Nuclear division in the red algae Chondria nidifica and Chondria tenuissima

Cytological investigations are reported for two Chondria species, the Pacific species Chondria nidifica Harvey and Chondria tenuissima (Goodenough et Woodward) C. A. Agardh from the shore of the Marmara Sea in Istanbul. Nuclear division during mitosis and meiosis has been followed in somatic cells and in tetrasporangial mother cells respectively of diploid tetrasporic plants. The spherical interphase nucleus stains densely, showing many chromatin granules. Mitotic nuclei in the apical groove show a large number of chromosomes at metaphase; the chromosome number has been estimated at diakinesis to be 40 in both C. nidifica and C. tenuissima. The meiotic nuclei of tetraspore mother cells in prophase contain several relatively large nucleolar-derivatives in both species. The nucleolar derivatives disappear completely before the chromosomes begin to differentiate. In meiotic prophase the tetraspore mother cell enlarges from its original diameter. The period of the second meiotic anaphase seems to be extremely short in comparison with other nuclear phases. When the chromosomes reach the poles, they spread and subsequently form a relatively compact mass at telophase. The spindle has not been observed in C. tenuissima. Photographs are presented of nucleoli and nucleolar-derivatives in mitotic and meiotic divisions.     

Interaction of Tea Catechins with Lipid Bilayers Investigated by a Quartz-Crystal Microbalance Analysis

The quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) technique was applied to investigate the interaction of tea catechins with lipid bilayers. The association constants obtained from the frequency changes of QCM revealed that (?)epicatechin gallate and (?)epigallocatechin gallate interacted with 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine ca. 1000 times more strongly than (?)epicatechin and (?)epigallocatechin. The results exhibited good correlation with the strength of biological activity.     

Structure of a mosaic hybrid zone between the field crickets Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus

Hybrid zones provide insight into the nature of species boundaries and the evolution of barriers to gene exchange. Characterizing multiple regions within hybrid zones is essential for understanding both their history and current dynamics. Here, we describe a previously uncharacterized region of a well‐studied hybrid zone between two species of field crickets, Gryllus pennsylvanicus and G. firmus. We use a combination of mitochondrial DNA sequencing, morphological data, and modeling of environmental variables to identify the ecological factors structuring the hybrid zone and define patterns of hybridization and introgression. We find an association between species distribution and natural habitat; Gryllus pennsylvanicus occupies natural habitat along forest edges and natural clearings, whereas G. firmus occupies more disturbed areas in agricultural and suburban environments. Hybridization and introgression occur across patch boundaries; there is evidence of substantial admixture both in morphological characters and mtDNA, over a broad geographic area. Nonetheless, the distribution of morphological types is bimodal. Given that F₁ hybrids are viable and fertile in the lab, this suggests that strong pre‐zygotic barriers are operating in this portion of the hybrid zone.     

Grazer exclusion alters plant spatial organization at multiple scales,increasing diversity

Grazing is one of the most important factors influencing community structure and productivity in natural grasslands. Understanding why and how grazing pressure changes species diversity is essential for the preservation and restoration of biodiversity in grasslands. We use heavily grazed subalpine meadows in the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau to test the hypothesis that grazer exclusion alters plant diversity by changing inter‐ and intraspecific species distributions. Using recently developed spatial analyses combined with detailed ramet mapping of entire plant communities (91 species), we show striking differences between grazed and fenced areas that emerged at scales of just one meter. Species richness was similar at very small scales (0.0625 m²), but at larger scales diversity in grazed areas fell below 75% of corresponding fenced areas. These differences were explained by differences in spatial distributions; intra‐ and interspecific associations changed from aggregated at small scales to overdispersed in the fenced plots, but were consistently aggregated in the grazed ones. We conclude that grazing enhanced inter‐ and intraspecific aggregations and maintained high diversity at small scales, but caused decreased turnover in species at larger scales, resulting in lower species richness. Our study provides strong support to the theoretical prediction that inter‐ and intraspecific aggregation produces local spatial patterns that scale‐up to affect species diversity in a community. It also demonstrates that the impacts of grazing can manifest through this mechanism, lowering diversity by reducing spatial turnover in species. Finally, it highlights the ecological and physiological plant processes that are likely responding to grazing and thereby altering aggregation patterns, providing new insights for monitoring, and mediating the impacts of grazing.     

创伤弧菌毒力相关因子的全基因组关联分析研究

【目的】创伤弧菌是致死率最高的弧菌物种,但目前尚无在全基因组层面挖掘毒力相关因子的研究。本研究以创伤弧菌分离来源(临床和环境)作为不同表型,通过与260株基因组序列进行关联分析,挖掘毒力相关因子,从而进一步了解创伤弧菌致病因素。【方法】对139株创伤弧菌分离株进行高通量测序,获取其全基因组序列;与公共数据库已公开发表的121株基因组整合,使用pyseer软件进行全基因组关联分析,对与不同分离来源显著相关的基因进行注释和解读。【结果】共发现11个基因与临床分离株显著相关,其中9个是本研究新发现的创伤弧菌潜在毒力相关因子。【结论】本研究使用群体基因组学和统计遗传学方法,在全基因组范围扫描挖掘了创伤弧菌毒力相关因子,为深入揭示该物种致病机制、设计新的疫苗和治疗靶点提供了重要依据。     

