Antitumour activities of levans produced by Zymomonas mobilis strains

Levans produced by four Zymomonas mobilis strains showed antitumour activity against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma in Swiss albino mice. Levans from two strains (ZAP and CP4) had the highest effects. NMR analysis showed that the polymers were composed only of fructose units. The results suggested that the antineoplasic effect is associated to the polysaccharide molecular weight and that a particular molecular weight range may be responsible for this effect.     

Production of antisera specific to aldosterone: effect of hapten density and of carrier proteins

In order to investigate the influence of hapten density and of carrier proteins on the immunological characteristics of antisera, 4 groups of rabbits were injected with different aldosterone-carboxymethoxime protein conjugates. Six animals immunized with an aldosterone rabbit serum albumin (RSA) conjugate carrying 15 steroid molecules (RSA-2 conjugate) showed markedly higher antibody titers than rabbits injected with a RSA conjugate carrying 8 aldosterone molecules (RSA-1 conjugate). Low antibody titers were found in 8 animals immunized with an aldosterone bovine gamma globulin (BGG) conjugate showing a molar incorporation of 15. In a group of rabbits which was first injected with the RSA-1 conjugate and re-immunized with the RSA-2 conjugate the magnitude of antibody production was not enhanced. No differences in antibody sensitivity or specificity were observed between the 4 groups. It was concluded from these experiments a) that the density of haptenic groups depending on the molar incorporation of haptens and on the molecular weight of the carrier protein had influenced the magnitude of antibody production, b) that hapten density or carrier proteins had no effect on antibody sensitivity or specificity, c) that the magnitude of antibody production cannot be altered by re-immunizing with a more potent antigen.     

Comparative analysis of ribonuclease P RNA structure in Archaea.

Although the structure of the catalytic RNA component of ribonuclease P has been well characterized in Bacteria, it has been little studied in other organisms, such as the Archaea. We have determined the sequences encoding RNase P RNA in eight euryarchaeal species: Halococcus morrhuae, Natronobacterium gregoryi, Halobacterium cutirubrum, Halobacteriurn trapanicum, Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum strains deltaH and Marburg, Methanothermus fervidus and Thermococcus celer strain AL-1. On the basis of these and previously available sequences from Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, Haloferax volcanii and Methanosarcina barkeri the secondary structure of RNase P RNA in Archaea has been analyzed by phylogenetic comparative analysis. The archaeal RNAs are similar in both primary and secondary structure to bacterial RNase P RNAs, but unlike their bacterial counterparts these archaeal RNase P RNAs are not by themselves catalytically proficient in vitro.     

SEED PRODUCTION AND DISPERSAL IN DALECHAMPIA (EUPHORBIACEAE): DIVERGENT PATTERNS AND ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES

Patterns of capsule development and methods of seed dispersal are described and compared for 16 neotropical species of Dalechampia. In 15 species all the capsules in a single inflorescence develop simultaneously. In one species, D. spathulata, the capsules develop sequentially. I suggest that the difference between D. spathulata and the other species is the result of the fact that D. spathulata occurs in a low-light, rainforest environment, whereas the other species grow in high-light environments. Sequential development of capsules appears to reduce the loss of seeds to seed predators in species that occur in light-limited environments. The seeds of all 16 species of Dalechampia are dispersed by explosive dehiscence of the capsules. Within the genus there are several different adaptations that increase the average dispersal distance for the seed crop.     

Arabidopsis CURVATURE THYLAKOID1 Proteins Modify Thylakoid Architecture by Inducing Membrane Curvature

Chloroplasts of land plants characteristically contain grana, cylindrical stacks of thylakoid membranes. A granum consists of a core of appressed membranes, two stroma-exposed end membranes, and margins, which connect pairs of grana membranes at their lumenal sides. Multiple forces contribute to grana stacking, but it is not known how the extreme curvature at margins is generated and maintained. We report the identification of the CURVATURE THYLAKOID1 (CURT1) protein family, conserved in plants and cyanobacteria. The four Arabidopsis thaliana CURT1 proteins (CURT1A, B, C, and D) oligomerize and are highly enriched at grana margins. Grana architecture is correlated with the CURT1 protein level, ranging from flat lobe-like thylakoids with considerably fewer grana margins in plants without CURT1 proteins to an increased number of membrane layers (and margins) in grana at the expense of grana diameter in overexpressors of CURT1A. The endogenous CURT1 protein in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp PCC6803 can be partially replaced by its Arabidopsis counterpart, indicating that the function of CURT1 proteins is evolutionary conserved. In vitro, Arabidopsis CURT1A proteins oligomerize and induce tubulation of liposomes, implying that CURT1 proteins suffice to induce membrane curvature. We therefore propose that CURT1 proteins modify thylakoid architecture by inducing membrane curvature at grana margins.     

