Increasing population and declining biological resources in the context of global change and globalization

In the context of over-consumption of natural resources in the name of development and rapid industrialization by a small section of the human population that is rapidly growing, the world is currently faced with a variety of environmental uncertainties. ‘Global change’ covering a whole variety of ecological issues, and ‘globalization’ in an economic sense, are two major phenomena that are responsible for these uncertainties. There is increasing evidence to suggest that the developing countries more than the developed, particularly the marginalized traditional (those living close to nature and natural resources) societies would be the worst sufferers. In order to cope with this problem in a situation where the traditional societies have to cope with rapidly depleting biodiversity on which they are dependant for their livelihood, there is an urgent need to explore additional pathways for sustainable management of natural resources and societal development. Such pathways should be based on a landscape management strategy, that takes into consideration the rich traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that these societies have. This is critical because TEK is the connecting link between conservation and sustainable development. This paper explores the possibilities in this direction through a balanced approach to development, that links the ‘traditional’ with the ‘modern’, in a location-specific way.     

Strategies used by bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) to reduce predation risk while sleeping

Sleep results in a decrease in alertness, which increases an animal’s vulnerability to predation. Therefore, choice of sleeping sites would be predicted to incorporate predator-avoidance strategies. The current study, conducted in two national parks in southern India, examined the behaviors adopted by bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) to reduce the risk of being preyed upon while sleeping. Bonnet macaques from an urban setting with a low predatory risk were included for comparison. The physical characteristics of the sleeping sites in the forest corresponded with features that were most difficult for predators to access; bonnet macaques selected emergent trees with high boles near human settlements. These trees typically overhung water. Within the canopy, individuals slept in huddled subgroups near the terminal ends of branches, preferentially selecting branches over water. Subgroups were generally composed of members of the same age and sex, which likely promoted social bonding. Adult males and females with infants selected branches higher than members of other age and sex categories. The lateral distances of individuals along branches from the main trunk were similar across demographic categories. The size of a subgroup appeared to be limited by the weight a branch could support; lateral distances were maintained by regulation of mean subgroup weight, with heavier individuals forming smaller subgroups. The urban troop slept on the top of a building. Subgroup compositions at the urban site were similar to those at the forest sites. However, subgroup size, not restricted by branch fragility, resulted in larger subgroups than those found in the forest. Our results indicate that bonnet macaques adopted a suite of behaviors that reduced their risk of being preyed upon at night by selecting sleeping sites that minimized predator encounters and by selecting the safest locations within the canopy.     

Two new functions of inositol in the eye lens: antioxidation and antiglycation and possible mechanisms.

The extent of glycation of human eye lens proteins with glucose in presence of added inositol was examined in vitro using [U14C] glucose. Lens homogenate was reacted with varying concentrations of glucose and glucose + inositol. At the end of the reaction, the proteins were precipitated with TCA, centrifuged, dissolved in NaOH and the radioactivity was measured. Inositol decreased the glycation by 57-67%. Pure inositol and glucose suitably labelled with 3H or 14C when reacted and followed by paper chromatography and HPLC showed that glucosyl inositol was present along with unreacted free glucose. Preliminary studies made of the UV spectra of pure inositol (i) when reacted with H2O2 showed that inositol removed H2O2 from the reaction mixture (ii) when reacted with arachidonic acid showed that they formed a conjugate. The observations indicate that the antioxidant property of inositol could be the result of its' quenching action on reactive oxygen, intermediates and conjugate-formation with compounds like arachidonic acid and the antiglycating property due to scavenging of glucose. The antioxidant and the antiglycating properties of inositol may be beneficial in delaying or averting cataract.     

