Process‐based functions for seed retention on animals: a test of improved descriptions of dispersal using multiple data sets

Studies of external seed transport on animals usually assume that the probability of detachment is constant, so that seed retention should show a simple exponential relationship with time. This assumption has not been tested explicitly, and may lead to inaccurate representation of long distance seed dispersal by animals. We test the assumption by comparing the fit to empirical data of simple, two‐parameter functions. Fifty‐two data sets were obtained from five published studies, describing seed retention of 32 plant species on sheep, cattle, deer, goats and mice. Model selection suggested a simple exponential function was adequate for data sets in which seed retention was followed for short periods ( <48 h). The data gathered over longer periods (49–219 days) were best described by the power exponential function, a form of the stretched exponential which allows a changing dropping rate. In these cases the power exponential showed that seed dropping rate decreased with time, suggesting that seeds vary in attachment, with some seeds becoming deeply buried or wound up in the animal's coat. Comparison of fitted parameters across all the data sets also confirmed that seeds with adhesive structures have lower dropping rates than those without. We conclude that the seed dropping rate often changes with time during external transport on animals and that the power exponential is an effective function to describe this change. We advise that, to analyse seed dropping rates adequately, retention should be measured over reasonable time periods – until most seeds are dropped – and both the simple and power exponential functions should be fitted to the resulting data. To increase its utility, we provide functions describing the seed dropping rate and the dispersal kernel resulting from the power exponential relationship.     

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (Np) in the mouse: Linkage relationship of Np-2 to esterase-10 (Es-10) and Np-1 on chromosome 14

An improved method for detecting four Np-1 (purine nucleoside phosphorylase) alleles in mouse erythrocytes by cellulose acetate electrophoresis is described. The previous linkage of Np-1 and Es-10 (esterase-10) was confirmed, with a map distance of 13.0±2.6 cM. Np-2 was detected by either specific activity assay or starch gel electrophoresis and shown to be linked to Es-10, 15.9 ± 3.1 cM, on chromosome 14. No recombinants between Np-1 and Np-2 were observed in 52 offspring, indicating either that these loci are either closely associated or that Np-2 represents simply a property of existing allelic products of the Np-1 locus.This research was supported by Medical Research Council of Canada grants to F.G.B. and F.F.S.     

Properties of immunoreactive glucagon fractions of canine stomach and pancreas.

The present study was designed to identify the physicochemical, immunologic, and biologic properties of the immunoreactive glucagon (IRG) moieties of canine gastric fundus and to compare them with those of the canine pancreas. Acid-alcohol extracts of the gastric fundus and pancreas of dogs were subjected to Bio-Gel P-10 chromatography, The elution profiles of extracts of both organs revealed IRG peaks in the Mr = 2,000 3,500, and 9,000 zones; in the gastric extracts, a void volume peak was also present. On the basis of Sephadex G-150 rechromatography and sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation the latter IRG was estimated to have a Mr = 65,000. Incubation of fundic IRG65,000 in 8 M urea failed to alter its elution position. Its pI was 6.4, while fundic IRG3,500 had a pI of 6.15 and pancreatic glucagon 6.25.Fundic IRG9,000 had a pI of 4.5 and pancreatic IRG9,000 4.65. Dilution curves of these three fundic and two pancreatic IRGs were parallel to crystalline beef-pork glucagon. The glycogenolytic activity of fundic IRG3,500 and IRG65,000, measured in the isolated rat liver system, was not different from that of immunoequivalent amounts of dog pancreatic glucagon or crystalline beef-pork glucagon. Both fundic and pancreatic IRG9,000 were devoid of glycogenolytic activity and lacker adenylate cyclase stimulating activity and 125I-glucagon displacing activity when tested on partially purified rat liver membranes. Fundic IRG65,000, however, stimulated adenylate cyclase and displaced 125I-glucagon to the same degree as immunoequivalent amounts of pancreatic glucagon. Fundic IRG3,500 was more active than pancreatic glucagon in stimulating adenylate cyclase activity. This was not clearly attributable to differences in binding to liver cell membranes.     