Context‐dependent outcomes in a reproductive mutualism between two freshwater fish species

1. The development of encompassing general models of ecology is precluded by underrepresentation of certain taxa and systems. Models predicting context‐dependent outcomes of biotic interactions have been tested using plants and bacteria, but their applicability to higher taxa is largely unknown.
2. We examined context dependency in a reproductive mutualism between two stream fish species: mound nest‐building bluehead chub Nocomis leptocephalus and mountain redbelly dace Chrosomus oreas, which often uses N. leptocephalus nests for spawning. We hypothesized that increased predator density and decreased substrate availability would increase the propensity of C. oreas to associate with N. leptocephalus and decrease reproductive success of both species.
3. In a large‐scale in situ experiment, we manipulated egg predator density and presence of both symbionts (biotic context), and replicated the experiment in habitats containing high‐ and low‐quality spawning substrate (abiotic context).
4. Contradictory to our first hypothesis, we observed that C. oreas did not spawn without its host. The interaction outcome switched from commensalistic to mutualistic with changing abiotic and biotic contexts, although the net outcome was mutualistic.
5. The results of this study yielded novel insight into how context dependency operates in vertebrate mutualisms. Although the dilution effect provided by C. oreas positively influenced reproductive success of N. leptocephalus, it was not enough to overcome both egg predation and poor spawning habitat quality. Outcomes of the interaction may be ultimately determined by associate density. Studies of context dependency in vertebrate systems require detailed knowledge of species life‐history traits.

     

There's no place like home: seedling mortality contributes to the habitat specialisation of tree species across Amazonia

Understanding the mechanisms generating species distributions remains a challenge, especially in hyperdiverse tropical forests. We evaluated the role of rainfall variation, soil gradients and herbivory on seedling mortality, and how variation in seedling performance along these gradients contributes to habitat specialisation. In a 4‐year experiment, replicated at the two extremes of the Amazon basin, we reciprocally transplanted 4638 tree seedlings of 41 habitat‐specialist species from seven phylogenetic lineages among the three most important forest habitats of lowland Amazonia. Rainfall variation, flooding and soil gradients strongly influenced seedling mortality, whereas herbivory had negligible impact. Seedling mortality varied strongly among habitats, consistent with predictions for habitat specialists in most lineages. This suggests that seedling performance is a primary determinant of the habitat associations of adult trees across Amazonia. It further suggests that tree diversity, currently mostly harboured in terra firme forests, may be strongly impacted by the predicted climate changes in Amazonia.     

Epistatic partners of neurogenic genes modulate Drosophila olfactory behavior

The extent to which epistasis affects the genetic architecture of complex traits is difficult to quantify, and identifying variants in natural populations with epistatic interactions is challenging. Previous studies in Drosophila implicated extensive epistasis between variants in genes that affect neural connectivity and contribute to natural variation in olfactory response to benzaldehyde. In this study, we implemented a powerful screen to quantify the extent of epistasis as well as identify candidate interacting variants using 203 inbred wild‐derived lines with sequenced genomes of the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP). We crossed the DGRP lines to P[GT1]‐element insertion mutants in Sema‐5c and neuralized (neur), two neurodevelopmental loci which affect olfactory behavior, and to their coisogenic wild‐type control. We observed significant variation in olfactory responses to benzaldehyde among F₁ genotypes and for the DGRP line by mutant genotype interactions for both loci, showing extensive nonadditive genetic variation. We performed genome‐wide association analyses to identify the candidate modifier loci. None of these polymorphisms were in or near the focal genes; therefore, epistasis is the cause of the nonadditive genetic variance. Candidate genes could be placed in interaction networks. Several candidate modifiers are associated with neural development. Analyses of mutants of candidate epistatic partners with neur (merry‐go‐round (mgr), prospero (pros), CG10098, Alhambra (Alh) and CG12535) and Sema‐5c (CG42540 and bruchpilot (brp)) showed aberrant olfactory responses compared with coisogenic controls. Thus, integrating genome‐wide analyses of natural variants with mutations at defined genomic locations in a common coisogenic background can unmask specific epistatic modifiers of behavioral phenotypes.     

Solvation structure of sodium chloride (Na+–Cl-) ion pair in acetonitrile (AN)–dimethyl formamide (DMF) mixtures

Solvation structures of Na⁺–Cl^? ion pair are investigated in acetonitrile (AN)–dimethylformamide (DMF) isodielectric mixtures. The potentials of mean force of Na⁺–Cl^? in the five compositions of mixtures show minima corresponding to a contact ion pair (CIP) and a solvent-shared ion pair (SShIP). The solvent-separated ion pair minima are present in lower mole fractions of AN (x_AN ≤ 0.50). CIPs are found to be more stable than the SShIPs. From a thermodynamic decomposition of the potentials of mean force, we find that the formation of the ion pair is entropically driven in these compositions. The most stable CIP is in pure AN. The local solvation structures around the ion pair are analysed through the running coordination numbers, excess coordination numbers, solvent orientational distributions and density profiles. We find that both Na⁺ and Cl^? are preferentially solvated by DMF.