Scales and costs of habitat selection in heterogeneous landscapes

Summary Two scales of habitat selection are likely to influence patterns of animal density in heterogeneous landscapes. At one scale, habitat selection is determined by the differential use of foraging locations within a home range. At a larger scale, habitat selection is determined by dispersal and the ability to relocate the home range. The limits of both scales must be known for accurate assessments of habitat selection and its role in effecting spatial patterns in abundance. Isodars, which specify the relationships between population density in two habitats such that the expected reproductive success of an individual is the same in both, allow us to distinguish the two scales of habitat selection because each scale has different costs. In a two-habitat environment, the cost of rejecting one of the habitats within a home range can be expressed as a devaluation of the other, because, for example, fine-grained foragers must travel through both. At the dispersal scale, the cost of accepting a new home range in a different habitat has the opposite effect of inflating the value of the original habitat to compensate for lost evolutionary potential associated with relocating the home range. These costs produce isodars at the foraging scale with a lower intercept and slope than those at the dispersal scale.Empirical data on deer mice occupying prairie and badland habitats in southern Alberta confirm the ability of isodar analysis to differentiate between foraging and dispersal scales. The data suggest a foraging range of approximately 60 m, and an effective dispersal distance near 140 m. The relatively short dispersal distance implies that recent theories may have over-emphasized the role of habitat selection on local population dynamics. But the exchange of individuals between habitats sharing irregular borders may be substantial. Dispersal distance may thus give a false impression of the inability of habitat selection to help regulate population density.     

Characteristics of dynamic postural reactions in the locust hindleg

Summary The use of the locust (Schistocerca americana) hindleg in postural control was examined in animals that stood on a repeatedly swayed vertical substrate. Myograms were recorded from leg muscles and the angle of the femoro-tibial joint was monitored photographically. Two discrete strategies were observed,; in compensatory reactions the hindleg was held in place, while in flexion reactions, the leg was moved, most often to complete flexion of the femoro-tibial joint. Tightly coupled, rhythmic bursting occurred in the flexor and levator muscles of the leg during compensatory reactions. Bursting was initiated repeatedly when the substrate was being pulled away from the animal. Bursting was correlated with subsequent decreases in the rate of change of the femorotibial joint angle. Compensatory and flexion reactions occurred preferentially in different ranges of joint angles: most often, compensatory reactions occurred in the midrange, while flexion reactions were elicited in the extremes of joint angle. These differences may be due to the mechanical advantages of the tibial muscles and the leg may be moved to full flexion because of a locking mechanism of the flexor muscle tendon. These reactions are compared with known reflexes of hindleg proprioceptors and contrasted with similar responses of vertebrates.     

Helix packing of leucine-rich peptides: a parallel leucine ladder in the structure of Boc-Aib-Leu-Aib-Aib-Leu-Leu-Leu-Aib-Leu-Aib-OMe.

The packing of peptide helices in crystals of the leucine-rich decapeptide Boc-Aib-Leu-Aib-Aib-Leu-Leu-Leu-Aib-Leu-Aib-OMe provides an example of ladder-like leucylleucyl interactions between neighboring molecules. The peptide molecule forms a helix with five 5----1 hydrogen bonds and two 4----1 hydrogen bonds near the C terminus. Three head-to-tail NH ... O = C hydrogen bonds between helices form continuous columns of helices in the crystal. The helicial columns associate in an antiparallel fashion, except for the association of Leu ... Leu side chains, which occurs along the diagonal of the cell where the peptide helices are parallel. The peptide, with formula C56H102N10O13, crystallizes in space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with Z = 4 and cell parameters a = 16.774(3) A, b = 20.032(3) A and c = 20.117(3) A; overall agreement factor R = 10.7% for 2014 data with magnitude of F(obs) greater than 3 sigma (F); resolution 1.0 A.     

Activity of crystalline turkey egg white lysozyme.

Hexagonal crystals of turkey egg white lysozyme have been examined for activity in order to evaluate their potential for use in time-resolved X-ray crystallographic experiments. Substrates used in this study were hexa-N-acetylglucosamine (hexa-GlcNAc) and a modified analogue of hexa-GlcNAc where the terminal sugar ring was opened by reduction with tritiated sodium borohydride. This gave a labeled beta-N-acetylglucosaminitol unit at the sixth position of the sugar chain and allowed easy quantitation of enzymatic cleavage on TLC plates. Using these substrates, it has been shown that turkey egg white lysozyme is enzymatically active in the crystal. Enzyme dispersed in the buffer surrounding the crystal does not show detectable activity under conditions relevant to an X-ray experiment. Unmodified hexa-GlcNAc is hydrolyzed into di-, tri-, and tetrasaccharides in the crystal. This cleavage pattern is different from that obtained with hen egg white lysozyme in solution and likely causes of the differences are discussed. The reduced radiolabeled oligosaccharide has a unique cleavage pattern with trisaccharides as the products. The specific activity of the enzyme with the radiolabelled analogue was 9.8 (+/- 1.0) x 10(-7) mmol/min/mg protein at 22 degrees C in the crystal.     