Local temperatures inferred from plant communities suggest strong spatial buffering of climate warming across Northern Europe

Recent studies from mountainous areas of small spatial extent (<2500 km²) suggest that fine‐grained thermal variability over tens or hundreds of metres exceeds much of the climate warming expected for the coming decades. Such variability in temperature provides buffering to mitigate climate‐change impacts. Is this local spatial buffering restricted to topographically complex terrains? To answer this, we here study fine‐grained thermal variability across a 2500‐km wide latitudinal gradient in Northern Europe encompassing a large array of topographic complexities. We first combined plant community data, Ellenberg temperature indicator values, locally measured temperatures (LmT) and globally interpolated temperatures (GiT) in a modelling framework to infer biologically relevant temperature conditions from plant assemblages within <1000‐m² units (community‐inferred temperatures: CiT). We then assessed: (1) CiT range (thermal variability) within 1‐km² units; (2) the relationship between CiT range and topographically and geographically derived predictors at 1‐km resolution; and (3) whether spatial turnover in CiT is greater than spatial turnover in GiT within 100‐km² units. Ellenberg temperature indicator values in combination with plant assemblages explained 46–72% of variation in LmT and 92–96% of variation in GiT during the growing season (June, July, August). Growing‐season CiT range within 1‐km² units peaked at 60–65°N and increased with terrain roughness, averaging 1.97 °C (SD = 0.84 °C) and 2.68 °C (SD = 1.26 °C) within the flattest and roughest units respectively. Complex interactions between topography‐related variables and latitude explained 35% of variation in growing‐season CiT range when accounting for sampling effort and residual spatial autocorrelation. Spatial turnover in growing‐season CiT within 100‐km² units was, on average, 1.8 times greater (0.32 °C km^?1) than spatial turnover in growing‐season GiT (0.18 °C km^?1). We conclude that thermal variability within 1‐km² units strongly increases local spatial buffering of future climate warming across Northern Europe, even in the flattest terrains.     

Cave-adapted evolution in the North American amblyopsid fishes inferred using phylogenomics and geometric morphometrics

Cave adaptation has evolved repeatedly across the Tree of Life, famously leading to pigmentation and eye degeneration and loss, yet its macroevolutionary implications remain poorly understood. We use the North American amblyopsid fishes, a family spanning a wide degree of cave adaptation, to examine the impact of cave specialization on the modes and tempo of evolution. We reconstruct evolutionary relationships using ultraconserved element loci, estimate the ancestral histories of eye-state, and examine the impact of cave adaptation on body shape evolution. Our phylogenomic analyses provide a well-supported hypothesis for amblyopsid evolutionary relationships. The obligate blind cavefishes form a clade and the cave-facultative eyed spring cavefishes are nested within the obligate cavefishes. Using ancestral state reconstruction, we find support for at least two independent subterranean colonization events within the Amblyopsidae. Eyed and blind fishes have different body shapes, but not different rates of body shape evolution. North American amblyopsids highlight the complex nature of cave-adaptive evolution and the necessity to include multiple lines of evidence to uncover the underlying processes involved in the loss of complex traits.     

Species delimitation based on integrative approach suggests reallocation of genus in Hypostomini catfish (Siluriformes,Loricariidae)

Hydrobiologia - Integrative approaches are particularly useful to resolve taxonomic uncertainties in species-rich groups that have undergone explosive radiation, such as Hypostomini (suckermouth...     

Initiation of Swarming Motility by Proteus mirabilis Occurs in Response to Specific Cues Present in Urine and Requires Excess l-Glutamine

Proteus mirabilis, a leading cause of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CaUTI), differentiates into swarm cells that migrate across catheter surfaces and medium solidified with 1.5% agar. While many genes and nutrient requirements involved in the swarming process have been identified, few studies have addressed the signals that promote initiation of swarming following initial contact with a surface. In this study, we show that P. mirabilis CaUTI isolates initiate swarming in response to specific nutrients and environmental cues. Thirty-three compounds, including amino acids, polyamines, fatty acids, and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, were tested for the ability to promote swarming when added to normally nonpermissive media. l-Arginine, l-glutamine, dl-histidine, malate, and dl-ornithine promoted swarming on several types of media without enhancing swimming motility or growth rate. Testing of isogenic mutants revealed that swarming in response to the cues required putrescine biosynthesis and pathways involved in amino acid metabolism. Furthermore, excess glutamine was found to be a strict requirement for swarming on normal swarm agar in addition to being a swarming cue under normally nonpermissive conditions. We thus conclude that initiation of swarming occurs in response to specific cues and that manipulating concentrations of key nutrient cues can signal whether or not a particular environment is permissive for swarming.     

Multi‐year stigmatic pollen‐load sampling reveals temporal stability in interspecific pollination of flowers in a subalpine meadow

Co‐flowering plants may commonly experience interspecific pollination. It remains unknown, however, whether interspecific pollination is a largely stochastic process or consistent enough over years to exert selection for traits that can reduce interspecific pollination or ameliorate its deleterious effects on reproduction. To assess the likelihood of this precondition being met, stigmatic pollen loads on 17–34 insect‐pollinated plant species over three consecutive years were scored in a subalpine meadow in southwestern China. Plant species varied significantly in the amount and proportion of heterospecific pollen (HP) on stigmas. Both the number of HP species and the proportion of the pollen load that was HP for each recipient species correlated positively between years (reflected in pairwise correlations for all year‐by‐year combinations). Although inter‐annual variation was smaller for conspecific pollen (CP) than for HP loads, species tended to experience either consistently high or consistently low HP proportions across years. We found that species with higher stigmatic HP proportions generally experienced lower proportional variation in stigmatic HP, an unexpected result if high HP loads are the result of rare stochastic events. The novel finding of between‐year consistency in stigmatic loads of heterospecific pollen suggests that adaption to stigmatic loads of HP is possible, and two divergent strategies may have evolved: HP avoidance and HP tolerance. The observation of temporally consistent differences among species in levels of HP supports the idea that natural selection may be operating either to increase tolerance or to minimize arrival of heterospecific pollen on stigmas in co‐flowering plants. Such adaptations may be important for the maintenance of high levels of local plant diversity in biodiversity hotspots such as our study area.