Two New Kremastochrysopsis species,K. austriaca sp. nov. and K. americana sp. nov. (Chrysophyceae)1

Melting summer snow in the Austrian Alps exhibited a yellowish bloom that was mainly comprised of an unidentified unicellular chrysophyte. Molecular data (18S rRNA and rbcL genes) showed a close relationship to published sequences from an American pond alga formerly identified as Kremastochrysis sp. The genera Kremastochrysis and Kremastochrysopsis are morphologically distinguished by the number of flagella observed with the light microscope, and therefore we assigned the Austrian snow alga and an American pond alga to the genus Kremastochrysopsis. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy revealed that swimming cells had two flagella oriented in opposite directions, typical for the Hibberdiales. Molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that both new species were closely related to Hibberdia. Kremastochrysopsis ocellata, the type species and only known species, has two chloroplasts per cell and the zoospores have red eyespots. Our two organisms had only a single chloroplast and no zoospore eyespot, but their gene sequences differed substantially. Therefore, we described two new species, Kremastochrysopsis austriaca sp. nov and Kremstochrysopsis americana sp. nov. When grown in culture, both taxa showed a characteristic hyponeustonic growth (hanging below the water surface), whereas older immotile cells grew at the bottom of the culture vessel. Ecologically, Kremastochrysopsis austriaca sp. nov., which caused snow discolorations, had no close phylogenetic relationships to other psychrophilic chrysophytes, for example, Chromulina chionophilia, Hydrurus sp., and Ochromonas-like flagellates.     

Effects of different types of low‐intensity management on plant‐pollinator interactions in Estonian grasslands

In the face of global pollinator decline, extensively managed grasslands play an important role in supporting stable pollinator communities. However, different types of extensive management may promote particular plant species and thus particular functional traits. As the functional traits of flowering plant species (e.g., flower size and shape) in a habitat help determine the identity and frequency of pollinator visitors, they can also influence the structures of plant−pollinator interaction networks (i.e., pollination networks). The aim of this study was to examine how the type of low‐intensity traditional management influences plant and pollinator composition, the structure of plant−pollinator interactions, and their mediation by floral and insect functional traits. Specifically, we compared mown wooded meadows to grazed alvar pastures in western Estonia. We found that both management types fostered equal diversity of plants and pollinators, and overlapping, though still distinct, plant and pollinator compositions. Wooded meadow pollination networks had significantly higher connectance and specialization, while alvar pasture networks achieved higher interaction diversity at a standardized sampling of interactions. Pollinators with small body sizes and short proboscis lengths were more specialized in their preference for particular plant species and the specialization of individual pollinators was higher in alvar pastures than in wooded meadows. All in all, the two management types promoted diverse plant and pollinator communities, which enabled the development of equally even and nested pollination networks. The same generalist plant and pollinator species were important for the pollination networks of both wooded meadows and alvar pastures; however, they were complemented by management‐specific species, which accounted for differences in network structure. Therefore, the implementation of both management types in the same landscape helps to maintain high species and interaction diversity.     

Identification of 5-hydroxyhexanoic acid, 4-hydroxyheptanoic acid and 4-hydroxyoctanoic acid as new constituents of bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoic acids

 A recombinant strain of Pseudomonas putida GPp104 (pHP1014::E146), which expressed the polyhydroxyalkanoic acid (PHA) synthase of Thiocapsa pfennigii exhibiting an unusual substrate specificity at a high level was incubated in two-stage batch or fed-batch accumulation experiments with 5-hydroxyhexanoic acid (5HHx) as carbon source in the second cultivation phase, copolyesters of 3-hydroxybutyric acid (3HB) plus 5HHx, or of 3HB, 3-hydroxyhexanoic acid (3HHx) plus 5HHx were accumulated as revealed by gas-chromatographic and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic analysis. When the recombinant P. putida GPp104 was incubated with 4-hydroxyheptanoic acid (4HHp) as carbon source in the second cultivation phase, a copolyester consisting of 3HB, 3-hydroxyvaleric acid and 3- and 4-hydroxyheptanoic acid accumulated. Providing 4-hydroxyoctanoic acid as carbon source in the second cultivation phase led to the accumulation of a polyester that contained 1–2 mol% 4-hydroxyoctanoic acid besides 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid, 3HHx, 3-hydroxyvaleric acid and 3HB. In addition to PHA containing these new constituents, PHA with 4-hydroxyvaleric acid was accumulated from laevulinic acid. Eleven strains from five genera have been also analysed for their ability to utilize different carbon sources for colony growth, which might serve as potential precursors for the biosynthesis of PHA with unusual constituents. Although most of the carbon sources were utilized by some strains for colony growth, accumulation experiments gave no evidence for the accumulation of new PHA by these wild-type strains. Received: 22 April/Received revision: 23 May 1996/Accepted: 2 June 1996     

Endothelial chemokines destabilize L-selectin-mediated lymphocyte rolling without inducing selectin shedding

Chemokines presented on specialized endothelial surfaces rapidly up-regulate leukocyte integrin avidity and firm arrest through G(i)-protein signaling. Here we describe a novel, G-protein-independent, down-regulatory activity of apical endothelial chemokines in destabilizing L-selectin-mediated leukocyte rolling. Unexpectedly, this anti-adhesive chemokine suppression of rolling does not involve L-selectin shedding. Destabilization of rolling is induced only by immobilized chemokines juxtaposed to L-selectin ligands and is an energy-dependent process. Chemokines are found to interfere with a subsecond stabilization of selectin tethers necessary for persistent rolling. This is a first indication that endothelial chemokines can attenuate in situ L-selectin adhesion to endothelial ligands at subsecond contacts. This negative feedback mechanism may underlie the jerky nature of rolling mediated by L-selectin in vivo.     

