Rioarribasaurus,a new name for a Late Triassic dinosaur from New Mexico (USA)

The Late-Triassic-dinosaur generic nameCoelophysis Cope 1889 (type species C.bauri [Cope 1887]) is a nomen dubium because the lectotype of C.bauri, AMNH 2722, is four sacral vertebrae and a pubic process of the ilium that are not diagnostic. Dinosaur specimens from the famous Whitaker (“Coelophysis”) quarry in the Rock Point Member of the Chinle Formation at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico thus lack a valid name. We create a new genus and species name,Rioarribasaurus colberti, for these specimens.     

The Maintenance of Single-Locus Polymorphism. I. Numerical Studies of a Viability Selection Model

The ability of viability selection to maintain single-locus polymorphism is investigated with two models in which the population is bombarded with a series of mutations with random fitnesses. In the first model, the population is allowed to reach equilibrium before mutation resumes; in the second the iterations and mutation occur simultaneously. Monte Carlo simulations of these models show that viability selection is easily able to maintain stable 6- or 7-allele polymorphisms and that monomorphisms and diallelic polymorphisms are uncommon. The question of how monomorphisms arise is also discussed.     

Bialaphos selection of stable transformants from maize cell culture

Summary Stable transformed Black Mexican Sweet (BMS) maize callus was recovered from suspension culture cells bombarded with plasmid DNA that conferred resistance to the herbicide bialaphos. Suspension culture cells were bombarded with a mixture of two plasmids. One plasmid contained a selectable marker gene, bar, which encoded phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT), and the other plasmid encoded a screenable marker for -glucuronidase (GUS). Bombarded cells were selected on medium containing the herbicide bialaphos, which is cleaved in plant cells to yield phosphinothricin (PPT), an inhibitor of glutamine synthetase. The bialaphos-resistant callus contained the bar gene and expressed PAT as assayed by PPT inactivation. Transformants that expressed high levels of PAT grew more rapidly on increasing concentrations of bialaphos than transformants expressing low levels of PAT. Fifty percent of the bialaphos-resistant transformants tested (8 of 16) expressed the nonselected gene encoding GUS.     

Effect of temperature on the spectral properties of coenzyme F420 and related compounds.

The uv-visible spectra of 7,8-didemethyl-8-hydroxy-5-deazaflavin-5'-phosphoryllactyl glutamate (coenzyme F420), a naturally occurring 5-deazaflavin derivative, in three different buffers changed with a rise in temperature; the effect on the extinction coefficient at 420 nm (epsilon 420) was as follows: In phosphate-buffered solutions at pH less than 7.5, the epsilon 420 increased (at pH 5.0 for a temperature shift from 15 to 60 degrees C, delta epsilon 420 was +87%), but between pH 7.5 and 8, epsilon 420 changed very little. At pH greater than 8.0 in phosphate- or borate-buffered solutions, epsilon 420 decreased slightly. In morpholineethanesulfonic acid (Mes)-buffered F420 solutions at pH 5 and 5.5, epsilon 420 changed very little, whereas at pH 6-8, the epsilon 420 decreased. Absorbance of F420 at 401 nm in phosphate buffer at pH 5 to 9 was not significantly affected by temperature. Changes in epsilon 420 due to temperature change corresponded to changes in the pKa of 8-OH of the deazaflavin molecule; studies with adenylated F420 showed that the 8-OH of F420 was responsible for these changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Perceptual constraints on optimal foraging: The effects of variation among foragers

Summary We present a simple model of habitat selection in which individuals differ in their ability to discriminate between resource sites' profitabilities. The model investigates the effects of violating the ideal assumption of the well-known ideal free distribution (IFD). We show that (1) variability in perceptual limits within a population can significantly change the distribution of foraging animals even though the mean perceptual limit is the same, (2) the direction of this change depends on the proportion of the population that choose randomly between resource sites and (3) better perceivers are more likely to be found at individually more profitable sites, which, because of undermatching with respect to the IFD, are also the absolutely more profitable sites. We note that variability in perceptual limits almost always led to an undermatching of organisms to resources, thereby extending previous workers' results implying that the incorporation of any form of perceptual limits leads to undermatching with respect to the IFD.