Ecological release in feeding behaviour: the case of bluegills in Japan

The stomach contents were analyzed monthly for each year-class to elucidate the foraging pattern of bluegills in a small vegetated lake by the frequency occurrence and the points methods. Seasonal dietary changes of the year-classes were considered comparing the monthly fluctuations in abundance of major prey organisms. Though these bluegills are dietary generalists and opportunists like those in North America, their foraging pattern was characterized by a relatively clearer dietary shift during ontogeny and a wider food niche including piscivorous than those of bluegills with congeners in their home land. Therefore this finding provides evidence of the ecological release caused by the absence of congeners.     

Differences in the In Vitro and In Vivo 5-Hydroxytryptamine Extraction Performance Among Three Common Microdialysis Membranes

The present study summarizes the results of an in vitro and in vivo comparison of the apparent 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid dialysis performance of three types of membrane frequently used in intracerebral microdialysis experiments. The dialysis fiber types examined were a regenerated cellulose Cuprophan (GF), a proprietary polycarbonate ether (CMA), and a polyacrylonitrile/sodium methallylsulfonate copolymer (HOSPAL). The experiments unexpectedly revealed that the HOSPAL membrane-equipped probes displayed clearly aberrant 5-HT diffusion dynamics compared with GF and CMA probes, demonstrable not only in vitro, but also in in vivo experiments. In vitro, the GF and CMA membrane-equipped probes exhibited maximum relative recovery for 5-HT already in the first 20-min sample, whereas the 5-HT recovery of HOSPAL probes increased in a very slow and protracted manner over a period of a little less than 2 h. The GF and CMA probes further displayed an immediate washout of 5-HT when the probes were subsequently transferred to artificial CSF only-containing medium (no 5-HT), whereas approximately 2 h was required to yield near-total extinction of dialysate 5-HT with the standard HOSPAL probes. In vivo, the rat ventral hippocampal dialysate 5-HT output responses to K+ (100 mM) infusion, to Ca2+ omission, and to systemic 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin injection were all markedly retarded and blunted when HOSPAL instead of GF membrane-equipped probes were used. However, the 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid extraction in vitro and in vivo were comparable using either of the membrane types.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Biphasic 24-Hour Variations in Cyclic GMP Accumulation in the Rat Pineal Gland Are Due to Corresponding Changes in the Activity of Cytosolic and Particulate Guanylate Cyclase

Various parameters of the rat pineal gland display a 24-h rhythm. However, nothing is known about possible 24-h variations in cyclic GMP (cGMP) metabolism. In the present study, 24-h variations in pineal gland cGMP accumulation were investigated by determining the increase in cGMP level with and without inhibitors of phosphodiesterase at different time points over a light/dark cycle (12/12 h). Furthermore, the activity of guanylate cyclase (GC) was determined under substrate-saturated conditions regarding the cytosolic and particulate forms of the enzyme. It has been found that cGMP accumulation and GC activity display biphasic 24-h variations with two peaks--one approximately 7 h after lights "on" and the other approximately 7 h after lights "off." The activity of cytosolic GC remains unchanged in the presence of the nitric oxide (NO) synthesis inhibitor N-monomethyl-L-arginine, indicating that 24-h variations in the activity do not reflect changes in the synthesis of the GC stimulator NO.     

The NAM8 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a protein with putative RNA binding motifs and acts as a suppressor of mitochondrial splicing deficiencies when overexpressed.

Summary We have characterized the nuclear geneNAM8 inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. It acts as a suppressor of mitochondrial splicing deficiencies when present on a multicopy plasmid. The suppressed mutations affect RNA folding and are located in both group I and group II introns. The gene is weakly transcribed in wildtype strains, its overexpression is a prerequisite for the suppressor action. Inactivation of theNAM8 gene does not affect cell viability, mitochondrial function or mitochondrial genome stability. TheNAM8 gene encodes a protein of 523 amino acids which includes two conserved (RNP) motifs common to RNA-binding proteins from widely different organisms. This homology with RNA-binding proteins, together with the intronic location of the suppressed mitochondrial mutations, suggests that the NAM8 protein could be a non-essential component of the mitochondrial splicing machinery and, when present in increased amounts, it could convert a deficient intron RNA folding pattern into a productive one.     

XylS domain interactions can be deduced from intraallelic dominance in double mutants of Pseudomonas putida.

