Plagues, Priests, and Demons: Sacred Narratives and the Rise of Christianity in the Old World and the New

Plagues, Priests, and Demons: Sacred Narratives and the Rise of Christianity in the Old World and the New. Daniel T. Reff. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 290 pp.     

Renal Endosomal Phosphate (Pi) Transport in Normal and Diabetic Rats and Response to Chronic Pi Deprivation

Chronic renal adaptation to dietary deprivation of Pi is accompanied by increased Na⁺/Pi co-transport across the brush border membrane of the renal proximal tubule. The increased activity of this co-transport system depends on de novo protein synthesis and insulin. The present study used normal and diabetic rats to determine if the endosomal pool of Na⁺/Pi co-transporters was altered by Pi deprivation and the possible role of insulin. In response to 5 days of dietary Pi deprivation there was a significant increase in endosomal Na⁺/Pi co-transport in control rats but there was no change in diabetic rats. The increase in endosomal Pi uptake was restored in diabetic rats treated with exogenous insulin. Na⁺/Pi-independent Pi uptake and proline uptake remained unchanged in all groups. The changes in endosomal Na⁺/Pi co-transport correlated with the abundance of the specific Na⁺/Pi co-transporter protein, as determined by Western blots. The pattern of endosomal changes paralleled that observed in brush border membranes. One possibility consistent with these findings is that the endosomal fraction contains newly synthesized Na⁺/Pi co-transporters targeted for delivery to the apical brush border membrane. Increased synthesis and delivery is required to maintain the adaptation to chronic Pi deprivation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cloning and Expression of a cDNA Encoding a Vorticella convallaria Spasmin: an EF-Hand Calcium-Binding Protein

The stalked, ciliated protozoan Vorticella convallaria possesses a highly contractile cytoskeleton consisting of spasmonemes and myonemes. The major component of these contractile organelles is the calcium-binding protein(s) called spasmin. Cloning and characterization of spasmin would help elucidate this contractile system. Therefore, enriched spasmoneme protein preparations from these contractile stalks were used to produce a monoclonal antibody to spasmin. A monoclonal antibody, 1F5, was obtained that immunolocalized specifically to the spasmonemes and the myonemes and recognized a 20-kD calcium-binding protein in spasmoneme protein preparations. A putative spasmin cDNA was obtained from a V. convallaria cDNA library and the derived amino acid sequence of this cDNA revealed an acidic, 20-kD protein with calcium-binding helix-loop-helix domains. The physical properties of the putative spasmin were assessed by characterization of a recombinantly-produced spasmin protein. The recombinant spasmin protein was shown to bind calcium using calcium gel-shift assays and was recognized by the anti-spasmin antibody. Therefore, a V. convallaria spasmin was cloned and shown to be a member of the EF-hand superfamily of calcium-binding proteins.     

Life history and allozyme diversification in regional ecomorphs of the Hyalella azteca (Crustacea: Amphipoda) species complex

In North America, several species in the freshwater amphipod genus Hyalella occur as one of two alternative phenotypic types, or 'ecomorphs', each possessing life history traits that allow success in alternative habitats that differ in predation regime. This study documents life history diversification, reproductive isolation and allozyme differentiation of Hyalella ecomorphs in Oklahoma, and compares these results to previously reported patterns of phenotypic and systematic diversification in Michigan. As in Michigan, two ecomorphs are common in Oklahoma, with an early maturing, small sized ecomorph found in habitats containing Lepomis sunfish, which prey on Hyalella , and a late reproducing, large sized ecomorph found in fishless habitats and in very shallow margins of large reservoirs. Allozyme analysis and laboratory interbreeding trials demonstrated that ecomorphs in Oklahoma are reproductively isolated species. Phenotypically, these species are very similar to species of the same ecomorph in Michigan. Large ecomorph species in the two regions differ substantially in allozyme allele composition in a pattern consistent with reproductive isolation, yet these species did not differ in a comparison of phenotype. The small ecomorph in Oklahoma is similar in phenotype to two of three small ecomorph species in Michigan. Overall, this study supports the hypothesis that Hyalella diversification in North America is characterized by the evolution of similar phenotypic solutions to comparable ecological challenges.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 84 , 161–175.     

Summer mastitis experimentally induced by Hydrotaea irritans exposed to bacteria

Abstract. Summer mastitis is an acute suppurative bacterial infection of the udder in heifers and dry cows. To ascertain the possible role of flies in the transmission of the disease, experimental exposures of recipient heifers to Hydrotaea irritans previously exposed to bacteria were carried out. Flies were allowed to feed on secretions from clinical cases of summer mastitis. The pathogens present were the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Actinomyces pyogenes , Stuart-Schwan cocci, Peptococcus indolicus, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Bacterioides species. The teats of eight heifers were exposed to flies with verified pathogen content. Two teats of each animal were deliberately damaged before fly exposure. One teat was cut, another pricked with insect needles to mimic insect bites. Two of the heifers developed summer mastitis in the quarters where teats had been cut. The bacterial species isolated from these quarters corresponded to those that had previously been fed to the flies. For the first time, it is now demonstrated that H.irritans is capable of transmitting summer mastitis pathogens and so causing summer mastitis in recipient heifers. Lesions on the teat orifice may be a predisposing factor in the development of the disease.     

Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society

Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society. Beth A. Conklin. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001. 317 pp.     

Low Genetic Diversity In Willaertia Magna From Wide Geographical Sources, and Characterisation of Willaertia Minor N. Sp. (Heterolobosea, Vahlkampfidae)

ABSTRACT. Twelve isolates assigned to Willaertia magna by morphological and physiological criteria, including the type material, were characterised at 23 enzyme-encoding loci. Isolates from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, England, France, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea showed fixed alleles at 18 loci and polymorphism at Acp, Lap, Me, 6Pgd and Pgm 1. the maximum difference in pairwise comparisons was 8.7%, consistent with intra-specific variation in the related genus Naegleria. an additional isolate, assigned to Willaertia by features of its flagellate and cyst stages, represents a new species. Willaertia minor n. sp. shares alleles with W. magna at only three loci, has a maximum growth temperature of 38°C and is significantly smaller in all stages than W. magna. Flagellates appear to divide only once and fail to replace the lost flagella, producing biflagellate daughter cells. Cysts and trophozoites are more readily mistaken for Naegleria , but lack perinuclear granules, as do the mature cysts of W. magna.     

Splenomegaly and Reticulocytosis Caused by Babesia microti Infections in Natural Populations of the Montane Vole, Microtus montanus

ABSTRACT. A survey for Babesia microti in rodents was conducted at six sites within Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Blood and spleen smears, hematocrits, and reticulocyte counts were made on all of the animals to evaluate parameters for the diagnosis of babesiosis. Ticks were removed for identification. Of 257 Microtus montanus , 103 were infected with B. microti. In addition, five of 12 Microtus pennsylvanicus and one of three Arvicola richardsoni were parasitized by B. microti. Peromyscus maniculatus (n = 40) were not infected. Concurrent infections by Hepatozoon sp., Trypanosoma sp., and the bacterium, Grahamella sp., were noted in blood smears from a number of M. montanus. Splenomegaly and reticulocytosis were significant parameters associated with babesiosis while decreased hematocrit was not. Ticks removed from the voles were identified as Ixodes eastoni and were the probable vectors of the B. microti.     

Habitat peculiarity as a cause of rarity in Eucalyptus paliformis

Eucalyptus paliformis is a rare species of the Wadbilliga Plateau in southeastern Australia. The hypothesis that rarity in E. paliformis is a result of restriction to a rare habitat was addressed by means of a floristic survey comparing sites where E. paliformis occurs with similar sites where it is not known to occur. Mathematical models describing mean annual rainfall and mean annual temperature regimens experienced in southeastern Australia were used to locate areas with a climate similar to E. paliformis sites. Understorey vegetation of E. paliformis sites was then compared with that of climatically similar areas using a stratified random sampling procedure. Similarity in floristic composition was used as an integrated measure of habitat similarity. Detrended correspondence analysis of the floristic data suggested that E. paliformis sites are unique. No single environmental factor was sufficient to describe E. paliformis sites—rather, their peculiarity could be ascribed to a unique combination of environmental factors. Within the Wadbilliga area, temperature or moisture parameters relating to marginally higher elevation or low relative radiation index may be important. Non-metric multidimensional scaling of the floristic data revealed similar environmental trends in the data, but support for habitat peculiarity in E. paliformis was weaker.     

Heterospecific ovicide influences the outcome of competition between two endoparasitoids, Encarsia formosa and Encarsia luteola

Abstract.  1. Studies of inter-specific competition in parasitoids have largely focused on the outcome of within-host competition and the behavioural mechanisms by which female parasitoids prevent competition. Another, less well studied, possibility is oviposition preceded by 'heterospecific ovicide', the destruction of the other species' egg. Heterospecific ovicide essentially eliminates within-host competition.
2. This study investigated the mechanisms and outcome of within-host competition in Encarsia formosa and Encarsia luteola , solitary endoparasitoids of whitefly pests. These species are known to commit ovicide of conspecific eggs.
3. Competition experiments indicated that the offspring of second-ovipositing females had an apparent advantage in competition, regardless of whether the second female was E. formosa or E. luteola .
4. Observations of ovipositor movement through the cuticle of host whitefly nymphs showed that both species often committed heterospecific ovicide and then oviposited or host-fed. Multiparasitism and heterospecific host discrimination were less common and absent respectively.
5. Heterospecific ovicide appears to explain the second-female advantage in competition between these species. Second-female advantage is contrary to the paradigmatic view of multiparasitism, where the first-ovipositing female has an advantage in competition or one of the species consistently prevails in competition.