The diverse world of coenzyme A binding proteins

Coenzyme A is involved in a number of important metabolic pathways. Recently the structures of several coenzyme A binding proteins have been determined. We compare in some detail the structures of seven different coenzyme A protein complexes. These seven proteins all have distinctly different folds.     

Evolutionary processes in the genusCapsella (Brassicaceae)

Capsella comprises diploid (C. grandiflora andC. rubella) and tetraploid taxa. It is argued that the tetraploidC. bursa-pastoris is of intraspecific origin despite disomic inheritance and fixed heterozygosity. It is of considerable age as evidenced by the fossil record and molecular data. Gene duplication by polyploidization and a mixed mating system provided the genetic flexibility for greatest colonizing success. Pronounced variation patterns at a micro- and macrogeographic scale are observed inC. bursa-pastoris for many characters including life history traits, leaf morphology and allozymes. This variation pattern can be explained by several components comprising phylogenetic age, random processes, ecotypic variation and colonization history. The adaptive strategy ofC. bursa-pastoris cannot be assigned to either ecotypic differentiation or phenotypic plasticity alone. It depends on the trait under study.Dedicated to emer. Univ.-Prof. DrFriedrich Ehrendorfer on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Recording long‐term heart rate in Paranotothenia angustata using an electronic datalogger

A unique heart beat datalogging device was either surgically implanted into the peritoneal cavity (internal‐fish) or attached by nylon anchor tags to the dorsal fin rays (external‐fish) of the black cod Paranotothenia angustata . Both groups had a mean ±  s . e . heart rate of c . 46 beats min⁻¹ after 24 h, and by 20 days external‐fish showed a significant reduction (34 ± 3 beats min⁻¹) whereas internal‐fish did not (44 ± 2 beats min⁻¹). In demersal fishes external attachment of an electronic recording device may be preferable to surgical implantation.     

Characteristics of plant communities containing rare conifers in Poyang Lake Basin,China

The endangerment mechanism of rare conifer species is a very critical problem in conservation biodiversity. Thus, the studies on the protection of the rare and endangered coniferous trees have received extensive attention. The objective of this study was to understand the survival and distribution of the rare coniferous tree species in natural forests of the Poyang Lake Basin. Field investigations on plant communities were conducted in 21 plots from Oct. 2014 to Oct. 2015. These plots were distributed in the Nanling Mountains, Luoxiao Mountains, Wuyi Mountains, Huangshan Mountains, and Jiuling Mountain. The dimensions of each plot were 20 m × 20 m. Community species composition and quantitative characteristics in each plot were recorded. The importance values of trees, shrubs and herbs were computed, respectively. The community types and structural properties were analyzed. A total of 23 sets of community sampling data were obtained in details. A number of 11 species of rare conifers were found in 14 different formations. Rare conifer trees mainly occurred in the communities as co-edificatos or companion species. The formations included Form. Taxus wallichiana var. mairei, Form. Pseudotsuga sinensis, Form. Fokienia hodginsii and Form. Torreya grandis, where the dominant species was coniferous trees. In conclusion, our study provides valuable field investigation data of rare coniferous in Poyang Lake basin, which could provide insight into the protection and management of these species.     

Benchmarking novel approaches for modelling species range dynamics

Increasing biodiversity loss due to climate change is one of the most vital challenges of the 21st century. To anticipate and mitigate biodiversity loss, models are needed that reliably project species’ range dynamics and extinction risks. Recently, several new approaches to model range dynamics have been developed to supplement correlative species distribution models (SDMs), but applications clearly lag behind model development. Indeed, no comparative analysis has been performed to evaluate their performance. Here, we build on process‐based, simulated data for benchmarking five range (dynamic) models of varying complexity including classical SDMs, SDMs coupled with simple dispersal or more complex population dynamic models (SDM hybrids), and a hierarchical Bayesian process‐based dynamic range model (DRM). We specifically test the effects of demographic and community processes on model predictive performance. Under current climate, DRMs performed best, although only marginally. Under climate change, predictive performance varied considerably, with no clear winners. Yet, all range dynamic models improved predictions under climate change substantially compared to purely correlative SDMs, and the population dynamic models also predicted reasonable extinction risks for most scenarios. When benchmarking data were simulated with more complex demographic and community processes, simple SDM hybrids including only dispersal often proved most reliable. Finally, we found that structural decisions during model building can have great impact on model accuracy, but prior system knowledge on important processes can reduce these uncertainties considerably. Our results reassure the clear merit in using dynamic approaches for modelling species’ response to climate change but also emphasize several needs for further model and data improvement. We propose and discuss perspectives for improving range projections through combination of multiple models and for making these approaches operational for large numbers of species.     

GO‐FAANG meeting: a Gathering On Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes

The Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes (FAANG) Consortium recently held a Gathering On FAANG (GO‐FAANG) Workshop in Washington, DC on October 7–8, 2015. This consortium is a grass‐roots organization formed to advance the annotation of newly assembled genomes of domesticated and non‐model organisms ( www.faang.org ). The workshop gathered together from around the world a group of 100+ genome scientists, administrators, representatives of funding agencies and commodity groups to discuss the latest advancements of the consortium, new perspectives, next steps and implementation plans. The workshop was streamed live and recorded, and all talks, along with speaker slide presentations, are available at www.faang.org . In this report, we describe the major activities and outcomes of this meeting. We also provide updates on ongoing efforts to implement discussions and decisions taken at GO‐FAANG to guide future FAANG activities. In summary, reference datasets are being established under pilot projects; plans for tissue sets, morphological classification and methods of sample collection for different tissues were organized; and core assays and data and meta‐data analysis standards were established.