A Framework for Understanding Variation in Pelagic Gross Primary Production of Lake Ecosystems

Light and nutrient availability are key physiological constraints for primary production. Widespread environmental changes are causing variability in loads of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nutrients from watersheds to lakes, contributing to simultaneous changes in both light and nutrient supply. Experimental evidence highlights the potential for these watershed loads to create complex and context-dependent responses of within-lake primary production; however, the field lacks a predictive model to investigate these responses. We embedded a well-established physiological model of phytoplankton growth within an ecosystem model of nutrient and DOC supply to assess how simultaneous changes in DOC and nutrient loads could impact pelagic primary production in lakes. The model generated a unimodal relationship between GPP and DOC concentration when loads of DOC and nutrients were tightly correlated across space or time. In this unimodal relationship, the magnitude of the peak GPP was primarily determined by the DOC-to-nutrient ratio of the load, and the location of the peak along the DOC axis was primarily determined by lake area. Greater nutrient supply relative to DOC load contributed to greater productivity, and larger lake area increased light limitation for primary producers at a given DOC concentration, owing to the positive relationship between lake area and epilimnion depth. When loads of DOC and nutrients were not tightly correlated in space or time, the model generated a wedge-shaped pattern between GPP and DOC, consistent with spatial surveys from a global set of lakes. Our model is thus capable of unifying the diversity of empirically observed spatial and temporal responses of lake productivity to DOC and mineral nutrient supply presented in the literature, and provides qualitative predictions for how lake pelagic primary productivity may respond to widespread environmental changes.     

Stable-Isotope Analysis of a Combined Nitrification-Denitrification Sustained by Thermophilic Methanotrophs under Low-Oxygen Conditions

To simulate growth conditions experienced by microbiota at O(inf2)-limited interfaces of organic matter in compost, an experimental system capable of maintaining dual limitations of oxygen and carbon for extended periods, i.e., a pO(inf2)-auxostat, has been used. (sup15)N tracer studies on thermophilic (53(deg)C) decomposition processes occurring in manure-straw aggregates showed the emission of dinitrogen gas from the reactor as a result of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification at low pO(inf2) values (0.1 to 2.0%, vol/vol). The N loss was confirmed by nitrogen budget studies of the system. Depending on the imposed pO(inf2), 0.6 to 1.4 mmol of N/day (i.e., 20 to 40% of input N) was emitted as N(inf2). When the pO(inf2) was raised, the rates of both nitrification and denitrification increased instantaneously, indicating that ammonia oxidation was limited by oxygen. In auxostats permanently running at pO(inf2) >= 2% (vol/vol), the free ammonium pool was almost completely oxidized and was converted to nitrite plus nitrate and N(inf2) gas. Labelling of the auxostat with [(sup13)C]carbonate was conducted to reveal whether nitrification was of autotrophic or heterotrophic origin. Incorporation of (sup13)CO(inf2) into population-specific cellular compounds was evaluated by profiling the saponifiable phospholipid fatty acids (FAs) by using capillary gas chromatography and subsequently analyzing the (sup13)C/(sup12)C ratios of the individual FAs, after their combustion to CO(inf2), by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Apart from the observed label incorporation into FAs originating from a microflora belonging to the genus Methylococcus (type X group), supporting nitrification of a methylotrophic nature, this analysis also corroborated the absence of truly autotrophic nitrifying populations. Nevertheless, the extent to which ammonia oxidation continued to exist in this thermophilic community suggested that a major energy gain could be associated with it.     

Experimental whole‐lake increase of dissolved organic carbon concentration produces unexpected increase in crustacean zooplankton density

The observed pattern of lake browning, or increased terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, across the northern hemisphere has amplified the importance of understanding how consumer productivity varies with DOC concentration. Results from comparative studies suggest these increased DOC concentrations may reduce crustacean zooplankton productivity due to reductions in resource quality and volume of suitable habitat. Although these spatial comparisons provide an expectation for the response of zooplankton productivity as DOC concentration increases, we still have an incomplete understanding of how zooplankton respond to temporal increases in DOC concentration within a single system. As such, we used a whole‐lake manipulation, in which DOC concentration was increased from 8 to 11 mg L^?1 in one basin of a manipulated lake, to test the hypothesis that crustacean zooplankton production should subsequently decrease. In contrast to the spatially derived expectation of sharp DOC‐mediated decline, we observed a small increase in zooplankton densities in response to our experimental increase in DOC concentration of the treatment basin. This was due to significant increases in gross primary production and resource quality (lower seston carbon‐to‐phosphorus ratio; C:P). These results demonstrate that temporal changes in lake characteristics due to increased DOC may impact zooplankton in ways that differ from those observed in spatial surveys. We also identified significant interannual variability across our study region, which highlights potential difficulty in detecting temporal responses of organism abundances to gradual environmental change (e.g., browning).     

Phenotypic variability and therapeutic implications of Candida species in patients with oral lichen planus

We investigated the prevalence and phenotypic variation of Candida species in oral lichen planus (OLP) and the therapeutic implications of our findings. Eighty patients with clinically and histopathologically confirmed cases of OLP (64 non-erosive, 16 erosive) and a control group of 80 healthy individuals with no predisposing factors for oral candidiasis were examined for evidence of Candida infection. Oral swabs and smears were obtained for cytology and culture. Identification, speciation and antifungal susceptibility tests of Candida isolates were performed using an automated microbial identification system. Fifty percent of erosive OLP cases, 28% of non-erosive cases and none of the controls showed evidence of Candida. Candida albicans was found predominantly in non-erosive OLP, while other Candida species were predominate in erosive OLP. Non-Candida albicans isolates (C. glabrata, C. krusei) were resistant to the commonly used antifungals, clotrimazole and fluconazole. Candida infection is common in cases of OLP. We recommend antifungal sensitivity testing prior to antifungal therapy for the erosive form of OLP.     

