The diversity and biogeography of koa-finches (Drepanidini: Rhodacanthis), with descriptions of two new species

All known populations of koa-finches, genus Rhodacanthis , became extinct in the Holocene epoch. Two new species are described here from Quaternary fossil sites in the Hawaiian Islands. One new species, from Kauai and Maui, is roughly the size of the historically known greater koa-finch ( R. palmeri ) but differs in having a more robust skull and in bill morphology. The second new species, from Oahu and Maui, is similar in size to the lesser koa-finch ( R. flaviceps ) but closer to R. palmeri in qualitative osteological traits. The two species of koa-finches known historically from the island of Hawaii are distinct in osteology from the fossil koa-finches on the older Hawaiian islands, indicating that at least two of the four known speciation events in the genus took place within approximately the past 500 kyr. However, the similarity of maxillae from Pleistocene and Holocene sites on Oahu suggests that the Oahu population maintained morphological stasis through the climate changes of the late Quaternary. The evidence that speciation occurred on the youngest island in the archipelago suggests that the process of community assembly on newly emergent Hawaiian landscapes was a stimulus to evolutionary diversification in Rhodacanthis .  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 144 , 527–541.     

Statistical methods for detecting molecular adaptation

The past few years have seen the development of powerful statistical methods for detecting adaptive molecular evolution. These methods compare synonymous and nonsynonymous substitution rates in protein-coding genes, and regard a nonsynonymous rate elevated above the synonymous rate as evidence for darwinian selection. Numerous cases of molecular adaptation are being identified in various systems from viruses to humans. Although previous analyses averaging rates over sites and time have little power, recent methods designed to detect positive selection at individual sites and lineages have been successful. Here, we summarize recent statistical methods for detecting molecular adaptation, and discuss their limitations and possible improvements.     

Discontinuous expansion linked to sector formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonies

Colonies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibit sectors that were shown to be located at specific intervals within the colony. Maxima in the distribution of sectors were observed every 5 mm as measured from the center of the colony. These maxima correlated with changes in the expansion rates of colonies. The absolute average number of sectors per colony was higher for colonies grown at higher temperatures. These results increase our understanding of colony pattern formation. Received: 2 February 1999 / Accepted: 7 April 1999     

THE PROCESSING OF UNCONFINED,NATURALLY ENTRAINED LEAVES IN TWO LOW-ORDER SOUTHERN AFRICAN MOUNTAIN STREAMS

Summary

Breakdown of unconfined and confined leaves of the riparian tree Brabejum stellatifolium L. was investigated in two low order mountain streams (Window Stream and Langrivier) in the southwestern Cape, South Africa. At both sites, 5000 unconfined leaves were released in April and another 5000 in December 1990. The leaves were marked and half of them presoaked in river water prior to release. Leaves reaching a net 100 m below the point of release were removed periodically. On termination of the experiments, the study reaches were cleared of the remaining marked leaves. The distance which these leaves had travelled, and the retentive feature at which they were found were recorded. All leaves were weighed after recovery. In December 1990, leaves confined in coarse-mesh bags were placed on the stream beds of the two sites. Decay rates of unconfined leaves differed between streams and seasons but not between wetted and dry leaves or those of contrasting initial size and weight. In winter, breakdown of unconfined leaves was rapid (t₅₀ of 6.6d and 23.9d for Langrivier and Window Stream respectively). In summer, breakdown of unconfined leaves was slower (t₅₀ of 58d, Langrivier), but more rapid than leaves confined in mesh bags (t₅₀ of 77d, Langrivier). Distance travelled downstream had no significant effect on leaf breakdown. Different retentive features resulted in different rates of decay. Leaf weight loss in winter and summer at both sites was greatest in riffles (17–80%) and runs (21–78%). In all cases, stranded (exposed and out of the water) leaves lost the least weight (4–38%).     

Gradients in microbial methanol uptake: productive coastal upwelling waters to oligotrophic gyres in the Atlantic Ocean

Methanol biogeochemistry and its importance as a carbon source in seawater is relatively unexplored. We report the first microbial methanol carbon assimilation rates (k) in productive coastal upwelling waters of up to 0.117±0.002 d⁻¹ (∼10 nmol l⁻¹d⁻¹). On average, coastal upwelling waters were 11 times greater than open ocean northern temperate (NT) waters, eight times greater than gyre waters and four times greater than equatorial upwelling (EU) waters; suggesting that all upwelling waters upon reaching the surface (⩽20 m), contain a microbial population that uses a relatively high amount of carbon (0.3–10 nmol l⁻¹d⁻¹), derived from methanol, to support their growth. In open ocean Atlantic regions, microbial uptake of methanol into biomass was significantly lower, ranging between 0.04–0.68 nmol l⁻¹d⁻¹. Microbes in the Mauritanian coastal upwelling used up to 57% of the total methanol for assimilation of the carbon into cells, compared with an average of 12% in the EU, and 1% in NT and gyre waters. Several methylotrophic bacterial species were identified from open ocean Atlantic waters using PCR amplification of mxaF encoding methanol dehydrogenase, the key enzyme in bacterial methanol oxidation. These included Methylophaga sp., Burkholderiales sp., Methylococcaceae sp., Ancylobacter aquaticus, Paracoccus denitrificans, Methylophilus methylotrophus, Methylobacterium oryzae, Hyphomicrobium sp. and Methylosulfonomonas methylovora. Statistically significant correlations for upwelling waters between methanol uptake into cells and both chlorophyll a concentrations and methanol oxidation rates suggest that remotely sensed chlorophyll a images, in these productive areas, could be used to derive total methanol biological loss rates, a useful tool for atmospheric and marine climatically active gas modellers, and air–sea exchange scientists.     

