Metabolism and foraging strategies of mid‐latitude mesozooplankton during cyanobacterial blooms as revealed by fatty acids,amino acids,and their stable carbon isotopes

Increasing sea surface temperatures (SST) and blooms of lipid‐poor, filamentous cyanobacteria can change mesozooplankton metabolism and foraging strategies in marine systems. Lipid shortage and imbalanced diet may challenge the build‐up of energy pools of lipids and proteins, and access to essential fatty acids (FAs) and amino acids (AAs) by copepods. The impact of cyanobacterial blooms on individual energy pools was assessed for key species temperate Temora longicornis and boreal Pseudo‐/Paracalanus spp. that dominated field mesozooplankton communities isolated by seasonal stratification in the central Baltic Sea during the hot and the cold summer. We looked at (a) total lipid and protein levels, (b) FA trophic markers and AA composition, and (c) compound‐specific stable carbon isotopes (δ¹³C) in bulk mesozooplankton and in a subset of parameters in particulate organic matter. Despite lipid‐poor cyanobacterial blooms, the key species were largely able to cover both energy pools, yet a tendency of lipid reduction was observed in surface animals. Omni‐ and carnivory feeding modes, FA trophic makers, and δ¹³C patterns in essential compounds emphasized that cyanobacterial FAs and AAs have been incorporated into mesozooplankton mainly via feeding on mixo‐ and heterotrophic (dino‐) flagellates and detrital complexes during summer. Foraging for essential highly unsaturated FAs from (dino‐) flagellates may have caused night migration of Pseudo‐/Paracalanus spp. from the deep subhalocline waters into the upper waters. Only in the hot summer (SST>19.0°C) was T. longicornis submerged in the colder subthermocline water (~4°C). Thus, the continuous warming trend and simultaneous feeding can eventually lead to competition on the preferred diet by key copepod species below the thermocline in stratified systems. A comparison of δ¹³C patterns of essential AAs in surface mesozooplankton across sub‐basins of low and high cyanobacterial biomasses revealed the potential of δ¹³C‐AA isoscapes for studies of commercial fish feeding trails across the Baltic Sea food webs.     

Evolutionary history predicts high‐impact invasions by herbivorous insects

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Effects of FGF2 and oxygen in the BMP4-driven differentiation of trophoblast from human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) differentiate into trophoblast when treated with BMP4. Here we studied the effects of either low (4% O₂, L) or atmospheric O₂ (20% O₂, A) in the presence and absence of FGF2 on H1 hESC cultured in the presence of BMP4. Differentiation progressed from the periphery toward the center of colonies. It occurred most quickly in the absence of FGF2 and under A and was slowest in the presence of FGF2 and under L. Chorionic gonadotropin (CG) production required A, while FGF2 suppressed progesterone synthesis under both A and L. FGF2 was then omitted while we examined the trophoblast markers SSEA-1 and cytokeratin-7 and-8, whose expression also progressed inward from the periphery of colonies and occurred more rapidly under A than under L. By day 5, most cells outside central islands of Oct4-positive cells were positive for these antigens under both conditions and many also expressed HLA-G, a marker of extravillous cytotrophoblast. Under A, but not L, CG and CGβ became prominent in GATA2-positive, peripherally located, multinucleated cells. In conclusion, BMP4 induced conversion of hESC exclusively toward trophoblast; FGF2 slowed differentiation, while O₂ accelerated this process and promoted syncytiotrophoblast formation.     

High resolution structure and catalysis of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase isozyme B from Escherichia coli

The crystal structure of the dimeric O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase isozyme B from Escherichia coli (CysM), complexed with the substrate analog citrate, has been determined at 1.33 A resolution by X-ray diffraction analysis. The C1-carboxylate of citrate was bound at the carboxylate position of O-acetylserine, whereas the C6-carboxylate adopted two conformations. The activity of the enzyme and of several active center mutants was determined using an assay based on O-acetylserine and thio-nitrobenzoate (TNB). The unnatural substrate TNB was modeled into the reported structure. The substrate model and the observed mutant activities may facilitate future protein engineering attempts designed to broaden the substrate spectrum of the enzyme. A comparison of the reported structure with previously published CysM structures revealed large conformational changes. One of the crystal forms contained two dimers, each of which comprised one subunit in a closed and one in an open conformation. Although the homodimer asymmetry was most probably caused by crystal packing, it indicates that the enzyme can adopt such a state in solution, which may be relevant for the catalytic reaction.     