Changes in plasma levels of PGF2 alpha and PGI2 metabolites at and after delivery at term

Plasma levels of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-PGF2 alpha (PGFM) were measured by high pressure liquid chromatography and radioimmunoassay during and up to 48 hours after term labor. PGFM levels increased during labor to reach values which at full dilatation, at delivery of the fetal head and at placental separation were each time higher than levels obtained earlier. In all women (n = 10) PGFM levels reached their maximum and started to decline within 10 min. after placental separation. Levels decreased to prelabor values within 2 to 3 hours after delivery and no temporary increases were observed within the first 2 days. Levels of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha on the other hand, showed no consistent trends throughout labor and the early puerperium. The observed changes are believed to be of relevance for ensuring adequate hemostasis after birth.     

Estrogen-Induced Synthesis of Yolk Proteins in Roosters

Vitellogenin is the serum precursor of the yolk proteins -lipovitellin,rß-lipovitellin, and phosvitin. The precursor canbe dissociated to produce the yolk proteins only by proteolyticenzymatic action, to which it is very susceptible. Denaturationin sodium dodecyl sulfate, combined with reduction of disulfidebridges and blocking of thiols, yields a complex with a molecularweight of 200,000 to 250,000. -Lipovitellin contains three polypeptides,with molecular weights of about 135,000, 105,000, and 40,000,and rß-lipovitellin is composed of two polypeptidechains with molecular weights of 135,000 and 30,000. The 40,000subunit of -lipovitellin and both rß-lipovitellinsubunits are phosphopeptides We tested RNA isolated from the liver of estrogen-treated roostersfor mRNA activity in a cell-free reticulocyte system. The vitellogeninmRNA has a sedimentation coefficient greater than 28S and thuscontains enough information to code for a long polypeptide chain.Estrogen administration to roosters induces the appearance ofvitellogenin and a lowdensity lipoprotein, the syntheses ofwhich are not coordinated. The course of vitellogenin synthesiswas calculated from accumulation and turnover data, and it wasfound that from about 25 hr after estradiol-17rß administrationthe rate of vitellogenin synthesis increases linearly for severaldays, paralleling an increase in vitellogenin-synthesizing polysomes.Thus, we estimate a constant translation rate of about 8 aminoacids per ribosome per sec. A "memory" effect is observed when a second hormone dose isgiven some time after the vitellogenin induced by the firstdose has disappeared from the blood. After the second dose vitellogeninsynthesis is detected sooner, and its initial increase is morerapid, than after the first dose. Although the synthesis ofvitellogenin starts 3 to 4 hr after the second as well as afterthe first injection, the rate of synthesis after the first injectionincreases much more slowly during the first 15 hr than duringthe subsequent period of linear accumulation, whereas afterthe second injection the linear increase in the rate of synthesisbegins immediately after the lag period of 3 to 4 hr. The "memory"effect is undiminished even 50 days after the first hormonedose; thus, the causative factor either is very stable or issynthesized in great excess during the first stimulation. Whenthe second injection is given during the descending part ofthe turnover curve, an increase in vitellogenin synthesis isobserved within 3.5 hr. There are thus at least three different effects of estradiol;(i) the "memory" effect, which probably is due to commitmentor differentiation of vitellogenin-synthesizing cells; (ii)the effect that causes the committed cells to give full responseafter the 3- to 4-hr lag period; and (iii) the effect that causesthe immediate response. To explain these results we suggestthat committed cells can synthesize vitellogenin mRNA only duringa certain period of the cell cycle.     

Isolation and characterization of Methanoplanus endosymbiosus sp. nov., an endosymbiont of the marine sapropelic ciliate Metopus contortus quennerstedt

Epifluorescence microscopy revealed the presence of a methanogenic bacterium as an endosymbiont in the sapropelic marine ciliate Metopus contortus. The in situ methanogenic activity of the symbiont could be demonstrated. The isolated endosymbiont was an irregular, disc-shaped bacterium with a diameter of 1.6–3.4 m. It had a generation time of 7 or 12 hours on growth on H₂/CO₂ or formate, respectively. The temperature range for growth was between 16 and 36°C with an optimum at 32°C. The optimal pH range for growth was 6.8 to 7.3. Salts, with an optimum concentration of 0.25 M, and tungsten were required for growth. The mol% G+C was 38.7%. The cell envelope consisted of proteins and a glycoprotein with an apparent molecular weight of 110,000. Morphology, antigenic relationship and the G+C content established the isolate MC1 as a new species of the genus Methanoplanus, and the name Methanoplanus endosymbiosus is proposed.Abbreviations G+C Guanine+cytosine - SDS sodium dodecylsulfate - PIPES piperazine-N,N-bis (2-ethane) sulfonic acid     

Specific stimulation of ribosomal RNA synthesis in E. coli by a protein factor

Summary Ribosomal RNA synthesis in a purified system is stimulated by a crude protein fraction prepared from E. coli. The positive effector which is not associated with RNA polymerase, nor is the sigma factor, increases the initiation frequency on a rRNA operon. The additional rRNA synthesis is inhibited by ppGpp to the same extent as the basal one.The evidence presented points to the existence of a positive control element for rRNA synthesis, which activity depends upon the physiological state of the cell.