分子黏附中的逆锁键研究进展

逆锁键是受体和配体蛋白质相互作用过程中的一种"反常"现象,属于受体-配体动态键的一种,在pN量级外力的影响下,其键寿命在特定范围内会随着所施加外力的增加而增加.逆锁键主要参与细胞黏附、细胞活化等过程,并与滑移键组成分子开关来调节各项与分子黏附相关的生命活动.其中,致病性大肠杆菌引发尿路感染、T细胞受体抗原识别、微丝解聚、Notch信号通路激活等重要生命活动已被证实与逆锁键密切相关.近期已有发现证实TCR-pMHC复合物中的逆锁键与癌症的引发也存在密切联系,这一发现提供了改进TCR-T (T细胞受体基因工程改造的T细胞)免疫疗法的新方向.本文概述了逆锁键在几类重要生命活动中的最新研究进展,并讨论了其潜在的医学研究前景.     

MORTALITY OF SEA OTTERS IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND FOLLOWING THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

Abstract: This paper presents an estimate of the total number of sea otters that died as a direct consequence of the oil spill that occurred when the T/V Exxon Valdez grounded in Prince William Sound, Alaska on 24 March 1989. We compared sea otter counts conducted from small boats throughout the Sound during the summers of 1984 and 1985 to counts made after the spill during the summer of 1989. We used ratio estimators, corrected for sighting probability, to calculate otter densities and population estimates for portions of the Sound affected by the oil spill. We estimated the otter population in the portion of Prince William Sound affected by the oil was 6,546 at the time of the spill and that the post-spill population in the summer of 1989 was 3,898, yielding a loss estimate of approximately 2,650. Bootstrapping techniques were used to approximate confidence limits on the loss estimate of about 500–5,000 otters. The wide confidence limits are a result of the complex scheme required to estimate losses and limitations of the data. Despite the uncertainty of the loss estimate it is clear that a significant fraction of the otters in the spill zone survived. We observed otters persisting in relatively clean embayments throughout the oil spill zone suggesting that the highly convoluted coastline of Prince William Sound produced refuges that allowed some sea otters in the oil spill area to survive.     

Response of muscle-based biochemical condition indices to short-term variations in food availability in post-flexion reared sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (L.) larvae

Six condition indices based on RNA, total soluble protein and two metabolic enzymes [lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and citrate synthase (CS)] were analysed in muscle tissue of individual larvae, post-flexion reared sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax using DNA and total soluble protein as standards for size. In addition, the effect of 2 days of food deprivation on the cell proliferation rates was assessed. The RNA:DNA best reflected short-term changes in feeding conditions. If standardized by DNA content, LDH activity was a better indicator of condition than any other index but RNA:DNA. Further, the analysis of cell proliferation rates in muscle from 26 day-old larvae proved useful in distinguishing continuously fed larvae from individuals subjected to 2 days of fast.     

Spatio-temporal variation in male white-tailed deer harvest rates in Pennsylvania: Implications for estimating abundance

The performance of 2 popular methods that use age-at-harvest data to estimate abundance of white-tailed deer is contingent on assumptions about variation in estimates of subadult (1.5 yr old) and adult (≥2.5 yr old) male harvest rates. Auxiliary data (e.g., estimates of survival or harvest rates from radiocollared animals) can be used to relax some assumptions, but unless these population parameters exhibit limited temporal or spatial variation, these auxiliary data may not improve accuracy. Unfortunately maintaining sufficient sample sizes of radiocollared deer for parameter estimation in every wildlife management unit (WMU) is not feasible for most state agencies. We monitored the fates of 397 subadult and 225 adult male white-tailed deer across 4 WMUs from 2002 to 2008 using radio telemetry. We investigated spatial and temporal variation in harvest rates and investigated covariates related to the patterns observed. We found that most variation in harvest rates was explained spatially and that adult harvest rates (0.36–0.69) were more variable among study areas than subadult harvest rates (0.26–0.42). We found that hunter effort during the archery and firearms season best explained variation in harvest rates of adult males among WMUs, whereas hunter effort during only the firearms season best explained harvest rates for subadult males. From a population estimation perspective, it is advantageous that most variation was spatial and explained by a readily obtained covariate (hunter effort). However, harvest rates may vary if hunting regulations or hunter behavior change, requiring additional field studies to obtain accurate estimates of harvest rates. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

Flow rate and vertical position influence ingestion rates of colonial zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha)

1. Zebra mussels aggregate to form dense colonies where, depending on the flow rate, individuals in different vertical locations within the colony may experience restricted food availability. 2. Using ³²P‐labelled Chlamydomonas angulosa, we found ingestion rates of individual mussels located at the surface to exceed those in the bottom of a 6 cm thick colony by up to 75%. 3. Higher velocities (10 and 20 cm s^?1) increased algal delivery to the colony's middle layer (2–4 cm depth), subsequently increasing ingestion rates to equal those in the surface layer, while increasing ingestion only for the smallest mussels in the bottom (4–6 cm). 4. At all vertical locations within the colonies, smaller mussels showed higher ingestion rates per unit mass than larger mussels, particularly at higher flow rates.