Zum Einflu? einer Autobahn im Bau und w?hrend des Betriebs auf die Brutbiologie von Kohlmeisen (Parus major) und Blaumeisen (P. caeruleus)

Zusammenfassung Im Februar 1992 wurde an der in Bau befindlichen Autobahn BAB 66 zwischen Steinau und Schlüchtern (5021'N, 0931'E) ein Nistkastenkontrollgebiet mit 310 Nistkästen eingerichtet, um die Auswirkungen der Autobahn vor und nach Inbetriebnahme auf die Brutbiologie von Meisen zu untersuchen. Als Vergleichsgebiete dienen ein direkt benachbartes sowie ein ca. 5 km entferntes Untersuchungsgebiet. Zum Vergleich der Gewichtsentwicklung der Nestlinge wurde ein drittes autobahnfernes Gebiet herangezogen.In einzelnen Jahren finden sich zwischen den Gebieten Unterschiede in der Zusammensetzung der Brutpopulation, der Besetzungsrate der Nistkästen, dem Legebeginn, der Gelegegröße, der Schlüpfrate oder im Bruterfolg. Diese Unterschiede treten in verschiedenen Jahren und in unterschiedlichen Gebieten auf, so daß sich keine generelle Abweichung des Gebietes an der Autobahn von den straßenfernen Gebieten feststellen läßt. Die Eröffnung der Autobahn hatte keinen Effekt auf die untersuchten Parameter.Die Gewichte der Nestlinge im Gebiet an der Autobahn waren im Jahr 1996 nur am 12. und 13. Nestlingstag signifikant geringer als die Gewichte der Nestlinge in einem autobahnfernen gleichartig strukturierten Biotop. Die Ausflugsgewichte der Jungvögel an der A66 liegen jedoch ca. 2 g höher als in städtischen Biotopen.Störungen durch den Straßenverkehr, wie sie von anderen Autoren berichtet werden, ließen sich in unserem Untersuchungsgebiet nicht feststellen. In diesem Zusammenhang werden die geringe Störungsempfindlichkeit der Kohl- und Blaumeisen sowie der bisher geringe Verkehr auf der Autobahn diskutiert.

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The impact of a motorway in construction and after opening to traffic on the breeding biology of Great Tit (Parus major) and Blue Tit (P. caeruleus)

Summary In February 1992, a study area (A 66) with 310 nestboxes was installed along the construction line of a four laned motorway between Steinau and Schlüchtern (5021'N, 0931'E). One area in the immediate neighbourhood (VG1) and one 5 km distant (VG2) from the study area at the motorway (see Fig. 1) served as controls for comparison. In all three areas, the nestboxes were checked weekly during the breeding season from the beginning of May until July. Species composition of the birds using nestboxes, rate of occupation of nestboxes, and, for Great Tits (Parus major) and Blue Tits (P. caeruleus), date of the first egg, clutch size, hatching rate and number of birds fledged were recorded. The study included 5 breeding seasons from 1992 to 1996, 3 years during the period of construction and 2 years after the opening of the motorway to traffic in December 1994. In 1996, the nestling weight of 20 broods of Great Tits at the A66 was recorded daily and compared with that of all nestlings in another study area (VG3, see Fig. 1).The data were analyzed separately for each year. Distributions of frequencies were analyzed with the x² test, the other data with the Kruskal-Wallis-Test (H-Test). In case of significant differences between the study areas, the Mann Whitney U-test was used to determine which study area differed from the others. Nestlings bodymass was compared using the t-test.The species composition was similar in all three areas (Fig. 2), and it did not change after the opening of the motorway to traffic. The rate of occupation of the nestboxes, dates of laying of the first egg, clutch size, hatching rate and breeding success vary between years and between study areas (Table 1 to 5); data that differ significantly from those of two other areas are indicated by bold print. Such differences were observed in various years and involved all three areas. In study area A66, clutch size of Great Tits was higher in 1993; hatching success of Great Tits was lower in 1994 and that of Blue Tits was lower in 1993. However, there was no general trend that area A66 at the motorway was different from the other areas, either before or after being opened to the traffic. The weight of nestlings in study area A66 at the motorway was similar to that in comparable area nearby; only on day 12 and 13 after hatching was it slightly lower (Tab. 6). The last measurement on day 15 indicates a nestling weight of 16.2 g for the area at the motorway, which is in normal for deciduous forest habitats and approximately 2 g higher than that recorded in urban habitats.In brief, the motorway did not affect the species composition, rate of occupied nestboxes or the various breeding parameters; in particular, the moving traffic after opening did not seem to have any effect. The breeding parameters from the study area at the motorway were typical for the Schlüchtern region. Density reductions in breeding populations, as discussed by several authors, or disturbances caused by moving traffic, as previously reported, were not observed in our study. However, our key species, Great Tits and Blue Tits, are not generally very sensitive to interferences. Also, the level of traffic on the motorway was still rather low. This must be considered when our findings are generalized.

