Predation risk and the structure of freshwater zooplankton communities

Summary Many predators inflict substantial mortality on their prey. The prey respond to these selective pressures with changes in their spatial and temporal overlap with the predator (density risk responses), or with changes in their vulnerability to the predator (prey vulnerability responses). Here we develop a simple predation model that permits quantification of the basic response types of the prey in nature. We then test the hypothesis that prey response will be proportional to the intensity of the predation mortality relative to all other sources of mortality and decreased natality acting on the prey. A significant regression relationship is obtained for the prey vulnerability response but not for any of the density risk responses. The individual response values and regression statistics are used to interpret the relative importance of the different response types and to assess the predator's influence on prey community structure.Supported by Lehigh University Environmental Studies Center     

Molecular population genetics of the alcohol dehydrogenase locus in the Hawaiian drosophilid D. mimica

Sequence variation among 10 alleles of the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene of the Hawaiian drosophilid D. mimica was analyzed with reference to the evolutionary history of the Hawaiian subgroup as well as to levels and patterns of polymorphism of the Adh gene in continental drosophilid species. The Adh gene of D. mimica is less polymorphic than that of other drosophilid species, and no replacement substitutions were found. Statistical analyses of the Adh alleles suggested the action of balancing selection and revealed significant linkage disequilibrium among three of the variable sites. The effective population size was estimated to be only slightly smaller than that of continental species and, surprisingly, on the same order of magnitude as the actual size.      

拐芹根化学成分研究Ⅱ

从伞型科当归属植物拐芹(Angelica polymorpha Maxim)的根及根茎中又分得4个结晶性化合物。经物理常数测定、光谱分析,分别鉴定为欧前胡素Ⅰ,异氧化前胡内酯Ⅱ,Pabulenol Ⅲ,Phellopterin Ⅳ。     

Bacterioplankton Dynamics in the McMurdo Dry Valley Lakes, Antarctica: Production and Biomass Loss over Four Seasons

Abstract Research of the microbial ecology of McMurdo Dry Valley lakes has concentrated primarily on phototrophs; relatively little is known about the heterotrophic bacterioplankton. Bacteria represent a substantial proportion of water column biomass in these lakes, comprising 30 to 60% of total microplankton biomass. Bacterial production and cell numbers were measured 3 to 5 times, within four Antarctic seasons (October to January), in Lakes Fryxell, Hoare, and Bonney. The winter-spring transition (September to October) was included during one year. Lake Fryxell was the most productive, but variable, lake, followed by Lakes Bonney and Hoare. Bacterial production ranged from 0 to 0.009 μg C ml-1 d-1; bacterial populations ranged from 3.2 x 10(4) to 4.4 x 10(7) cells ml-1. Bacterial production was always greatest just below the ice cover at the beginning of the season. A second maximum developed just above the chemocline of all the lakes, as the season progressed. Total bacterioplankton biomass in the lakes decreased as much as 88% between successive sampling dates in the summer, as evidenced by areal integration of bacterial populations; the largest decreases in biomass typically occurred in mid-December. A forward difference model of bacterial loss in the trophogenic zone and the entire water column of these lakes showed that loss rates in the summer reached 6.3 x 10(14) cells m-2 d-1 and 4.16 x 10(12) cells m-2 d-1, respectively. These results imply that bacteria may be a source of carbon to higher trophic levels in these lakes, through grazing.     

Human skin dermatan sulfate with sulfated and unsulfated non-reducing ends

The non-reducing ends of the preponderant dermatan sulfates of adult human skin (DS18 and DS28) can have D-GalNAc, D-GlcA and L-1doA. D-GlcA of DS18 and D-GalNAc of both DS18 and DS28 are sulfated.     

Diel periodicity and selectivity in the feeding rate of the predatory copepod Mesocyclops edax

The diel periodicity and selectivity in the feeding behaviorof the predatory cyclopoid copepod Mesocyclops edax was investigatedat 3 h intervals over two 24 h sampling periods in nature. Gutcontent analyses revealed an increase in gut fullness at 11.30and 20.30 in July, and at 20.30 in August. The increase in gutfullness at these times could not be explained by an increasein prey density, changes in predator-prey overlap or differencesin prey vulnerability. We suggest that M.edax exhibits a truediel periodicity in the intensity of its predatory activities,although the alternative hypothesis of a diel periodicity ingut passage time cannot be ruled out. Vanderploeg and Scavia'sE^* selectivity index indicated a preference for rotifer andcladoceran prey over copepods.     

Complex binding interactions between multicomponent mixtures and odorant receptors in the olfactory organ of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus

Our study was designed to examine how components of complex mixtures can inhibit the binding of other components to receptor sites in the olfactory system of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus. Biochemical binding assays were used to study how two- to six-component mixtures inhibit binding of the radiolabeled odorants taurine, L-glutamate and adenosine-5'-monophosphate to a tissue fraction rich in dendritic membrane of olfactory receptor neurons. Our results indicate that binding inhibition by mixtures can be large and is dependent on the nature of the odorant ligand and on the concentration and composition of the mixture. The binding inhibition by mixtures of structurally related components was generally predicted using a competitive binding model and binding inhibition data for the individual components. This was not the case for binding inhibition by most mixtures of structurally unrelated odorants. The binding inhibition for these mixtures was generally smaller than that for one or more of their components, indicating that complex binding interactions between components can reduce their ability to inhibit binding. The magnitude of binding inhibition was influenced more by the mixture's precise composition than by the number of components in it, since mixtures with few components were sometimes more inhibitory than mixtures with more components. These findings raise the possibility that complex binding interactions between components of a mixture and their receptors may shape the output of olfactory receptor neurons to complex mixtures.