PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY INDUCED IN TRANSPLANT EXPERIMENTS IN A MUTUALISTIC ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE RED ALGA JANIA ADHAERENS (RHODOPHYTA,CORALLINALES) AND THE SPONGE HALICLONA CAERULEA (PORIFERA: HAPLOSCLERIDA): MORPHOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF THE ALGA1

The association between the red macroalga Jania adhaerens J. V. Lamour. and the sponge Haliclona caerulea is the most successful life‐form between 2 and 4 m depth in Mazatlán Bay (Mexican Pacific). J. adhaerens colonizes the rocky intertidal area and penetrates into deeper areas only when it lives in association with H. caerulea. The aposymbiotic form of the sponge has not been reported in the bay. To understand the ecological success of this association, we examined the capacity of J. adhaerens to acclimate in Mazatlán Bay using transplant experiments. The transplanted aposymbiotic J. adhaerens did not survive the first 2 weeks; however, J. adhaerens when living in association with H. caerulea, acclimated easily to depth, showing no sign of mortality during the 103 d of the experiment. We conclude that the ability of J. adhaerens to colonize in deeper areas in this hydrodynamic environment may in part rely on the protection provided by the sponge to the algal canopy. Both species contribute to the shape of the associated form. Nevertheless, the morphological variation in the association appears to be dominated by the variation in J. adhaerens canopy to regulate pigment self‐shading under light‐limited conditions and/or tissue resistance under high hydrodynamics. Consequently, our results are consistent with light as the abiotic controlling factor, which regulates the lower depth distribution of the association in Mazatlán Bay, through limiting the growth rate of J. adhaerens. Hydrodynamics may determine the upper limit of the association by imposing high mass losses.     

A fast dynamic mode of the EF‐G‐bound ribosome

A key intermediate in translocation is an ‘unlocked state’ of the pre‐translocation ribosome in which the P‐site tRNA adopts the P/E hybrid state, the L1 stalk domain closes and ribosomal subunits adopt a ratcheted configuration. Here, through two‐ and three‐colour smFRET imaging from multiple structural perspectives, EF‐G is shown to accelerate structural and kinetic pathways in the ribosome, leading to this transition. The EF‐G‐bound ribosome remains highly dynamic in nature, wherein, the unlocked state is transiently and reversibly formed. The P/E hybrid state is energetically favoured, but exchange with the classical P/P configuration persists; the L1 stalk adopts a fast dynamic mode characterized by rapid cycles of closure and opening. These data support a model in which P/E hybrid state formation, L1 stalk closure and subunit ratcheting are loosely coupled, independent processes that must converge to achieve the unlocked state. The highly dynamic nature of these motions, and their sensitivity to conformational and compositional changes in the ribosome, suggests that regulating the formation of this intermediate may present an effective avenue for translational control.     

Diversification of Hawaiian Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) under the influence of incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization

Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) is a genus of flowering plants with over 800 species distributed throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. On the Hawaiian Islands, 60 named species and over 89 putative hybrids exist, most of which are identified on the basis of morphology. Despite many previous studies on the Hawaiian Cyrtandra lineage, questions regarding the reconciliation of morphology and genetics remain, many of which can be attributed to the relatively young age and evidence of hybridization between species. We utilized targeted enrichment, high‐throughput sequencing, and modern phylogenomics tools to test 31 Hawaiian Cyrtandra samples (22 species, two putative hybrids, four species with two samples each, one species with four samples) and two outgroups for species relationships and hybridization in the presence of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS). Both concatenated and species‐tree methods were used to reconstruct species relationships, and network analyses were conducted to test for hybridization. We expected to see high levels of ILS and putative hybrids intermediate to their parent species. Phylogenies reconstructed from the concatenated and species‐tree methods were highly incongruent, most likely due to high levels of incomplete lineage sorting. Network analyses inferred gene flow within this lineage, but not always between taxa that we expected. Multiple hybridizations were inferred, but many were on deeper branches of the island lineages suggesting a long history of hybridization. We demonstrated the utility of high‐throughput sequencing and a phylogenomic approach using 569 loci to understanding species relationships and gene flow in the presence of ILS.     

Mechanistic studies on carboxypeptidase a from goat pancreas — part II: Evidence for carboxyl group

Studies with substrate analogues and the pH optimum indicated the involvement of carboxyl group in the active site of goat carboxypeptidase A. Chemical modification of the enzyme with 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-morpholinoethyl) carbodiimide methoI -p-toluene sulphonate, a carboxyl specific reagent, led to loss of both esterase and peptidase activities. Protection studies showed that this carboxyl group was in the active site and was protected by Βp-phenylpropionic acid and glycyl-L-tyrosine. Kinetic studies also confirmed the involvement of carboxylic group because the enzyme modification with water soluble carbodiimide was a two step reaction which excluded the possibility of tyrosine or lysine which are known to give a one step reaction with this reagent     

The role of epiphytism in architecture and evolutionary constraint within mycorrhizal networks of tropical orchids

Characterizing the architecture of bipartite networks is increasingly used as a framework to study biotic interactions within their ecological context and to assess the extent to which evolutionary constraint shape them. Orchid mycorrhizal symbioses are particularly interesting as they are viewed as more beneficial for plants than for fungi, a situation expected to result in an asymmetry of biological constraint. This study addressed the architecture and phylogenetic constraint in these associations in tropical context. We identified a bipartite network including 73 orchid species and 95 taxonomic units of mycorrhizal fungi across the natural habitats of Reunion Island. Unlike some recent evidence for nestedness in mycorrhizal symbioses, we found a highly modular architecture that largely reflected an ecological barrier between epiphytic and terrestrial subnetworks. By testing for phylogenetic signal, the overall signal was stronger for both partners in the epiphytic subnetwork. Moreover, in the subnetwork of epiphytic angraecoid orchids, the signal in orchid phylogeny was stronger than the signal in fungal phylogeny. Epiphytic associations are therefore more conservative and may co‐evolve more than terrestrial ones. We suggest that such tighter phylogenetic specialization may have been driven by stressful life conditions in the epiphytic niches. In addition to paralleling recent insights into mycorrhizal networks, this study furthermore provides support for epiphytism as a major factor affecting ecological assemblage and evolutionary constraint in tropical mycorrhizal symbioses.     

Solution structure of the N‐terminal domain of DC‐UbP/UBTD2 and its interaction with ubiquitin

DC‐UbP/UBTD2 is a ubiquitin (Ub) domain‐containing protein first identified from dendritic cells, and is implicated in ubiquitination pathway. The solution structure and backbone dynamics of the C‐terminal Ub‐like (UbL) domain were elucidated in our previous work. To further understand the biological function of DC‐UbP, we then solved the solution structure of the N‐terminal domain of DC‐UbP (DC‐UbP_N) and studied its Ub binding properties by NMR techniques. The results show that DC‐UbP_N holds a novel structural fold and acts as a Ub‐binding domain (UBD) but with low affinity. This implies that the DC‐UbP protein, composing of a combination of both UbL and UBD domains, might play an important role in regulating protein ubiquitination and delivery of ubiquitinated substrates in eukaryotic cells.