Increased Summer Temperatures Reduce the Growth and Regeneration of Larix sibirica in Southern Boreal Forests of Eastern Kazakhstan

The larch forests at the southern limit of the Siberian boreal forest in Central Asia have repeatedly experienced strong recent growth declines attributed to decreasing summer precipitation in the course of climate warming. Here, we present evidence from the southernmost Larix sibirica forests in eastern Kazakhstan that these declines are primarily caused by a decrease in effective moisture due to increasing summer temperatures, despite constant annual, and summer precipitation. Tree-ring chronologies (>800 trees) showed a reduction by 50–80% in mean ring width and an increase in the frequency of missing rings since the 1970s. Climate-response analysis revealed a stronger (negative) effect of summer temperature (in particular of the previous year’s June and July temperature) on radial growth than summer precipitation (positive effect). It is assumed that a rise in the atmospheric vapor pressure deficit, which typically increases with temperature, is negatively affecting tree water status and radial growth, either directly or indirectly through reduced soil moisture. Larch rejuvenation ceased in the 1950s, which is partly explained by increasing topsoil desiccation in a warmer climate and a high drought susceptibility of larch germination, as was demonstrated by a germination experiment with variable soil moisture levels. The lack of regeneration and the reduced annual stem increment suggest that sustainable forest management aiming at timber harvesting is no longer feasible in these southern boreal forests. Progressive climate warming is likely to cause a future northward shift of the southern limit of the boreal forest.     

Anammox bacterial populations in deep marine hypersaline gradient systems

To extend the knowledge of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) habitats, bacterial communities were examined in two hypersaline sulphidic basins in Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The 2 m thick seawater–brine haloclines of the deep anoxic hypersaline basins Bannock and L’Atalante were sampled in intervals of 10 cm with increasing salinity. ¹⁵N isotope pairing incubation experiments showed the production of ²⁹N₂ and ³⁰N₂ gases in the chemoclines, ranging from 6.0 to 9.2 % salinity of the L’Atalante basin. Potential anammox rates ranged from 2.52 to 49.65 nmol N₂ L^?1 day^?1 while denitrification was a major N₂ production pathway, accounting for more than 85.5 % of total N₂ production. Anammox-related 16S rRNA genes were detected along the L’Atalante and Bannock haloclines up to 24 % salinity, and the amplification of the hydrazine synthase genes (hzsA) further confirmed the presence of anammox bacteria in Bannock. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation and sequence analysis of 16S rRNA genes identified representatives of the marine anammox genus ‘Candidatus Scalindua’ and putatively new operational taxonomic units closely affiliated to sequences retrieved in marine environments that have documented anammox activity. ‘Scalindua brodae’ like sequences constituted up to 84.4 % of the sequences retrieved from Bannock. The anammox community in L’Atalante was different than in Bannock and was stratified according to salinity increase. This study putatively extends anammox bacterial habitats to extremely saline sulphidic ecosystems.     

Comparative analysis of tandem repeats from hundreds of species reveals unique insights into centromere evolution

Background

Centromeres are essential for chromosome segregation, yet their DNA sequences evolve rapidly. In most animals and plants that have been studied, centromeres contain megabase-scale arrays of tandem repeats. Despite their importance, very little is known about the degree to which centromere tandem repeats share common properties between different species across different phyla. We used bioinformatic methods to identify high-copy tandem repeats from 282 species using publicly available genomic sequence and our own data.

Results

Our methods are compatible with all current sequencing technologies. Long Pacific Biosciences sequence reads allowed us to find tandem repeat monomers up to 1,419 bp. We assumed that the most abundant tandem repeat is the centromere DNA, which was true for most species whose centromeres have been previously characterized, suggesting this is a general property of genomes. High-copy centromere tandem repeats were found in almost all animal and plant genomes, but repeat monomers were highly variable in sequence composition and length. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis of sequence homology showed little evidence of sequence conservation beyond approximately 50 million years of divergence. We find that despite an overall lack of sequence conservation, centromere tandem repeats from diverse species showed similar modes of evolution.

Conclusions

While centromere position in most eukaryotes is epigenetically determined, our results indicate that tandem repeats are highly prevalent at centromeres of both animal and plant genomes. This suggests a functional role for such repeats, perhaps in promoting concerted evolution of centromere DNA across chromosomes.     

The cell death protease Kex1p is essential for hypochlorite-induced apoptosis in yeast

Following microbial pathogen invasion, the human immune system of activated phagocytes generates and releases the potent oxidant hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which contributes to the killing of menacing microorganisms. Though tightly controlled, HOCl generation by the myeloperoxidase-hydrogen peroxide-chloride system of neutrophils/monocytes may occur in excess and lead to tissue damage. It is thus of marked importance to delineate the molecular pathways underlying HOCl cytotoxicity in both microbial and human cells. Here, we show that HOCl induces the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptotic cell death and the formation of specific HOCl-modified epitopes in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Interestingly, HOCl cytotoxicity can be prevented by treatment with ROS scavengers, suggesting oxidative stress to mediate the lethal effect. The executing pathway involves the pro-apoptotic protease Kex1p, since its absence diminishes HOCl-induced production of ROS, apoptosis and protein modification. By characterizing HOCl-induced cell death in yeast and identifying a corresponding central executor, these results pave the way for the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in HOCl research, not least given that it combines both being a microorganism as well as a model for programmed cell death in higher eukaryotes.     

MRI Plaque Imaging Detects Carotid Plaques with a High Risk for Future Cerebrovascular Events in Asymptomatic Patients

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate prospectively whether MRI plaque imaging can identify patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis who have an increased risk for future cerebral events. MRI plaque imaging allows categorization of carotid stenosis into different lesion types (I–VIII). Within these lesion types, lesion types IV–V and VI are regarded as rupture-prone plaques, whereas the other lesion types represent stable ones.

Methods

Eighty-three consecutive patients (45 male (54.2%); age 54–88 years (mean 73.2 years)) presenting with an asymptomatic carotid stenosis of 50–99% according to ECST-criteria were recruited. Patients were imaged with a 1.5-T scanner. T1-, T2-, time-of-flight-, and proton-density weighted studies were performed. The carotid plaques were classified as lesion type I–VIII. Clinical endpoints were ischemic stroke, TIA or amaurosis fugax. Survival analysis and log rank test were used to ascertain statistical significance.

Results

Six out of 83 patients (7.2%) were excluded: 4 patients had insufficient MR image quality; 1 patient was lost-to-follow-up; 1 patient died shortly after the baseline MRI plaque imaging. The following results were obtained by analyzing the remaining 77 patients. The mean time of follow-up was 41.1 months.During follow-up, n = 9 (11.7%) ipsilateral ischemic cerebrovascular events occurred. Only patients presenting with the high-risk lesion types IV–V and VI developed an ipsilateral cerebrovascular event versus none of the patients presenting with the stable lesion types III, VII, and VIII (n = 9 (11.7%) vs. n = 0 (0%) during follow-up). Event-free survival was higher among patients with the MRI-defined stable lesion types (III, VII, and VIII) than in patients with the high-risk lesion types (IV–V and VI) (log rank test P<0.0001).

Conclusions

MRI plaque imaging has the potential to identify patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis who are particularly at risk of developing future cerebral ischemia. MRI could improve selection criteria for invasive therapy in the future.