Woody plant encroachment in granite barrens on the Frontenac Arch,eastern Ontario,Canada

Aims

Woody plant encroachment is a widespread phenomenon affecting treeless or sparsely treed habitats. We aimed to determine the extent and timing of tree and shrub encroachment into rock barrens of eastern Ontario over the last century, and to assess implications for their ongoing management.

Location

Queen's University Biological Station in the Frontenac Arch ecoregion.

Methods

We quantified the extent of change in woody vegetation in 290 rock barrens using aerial photography from 1925, 1965, and 2008. Composition and structure of woody plant communities in 10 barrens was subsequently quantified in the field using plot-based sampling. Cores or cross-sections were obtained from individuals >1.5 m height and dendrochronological techniques were used to determine their age and identify temporal patterns of any woody encroachment.

Results

Aerial photography indicated that the mean proportion of woody plant cover in barrens increased 22.5% from 1925 to 2008. Dendroecological analysis supported this. Few trees were present prior to 1900 and most established since 1960. Fraxinus americana, Juniperus virginiana, and Juniperus communis were the most common woody species colonizing the barrens. Remnants of large Pinus strobus stumps with extensive charring were found in 90% of the sampled barrens at a mean density of 22.6 stumps ha⁻¹.

Conclusions

Rock barrens on the Frontenac Arch have changed substantially over the past century; gradually being colonized by trees and shrubs and losing their distinctly open character. Active management — including prescribed fire and mechanical thinning — may be necessary if there is a desire to maintain these barrens and the rare species they support as components of the region's biodiversity. However, identification of a reference state for restoration is complicated by the fact that the structure and composition of these habitats were undoubtedly altered by European land clearance in the 19th century, and that some of these areas likely existed as pine woodlands before that.     

Cytoskeleton modifications induced by phenobarbital, 2-acetylaminofluorene and 4-acetylaminofluorene in normal and initiated/selected hepatocytes: Relation with the “resistant” phenotype

Initiatedlselected (ISH) and normal (NH) rat hepatocytes were used to study cytoskeleton modifications induced by three liver acting chemicals: 2-AAF, a liver complete carcinogen; PB, a liver tumor promoter; and 4-AAF, a noncarcinogen analogue of 2-AAF. Cytoskeleton alterations were visualized by disappearance of F-actin fibers and tubulin depolymerization. The three drugs induced actin fragmentation in normal hepatocytes; a net loss of actin protein was observed with PB. They also induced varied tubulin depolymerization. The principal difference between chemicals is that 2-AAF led to non-reversible effects, in comparison with PB and 4-AAF which induced reversible damages on cytoskeleton. By contrast to normal hepatocytes, the cytoskeleton of ISH obtained from rats subjected to the resistant hepatocyte protocol was much less susceptible to the effect of the three chemicals. Moreover, we observed a lack of LDH release in the culture medium and a very rapid inducibility of GST activity after exposure of ISH to drugs. The moderate effect of the three chemicals on actin and tubdin in ISH could thus be explained by the resistant metabolic profile of these cells.Abbreviations TPA 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate - PB phenobarbital - 2-AAF 2-acetylaminofluorene - 4-AAF 4-acetylaminofluorene - GSH reduced glutathione - GST glutathione-S-transferase - LDH lactatedehydrogenase - NH normal hepatocytes - ISH initiated/selected hepatocytes - BSA bovine serum albumin     

A peptide containing a novel FPGN CD40-binding sequence enhances adenoviral infection of murine and human dendritic cells.

CD40 is a receptor with numerous functions in the activation of antigen presenting cells (APCs), particularly dendritic cells (DC). Using phage display technology, we identified linear peptides containing a novel FPGN/S consensus sequence that enhances the binding of phage to a purified murine CD40-immunoglobulin (Ig) fusion protein (CD40-Ig), but not to Ig alone. To examine the ability the FPGN/S peptides to enhance adenoviral infection of CD40-positive cells, we used bifunctional peptides consisting of an FPGN-containing peptide covalently linked to an adenoviral knob-binding peptide (KBP). One of these, FPGN2-KBP, was able to enhance adenoviral infection of both murine and human DCs in a dose-dependent manner. FPGN2-KBP also improved infection of murine B cell blasts, a murine B lymphoma cell line (L10A), and immortalized human B cells. To demonstrate that enhancement of adenoviral infection depended on the presence of CD40, we analyzed infection of the breast cancer line, SKBR3, that does not express CD40 or the adenovirus cellular receptor, CAR. Infection of SKBR3 cells was enhanced by FPGN2-KBP following transient transfection with a plasmid vector that expresses murine CD40, but not when the cells were mock-transfected. In conclusion, we have isolated a peptide that binds to murine CD40, and promotes the uptake of adenoviruses into CD40-expressing cells of both murine and human origin, suggesting that it may have potential applications for antigen delivery to CD40-positive antigen-presenting cells.     

Heritability of adult body height: a comparative study of twin cohorts in eight countries.