Effects of risk, cost, and their interaction on optimal escape by nonrefuging Bonaire whiptail lizards, Cnemidophorus murinus

Optimal escape theory seeks to explain variation in the distanceto an approaching predator at which the prey initiates escape(flight initiation distance). Flight initiation distance increaseswhen predators pose a greater threat and decreases when escapecosts increase. Although optimal escape theory has been highlysuccessful, its predictions have been tested primarily for speciesthat escape to discrete refuges, and most studies have focusedon single risk or cost factors. We present data from two experimentsin which two risks or a risk and a cost varied in Bonaire whiptaillizards (Cnemidophorus murinus) that escaped without enteringrefuges. Our data verify several predictions about optimal escapefor nonrefuging lizard prey. Two risk factors, speed and directnessof approach by the predator, interacted. Directly approachedlizards had greater flight initiation distances than did indirectlyapproached lizards when approached rapidly, but shorter flightinitiation distances when approached slowly. Flight initiationdistance was shorter in the presence of food and during slowversus rapid approaches, but contrary to expectation, food presenceand approach speed did not interact. This would be explainedif cost curves are nonlinear or if they are parallel ratherthan intersecting when the predator reaches the prey. More empiricalwork is needed to determine which risk and cost factors actadditively and which act synergistically. The absence of interactionbetween the risk and cost factors suggests that cost curveswere nonlinear.     

Occurrence of species of the genus Pityophthorus Eichhoff (Coleoptera,Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in?the?province of Quebec,Canada

Twig beetles in the genus Pityophthorus Eichhoff, 1864 include more than 300 species worldwide, with maximum diversity in tropical and subtropical regions. To date, approximately 50 species of Pityophthorus have been recorded in Canada, and these species are associated mainly with coniferous trees. Since 1981, no comprehensive study on this difficult taxonomic group has been conducted in Quebec, Canada, most likely due to their limited significance as forest pests. Based on data gathered from five years of field sampling in conifer seed orchards and compiled from various entomological collections, the distribution of Pityophthorus species in Quebec is presented. Approximately 291 new localities were recorded for the Pityophthorus species. Five species-group taxa, namely Pityophthorus puberulus (LeConte, 1868), Pityophthorus pulchellus pulchellus Eichhoff, 1869, Pityophthorus pulicarius (Zimmermann, 1868), Pityophthorus nitidus Swaine, 1917,and Pityophthorus cariniceps LeConte&Horn, 1876 were the most widespread. In contrast, Pityophthorus consimilis LeConte, 1878, Pityophthorus intextus Swaine, 1917, Pityophthorus dentifrons Blackman, 1922, Pityophthorus ramiperda Swaine, 1917, and Pityophthorus concavus Blackman, 1928 display a notably limited distribution. In addition, the first distribution records of Pityophthorus intextus and Pityophthorus biovalis Blackman, 1922 are furnished, and the subspecies Pityophthorus murrayanae murrayanae Blackman, 1922is reported from Quebec for the second time. Moreover, distribution maps are provided for all Pityophthorus species recorded in the province of Quebec.     

A study to assess the microbial contamination of Mya arenaria clams from the north shore of the St Lawrence River estuary, (Québec, Canada)

The aims of the present study were to assess the microbial quality of Mya arenaria clams from the north shore of the St. Lawrence River estuary and to validate various microbial indicator microorganisms of bivalve mollusks contamination. Clams were collected from nine sites, including four harvesting sites closed by virtue of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP). Six contamination indicators (fecal coliforms, somatic coliphages, F-specific coliphages, fecal streptococci, Clostridium perfringens, and Escherichia coli) and four pathogens (Campylobacter sp., Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia sp., and Salmonella sp.) were identified in the clams. Indicators sensibility, specificity and predictive values with respect to the presence of pathogens were calculated. Pathogenic microorganisms detection frequency in clams was important (92%). Globally, pathogens tend to be less frequently detected in opened harvesting sites (p = 0.086). Although the assessed indicators were not perfect, when F-specific coliphages are associated with E. coli or fecal coliforms, a good sensibility (62%-64%) and good positive predictive value (88%) with respect to the investigated pathogens are obtained.     

Pushing forces drive the comet-like motility of microtubule arrays in Dictyostelium

Overexpression of dynein fragments in Dictyostelium induces the movement of the entire interphase microtubule array. Centrosomes in these cells circulate through the cytoplasm at rates between 0.4 and 2.5 microm/s and are trailed by a comet-tail like arrangement of the microtubule array. Previous work suggested that these cells use a dynein-mediated pulling mechanism to generate this dramatic movement and that similar forces are at work to maintain the interphase MTOC position in wild-type cells. In the present study, we address the nature of the forces used to produce microtubule movement. We have used a laser microbeam to sever the connection between the motile centrosomes and trailing microtubules, demonstrating that the major force for such motility results from a pushing on the microtubules. We eliminate the possibility that microtubule assembly/disassembly reactions are significant contributors to this motility and suggest that the cell cortex figures prominently in locating force-producing molecules. Our findings indicate that interphase microtubules in Dictyostelium are subject to both dynein- and kinesin-like forces and that these act in concert to maintain centrosome position in the cell and to support the radial character of the microtubule network.