12 E. coli aminoacyl-tRNA species were determined at 37 degrees C in the presence and absence of an equimolar amount of EF-Tu-GTP and in the presence and absence of 1.5 M ammonium sulfate. The results indicate that the addition of 1.5 M ammonium sulfate to the ternary complex increased the stability of all 12 complexes studied. In addition, the effects of various salts and crystallization agents on the stability of the E. coli EF-Tu-GTP-phenylalanyl-tRNA complex was studied in detail. Binding parameters were also measured under various conditions at 37 degrees C. The results indicate that the stability and the Kassoc of the ternary complex, using phenylalanyl-tRNA, can be increased by the presence of polyethylene glycol or ammonium sulfate.     

Prioritizing targets for structural biology through the lens of proteomics: The archaeal protein TGAM_1934 from Thermococcus gammatolerans

ORFans are hypothetical proteins lacking any significant sequence similarity with other proteins. Here, we highlighted by quantitative proteomics the TGAM_1934 ORFan from the hyperradioresistant Thermococcus gammatolerans archaeon as one of the most abundant hypothetical proteins. This protein has been selected as a priority target for structure determination on the basis of its abundance in three cellular conditions. Its solution structure has been determined using multidimensional heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. TGAM_1934 displays an original fold, although sharing some similarities with the 3D structure of the bacterial ortholog of frataxin, CyaY, a protein conserved in bacteria and eukaryotes and involved in iron–sulfur cluster biogenesis. These results highlight the potential of structural proteomics in prioritizing ORFan targets for structure determination based on quantitative proteomics data. The proteomic data and structure coordinates have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD000402 ( http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD000402 ) and Protein Data Bank under the accession number 2mcf, respectively.     

The genes for the Golgi apparatus N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase and the UDP-N-acetylglucosamine transporter are contiguous in Kluyveromyces lactis

The mannan chains of Kluyveromyces lactis mannoproteins are similar to those of Saccharomyces cerevisiae except that they lack mannose phosphate and have terminal alpha(1-->2)-linked N-acetylglucosamine. Previously, Smith et al. (Smith, W. L. Nakajima, T., and Ballou, C. E. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 3426-3435) characterized two mutants, mnn2-1 and mnn2-2, which lacked terminal N-acetylglucosamine in their mannoproteins. The former mutant lacks the Golgi N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity, whereas the latter one was recently found to be deficient in the Golgi UDP-GlcNAc transporter activity. Analysis of extensive crossings between the two mutants led Ballou and co-workers (reference cited above) to conclude that these genes were allelic or tightly linked. We have now cloned the gene encoding the K. lactis Golgi membrane N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase by complementation of the mnn2-1 mutation and named it GNT1. The mnn2-1 mutant was transformed with a 9.5-kilobase (kb) genomic fragment previously shown to contain the gene encoding the UDP-GlcNAc transporter; transformants were isolated, and phenotypic correction was monitored after cell surface labeling with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated Griffonia simplicifolia II lectin, which binds terminal N-acetylglucosamine, and a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. The above 9.5-kb DNA fragment restored the wild-type lectin binding phenotype of the transferase mutant; further subcloning of this fragment yielded a smaller one containing an opening reading frame of 1,383 bases encoding a protein of 460 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 53 kDa, which also restored the wild-type phenotype. Transformants had also regained the ability to transfer N-acetylglucosamine to 3-0-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-D-mannopyranoside. The gene encoding the above transferase was found to be approximately 1 kb upstream from the previously characterized MNN2 gene encoding the UDP-GlcNAc Golgi transporter. Each gene can be transcribed independently by their own promoter. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of two Golgi apparatus functionally related genes being contiguous in a genome.     

HBV Genotypic Variability in Cuba

The genetic diversity of HBV in human population is often a reflection of its genetic admixture. The aim of this study was to explore the genotypic diversity of HBV in Cuba. The S genomic region of Cuban HBV isolates was sequenced and for selected isolates the complete genome or precore-core sequence was analyzed. The most frequent genotype was A (167/250, 67%), mainly A2 (149, 60%) but also A1 and one A4. A total of 77 isolates were classified as genotype D (31%), with co-circulation of several subgenotypes (56 D4, 2 D1, 5 D2, 7 D3/6 and 7 D7). Three isolates belonged to genotype E, two to H and one to B3. Complete genome sequence analysis of selected isolates confirmed the phylogenetic analysis performed with the S region. Mutations or polymorphisms in precore region were more common among genotype D compared to genotype A isolates. The HBV genotypic distribution in this Caribbean island correlates with the Y lineage genetic background of the population, where a European and African origin prevails. HBV genotypes E, B3 and H isolates might represent more recent introductions.