Summary The XylS protein is the positive regulator of the TOL plasmid-encoded meta-cleavage pathway for the metabolism of alkylbenzoates in Pseudomonas putida. This protein is activated by a variety of benzoate analogues. To elucidate the functional domains of the regulator and their interactions, several fusions of the XylS C-terminus to MS2 polymerase and of the N-terminus to -galactosidase were constructed but all are inactive. In addition, 15 double mutant xylS genes were constructed in vitro by fusing parts of various mutant genes to produce mutant regulators exhibiting C-terminal and N-terminal amino acid substitutions. The phenotypic properties of the parental single mutant genes, and those of the double mutant genes, suggest that the C-terminal region is involved in binding to DNA sequences at the promoter of the meta-cleavage pathway operon, and that the benzoate effector binding pocket includes critical residues present at both the N-terminal and C-terminal ends of the protein. The intraallelic dominance of the Ile229 (Ser229 Ile) and Val274 (Asp274 Val) substitutions over the N-terminal His4l (Arg4l His) substitution, and the intraallelic dominance of Thr45 (Arg45 Thr) over Ile229 and Val274, support the proposal that these two regions of the regulator interact functionally. Combination of the Leu88 (Trp88 Leu) and Arg256 (Pro256 Arg) substitutions did not suppress the semiconstitutive phenotype conferred by Leu88, but resulted in a protein with altered ability to recognize benzoates. In contrast, the Leu88 semiconstitutive phenotype was suppressed by Va1288 (Asp288 Val), and the double mutant was susceptible to activation by benzoates. The results suggest that intramolecular interactions between the C- and N-terminal regions of XylS are critical for activation of the regulator by the effector.     

Suppression of carboxy-terminal truncations of the yeast mitochondrial mRNA-specific translational activator PET122 by mutations in two new genes, MRP17 and PET127

Summary The PET122 protein is one of three Saccharomyces cerevisiae nuclear gene products required specifically to activate translation of the mitochondrially coded COX3 mRNA. We have previously observed that mutations which remove the carboxy-terminal region of PET122 block translation of the COX3 mRNA but can be suppressed by unlinked nuclear mutations in several genes, two of which have been shown to code for proteins of the small subunit of mitochondrial ribosomes. Here we describe and map two more new genes identified as allele-specific suppressors that compensate for carboxy-terminal truncation of PET122. One of these genes, MRP17, is essential for the expression of all mitochondrial genes and encodes a protein of M_r 17343. The MRP17 protein is a component of the small ribosomal subunit in mitochondria, as demonstrated by the fact that a missense mutation, mrp17-1, predicted to cause a charge change indeed alters the charge of a mitochondrial ribosomal protein of the expected size. In addition, mrp17-1, in combination with some mutations affecting another mitochondrial ribosomal protein, caused a synthetic defective phenotype. These findings are consistent with a model in which PET122 functionally interacts with the ribosomal small subunit. The second new suppressor gene described here, PET127, encodes a protein too large (M_r 95900) to be a ribosomal protein and appears to operate by a different mechanism. PET127 is not absolutely required for mitochondrial gene expression and allele-specific suppression of pet122 mutations results from the loss of PET127 function: a pet127 deletion exhibited the same recessive suppressor activity as the original suppressor mutation. These findings suggest the possibility that PET127 could be a novel component of the mitochondrial translation system with a role in promoting accuracy of translational initiation.     

Foliar δ13C within a temperate deciduous forest: spatial,temporal, and species sources of variation

Summary Foliar ¹³C-abundance (¹³C) was analyzed in the dominant trees of a temperate deciduous forest in east Tennessee (Walker Branch Watershed) to investigate the variation in foliar ¹³C as a function of time (within-year and between years), space (canopy height, watershed topography and habitat) and species (deciduous and coniferous taxa). Various hypotheses were tested by analyzing (i) samples collected from the field during the growing season and (ii) foliar tissues maintained in an archived collection. The ¹³C-value for leaves from the tops of trees was 2 to 3%. more positive than for leaves sampled at lower heights in the canopy. Quercus prinus leaves sampled just prior to autumn leaf fall had significantly more negative ¹³C-values than those sampled during midsummer. On the more xeric ridges, needles of Pinus spp. had more positive ¹³C-values than leaves from deciduous species. Foliar ¹³C-values differed significantly as a function of topography. Deciduous leaves from xeric sites (ridges and slopes) had more positive ¹³C-values than those from mesic (riparian and cove) environments. On the more xeric sites, foliar ¹³C was significantly more positive in 1988 (a dry year) relative to that in 1989 (a year with above-normal precipitation). In contrast, leaf ¹³C in trees from mesic valley bottoms did not differ significantly among years with disparate precipitation. Patterns in foliar ¹³C indicated a higher ratio of net CO₂ assimilation to transpiration (A/E) for trees in more xeric versus mesic habitats, and for trees in xeric habitats during years of drought versus years of normal precipitation. However, A/E (units of mmol CO₂ fixed/mol H₂O transpired) calculated on the basis of ¹³C-values for leaves from the more xeric sites was higher in a wet year (6.6±1.2) versus a dry year (3.4±0.4). This difference was attributed to higher transpiration (and therefore lower A/E) in the year with lower relative humidity and higher average daily temperature. The calculated A/E values for the forest in 1988–89, based on ¹³C, were within ±55% of estimates made over a 17 day period at this site in 1984 using micrometeorological methods.