Environmental,geographical and time-related impacts on avian malaria infections in native and introduced populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), a globally invasive species

Aim

The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations.

Location

Global.

Time period

2002–2019.

Major taxa studied

Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows.

Methods

We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests.

Results

Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected.

Main conclusions

Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows.     

The structure of F1-ATPase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae inhibited by its regulatory protein IF1

The structure of F₁-ATPase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae inhibited by the yeast IF₁ has been determined at 2.5 Å resolution. The inhibitory region of IF₁ from residues 1 to 36 is entrapped between the C-terminal domains of the α_DP- and β_DP-subunits in one of the three catalytic interfaces of the enzyme. Although the structure of the inhibited complex is similar to that of the bovine-inhibited complex, there are significant differences between the structures of the inhibitors and their detailed interactions with F₁-ATPase. However, the most significant difference is in the nucleotide occupancy of the catalytic β_E-subunits. The nucleotide binding site in β_E-subunit in the yeast complex contains an ADP molecule without an accompanying magnesium ion, whereas it is unoccupied in the bovine complex. Thus, the structure provides further evidence of sequential product release, with the phosphate and the magnesium ion released before the ADP molecule.     

The BLOC-1 complex promotes endosomal maturation by recruiting the Rab5 GTPase-activating protein Msb3

Membrane microcompartments of the early endosomes serve as a sorting and signaling platform, where receptors are either recycled back to the plasma membrane or forwarded to the lysosome for destruction. In metazoan cells, three complexes, termed BLOC-1 to -3, mediate protein sorting from the early endosome to lysosomes and lysosome-related organelles. We now demonstrate that BLOC-1 is an endosomal Rab-GAP (GTPase-activating protein) adapter complex in yeast. The yeast BLOC-1 consisted of six subunits, which localized interdependently to the endosomes in a Rab5/Vps21-dependent manner. In the absence of BLOC-1 subunits, the balance between recycling and degradation of selected cargoes was impaired. Additionally, our data show that BLOC-1 is both a Vps21 effector and an adapter for its GAP Msb3. BLOC-1 and Msb3 interacted in vivo, and both mutants resulted in a redistribution of active Vps21 to the vacuole surface. We thus conclude that BLOC-1 controls the lifetime of active Rab5/Vps21 and thus endosomal maturation along the endocytic pathway.     

Strategies for genetic conservation of trees in the Peruvian Amazon

Forestry practices and high rates of land clearance for agriculture are causing genetic erosion of valuable tree species in the Peruvian Amazon, thereby endangering the economic sustainability of rural communities and limiting Peru's opportunities for the development of new timber and non-timber forest products. The potential utility and limitations of six low-input interventions to help forestall further genetic erosion in the region are discussed, with a focus on local community involvement. Improved agroforestry systems may help reduce deforestation by increasing farm productivity, although methods to increase the currently low adoption rate of these technologies need to be developed. Use of strategic tree domestication techniques can also improve farm productivity and prevent inadvertent genetic drift and inbreeding associated with traditional domestication practices, although to have a major impact, current programs need to be extended across the region. Woodlot forestry could supplant selective extraction of timber and offers an attractive opportunity for poverty alleviation if appropriate credit and land tenure policies can be developed. However, it may also result in increased deforestation if activities on public land cannot be controlled. The implementation of improved seed collection systems and simple seed transfer guidelines would help to reduce the collection of seed of poor quality and low genetic diversity, and avoid maladapted plantings, although such programs are difficult to monitor and seed costs may increase. Strategic identification and design of in situ conservation areas would help to ensure the viability of conserved populations, but requires the forfeiture of significant revenue from timber concessions.     

Peptide utilization in Escherichia coli: Studies with peptides containing β-alanyl residues

A glycine auxotroph of Escherichia coli can utilize glycine oligopeptides as a source of its required amino acid. Glycylglycyl-β-alanine and β-alanylglycylglycine are both readily hydrolysed by intracellular peptidases, but only the former supports growth of the glycine auxotroph. Glycylglycyl-β-alanine is not nutritionally active towards a glycine mutant that is unable to transport oligopeptides. The nutritional responses to these β-alanine peptides are interpreted in terms of the structural requirements of the oligopeptide transport system, for which an α-peptide bond is required but the C-terminal α-carboxyl group is not essential. Dipeptides of β-alanine are generally poor sources of amino acids for auxotrophs of E. coli, although β-alanylhistidine (carnosine) is as effective as the free amino acid in supporting growth of a histidine auxotroph; this observation does not accord with the structural requirements established for dipeptide transport in general, and may indicate a separate uptake process. The results are related to the occurrence of β-alanyl peptides in the normal environment of enteric bacteria, and to the known ability of the intestine to transport carnosine.     

Dopamine produces muscle contractions and modulates motoneuron-induced contractions inAplysia gill

1. Dopamine has been reported to exist in unusually large quantities in Aplysia gill. The physiological role of this neurotransmitter in this organ was examined. 2. The addition of dopamine to a gill perfusate results in the contractions of the lateral and medial external pinnule muscles, the circular and longitudinal muscles of the afferent vessel, and the circular muscles of the efferent vessel. 3. Dopamine-induced contractions persist after chemical synaptic transmission is eliminated in the gill. This suggests that excitatory dopamine receptors are present on gill smooth muscle fibers themselves. 4. Dopamine also potentiates the gill response to action potentials in single identified gill motoneurons. Evidence presented suggests that muscle contractions and modulation of motoneuron contractions are independent phenomena. 5. While modulation may in part be mediated by increases in excitatory junction potential (EJP) amplitude, in many cases large increases in muscle contractions occur while the enhancement of EJPs is disproportionately small. 6. Dopamine's ability to produce muscle contractions suggests that there may be dopaminergic motoneuron innervation of the gill. We suggest that dopamine's modulatory actions may be mediated via modification of excitation-contraction coupling in smooth muscle fibers.     