The Heat-Resistant Agglutinin Family Includes a Novel Adhesin from Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Strain 60A

Heat-resistant agglutinin 1 (Hra1) is an accessory colonization factor of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) strain 042. Tia, a close homolog of Hra1, is an invasin and adhesin that has been described in enterotoxigenic E. coli. We devised a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism screen for the associated genes and found that they occur among 55 (36.7%) of the enteroaggregative E. coli isolates screened, as well as lower proportions of enterotoxigenic, enteropathogenic, enterohemorrhagic, and commensal E. coli isolates. Overall, 25%, 8%, and 3% of 150 EAEC strains harbored hra1 alone, tia alone, or both genes, respectively. One EAEC isolate, 60A, produced an amplicon with a unique restriction profile, distinct from those of hra1 and tia. We cloned and sequenced the full-length agglutinin gene from strain 60A and have designated it hra2. The hra2 gene was not detected in any of 257 diarrheagenic E. coli isolates in our collection but is present in the genome of Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg strain SL476. The cloned hra2 gene from strain 60A, which encodes a predicted amino acid sequence that is 64% identical to that of Hra1 and 68% identical to that of Tia, was sufficient to confer adherence on E. coli K-12. We constructed an hra2 deletion mutant of EAEC strain 60A. The mutant was deficient in adherence but not autoaggregation or invasion, pointing to a functional distinction from the autoagglutinin Hra1 and the Tia invasin. Hra1, Tia, and the novel accessory adhesin Hra2 are members of a family of integral outer membrane proteins that confer different colonization-associated phenotypes.     

Effect of choice of baseline correction interval on localization of electrical heart activity]

The electric heart activity can be localised from body surface mapping data with computer algorithms. At higher heart rates the T and P waves merge. Thus, the offset can not be subtracted in the TP segment. We investigated 28 healthy volunteers with signal averaged 31-lead magnetocardiography. The offset of the baseline was determined in the TP-segment and in the PR-segment, respectively. The electrical heart activity was localised in the initial 30 ms of the QRS complex (Q), at the QRS maximum (R), and at the T wave maximum (T). The volume currents were considered by using a boundary element model with the compartments lungs and torso. The 3D positions of the dipoles, the dipole orientations, and the dipole strengths were calculated using the data preprocessed with two different offset correction intervals. The offsets of the TP and PR segments significantly differed one from another. The average deviations of the dipole localisation were within a few centimetres (Q: 20 +/- 31 mm, R: 6 +/- 13 mm, T: 14 +/- 30 mm). However, in a small number of subjects (Q: n = 5, R: n = 2, T: n = 5) we observed a deviation of more than 30 mm. These deviations were not linearly correlated to the differences in the baseline offsets. High resolution recordings continuously detect heart activity in the PR segment. The correction of the baseline in the PR segment instead of the TP segment may introduce artefacts in the source localisation and therefore should be avoided.     

Epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica treated with vitamin E and oral corticosteroids

A 12-year-old boy with histologically proved epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica was treated daily with 10,000 IU of DL-alphatocopheryl acetate and prednisone 120 mg. Comparison of a control study period of seven weeks with the period during which vitamin E was given revealed no significant improvement. The same negative results were noted with the use of prednisone although the levels believed necessary to produce improvement were never attained owing to supervening infection.     

Growth and resilience responses of Scots pine to extreme droughts across Europe depend on predrought growth conditions

Global climate change is expected to further raise the frequency and severity of extreme events, such as droughts. The effects of extreme droughts on trees are difficult to disentangle given the inherent complexity of drought events (frequency, severity, duration, and timing during the growing season). Besides, drought effects might be modulated by trees’ phenotypic variability, which is, in turn, affected by long‐term local selective pressures and management legacies. Here we investigated the magnitude and the temporal changes of tree‐level resilience (i.e., resistance, recovery, and resilience) to extreme droughts. Moreover, we assessed the tree‐, site‐, and drought‐related factors and their interactions driving the tree‐level resilience to extreme droughts. We used a tree‐ring network of the widely distributed Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) along a 2,800 km latitudinal gradient from southern Spain to northern Germany. We found that the resilience to extreme drought decreased in mid‐elevation and low productivity sites from 1980–1999 to 2000–2011 likely due to more frequent and severe droughts in the later period. Our study showed that the impact of drought on tree‐level resilience was not dependent on its latitudinal location, but rather on the type of sites trees were growing at and on their growth performances (i.e., magnitude and variability of growth) during the predrought period. We found significant interactive effects between drought duration and tree growth prior to drought, suggesting that Scots pine trees with higher magnitude and variability of growth in the long term are more vulnerable to long and severe droughts. Moreover, our results indicate that Scots pine trees that experienced more frequent droughts over the long‐term were less resistant to extreme droughts. We, therefore, conclude that the physiological resilience to extreme droughts might be constrained by their growth prior to drought, and that more frequent and longer drought periods may overstrain their potential for acclimation.