Paradoxes of Hymenoptera flight muscles,extreme machines

In the Carboniferous, insects evolved flight. Intense selection drove for high performance and approximately 100 million years later, Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants) emerged. Some species had proportionately small wings, with apparently impossible aerodynamic challenges including a need for high frequency flight muscles (FMs), powered exclusively off aerobic pathways and resulting in extreme aerobic capacities. Modern insect FMs are the most refined and form large dense blocks that occupy 90% of the thorax. These can beat wings at 200 to 230 Hz, more than double that achieved by standard neuromuscular systems. To do so, rapid repolarisation was circumvented through evolution of asynchronous stimulation, stretch activation, elastic recoil and a paradoxically slow Ca²⁺ reuptake. While the latter conserves ATP, considerable ATP is demanded at the myofibrils. FMs have diminished sarcoplasmic volumes, and ATP is produced solely by mitochondria, which pack myocytes to maximal limits and have very dense cristae. Gaseous oxygen is supplied directly to mitochondria. While FMs appear to be optimised for function, several unusual paradoxes remain. FMs lack any significant equivalent to the creatine kinase shuttle, and myofibrils are twice as wide as those of within cardiomyocytes. The mitochondrial electron transport systems also release large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and respiratory complexes do not appear to be present at any exceptional level. Given that the loss of the creatine kinase shuttle and elevated ROS impairs heart function, we question how do FM shuttle adenylates at high rates and tolerate oxidative stress conditions that occur in diseased hearts?     

Adenosine dialdehyde and neplanocin A: Potent inhibitors of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase in neuroblastoma N2a cells

S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (AdoHcy hydrolase, E.C. 3.3.1.1) catalyzes the metabolism of S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) to adenosine (Ado) and homocysteine (Hcy) in mouse neuroblastoma N2a cells. AdoHcy hydrolase in N2a cells can be inhibited completely by adenosine dialdehyde (Ado dialdehyde) or neplanocin A. The inhibitory effects of Ado dialdehyde (2.5 μM) and neplanocin A (1 μM) on cellular AdoHcy hydrolase were time-dependent, with total enzyme inhibition occurring after 30 min and 15 min of incubation, respectively. The inhibition of AdoHcy hydrolase produced by Ado dialdehyde and neplanocin A persisted for up to 72 h of incubation, and was paralleled by a time-dependent increase in endogenous AdoHcy levels reaching a maximum 4-fold elevation after 8 h of incubation with Ado dialdehyde and an 11-fold increase in the neplanocin A-treated cells. This increase in AdoHcy levels produced a subsequent inhibition of S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet)-dependent cellular methylations (e.g. protein carboxylmethylation (PCM), lipid methylation). In addition, neplanocin A was metabolically converted to the corresponding AdoMet analog, S-neplanocylmethionine (NepMet), in neuroblastoma N2a cells. NepMet reached maximum levels after 8 h of incubation of the cells with neplanocin A.     

Degradation of Cry1Ab protein from genetically modified maize (MON810) in relation to total dietary feed proteins in dairy cow digestion

To investigate the relative degradation and fragmentation pattern of the recombinant Cry1Ab protein from genetically modified (GM) maize MON810 throughout the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of dairy cows, a 25 months GM maize feeding study was conducted on 36 lactating Bavarian Fleckvieh cows allocated into two groups (18 cows per group) fed diets containing either GM maize MON810 or nearly isogenic non-GM maize as the respective diet components. All cows were fed a partial total mixed ration (pTMR). During the feeding trial, 8 feed (4 transgenic (T) and 4 non-transgenic (NT) pTMR) and 42 feces (26 T and 18 NT) samples from the subset of cows fed T and NT diets, and at the end of the feeding trial, digesta contents of rumen, abomasum, small intestine, large intestine and cecum were collected after the slaughter of six cows of each feeding group. Samples were analyzed for Cry1Ab protein and total protein using Cry1Ab specific ELISA and bicinchoninic acid assay, respectively. Immunoblot analyses were performed to evaluate the integrity of Cry1Ab protein in feed, digesta and feces samples. A decrease to 44% in Cry1Ab protein concentration from T pTMR to the voided feces (9.40 versus 4.18 μg/g of total proteins) was recorded. Concentrations of Cry1Ab protein in GIT digesta of cows fed T diets varied between the lowest 0.38 μg/g of total proteins in abomasum to the highest 3.84 μg/g of total proteins in rumen. Immunoblot analysis revealed the extensive degradation of recombinant Cry1Ab protein into a smaller fragment of around 34 kDa in GIT. The results of the present study indicate that the recombinant Cry1Ab protein from MON810 is increasingly degraded into a small fragment during dairy cow digestion.