Behavioural flexibility does not prevent numerical declines of harvester ants under intense livestock grazing

1. Human‐induced rapid environmental change may decrease food resources and create unfavourable conditions for native species. Organisms showing a flexible foraging behaviour can exploit novel or alternative foods and are more likely to persist, whereas less flexible organisms might suffer starvation and numerical reductions. 2. This study assessed whether declines in the quality and availability of seeds prompted by grazing provoke behavioural and numerical responses in Pogonomyrmex mendozanus ants, and aimed to test whether behavioural flexibility buffers habitat degradation and prevents numerical declines. 3. Heavy grazing caused seed reductions, especially of the highly consumed and preferred grass seeds, and triggered two kinds of ant responses. Ants expanded their diet by incorporating a greater proportion of non‐seed items, and they reduced foraging activity. As a consequence, the rate of food intake per colony lessened, particularly that of carbohydrate‐rich seeds like grass seeds. Colony density under heavy grazing also fell. 4. Habitat degradation triggered a cascade of mechanisms that starts with a decrease in the seed resources and continues with changes in ant behaviour. However, behavioural responses were insufficient to prevent ant numerical declines. The results of this study suggest that the reduction in the colony density under habitat degradation was provoked by ant nutritional deficit and starvation, and predict a deterioration in body condition, colony performance and reproduction of ants, which deserve further assessment.     

Effects of small-scale turbulence on Phaeocystis globosa (Prymnesiophyceae) growth and life cycle

The response of Phaeocystis globosa to small-scale turbulence was studied in 5 l microcosms. Turbulence was generated by oscillating grids. The effect of small-scale turbulence was examined under 3 turbulence levels representative of the P. globosa natural environment, and in non-turbulent control cultures. Single cell numbers, nitrogen concentrations and colony formation (number and diameter) were followed over 13 days in each experimental culture. Small-scale turbulence decreased single cell growth and also influenced colony formation. More colonies were formed when turbulence increased to a given threshold, but above this turbulence level, fewer and smaller colonies were observed in P. globosa cultures. The ecological significance of these results, particularly, the potential influence of small-scale turbulence on competition mechanisms between P. globosa and diatoms are finally discussed and suggested as a key factor to understand phytoplankton successions in the Eastern English Channel.     

Low molecular weight chitosans—Preparation with the aid of pronase,characterization and their bactericidal activity towards Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli

The homogeneous low molecular weight chitosans (LMWC) of molecular weight 9.5–8.5 kDa, obtained by pronase catalyzed non-specific depolymerization (at pH 3.5, 37 °C) of chitosan showed lyses of Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli more efficiently (100%) than native chitosan (< 50%). IR and ¹H-NMR data showed decrease in the degree of acetylation (14–19%) in LMWC compared to native chitosan (∼ 26%). Minimum inhibitory concentration of LMWC towards 10⁶ CFU ml^− 1 of B. cereus was 0.01% (w/v) compared to 0.03% for 10⁴ CFU ml^− 1 of E. coli. SEM revealed pore formation as well as permeabilization of the bacterial cells, as also evidenced by increased carbohydrate and protein contents as well as the cytoplasmic enzymes in the cell-free supernatants. N-terminal sequence analyses of the released proteins revealed them to be cytoplasmic/membrane proteins. Upon GLC, the supernatant showed characteristic fatty acid profiles in E. coli, thus subscribing to detachment of lipopolysaccharides into the medium, whereas that of B. cereus indicated release of surface lipids. The mechanism for the observed bactericidal activity of LMWC towards both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria has been discussed.     

Influence of individual cell motility on the 2D front roughness dynamics of tumour cell colonies

The dynamics of in situ 2D HeLa cell quasi-linear and quasi-radial colony fronts in a standard culture medium is investigated. For quasi-radial colonies, as the cell population increased, a kinetic transition from an exponential to a constant front average velocity regime was observed. Special attention was paid to individual cell motility evolution under constant average colony front velocity looking for its impact on the dynamics of the 2D colony front roughness. From the directionalities and velocity components of cell trajectories in colonies with different cell populations, the influence of both local cell density and cell crowding effects on individual cell motility was determined. The average dynamic behaviour of individual cells in the colony and its dependence on both local spatio-temporal heterogeneities and growth geometry suggested that cell motion undergoes under a concerted cell migration mechanism, in which both a limiting random walk-like and a limiting ballistic-like contribution were involved. These results were interesting to infer how biased cell trajectories influenced both the 2D colony spreading dynamics and the front roughness characteristics by local biased contributions to individual cell motion. These data are consistent with previous experimental and theoretical cell colony spreading data and provide additional evidence of the validity of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation, within a certain range of time and colony front size, for describing the dynamics of 2D colony front roughness.     

No difference in colony formation of Scenedesmus obliquus exposed to lakes with different nutrient levels

The algal genus Scenedesmus is famous for its highly phenotypic plasticity in response to various environmental factors. In laboratory, axenic cultures of Scenedesmus often fail to form colonies and remain in unicellular morph. To examine whether unicellular Scenedesmus can form colonies after exposure to natural lakes, dialysis bags and plastic bottles which contained the precultured Scenedesmus obliquus were exposed in two lakes with different nutrient levels for four weeks. Results showed S. obliquus grew well in dialysis bags but not in plastic bottles; S. obliquus can form colonies when incubated in dialysis bags which allow exchange with the aquatic environment of the substances, regardless of the nutrient levels of the two lakes. However, no colonies were observed in S. obliquus incubated in plastic bottles exposed in both lakes. This suggested that active growth and zooplankton infochemicals contributed together to the colony formation of S. obliquus exposed in situ environment.     