A major component of variation in body height is due to genetic differences, but environmental factors have a substantial contributory effect. In this study we aimed to analyse whether the genetic architecture of body height varies between affluent western societies. We analysed twin data from eight countries comprising 30,111 complete twin pairs by using the univariate genetic model of the Mx statistical package. Body height and zygosity were self-reported in seven populations and measured directly in one population. We found that there was substantial variation in mean body height between countries; body height was least in Italy (177 cm in men and 163 cm in women) and greatest in the Netherlands (184 cm and 171 cm, respectively). In men there was no corresponding variation in heritability of body height, heritability estimates ranging from 0.87 to 0.93 in populations under an additive genes/unique environment (AE) model. Among women the heritability estimates were generally lower than among men with greater variation between countries, ranging from 0.68 to 0.84 when an additive genes/shared environment/unique environment (ACE) model was used. In four populations where an AE model fit equally well or better, heritability ranged from 0.89 to 0.93. This difference between the sexes was mainly due to the effect of the shared environmental component of variance, which appears to be more important among women than among men in our study populations. Our results indicate that, in general, there are only minor differences in the genetic architecture of height between affluent Caucasian populations, especially among men.     

Benzothiadiazole induces disease resistance in Arabidopsis by activation of the systemic acquired resistance signal transduction pathway

Benzothiadiazole (BTH) is a novel chemical activator of disease resistance in tobacco, wheat and other important agricultural plants. In this report, it is shown that BTH works by activating SAR in Arabidopsis thaliana. BTH-treated plants were resistant to infection by turnip crinkle virus, Pseudomonas syringae pv ‘tomato’ DC3000 and Peronospora parasitica. Chemical treatment induced accumulation of mRNAs from the SAR-associated genes, PR-1, PR-2 and PR-5. BTH treatment induced both PR-1 mRNA accumulation and resistance against P. parasitica in the ethylene response mutants, etr1 and ein2, and in the methyl jasmonate-insensitive mutant, jar1, suggesting that BTH action is independent of these plant hormones. BTH treatment also induced both PR-1 mRNA accumulation and P. parasitica resistance in transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the nahG gene, suggesting that BTH action does not require salicylic acid accumulation. However, because BTH-treatment failed to induce either PR-1 mRNA accumulation or P. parasitica resistance in the non-inducible immunity mutant, nim1, it appears that BTH activates the SAR signal transduction pathway.     

Insulin-like growth factor I levels decrease in the development of diabetes inMacaca nigra

Members of the monkey speciesMacaca nigra spontaneously develop impairments in insulin secretion and glucose clearance, and eventually become overtly diabetic. Changes in certain metabolic signals such as clearance of glucose and insulin increment secreted in an intravenous glucose tolerance test have allowed the identification of four stages in the progression from non-diabetes to diabetes in monkeys — non-diabetic, hormonally impaired, borderline diabetic, and diabetic. Recently, another metabolic stage, hyperinsulinemic, was also identified in these animals. In recent years, other factors besides those listed above have been implicated to be correlated with the metabolic progression from a nondiabetic to a diabetic state. One of these factors, is insulin like growth factor I (IGF-I). In diabetic humans who are in poor metabolic control, and in rats with streptozotocin induced ketotic diabetes, serum levels of IGF-I are lowered by as much as 40–50% of control non-diabetics. If indeed decreased IGF-I levels are correlated with the onset of diabetes then changes in IGF-I concentrations prior to the clinically diagnosed disease state would be expected. Using serum samples collected from different animals in a colony ofMacaca nigra in a variety of metabolic states, we have found that IGF-I and insulin levels decrease in each defined metabolic state as the animals progress from nondiabetic to diabetic. Since IGF-I and insulin levels decrease in a similar fashion in the progression of this disease then this maybe indicative of the coordinate expression of these two factors.     

Effects of UV-B radiation and nitrogen starvation on enzyme activities in isolated plasma membranes of Euglena gracilis

Circadian rhythms are characteristic of many physiological and biochemical processes in the freshwater flagellate Euglena gracilis. Earlier, we found that the rhythms of photosynthesis, phototaxis and cell shape followed the same pattern in control organisms, but were differently affected by stress such as UV-B irradiation and nitrogen deficiency. Here we extend our studies to use isolated plasma membranes to characterize the rhythms of some plasma membrane-bound enzymes. Also, we wanted to see whether stress-induced changes of these rhythms could be detected at the subcellular level and possibly be coupled to the changes seen in photosynthesis, phototaxis and cell shape. The isolation of plasma membranes using aqueous polymer two-phase partitioning was successful, as judged by the large enrichment of the plasma membrane-marker 5′-nucleotidase, and the difference in the polypeptide pattern compared with the microsomal fraction from which it was prepared. Two other enzymes were analyzed, K⁺, Mg²⁺-ATPase, and adenylyl cyclase. The specific activities of all three enzymes were decreased by UV-B radiation by ca 30–50%, compared with the control cultures. On the other hand, nitrogen deficiency not only reduced the activity of the K⁺.Mg²⁺-ATPase but also increased the activities of the 5′-nucleotidase and adenylyl cyclase. The different treatments also resulted in differences in polypeptide pattern, e.g., a polypeptide around 30 kDa seemed to be specific to plasma membranes of nitrogen-deficient cultures and one at 39 kDa for the UV-B radiated ones. All three enzymes showed diurnal rhythms that were affected by UV-B radiation. The peak in the rhythm of the ATPase was shifted by UV-B radiation, the rhythm of the 5′-nucleotidase nearly eliminated. The first peak of adenylyl cyclase activity was delayed, so that it looked more like a broad peak between 2 and 11 h after the onset of light. The rhythm of ATPase activity could be correlated with that of photosynthesis in both control and UV-B irradiated cultures. Also, the rhythms of adenylyl cyclase activity and cell shape changes showed some similarities.