     

Recognition of a shared human prostate cancer-associated antigen by nonclassical MHC-restricted CD8+ T cells

To identify prostate cancer-associated Ags, tumor-reactive T lymphocytes were generated using iterative stimulations of PBMC from a prostate cancer patient with an autologous IFN-gamma-treated carcinoma cell line in the presence of IL-2. A CD8+ T cell line and TCR alphabeta+ T cell clone were isolated that secreted IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in response to autologous prostate cancer cells but not to autologous fibroblasts or lymphoblastoid cells. However, these T cells recognized several normal and malignant prostate epithelial cell lines without evidence of shared classical HLA molecules. The T cell line and clone also recognized colon cancers, but not melanomas, sarcomas, or lymphomas, suggesting recognition of a shared epithelium-associated Ag presented by nonclassical MHC or MHC-like molecules. Although Ag recognition by T cells was inhibited by mAb against CD8 and the TCR complex (anti-TCR alphabeta, CD3, Vbeta12), it was not inhibited by mAb directed against MHC class Ia or MHC class II molecules. Neither target expression of CD1 molecules nor HLA-G correlated with T cell recognition, but beta2-microglobulin expression was essential. Ag expression was diminished by brefeldin A, lactacystin, and cycloheximide, but not by chloroquine, consistent with an endogenous/cytosolic Ag processed through the classical class I pathway. These results suggest that prostate cancer and colon cancer cells can process and present a shared peptidic Ag to TCR alphabeta+ T cells via a nonclassical MHC I-like molecule yet to be defined.     

Differential Activation of Acid Sphingomyelinase and Ceramide Release Determines Invasiveness of Neisseria meningitidis into Brain Endothelial Cells

The interaction with brain endothelial cells is central to the pathogenicity of Neisseria meningitidis infections. Here, we show that N. meningitidis causes transient activation of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) followed by ceramide release in brain endothelial cells. In response to N. meningitidis infection, ASM and ceramide are displayed at the outer leaflet of the cell membrane and condense into large membrane platforms which also concentrate the ErbB2 receptor. The outer membrane protein Opc and phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C that is activated upon binding of the pathogen to heparan sulfate proteoglycans, are required for N. meningitidis-mediated ASM activation. Pharmacologic or genetic ablation of ASM abrogated meningococcal internalization without affecting bacterial adherence. In accordance, the restricted invasiveness of a defined set of pathogenic isolates of the ST-11/ST-8 clonal complex into brain endothelial cells directly correlated with their restricted ability to induce ASM and ceramide release. In conclusion, ASM activation and ceramide release are essential for internalization of Opc-expressing meningococci into brain endothelial cells, and this segregates with invasiveness of N. meningitidis strains.     

Substrataufnahme und Phosphatstoffwechsel bei Ankistrodesmus braunii

Summary The findings of Jacobi (1959) that glycolate enhances the uptake and the incorporation of ³²P-labelled orthophosphate were re-investigated. In contrast to the findings of Jacobi we found that glycolic acid has no effect at concentrations between 10^-3 and 10^-7M. The effect reported by Jacobi was seen only when instead of glycolic acid Na-glycolate was used in the experiments, as it was done by Jacobi. Further experiments showed that the enhancement of ³²P-incorporation is due only to the Na⁺-ions and not to glycolic acid. In addition it was found that up to pH 4,3 no glycolic acid is resorbed from the medium by cells of Ankistrodesmus braunii.     

Genomic landscape of rat strain and substrain variation

Background

Since the completion of the rat reference genome in 2003, whole-genome sequencing data from more than 40 rat strains have become available. These data represent the broad range of strains that are used in rat research including commonly used substrains. Currently, this wealth of information cannot be used to its full extent, because the variety of different variant calling algorithms employed by different groups impairs comparison between strains. In addition, all rat whole genome sequencing studies to date used an outdated reference genome for analysis (RGSC3.4 released in 2004).

Results

Here we present a comprehensive, multi-sample and uniformly called set of genetic variants in 40 rat strains, including 19 substrains. We reanalyzed all primary data using a recent version of the rat reference assembly (RGSC5.0 released in 2012) and identified over 12 million genomic variants (SNVs, indels and structural variants) among the 40 strains. 28,318 SNVs are specific to individual substrains, which may be explained by introgression from other unsequenced strains and ongoing evolution by genetic drift. Substrain SNVs may have a larger predicted functional impact compared to older shared SNVs.