Prevalence and impact of the microsporidium Thelohania solenopsae (Microsporidia) on wild populations of red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, in Louisiana

We surveyed 165 sites to determine the ecological factors that might influence the distribution and prevalence of Thelohania solenopsae, and its effect on the demography of the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) in Louisiana. The microsporidium was found in 9.9% of colonies and at 16% of sites. Its distribution was clumped within the state with the majority of infected colonies and sites occurring in two infection patches. The proportion of polygyne colonies was a strong (positive) predictor of the proportion of infected colonies at a site. Infected monogyne colonies, however, still accounted for nearly 20% of infected colonies, a much higher proportion than anticipated. Several other factors, including the numbers of colonies at a site, precipitation, proximity to commercial waterways and ports, and type of habitat were also retained in the multiple logistic regression model describing T. solenopsae prevalence. The microsporidium appears to adversely affect the occurrence of brood, and possibly the size of S. invicta colonies and the mass of workers. It, however, was not included in the multiple regression model of the number of colonies or the density of ants at a site. Although our findings do not imply causation, they have identified several variables that might influence the epizootiology of T. solenopsae. Future work should concentrate on experimentally manipulating these variables to confirm these relationships.     

Researching little-known species: the African bat Otomops martiensseni (Chiroptera: Molossidae)

Listed as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for theConservation of Nature, the molossid bat Otomopsmartiensseni occurs widely in Africa and, according to someauthorities, in Madagascar. Apart from a few known cave roosts, there are fewrecords of O. martiensseni, although around Durban, SouthAfrica, the species is common and roosts in buildings. Originally described asthree species, populations of O. martiensseni differsignificantly in size (length of forearm) between East Africa and Durban orMadagascar, but not between Durban and Madagascar. Seventeen buildings used asroosts by O. martiensseni averaged 34.5 ± 15.8years old. In the Durban area, bats entered roosts by landing andcrawling. Roost populations ranged from 7 to 29 individuals, typicallyconsisting of one adult male, several adult females and young (bats withunossified epiphyses), suggesting a harem social structure. The ratio of adultfemales to young was virtually 1:1, and among young the ratio of males:femalesaveraged 2:1. Radio-tracking showed that individuals used several day and nightroosts, and foraged widely in a landscape dominated by sugarcane and urbandevelopment. The echolocation and many social calls of O.martiensseni are readily audible to human observers, allowing anon-contact, low technology method for monitoring the local distribution andactivity of these bats. Although listed as a species of special concern inKwaZulu Natal, there these bats appear to be candidates for inclusion on a'blue' list of species, ones showing stabilized or increasedabundance. We recommend that O. martiensseni be recognizedas a 'flagship' species in the Durban area, r epresenting theresilience of nature.     

Regional distribution of S-100a0 (αα), S-100a (αβ) and S-100b (ββ) in the bovine central nervous tissue determined with a sensitive enzyme immunoassay system

A sensitive sandwich-type enzyme immunoassay system for separate measurement of 3 forms of bovine S-100 protein, S-100a₀ (αα), S-100a (αβ) and S-100b (ββ), was developed by the use of purified antibodies to the α or the β subunit of bovine S-100 protein. The assay system consisted of polystyrene balls with immobilized antibody (anti-α for S-100a₀ and S-100a assays, and anti-β for S-100b assay) F(ab′)₂ fragments and antibody (anti-α for S-100a, assay, and anti-β for S-100a and S-100b assays) Fab′ fragments labeled with β-d-galactosidase from Escherichia coli. The minimum measurable sensitivity of each assay was less than 10 pg/assay tube. The assay system for S-100a cross-reacted little with S-100a₀ and S-100b. The assay systems for S-100a₀ and S-100b cross-reacted (10 and 17%, respectively) with S-100a which contains α and β subunits in the molecule. However, levels of S-100a₀, S-100a and S-100b in the soluble extract of bovine brain could be determined by correcting the cross-reacted S-100a to the assays of S-100a₀ and S-100b. Various regions of bovine central nervous tissue were found to contain 0.3–1 μg of S-100a₀, 4–14 μg of S-100a, and 8–30 μg of S-100b per mg soluble protein. The percent concentrations of three forms of S-100 protein in the cerebral cortex were about 3, 38, and 59, for S-100a₀, S-100a, and S-100b, respectively, and those in the cerebellar cortex were 2, 21 and 77, respectively. Purified S-100a and S-100b preparations from human and rat brains were also reactive with the respective assay system for bovine S-100 protein, suggesting that the present assay system is applicable to the assay of three forms of S-100 protein in human and rat tissues.     

三唑酮对玉米弯孢病菌超微结构和细胞化学的影响

三唑酮(triadimenfon)属于麦角甾醇类生物合成抑制剂(ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors．EBI),具有较广的抗真菌谱,明确其对玉米弯孢菌发育的影响可为该杀菌剂的田间应用提供理论依据。利用电镜技术和细胞化学技术观察的结果表明,玉米率孢菌经三唑酮处理后,菌丝生长明显受到抑制,表现为菌落生长速度减慢、菌丝分枝增多,且不观则地肿大和缢缩,出现许多瘤状突起,处理菌丝明显畸形。透射电镜观察结果表明,三唑酮可引起菌丝细胞壁不规则增厚,特别是菌丝顶端细胞壁增厚尤为明显:菌丝细胞隔膜发育受阴而表现畸形;菌丝细胞外有大量电子染色深的外渗物质。细胞化学标记定位结果表明,真菌细胞壁主要成分β-1,3-葡聚糖和几丁质的含量在药剂处理后发生很大变化,其标记密度明显低于未处理的对照菌丝,表明病菌细胞壁的结构和功能受到明显的不利影响。论文对弯孢菌受三唑酮影响后胞壁成份变化与其它真菌不同的原因进行了讨论。