Identification of calcified coccoid cyanobacteria forming stromatoporoid stromatolites

A simple technique is described enabling the identification in scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of combined Iractured and etched stromatoporoid sections, the cyanobacteria-hkc coccoid aggregates building the entire stromatoporoid structure. The coccoid aggregates from stromatoporoids are closely related to extant calcified coccoid cyanobacteria (Plcurocapsales) forming stromalolitic mats in Laguna Mormona (Baja California) and Sabkha Gavish (Sinai). Stromatoporoids, stromatolites, cyanobacteria.     

The GIRK1 Brain Variant GIRK1d and Its Functional Impact on Heteromultimeric GIRK Channels

Four isoforms of GIRK channels (GIRK1–4) have been described in humans. In addition, several splice variants of more or less unknown function have been identified from several tissues and species. In our study, we investigated the structure and function of a new variant of GIRK1 that has been isolated from rat brain. Because of wide similarities with a previously described variant, we also named it GIRK1d. This variant lacks a region corresponding to exon 2 of full-length GIRK1, leading to a truncated GIRK1 that lacks the main part of the C-terminus. To study GIRK1d we used the Xenopus laevis expression system, the two-electrode voltage clamp method, and confocal laser scan microscopy. We found that our GIRK1d variant preferentially binds GIRK2 or GIRK4 over GIRK1. Furthermore, it largely reduces conductances mediated by GIRK1/2 or GIRK1/4 hetero-multimeric channels when coexpressed and nearly totally abolishes currents when replacing GIRK1 in hetero-multimeric channels.     

Patterns of Phanerozoic carbonate platform sedimentation

Carbonate platforms changed substantially in spatial extent, geometry, composition and palaeogeographical distribution through the Phanerozoic. Although reef construction and carbonate platform development are intimately linked today, this was not the case for most of the Phanerozoic. Carbonate production by non-enzymatic precipitation and non-reefal organisms is mostly responsible for this decoupling. Non-reefal carbonate production was especially prolific during times of depressed reef growth, balancing losses in reef carbonate production. Palaeogeographical distribution and spatial extent of Phanerozoic carbonate platforms exhibit trends related to continental drift, evolutionary patterns within carbonate platform biotas, climatic change and, possibly, variations in ocean chemistry. Continental drift moved large Palaeozoic tropical shelf areas into higher latitudes, thereby reducing the potential size of tropical platforms. However, the combined global size of carbonate platforms shows no significant decline through the Phanerozoic, suggesting that availability of tropical shelf areas was not a major control of platform area. This is explained by the limited platform coverage of low-latitude shelves (42% maximum) and occasional high-latitude excursions of platform carbonates. We speculate that reduced tropical shelf area in the icehouse tropics forced the migration of the many carbonate-secreting organisms into higher latitudes and, where terrigenous input was sufficiently low, extensive carbonate platform could develop.     

Sensory Motor Interfacing in Acoustic Behavior of Anurans

SYNOPSIS. Anurans respond to different acoustic signals in adistinct manner. Moreover, acoustic behavior strongly dependson the inner state of the animal and the social context. Neuroanatomicalstudies as well as extra- and intracellular recordings werecarried out to examine the problem of audio-motor interfacing.Acoustic signals are processed in a partly hierarchical andpartly distributed manner in the anuran central nervous system.Features are represented in a topographical manner. Auditorymaps in the midbrain torus semicircularis are read by a subsetof neurons of the laminar and magnocellular subnuclei, whichinterconnect the auditory pathway and premotor centres. These,in turn, feed into neural networks controlling vocalization,locomotion, or autonomic functions. Our data on the cytoarchitectonicorganization and connectivity of the interfacing neurons giverise to a population coding hypothesis which may explain thedifferential evaluation of acoustic signals. Additionally, immunohistochemicalfindings reveal strong neuromodulatory and hormonal input, especiallyonto interfacing neurons, suggesting intense influence on thephysiological properties of these cells.     

Mechanisms and regulation of reduction-based iron uptake in plants

Despite the usually high abundance of iron (Fe) in soils, the low solubility of Fe-bearing minerals restricts the available Fe pools in most aerobic soils to levels that are far below those required for microbial or plant growth. To acquire the necessary amounts of Fe from the environment, organisms have evolved mechanisms that enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of Fe(iii) oxyhydroxides prevailing in aerobic soils. Chemically, these mechanisms are based on weakening of the Fe–O bond by reduction, chelation and protonation. Physiologically, two distinct and in all known cases mutually exclusive strategies can be distinguished: the excretion of siderophores capable of solubilizing external ferric Fe and subsequent uptake of the ferric siderophore complex; and reduction of Fe(iii) prior to uptake of the more soluble Fe²⁺ ion. With the exception of graminaceous species, in which Fe uptake is based on the former mechanism, the latter strategy is found in all cormophytes and certain algae, yeast and bacteria. In higher plants, the increase in their capacity to convert extracellular ferric to ferrous Fe is part of a series of physiological and morphological events that act in concert to achieve appropriate internal levels of Fe. It is this amalgam of features that determines the Fe efficiency of a species or cultivar that in turn affects the yield of economically important plants and the natural distribution of species. Adaptive changes to limited Fe availability have been studied at the molecular, physiological and whole-plant level. This review summarises current knowledge of the components of reduction-based Fe uptake in plants and presents an integrated view of the present understanding of mechanisms that control the rate and extent of Fe absorption by roots.     

Natural history of the non-solitary sheetweaving spider Anelosimus jucundus (Araneae: Theridiidae)

Field observations were made on one Panamanian population of Anelosimus jucundus. Almost all webs were found in a relatively exposed area, on small shrubs and composites. This is in contrast to A. eximius , a colonial congeneric which in our study site built its large webs along moist, fern-covered banks. Web structure varied with different plant substrates; for example, only some of the webs incorporated a clearly defined lower sheet. Webs were built by penultimate instar females, and perhaps by adult females and males. In some cases, several adult females inhabited a web, but they remained under separate leaf canopies; during census observations co-operative efforts were not noted. Prey consisted mainly of winged insects. Juvenile sex ratio was about equal. The degree of sociality demonstrated by A. jucundus is discussed.     

Cyclic AMP Phosphodiesterase in Leydig Cell Preparations of the Rat Testis

Enzymatic digestion of the interstitial tissue of early juvenile and adult rat testes resulted in an enrichment of the Leydig cell population. The cells of the intertubular preparation from adult testes were separated by centrifugal elutriation, according to differences in sedimentation velocity, a counter-flow centrifugation technique leading to 70% Leydig cell purity. Using this approach, it was possible to demonstrate that Leydig cells from adult testes contain only low affinity isoenzymes of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (PDE; E.C.: 3.1.4.17), an intracellular regulator of cAMP. Starch gel electrophoresis showed that the isozyme of cAMP PDE of Leydig cells is masked in crude testis homogenates due to the relatively low level of these cells in the total population. In Leydig cells, there are two different electrophoretic forms expressed which resemble two of eleven different molecular forms of cAMP PDE demonstrated for comparison in 21 different organs of the adult rat.
An interstitial cell preparation from early juvenile testes, with a Leydig cell content of up to 20%, was also investigated electrophoretically with regard to molecular forms of cAMP PDE, the properties of which were characterized by kinetic analysis of cAMP hydrolysis. The results presented are discussed in relation to the onset of testosterone synthesis in Leydig cells of prepubertal rats leading to the initiation of male puberty.