Direct evidence for the presence of a rotenone-resistant NADH dehydrogenase on the inner surface of the inner membrane of plant mitochondria

Submitochondrial particles (SMP) were produced from Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) mitochondria by sonication and differential centrifugation. The SMP were about 50% inside-out as measured by the access of reduced cytochrome c to cytochrome c oxidase. Uncoupled NADH oxidation (1 mM NADH) by the SMP was 120 nmol O₂ min^?1mg^?1, which was reduced to 98 nmol O₂ min^?1 (mg mitochondrial protein)^?1 in the presence of EGTA. In contrast, the oxidation of NADH by intact mitochondria was completely inhibited by EGTA (from 182 to 14 nmol O₂ min^?1mg^?1). The EGTA-resistant NADH oxidation by the SMP is ascribed to the NADH dehydrogenase(s) on the inside of the inner membrane and exposed to the medium in the inside-out SMP. In the presence of EGTA it could be shown that two NADH dehydrogenase activities were present in the SMP. One had an apparent K_m of 7 μM for NADH, a V_max of 80 nmol NADH min^?1mg^?1, and was rotenone-sensitive. This dehydrogenase is equivalent to the mammalian Complex I NADH dehydrogenase. The other dehydrogenase, which was rotenone-resistant, had a K_m of 80 μM and a V_max of 131 nmol NADH min^?1mg^?1; it is probably responsible for the rotenone-resistant oxidation of organic acids often observed in plant mitochondria. The redox poise of the pyridine nucleotides had only a small effect on the relative rates of the two internal dehydrogenases. Electron flow through these dehydrogenases appears, therefore, to be regulated mainly by the concentration of NADH in the matrix of the mitochondria.     

Characterization of tetanus toxins and toxin components by amino terminal analyses

Extract tetanus toxin, filtrate tetanus toxin, and the heavy and light chains of filtrate toxin were analyzed for their amino termini with 4-N,N-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4′isothiocyanate and phenylisothiocyanate. Extract toxin (intracellular toxin) is a single-chain polypeptide with proline as the amino terminus. Filtrate toxin (extracellular toxin) is a mixture of species produced by endogenous proteases, and showed three major amino terminal residues, proline, asparagine, and serine. Cleavage points in the filtrate toxin molecule appear to be on either side of a disulfide bond. Reductive and nonreductive preparative electrophoresis of filtrate toxin produce different species of light and heavy chains. The light chains have a single amino terminus of proline, indicating that the light chain is the amino terminal portion of the toxin molecule. The heavy chains showed no proline but rather asparagine and serine as the major amino termini. Small amounts of other amino terminal residues were present, indicating microheterogenity at the cleavage sites in the toxin. The results permit the construction of a model of tetanus toxin which is consistent with the fragments obtained from either reductive or nonreductive preparative electrophoresis of filtrate toxin.     

Isolation and characterization of terminally differentiated chicken and rat skeletal muscle myoblasts

The ability of skeletal muscle myoblasts to differentiate in the absence of spontaneous fusion was studied in cultures derived from chicken embryo leg muscle, rat myoblast lines L6 and L8, and the mouse myoblast line G8. Following 48–96 hr of culture in a low-Ca²⁺ (25 μm), Mg²⁺-depleted medium, chicken myoblasts exhibited only 3–5% fusion whereas up to 64% of the cells fused in control cultures. Depletion of Mg²⁺ led to preferential elimination of fibroblasts, with the result that 97% of the mononucleated cells remaining at 120 hr exhibited a bipolar morphology and stained with antibodies directed against M-creatine kinase, skeletal muscle myosin, and desmin. Mononucleated myoblasts rarely showed visible cross-striations or M-line staining with anti-myomesin unless the medium was supplemented with 0.81 mM Mg²⁺, suggesting that Mg²⁺ plays a role in sarcomere assembly. Conditions of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ depletion inhibited myoblast fusion in the rodent cell lines as well, but mononucleated myoblasts failed to differentiate under these conditions. Differentiated individual myoblasts from rat cell lines and from chicken cell cultures were obtained when fusion was inhibited by growth in cytochalasin B (CB). CB-treated rat myoblast cultures accumulated MM-CK to nearly twice the specific activity found in extensively fused control cultures of comparable age. Spherical cells which accumulated during CB treatment were isolated and shown to contain nearly eight times the CK specific activity present in nonspherical cells from the same cultures. Approximately 90% of these cells exhibited immunofluorescent staining with antibodies to skeletal muscle myosin, failed to incorporate [³H]thymidine or to form colonies in clonal subculture, and thus represent terminally differentiated rat myoblasts. Quantitative microfluorometric DNA measurements on individual nuclei demonstrated that the terminally differentiated myoblasts obtained in these experiments from both chicken and rat contain 2cDNA levels, suggesting arrest in the G₀ stage of the cell cycle.