Measurement of two-bond JCOHα coupling constants in proteins uniformly enriched with13C

Summary A simple E.COSY type technique is described for measurement of two-bond J_COH coupling constants in proteins that are uniformly enriched with¹³C. The method has been used to measure²J_COH for 132 residues in the proteins calmodulin and staphylococcal nuclease having non-overlapping H–C correlations. Measured²J_COH coupling constants fall in the 0 to –9.5 Hz range. A separate experiment, measuring the accuracy of these values, indicates a root-mean-square error of 1 Hz. Comparison of the J couplings with the dihedral back bone angles from crystallographic studies confirms a weak but statistically significant correlation between the dihedral angle and the magnitude of²J_COH, but also indicates that parameters other than have a significant effect on the value of the coupling.     

Hidden smectic properties of a chiral side-chain co-oligomer

We recently showed that a side-chain industrial co-oligosiloxane presents a quenchable enlarged blue phase behaviour at the cholesteric-isotropic phase transition. In this paper, we present the results of a structural study based on X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and optical measurements. In particular, the smectic A organisation is demonstrated in the lower temperature domain, which was hitherto understood as a cholesteric phase. A structural model for this phase is proposed on the basis of the analysis of the anisotropic scattering of stretched fibers. Our results also suggest that the observed glass transition is indeed a rather complex phenomenon, which seems to involve not only the freezing of the main chains, but also smectic correlations at the side-chain level. Moreover, the calorimetric study indicates that, notwithstanding the conservation of the processed film's optical properties, low kinetic reorganisations occur at room temperature.     

Isolation of brush-border membranes from rat and rabbit colonocytes: Is alkaline phosphatase a marker enzyme?

Summary A method for the isolation of brush-border membranes of large intestinal epithelial cells was developed, which is based on the purification of intact brush-border caps by Percoll^® density-gradient centrifugation followed by separation of the vesiculated brush-border membranes on sucrose gradients. The procedure has two major advantages in comparison to known methods: 1) its first step does not depend on the determination of marker enzymes and 2) the method is applicable to rats as well as rabbits without major modifications. Due to the lack of an accepted marker for the colonic brush-border membrane the validity of the isolation procedure was tested by its application to the small intestine. Rat small intestinal brush-border membranes were enriched 21-fold when compared to the homogenate. The method was used to evaluate alkaline phosphatase as a marker enzyme for the colonic brush-border membrane. The results suggest that alkaline phosphatase is not exclusively localized in the brush-border membrane since this enzyme was also associated with membranes having different physical properties.     

Use of phlorizin binding to demonstrate induction of intestinal glucose transporters

Summary We used specific binding of phlorizin to the intact intestinal mucosa in order to measure glucose transport site density in intestines of mice fed a high-carbohydrate or no-carbohydrate diet. Nonspecific binding varied with intestinal position but showed only modest dependence on diet. Specific binding to glucose transporters was 1.9 times greater in jejunum of high-carbohydrate mice than of no-carbohydrate mice; this ratio was the same as the ratio for V_max values of actived-glucose uptake between the two diet groups. The gradient in specific binding of phlorizin along the intestine paralleled the gradient in V_max of glucose transport. These results directly demonstrate that the increase in intestinal glucose transport caused by a high-carbohydrate diet is due to induction of glucose transporter. They also indicate that the normal positional graident in glucose transport along the intestine arises from a gradient in transporters, induced by the normal gradient in luminal glucose concentration.     

Osmotic water permeabilities of brush border and basolateral membrane vesicles from rat renal cortex and small intestine

Summary The osmotic water permeabilityP _f of brush border (BBM) and basolateral (BLM) membrane vesicles from rat small intestine and renal cortex was studied by means of stopped-flow spectrophotometry. Scattered light intensity was used to follow vesicular volume changes upon osmotic perturbation with hypertonic mannitol solutions. A theoretical analysis of the relationship of scattered light intensity and vesicular volume justified a simple exponential approximation of the change in scattered light intensity. The rate constants extracted from fits to an exponential function were proportional to the final medium osmolarity as predicted by theory. For intestinal membranes, computer analysis of optical responses fitted well with a single-exponential treatment. For renal membranes a double-exponential treatment was needed, implying two distinct vesicle populations.P _f values for BBM and BLM preparations of small intestine were equal and amount to 60 m/sec. For renal preparations,P _f values amount to 600 m/sec for the fast component, BBM as well as BLM, and to 50 (BBM) and 99 (BLM) m/sec for the slow component. The apparent activation energy for water permeation in intestinal membranes was 13.3±0.6 and in renal membranes, 1.0±0.3 kCal/mole, between 25 and 35°C. The mercurial sulfhydryl reagentpCMBS inhibited completely and reversibly the highP _f value in renal brush border preparations. These observations suggest that in intestinal membranes water moves through the lipid matrix but that in renal plasma membranes water channels may be involved. From the highP _f values of renal membrane vesicles a transcellular water permeability for proximal tubules can be calculated which amounts to 1 cm/sec. This value allows for an entirely transcellular route for water flow during volume reabsorption.     

Isolation and Sequencing of a Genomic Clone for Mouse Brain Specific Small RNA

We isolated a mouse genomic clone that hybridized with small RNA present in the cytoplasm of the brain. The RNA was about 150 nucleotides long. This RNA seemed to be specific to the brain, since it was not found in the liver or kidney. The clone DNA contained a sequence homologous to 82-nucleotide "identifier" core sequence of cDNA clones of rat. The sequence contained a split promoter for RNA polymerase III and was flanked by a 12-nucleotide direct repeat (ATAAATAATTTA).