Conclusions

In summary we present a comprehensive catalog of uniformly analyzed genetic variants among 40 widely used rat inbred strains based on the RGSC5.0 assembly. This represents a valuable resource, which will facilitate rat functional genomic research. In line with previous observations, our genome-wide analyses do not show evidence for contribution of multiple ancestral founder rat subspecies to the currently used rat inbred strains, as is the case for mouse. In addition, we find that the degree of substrain variation is highly variable between strains, which is of importance for the correct interpretation of experimental data from different labs.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1594-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Short communication. A steep Ca2[IMAGE]-dependence of a K[IMAGE] channel in a unicellular green alga

An increase of cytosolic Ca² in the unicellular green alga Eremosphaera viridis activities Ca²-dependent K channels causing a hyperpolarization of the plasma membrane. Data from parallel calcium, and potential measurements were combined with I/V relationships. This yielded a steep Ca²-dependence of K channels with a co-operativity of 4 and an affinity of 300 nM.Key words: Eremosphaera viridis, plasma membrane, Ca²-dependent K channel, co-operative binding.      

Über den Einfluß der Vorbelichtung auf die anschließende Phosphorylierung im Dunkeln bei einzelligen Grünalgen (Ankistrodesmus braunii)

Zusammenfassung Wird einzelligen Algen (Ankistrodesmus braunii) nach Vorbelichtung in anschließender Dunkelheit ³²P-markiertes Phosphat geboten, so tritt gegenüber Dauerdunkel eine erhebliche Förderung der ³²P-Einlagerung auf. Die nach Vorbelichtung bestimmte Markierung der aufgetrennten Phosphatfraktionen ähnelt sehr derjenigen im Dauerlicht. Die erhöhte Dunkelphosphorylierung nach Vorbelichtung hängt von der CO₂-Konzentration, von der Lichtintensität und der Zeit der Vorbelichtung ab. Unter den vorliegenden Bedingungen waren 7 min Vorbelichtung zur maximalen Förderung nötig. Die Halbwertzeit des Abklingens betrug etwa 4 min.Aus den Experimenten geht hervor, daß durch die Belichtung der Algen auch in vivo ein Zustand gebildet wird, der noch nach Belichtung eine Zeitlang im Dumkeln eine Erhöhung der ³²P-Einlagerung erlaubt.Es wird diskutiert, ob es sich einerseits um die Bildung einer im Licht reduzierten Substanz R handeln könnte, die für eine begrenzte Zeit in Dunkelheit noch einen cyclischen, mit Phosphorylierung gekoppelten Elektronentransport aufrechterhalten kann. Andererseits könnte durch die Vorbelichtung ein energiereiches Zwischenprodukt X _E — oder auch ein Protonenpool — gebildet werden, das bei dem Energietransfer vom Elektronentransportsystem zur ATP aufgebaut wird. Schließlich muß berücksichtigt werden, daß durch die Vorbelichtung an den Chloroplastenmembranen ein verstärkter ATP-Pi-Austausch zustande kommen könnte, der nach Belichtung nur langsam abklingt.

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Influence of preillumination on subsequent phosphorylation in the darkness of unicellular green algae (Ankistrodesmus braunii)

Summary Preilluminated unicellular green algae (Ankistrodesmus braunii) were treated in the subsequent darkness with ³²PO₄. The post-illumination dark incorporation was considerably increased compared with the control in continuous dark. The labeling of the separated phosphate-fractions was similar to that of continuous light. The light-induced dark incorporation depended from the light intensity as well as from the time of preillumination. A preillumination of 7 min was required for a maximal enhancement of this preillumination effect. On the other hand the effect diminished in darkness with a half life of approximately 4 min. Finally the enhancement was found to be greater in the absence of CO₂ than in the presence of CO₂.The experiments demonstrate the light-induced formation of a state in the algae, which permits the enhancement of ³²P-incorporation into several phosphate-fractions for a limited time during subsequent darkness.It is discussed, that this may be performed through the formation of a light-reduced substance R maintaining for a limited time a cyclic electron transport in darkness, coupled with phosphorylation. On the other hand it seems possible, that preillumination induces a high energy intermediate X _E—this could also be a pool of protons—formed in the course of energy-transfer from electron transport to ATP-formation. But we must consider also the possibility that light accellerates the ATP-Pi exchange on chloroplast-membranes for a time after preillumination.

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Abkürzungen ATP Adenosintriphosphat - ADP Adenosindiphosphat - Pi Orthophosphat - Poly-P anorganisches Polyphosphat - RNS Ribonucleinsäure - TCE Trichloressigsäure - 2,4-DNP 2,4-Dinitrophenol Stipendiat der Nishina-Gedächtnis-Stiftung (Japan) für 1963.