Structural and functional evolution of the P2Y12-like receptor group

Metabotropic pyrimidine and purine nucleotide receptors (P2Y receptors) belong to the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR). They are distinguishable from adenosine receptors (P1) as they bind adenine and/or uracil nucleotide triphosphates or diphosphates depending on the subtype. Over the past decade, P2Y receptors have been cloned from a variety of tissues and species, and as many as eight functional subtypes have been characterized. Most recently, several members of the P2Y₁₂-like receptor group, which includes the clopidogrel-sensitive ADP receptor P2Y₁₂, have been deorphanized. The P2Y₁₂-like receptor group comprises several structurally related GPCR which, however, display heterogeneous agonist specificity including nucleotides, their derivatives, and lipids. Besides the established function of P2Y₁₂ in platelet activation, expression in macrophages, neuronal and glial cells as well as recent results from functional studies implicate that several members of this group may have specific functions in neurotransmission, inflammation, chemotaxis, and response to tissue injury. This review focuses specifically on the structure-function relation and shortly summarizes some aspects of the physiological relevance of P2Y₁₂-like receptor members.     

Proteomic analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells: selective protein processing observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

In a comparative proteome analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), we analyzed 130 two-dimensional gels obtained from 33 healthy control individuals and 32 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We found 16 protein spots that are deregulated in patients with RA and, using peptide mass fingerprinting and Western blot analyses, identified these spots as belonging to 9 distinct proteins. A hierarchical clustering procedure organizes the study subjects into two main clusters based on the expression of these 16 protein spots, one that contains mostly healthy control individuals and the other mostly RA patients. The majority of the proteins differentially expressed in RA patients when compared with healthy controls can be detected as protein fragments in PBMCs obtained from RA patients. This set of deregulated proteins includes several factors that have been shown to be autoantigens in autoimmune diseases.     

Biological Control of Fireblight (Erwinia amylovora [Burr.] Winslow et al.) on Ornamentals

Several yellow pigmented, rod-shaped bacterial strains with antagonistic activity against E. amylovora had been isolated from blighted ornamental shrubs. Criteria of the mode of action have been investigated under in-vitro conditions and in inoculation experiments. In contrast to the noninhibitory isolates of the same host origin the active forms obviously produce a substantial principle. This is active only under acid conditions, it is heat-stabile, it can be dialyzed and is solublein water and methanol. It is not a phenolic compound. In disease control experiments using culture filtrates of the antagonistic bacterial isolates fireblight could be reduced to a limited extend following shoot tip inoculation of Cotoneaster bullatus under controlled conditions. Compared to application of the living antagonists in the control experiments disease reduction, however, was considerably less expressed.     

Trend Analysis of Biological Parameters in the Baltic (1976-1988)

Eutrophication of the nature is one of the most relevant problems for the human society today. In comparison to terrestrial and limnological ecosystems, however, the marine environment is affected with some exceptions of coastal waters in a minor degree. On the basis of data from 1976–1988 trend analysis for chlorophyll, primary production, zooplankton biomass and water transparency have been carried out for the Mecklenburg Bight and different areas of the Baltic proper. As expected from the longterm increase in the nutrient levels, also for some pelagic biological variables increasing trends could be observed. At least for chlorophyll they are significant in the 95% probability level for all investigated areas. Primary production shows also an increase, however, not significant for each subarea. For zooplankton nearly no changes could be observed. All data reflect a high interannual variability, which can partly be explained by meteorological and oceanological conditions. The results are discussed from an ecological point of view. The increase in phytoplankton variables is considered to be at least partly related to the eutrophication of the Baltic.     

CCME, a nuclear-encoded heme-binding protein involved in cytochrome c maturation in plant mitochondria

The maturation of c-type cytochromes requires the covalent attachment of the heme cofactor to the apoprotein. For this process, plant mitochondria follow a pathway distinct from that of animal or yeast mitochondria, closer to that found in alpha- and gamma-proteobacteria. We report the first characterization of a nuclear-encoded component, namely AtCCME, the Arabidopsis thaliana orthologue of CcmE, a periplasmic heme chaperone in bacteria. AtCCME is targeted to mitochondria, and its N-terminal signal peptide is cleaved upon import. AtCCME is a peripheral protein of the mitochondrial inner membrane, and its major hydrophilic domain is oriented toward the intermembrane space. Although a AtCCME (Met(79)-Ser(256)) is not fully able to complement an Escherichia coli CcmE mutant strain for bacterial holocytochrome c production, it is able to bind heme covalently through a conserved histidine, a feature previously shown for E. coli CcmE. Our results suggest that AtCCME is important for cytochrome c maturation in A. thaliana mitochondria and that its heme-binding function has been conserved evolutionary between land plant mitochondria and alpha-proteobacteria.